Capricorn One
Capricorn One is a 1978 British-produced American thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewed mission to the planet has been faked via a conspiracy involving the government and—under duress—the crew themselves. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould as the reporter, and James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts. Hal Holbrook plays a senior NASA official who goes along with governmental and corporate interests and helps to fake the mission.
Plot
Capricorn One—the first crewed mission to Mars—is on the launch pad. Just before liftoff, astronauts Charles Brubaker, Peter Willis, and John Walker are suddenly removed from the spacecraft. Bewildered, they are flown to an abandoned military base in the desert. The launch proceeds on schedule, with the public unaware the spacecraft is empty.
More details
| author | Peter Hyams |
|---|---|
| director | Peter Hyams |
| editor | James Mitchell |
| genre | adventure thriller |
| keywords | abandon atmospheric reentry break in erase family vacation federal agent gas station heat shield hide isolated kill land lose military base movie set nasa out of fuel private contractor space mission special effects telemetry tv studio |
| musicBy | Jerry Goldsmith |
| producer | Paul N. Lazarus III |
| productionCompany | ITC Entertainment |
| publisher | Warner Bros. |
| theme | conspiracy theories neo-noir |