Although Google thinks the movie came out on December 17, 1977, there’s no evidence to suggest this was the case. But the accidental cautionary tale of Capricorn One is to remember that the answer to the “what if?” question doesn’t always have to be a complex cover-up.įunnily enough, if you Google the “Capricorn One release date,” the inconsistent data might make you think the movie itself is a hoax. Asking “what if?” questions in science fiction can be amazing. The only reason it’s not a classic is that trolls essentially hijacked its premise and took this fiction to be a kind of blueprint for conspiracy theories. It posits an untrusting worldview, and skepticism that is both artful and exciting. Michael Ochs Archives/Moviepix/Getty ImagesĬapricorn One was a unique 1970s sci-fi movie that suggested the real events were, in fact, science fiction. It wasn’t a huge blockbuster, but its influence is probably bigger than anyone realized at the time.įaking the Mars landing in Capricorn One. Capricorn One was the biggest independent movie of 1978 (the year of its wider release). But it’s possible that because Capricorn One was moderately successful, the bedrock of Moon-truther beliefs flourished in the decades that followed. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that all the NASA moon landings happened, and that there’s no real reason to believe anything was faked for political purposes. In fact, had a fervent anti-science and anti-NASA sentiment not taken hold with other conspiracy theories, Capricorn One might be remembered more fondly. So I was watching these simulations and I wondered what would happen if someone faked a whole story.”Īs a thought experiment, Capricorn One feels delightfully transgressive, thrilling, and ultimately, a product of its time. My generation was brought up to believe television was true, and that was bullshit too. “I grew up in the generation where my parents basically believed if it was in the newspaper it was true,” he told Empire in 2014. As director Peter Hynes famously said, the purpose of the film was to push back on the kneejerk belief that anything anybody saw on TV was automatically real. was doing, regardless of political affiliations. Instead, Capricorn One plays to a kind of post-Nixon deep cynicism for anything the U.S. Show sketch “Blow Up the Moon,” or Adam McKay’s proactive film 2021’s Don’t Look Up. It’s not a super-on-the-nose satire like the classic Mr. If there’s one thing that’s troubling it’s simply that at many points you’re wondering what it’s trying to say exactly. In a strange way, it’s well worth a remake.The movie isn’t exactly a comedy like the fake conflict in Wag the Dog was twenty years later, but Capricorn One isn’t a drama either. He needn’t have worried, the set-up is strong enough, a truly original focus for a thriller - for a while the astronauts are unaware they haven’t gone to Mars! Employing composer Jerry Goldsmith, who delivers one of his most stirring scores helps no end, as does a hilarious cameo from Telly Savalas as a crop-dusting pilot who Gould ropes into his rescue mission. Simpson, who gets to drink from a dead snake, tells you just what era this film harkens from.ĭirector Peter Hyams, a hack himself who veers between the outright crap and expertly handled B-movies like this, plays around with some loopy helicopter shots in search of a resonant style. That they are played by James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O.J. The second half is pure chase movie, a race against time as the trio of heroic spaceman escape their desert prison and are gradually hunted down. As he pieces together the factual anomalies, tipped off by his soon-to-die insider buddy Robert Walden, and dodges various attempts on his life (the most immediate form of verification) the film spins into life. It is he, one of the seventies great unrecognised joys, who gives the film its ironic fizz, as if it is almost parodying the seriousness of the eras moody suspicions. Get over that and it’s a whole lot of fun watching Hal Halbrook’s - who played supergrass Deep Throat in All The President’s Men - wicked scheming unravel thanks to the gutsy work of Elliot Gould’s tatty hack. Shadowy political trickery is one thing, fabricating an entire NASA mission is near impossible to credit. Certainly, you have to forgive the whacking great lumps of far-fetchedness. An excellent, if forgotten, late seventies conspiracy thriller which takes the existent fable of the faked moon landing and runs with it.
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