Capricorn One (1977)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Capricorn One (1977) – P. Hyams

About ¾ of the way through this very entertaining conspiracy thriller, I posited that there could only be two possible endings: 1) the conspiracy is exposed; or 2) the conspirators win.  Since this was the 1970s, I expected the bleakest outcome (e.g., The Parallax View, 1974, if I am remembering correctly).  However, bleak didn’t always win (see All the President’s Men, 1976,for example) – but just demonstrating that the conspiracy is out there was probably enough to fit the zeitgeist.  In Capricorn One, we are shown how the moon landing could have been faked – except the script shows us a future mission to Mars instead (and Kubrick has nothing to do with it!).  The astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson) are kept in the dark until the very last moment when they are pulled from the rocket and transported to a secret military base that has been rigged up to look like the surface of Mars; they are told that their families will be harmed unless they cooperate and stage the Mars landing for the TV cameras.  Although the plan for rescuing them from the capsule when it lands in the sea after the mission is carefully explained to them (by boss/friend/bad guy Hal Holbrook), it doesn’t take long before they realise that they really aren’t going to be allowed to live...  Elliott Gould plays the clichéd alcoholic but intrepid reporter who stumbles onto the conspiracy (with help from Karen Black and Telly Savalas).  Writer-Director Peter Hyams throws everything at the audience (stunts with cars, helicopters, airplanes), including all the usual conspiracy thriller elements, and comes up with fun popcorn fare.