It’s a captivating concept, which was the only reason I broke my “Don’t see scifi movies made before 1980” rule. Now the three men are liabilities - and they know it. As he starts to investigate, the returning capsule very publicly burns up upon reentry, putting a wrench in Fake NASA’s plan to re-insert the crew into the spacecraft. The crew reluctantly goes along with it, but small hints that something isn’t quite on the up-and-up trigger the suspicion of a reporter (Elliott Gould). To ensure the astronauts’ cooperation, the government threatens to kill their families. But instead of scrubbing the mission - which would tank the space program - they’re now going to fake it while an empty rocket heads to Mars and back.

There the trio is told that NASA knew that the contractor that built the life support system did a terrible job and that if they allowed the men to go into space, they’d be dead in weeks. Simpson) off the rocket and smuggles them to a secret base. Maybe technology was more advanced back then? Just as the first manned mission to Mars is about to take off, a government agent orders the three-man crew (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Instead of the moon landing, Capricorn One takes us to Mars. Capricorn One emerged as a product of a time when Watergate proved that people in power could - shocker - lie to cover their own butts. government faked the moon landings.īut I guess that sort of conspiracy theory was a lot more fresh back in 1977, when the most recent moon landing was only five years old. In 2021, it’s almost quaint to hear someone get worked up about the theory that the U.S. The advent of the internet’s helped to stir the crazies up in every nook and cranny of society, each touting their personal favorite false flag or cover-up operation. Justin’s review: While government conspiracies can and do happen, I don’t really truck with the conspiracy loons who see men in black and Roswell aliens around every corner. Justin’s rating: Who knew grand conspiracies could be so boring? It's amazing no one got hurt.“I take this step in the journey of peace for all mankind.” One of the astronauts tries to get away in a crop-duster, leading to a sequence where helicopters chase the small plane all through several canyons. They used a real plane with a real pilot for this sequence, and the stunt work is so jaw-droppingly crazy that it made me feel like I was going to throw up. That's right, the folks at NASA read a script that depicted them as murderous villains, and said, 'Sure, let's do this.' Anyway, what follows is a big chase movie, featuring one of the most thrilling air chases I've ever seen. Also, here's the cherry on top: the real NASA helped out with this movie. NASA opts for the latter, deadlier option – and the astronauts flee for their lives. Now NASA is faced with a crisis: they can either admit that they faked the whole thing and that the astronauts are alive and well, or they can straight-up murder the astronauts and continue with the cover-up. However this plan backfires in a big, big way when the spacecraft ends up exploding upon re-entry – something the entire world is very aware of. The reason: NASA thinks that if they canceled the mission, the government would cut their funding. They plan to dupe the public into thinking the mission went according to plan while the astronauts hide out on Earth. However, the mission still continues, with the spacecraft headed off on its own, automated. However, at the last minute, a problem is detected with the life support system and the astronauts are asked to leave the ship.

This thrilling little bit of paranoia asks a very important question: what if the folks at NASA were evil? In 'Capricorn One,' a team of astronauts are about to blast off to Mars.

Trailer for capricorn one