Associated General Films, 1978
starring: James Brolin, Elliott Gould and Hal Holbrook
written and directed by: Peter Hyams

the plot: Minutes before the first manned mission to Mars is set to launch, Col. Charles Brubaker (Brolin) and his team of astronauts are pulled off the space shuttle and spirited away to a secret location. The shuttle launches anyway, though, and the public believes the astronauts are on their way to the red planet. The truth is far more sinister, as Brubaker and his compatriots learn from Dr. James Kelloway (Holbrook), the head of the mission. A mechanical failure on the shuttle would have doomed the crew, but mounting public and political pressure meant the mission had to proceed anyway. And so Kelloway and a cabal of conspirators set up an elaborate soundstage to fake the landing. The astronauts object, but when Kelloway threatens their families, they’re forced to comply. Everything goes according to plan until the landing capsule burns up on re-entry and Brubaker and his crew are presumed dead. The astronauts escape from Kelloway but find themselves stranded in the middle of the desert. Meanwhile, TV journalist Robert Caulfield (Gould) stumbles on to some information that could expose the conspiracy—but perhaps not before he becomes a victim of it himself.

why it’s good: No discussion of wacky conspiracy theories is complete without a mention of the so-called “moon landing hoax.” It’s more than a bit wonky, but as thriller plots go, it’s just half-baked enough to be entertaining. That’s the thread that Peter Hyams picks up in “Capricorn One.” It’s a great thriller that nicely taps into the general paranoia and mistrust of the post-Watergate era government. The cast is top notch, from Brolin as the stoic, uncompromising Brubaker down to Telly Savalas as the crusty old owner of a crop dusting business, and Hyams keeps the action brisk and the suspense high. But about halfway through “Capricorn,” things start getting just a bit too ludicrous, and the numerous contradictions and nagging questions raised by the story get in the way of actually enjoying the movie. Holbrook delivers a great monologue outlining the whole shaggy conspiracy, but all that planning seems sort of careless when Holbrook is forced to kill the very people his stupid plan was supposed to save in the first place. These minor annoyances linger like a bad paper cut, and it takes a pretty awesome biplane/helicopter chase at the end of the movie to fully banish such distractions. “Capricorn” is a fun ride, though, as long as you don’t put much thought into it.

why you should own it: “Capricorn One” is a nice slice of late-1970s paranoia, and if the plot holes and inconsistencies don’t drive you crazy, it’s worth adding to your library. Unfortunately, Lions Gate’s DVD is without any notable extras. Would it have killed them to at least pull together a documentary about moon landing conspiracies?