Marooned (1969)

“Okay Buzz you’re right. To hell with waiting for a bunch of slide-rule jockeys. We used to fix the airplanes we flew with paperclips. Lets get into our hard suits and fix this bird. ” – Jim Pruett

Number of Times Seen – 1 (9 Jun 2016)

Brief Synopsis – After their spacecraft malfunctions in space, the crew must work with the men on the ground to find a way to safely return them to Earth before they run out of oxygen.

My Take on it – I have been a fan of of US Space Program since I was a kid and have always loved watching movies that deal with it even fictional ones.

I loved the way that this movie depicts the hazards of space missions and that it was made during the early days of the Apollo missions before they really had a major crisis in space [see Apollo 13 (1995)] 🙂

It’s quite eerie how many similarities there are between this movie’s issues and the real one’s depicted there and that failed mission happened about a year after this movie was made.

In the movie Apollo 13 (1995), they even reference this movie because of the ordeals in space.

This movie has such a great cast and is led by Gregory Peck and Richard Crenna and the leaders on the ground and in space.

Excellent supporting roles by Gene Hackman, David Jannsen and James Franciscus.

The special effects look pretty lame compared to the ones nowadays, but for 1969, they were great and this movie went on to win an Oscar for Special Effects because of it.

They were able to capture the feelings of helplessness in space and on the ground when a disaster happens and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time because the suspense is done exceptionally well.

Bottom Line – Being a big fan of space related movies (and the US space program in particular), I loved this film and the way it depicted the hazards of space travel.  Eerily, much of the movie is reminiscent of some of the ordeals of the Apollo 13 crew just a year after this came out and this movie is even referenced in the film Apollo 13 (1995).  Great cast led by Peck and Crenna with nice supporting roles by Hackman, Jannsen and Franciscus.  Great special effects for its time despite feeling very archaic today. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Frank Capra began work on the film. Inspired by his work on the Martin-Marietta Corp.-commissioned faux documentary, “Rendezvous in Space” for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, Capra (a chemical engineer by education) worked to make the picture for Columbia, but finally abandoned the project in preproduction in May 1966 when he couldn’t bring the budget down to the $3-million required by Columbia worldwide production chief M.J. Frankovich. The eventual budget for the finished film (directed by John Sturges) was $8 million. Capra never made another film.  (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy

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