Capricorn company
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Capricorn company |
| Original title | Capricorn One |
| Country of production | United States , United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| length | 123 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Peter Hyams |
| script | Peter Hyams |
| production | Paul Lazarus III |
| music | Jerry Goldsmith |
| camera | Bill Butler |
| cut | James Mitchell |
| occupation | |
| |
Enterprise Capricorn (Original Title: Capricorn One ) is an American science fiction film directed by Peter Hyams from 1978 , which is about a faked first trip by US astronauts to Mars .
action
The planned Mars flight turns into a plot when those responsible for NASA see the financing of the US space program threatened by its foreseeable technical failure. The astronauts Brubaker (the commander of the mission with the rank of colonel), Willis and Walker are dragged from the spaceship Capricorn One to a remote military base shortly before the start , while the now unmanned rocket starts. The head of NASA's Mars program, Dr. Kelloway, tries to get the three of them to cooperate with reference to the national importance of the Mars flight in order to fool the world into a successful mission. Otherwise the plane with which their wives are on their way home after the rocket launch will be blown up. The shocked astronauts have no choice but to play along in the gigantic fraud. Much of the communication with the spaceship can be faked by recordings made during training simulations. The astronauts only occasionally have to contribute live material, which is recorded in a film studio with a space capsule, lander and Martian landscape.
In the meantime, NASA engineer Whittier discovered irregularities in the television signals, which apparently did not originate from the spaceship on its way to Mars. His superiors, who are part of the conspiracy, downplay his concerns about technical issues. Frustrated, he turns to his friend, the journalist Robert Caulfield. Then Whittier disappears without a trace while playing billiards in a bar. Nobody seems to have ever heard of him, his apartment has been completely changed and is said to have been occupied by someone else for a long time. Because of these inconsistencies and a deliberately caused serious accident with his car, Caulfield senses the big story. His boss soon fired him because Caulfield was arrested for alleged drug possession.
When the spaceship is close enough to earth during the return flight, a live call can also take place with the wives of the astronauts, which of course also does not take place from the space capsule. Because of the constant surveillance, the conspirators know that Brubaker wants to do something about the gigantic fraud. There is now the opportunity to do so in the live conversation, which would have immediately interrupted the TV broadcast. Brubaker only says innocuous things to his wife, but she is briefly surprised at the mention of last year's vacation spot. Caulfield noticed this little oddity in a recording of the conversation. He learns from Brubaker's wife that the vacation was actually in a different place. Caulfield sees this as a hidden message from Brubaker.
When the astronauts are to be flown to the landing area of the landing capsule that has returned to Earth in order to take their place there, data in the NASA control center seem to indicate that the capsule "burned up" when it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The three astronauts must have died instantly, whereupon Dr. Kelloway announced the sad news to the public at a press conference with feigned consternation. Brubaker, Willis and Walker have now been brought back to the military base and they realize that they can only officially be "dead" at this point. They expect to be eliminated as unwanted confidants shortly. They manage to escape with the aircraft waiting, but lack of fuel forces them to make an emergency landing in the desert. Upon landing, they split the contents of an emergency kit, including flares, and separate to increase the chance that at least one of them will return to civilization. Soon the conspirators have the desert searched by helicopters.
Caulfield meanwhile has a hot lead and finds the military base where the Mars landing was staged. He rents a biplane for his own search for the astronauts. Walker and Willis are found by their hunters, both can still launch their signal missiles. Your further fate is not shown. Brubaker manages to make his way to an abandoned gas station, where he finds water and a phone and tries to reach his wife. But his family is already on the way to the funeral service for the dead astronauts.
At the last moment, Caulfield and his pilot save Brubaker from the approaching helicopter teams by getting him onto the wing of their biplane. They escape their pursuers in a dramatic chase over the mountainous desert. The astronaut and the journalist arrive at the official memorial service just as the US president states in his speech that "three courageous pioneers gave their lives for space travel". The numerous reporters gathered panning their cameras from the president to the approaching Brubaker, which uncovered the conspiracy.
backgrounds
- One conspiracy theory surrounding a posed moon landing suggests that leftover footage of the moon landing was used in the film. In fact, some scenes are modeled on the moon missions.
- NASA vigorously opposed claims made by Capricorn's producers that they were involved in the making of the film.
Premieres
- Japan: December 17, 1977
- USA: June 2nd, 1978
- Germany: August 3, 1978
Reviews
“In order to preserve the national ideals of the USA and at the same time take into account the financial bottlenecks in the national budget, NASA is organizing a manned flight to Mars, which in reality is only simulated. When a journalist gets on the track, an unscrupulous hunt starts on him and the hidden astronauts. Effectively staged thriller. Very exciting entertainment. "
“This film in particular seems to me to be typical of a tendency - a new form of camouflage : system stabilization through criticism of appearance and behavior. A method, admittedly, that is not too easy to understand. "
literature
- Ronald M. Hahn, Volker Jansen: Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 720 films from 1902 to 1983. Heyne, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-453-01901-6 .
Web links
- Capricorn in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Capricorn company in the online film database
- Capricorn atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Quoted from Hahn / Jansen