BITE-SIZED REVIEW: Capricorn One (Peter Hyams, 1978)

When technical flaws scupper their planned expedition to Mars, NASA's brain trust decide to engage in an elaborate deception: blackmailing a crew of astronauts, they will fake a landing on the red planet.

When the astronauts (James Brolin, Sam Waterson and OJ Simpson) escape the studio, their former employer is determined to eliminate them before they can get to the outside world.

Will they succeed?

A great premise that launched a thousand conspiracies, Capricorn One was an early credit for Peter Hyams, a filmmaker with a long career across a variety of genres: science fiction (Outland, 2010, TimeCop), action (Sudden Death, Enemies Closer), horror (The Relic) and comedy (Running Scared).

With his constant hopping between genres, Hyams is the kind of filmmaker I generally gravitate towards. 

But like the space expedition at the centre of this movie, there is something not quite right with Capricorn One.

There is something cold and aimless at the heart of this movie. There are plot movies that are designed to build tension but the pacing is off - every scene feels 20 seconds too long, and if the scene involves any kind of exposition, it feels even longer.

What makes it frustrating is that you can see the elements of the recipe for suspense. The film cuts between the astronauts and a disgraced journalist (Elliott Gould) on the outside who begins to unpeel the conspiracy. Gould is always good value, but his scenes never come off - the tension is just not there. 

Even the stuff which should be exciting - the astronaut’s escape across the desert, never quite builds steam. The final airplane chase is decent with some impressive stunt-work (and a scenery-chewing cameo from Telly Savalas), but it is too little too late.

The acting is generally okay, although the actors are hung out to dry by long-winded dialogue scenes that go on a few passages too long.

Despite being a paranoid thriller, Capricorn One is not that paranoid and only occasionally thrilling.

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