Marooned

source: Marooned

Listless space-opera from Columbia Pictures (overseen by Columbia's main resident for lushly-produced soapers, M.J. Frankovich) concerns three astronauts working in space on-board the Ironman One, only to encounter immediate troubles with the engine which the folks back in Houston can't seem to rectify. The film, a December 1969 release, predated the real-life Apollo 13 scare (and won an Oscar for its effects), but it's a wheeze. The marooned astronauts start to come apart emotionally, and it's meant to be high drama when Gene Hackman finally freaks out, but all we in the audience can think is, "Didn't these men get the necessary training for this type of disaster?"... and when 'over the hill' Richard Crenna starts musing about his by-gone glory days, you can set your watch for his ultimate fate. "Marooned" is somber, laughably ominous and ultimately pneumatic. *1/2 from ****

As a frequent user of the IMDb, I rarely write reviews but I feel compelled to put my 2 cents in on this one. I'm a science fiction fan, so I have seen and appreciated some very obscure works, yet I never heard of this movie. There is a big reason why... it's not good, it's not a classic, and that's why it's forgotten. First, I have to ask... why do people who rate movies like this a perfect 10 think anybody reads their reviews? You are stating this is the most superb piece of filmmaking art you have ever seen. Seriously? All you have proved is that whatever you have to say is totally worthless. This movie is from 1969, so it's important to look at it in context. They threw together a few big stars & capitalized on the two biggest fads of the era: space & The Cold War. This could have been a classic if it were a 30 minute Twilight Zone episode. It's over 2 hour runtime borders on painful. It represents Hollywood appealing to the nation's lowest common denominator by combining a fad with star power and little else. Obviously they are masters of exploiting public stupidity since there are still people tasteless enough to keep raving about this flick 40+ years later. Considered historically, it provides indisputable proof that the moon landing was 100% real, because not even Hollywood could fake it. It's award winning special effects make you wonder how the actors were able to keep a straight face while doing their zero G "acrobatics". Winning the Oscar has to be the Academy's version of dark humor considering the winner in its category the previous year was 2001: A Space Odyssey. The only reason this movie should be mentioned in the same breath as Kubrick's masterpiece is to point out how it's the opposite of everything that makes 2001 a work of art. I respect the fact that many reviewers have a soft spot for this movie because they still look at it with child's eyes. I'm a little younger so my child nerd affection goes to movies like Space Camp. Yet even though I thought Space Camp was "wicked awesome" as a kid, I won't waste your time telling you it was a cinematic masterpiece. In fact Marooned can't even stand up to other Sci-fi disappointments with big potentials and poor execution, such as The Black Hole or Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Those two stinkers don't exactly set the bar very high either. Just like Marooned is no perfect 10, it's not the very worst movie in the world either. It's got big stars and its about the space race & that can go along way. Just not a 2 hours and 14 minutes long of a way. It's a bit sub par of average in the history of Hollywood. Watch it if you wish to relive a piece of your childhood or get a slice of what America was crazy about at the time. Just do NOT expect a grand story or an amazing cinematic experience & you won't be disappointed.

Perhaps this movie is slow-moving like some have pointed out, though I didn't mind its deliberate pacing. In fact, I think it's a heck of a lot better than its current IMDb score would indicate. The film is a near-future sci-fi film in which a group of three astronauts are on a lengthy mission on a space station. On their return to Earth, there is an equipment malfunction and they are stranded in space. Unfortunately, there just doesn't appear to be a way to save them in time so the folks at NASA and on board the ship realize it's just a matter of time before they run out of oxygen. As far as the acting goes, this was not one of Gregory Peck's finest moments. His character is very, very subdued and stern--too stern. As a result, he comes off as a grouch and a non-emotive one to boot. Fortunately, the astronauts (Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman and James Franciscus) all do an exceptional job and tend to give the film a lot more feeling. In particular, Franciscus is very good and manages to overshadow his more famous co-stars. Other than Peck, the only other negative are some of the special effects. Most look very good for 1969, but the ones in 2001 seem to be a bit better. The film did get the Oscar for Best Special Effects, however, despite a few less than stellar scenes--though most the film's special effects were very effectively done. As for the ending, it was very tense and worth seeing. So, for people who like this sort of film, it is excellent and gives insight into the fears people had during the days of the Apollo program.

This film gets ten, well deserved stars because it is one of the few science-fiction films I have seen which had the ability to draw you into its universe of story rapidly, and then keep you there. I've never seen the parody on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" all the way through, but the plodding, crap-heap those viewers was seeing was not the movie I remembered as a child. Folks, _Marooned_ is a classic. I thought so then, and at age forty, I still believe that. Seldom have we seen so much dramatic talent put together in a single movie. Greg Peck was enough of a box office draw, but _Marooned_ has him, Gene Hackman, James Franciscus, Richard Crenna, David Jannsen--and they all deliver high caliber performances. Even those actors who have less screen time--such as the actor who played Wheeler, the flight controller at Houston--does a remarkable job with the few lines he's given. John Sturges was a venerated director at the time, and in this movie he continued to make epic use of his camera. An earlier review compared the Mission Control scenes in _Marooned_ to those in _Apollo 13_, and observed that the ones in _Marooned_ are better, more realistic. I love both movies, but I wholeheartedly agree with him. In the current age of space travel, one could only wonder what a remake of _Marooned_ would be like if they incorporated the shuttle orbiters, and the International Space Station into the story. One more thing, and this is important. If you're a special effects nut; if you can't get enough of Lucasfilm, and any science-fiction film ever done by Steven Spielberg, then you're going to despise this movie..._Marooned_ is more on the tragic, introspective, narrative side of the fence. Time has not been kind to the visuals. In a perfect world, some ambitious corporation would see the potential in a _Marooned_ special edition with updated special effects, but let's face it, this probably won't happen. On the other hand, if you're interested in just a good story, and an interesting (too close for comfort actually) prognosticate about the perils of the early space program, then here is your movie.

Another space flick that came out during the height of the space program. Only a tad better then 1968's Countdown and the tad refers to the props. The story it would seem would be filled with plenty of suspense but this ones orbit just decays and falls. Three astronauts played by Richard Crenna, James Franciscus and Gene Hackman who have been in a space station climb aboard their Apollo craft to come home and the engine says no. Marooned in orbit the ground control crew led by Gregory Peck scratch their heads and try to figure out what to do before the trios air supply runs out. David Jansen wants to rescue them in an untried spacecraft but Peck is reluctant. To make matters worse a hurricane is brewing. The astronaut wives are brought into the picture to help boost the suspense. Will they make it? Who can help them? If you've never seen it it's worth a look. After seeing Apollo 13 however you may laugh at this one. The space travelers on MST3K do.

I'm a huge fan of space, but this movie just bores me to death. First off, the movie feels much longer than its 130 minute length. It just feels more like three or four hours instead. The movie actually has no music score at all. It just has a electronic hum as credits music. Uh, why? 2001, Apollo 13, even Countdown have music scores. Some people say that this movie is realistic, but in real life, NASA flight directors and normal mission control men can't talk to the spacecraft. Only CAPCOM, who is usually an active astronaut, not the head of the astronaut core, like Ted Doughterty (who is supposed like Deke Slayton [who was inactive because of an inner-ear infection]). Overacting is probably the biggest killer in this movie. Gene Hackman is so over-the-top that it's surprising that he actually got great parts afterwards. Peck is slow, Janssen is overboard, Crenna is wasted (why kill him, kill Hackman!) and Franciscus actually too low-key for the part.

I can't understand the low rating I see here - most users have given this only 5 out of 10? This puts it down into the same ranks of mediocrity as Red Planet or Stowaway to the Moon - and more than a point worse than You Only Live Twice. Please. It is short on special effects, and that is its biggest failing - but this is a judgement using the standards of Star Wars or Apollo 13 as a benchmark. Marooned was made in 1969, and 2001: A Space Odyssey is the proper comparison; but the difference is that the effects in Marooned are only a backdrop for the astronauts - that is, the astronauts are the story - and in 2001 the effects are (at times) the entire story. The story of Marooned is solid, and the lead performances - particularly Gregory Peck and David Janssen - add quality. The movie opens with genuine footage of a Saturn V rocket launch, which is a good reason in itself to watch. And it was made before the real-life crisis of Apollo 13 and threw a strong light on the possibility of an in-flight problem for which no contingencies were planned. It is food for thought that this piece of art was in the public arena some months before Apollo 13 and that even 25 years later NASA still has difficulty - apparently - in covering all the bases for space flight problems. If you have already voted on this, then take another look and you will see that there is way more good than bad movie-making here, and that 5/10 is not justified.

For those who still believe in movies without CGI or too fancy special effects, Marroned is your kind of movie. Based in great performances by Gregory Peck, Richard Creena, Gene Hackman, David Jansen and all the great crew, this Apollo-era film is a good movie for entertaining and a short view of the Space Program in the early 70's. When I was reading some of the history of the production, the idea of Philco-Ford to "lend" a replica of the Mission Control Room for the movie (they actually were the creators of the original room in Cape Kennedy, according to the publication) was an exceptional element of accuracy and realism. The space scenes are part of the movie, not the movie itself and, well, was 1970, the chroma effects were still very simple. Still, the acting quality is the best value of Marroned. Please take a look and make your own opinion. I love it!

This creepingly slow space drama was mainly conceived, I'd posit, as a showcase for the acting talents of the four leads: we're treated to Hackman, Crenna and Franciscus playing the astronaut trio trapped in space, and Peck as the no-nonsense controller back on the ground whose attempts to return them to Earth make up the bulk of the running time. Sadly, 'bulk' is right when it comes to this movie: it's way overlong, with much of the length consisting of repetitive dialogue sequences or scenes which add little to the narrative. In some cases, it actually feels quite stodgy, especially during the lengthy mid section. I was often looking at the clock and wondering how much more of this I could sit through. Invariably, the special effects are quite dated and often look laughable in this day and age. Yet despite these detractions, the film does have a special kind of timeliness to it (considering the year it was made) which adds significance to the production. And I'll admit that things do get quite thrilling in the last half hour, when we're treated to the kind of suspense that should have been present all the way through. The actors are the main reason to tune in these days: it's hard to fault any of them, but I think Crenna gives the best performance of the lot as a compassionate family man. Hackman is almost unrecognisable in comparison to the later tough, mannered character actor he became, and as always Franciscus seems to me to be underrated. Peck is very good too, but then that's a given.