Never heard of this movie? Well, it does have over 100 reviews here, so it can't be that obscure. Anyway, this is a pretty nice little film even though it's not a classic. The plot is that astronauts are going to Mars, but it turns out to all be a hoax. The astronauts aren't aware that they just sent a fake space shuttle and they're taken to a studio where they'll film being on Mars. Unfortunately, the fake space shuttle disintegrates. The only way to cover this up is to kill the astronauts, so they steal an airplane to escape but it runs out of gas. They're stranded in the desert where the government hunts them down. I admit the second half isn't as good as the first, but it's still good. It is too long, but I still found it to be a unique idea done pretty well. I had no idea OJ was in all these movies. I just know more about movies than sports. ***

I love this film. I must have been about 10 when I first saw on tv this around 1981. Probably one of the first "grown up" films I watched, so some of the plot possibly went over my head but the action scenes of the second half really stuck with me. Then as I was older each time it was on I'd watch it with a little more understanding. It's very much a film of two halves, the first quite slow paced and lots of talking, setting the story out. The second half picks the pace up and delivers so great moments. It's not a classic, but if you come across it on tv or streaming service it's worthy of your attention.

An interesting flick. It starts out very, very strong; but eventually winds up being a bit uneven, a bit dated. If it were made today, some of the kinks of less-than-inspired scenario choices and production might could maybe be ironed out.Early in the flick the writing is reminiscent of Chayevsky; solid, researched, flinty/dramatic. But I sense that the producers maybe weren't aware of what they had, and that they'd need to babysit the project in a manner that closely and consistently honored those exertions. The early moments establish a wonderful sharp-edged verite. Subsequently, the quality gets rocky, and balls get dropped. Too bad!That's it! Tho I will mention that this flick would certainly be of interest to folks who want to see some of the players in their nubile years, e.g., Waterston and Holbrooke were fascinating to me. Folks complain about Gould, but I'd point out that he, probably by dint of dumb bad luck, got the short/brown end of the story management stick, this go-'round (as did Black).Oh, yeah! And... O.J. Simpson! Hubba hubba!

TV didn't kill radio, it just transferred a lot of entertainment from sound to vision. News and music radio is still alive. TV didn't kill the movies, it just forced them to be more entertaining. And you could throw in a few swear words to delineate the medium. People want to be entertained, and as we see here that was the paramount objective at any show then as well as now. Oh - The moon landings were real - the Soviets were watching EVERY move and zeroed every telemetry and voice transmission. Any fakery would have been called out immediately, loudly, and triumphantly, because if anyone had a reason to fake it, it was the then-USSR. Now I'll leave you to wikipedia for that story, but that's something I needed to get straight here right away.Here we have a real popcorn 1970's style film, replete with big names and contemporary TV personalities. It's factually inaccurate and disastrously so, with plot holes galore (they incessantly point out the delays in radio transmission and they keep happening in real time, lol). Yet it works somehow, and that's because the back story of a faked space mission is so compelling.Great script and really great music from Jerry Goldsmith round it out for a real Saturday afternoon treat. Remember that? Greasy 'buttered' popcorn? Smoking allowed n the Balcony? Dots, Sugar Babies and Chuckles in BIG packages? Here's the movie for it.All actors, OJ included, do a bang up job. Elliot Gould is a pro, Brolin and Waterston too. Hal Holbrook really puts his all into his character and shines. The aerial stunts are insane. The cinematography, in particular the lighting, is really top notch. It shows that even a third-rate Hollywood flick was imp0ortant enough to do a first rate job on. Worth watching any time.