Directed by John Sturges, this follows three Apollo era astronauts who find themselves stranded in orbit after a problem during their return to Earth from a trip to an orbital station. As their oxygen supply dwindles, a desperate race against time, both in space and on Earth, unfolds to get them back safely. Comparison to Apollo 13 (the mission and the film) are fair game..
The timing of this film is interesting. The first manned Apollo flight, Apollo 7, launched in October of 1968. "Marooned" was released in 1969, so viewers were familiar with the Apollo spacecraft and equipment. "Marooned" is set in a hypothetical near future of the space program as it was understood at that time. The space station for example, launched as the top section of a Saturn V, was an early Apollo idea that was never built. The later Skylab platform did work that way however. Overall, since "Marooned" goes to significant effort to be realistic, it's interesting to see what it has right, and what's just a bit off. It's uncommon for a film that is essentially a futuristic adventure, be so grounded in specific contemporary technology. As a bonus, it features an experimental aircraft of a type that was quite popular at the time.
Notably "2001 A Space Odyssey" also came out in 1969, and I can only assumed over shadowed "Marooned" significantly. There are parallels in the realist style of the special effects. 2001 is superior, it goes without saying, but the miniature effects in "Marooned" are actually quite good. It's not the sort of thing audiences were used to seeing.
As to the film itself, it's so busy trying to be realistic that it simply fails to create a sense of urgency. The ticking clock of the astronauts' dwindling oxygen supply, and an approaching hurricane, should provide plenty of suspense. But the treatment of the challenge as a technical, engineering and even bureaucratic, problem (which is to say realistically) sucks the energy out of the plot.
The cast is quite good though. Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna, and James Franciscus bring convincing depth and emotion to their roles as the stranded astronauts. Gregory Peck of course is great as the NASA administrator leading the rescue effort.
In spite of its flaws, "Marooned" captures the zeitgeist of the late 1960s space race. Its fictionalized account of a potential space disaster, is rather fascinating. This one is an interesting product of its time, and not terrible, if a rare miss for Sturges. Of course the movie also includes quite a lot of smoking.
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