Countdown (1968)

Desperate to reach the moon first, NASA sends a man (James Caan) and shelter separately, one-way. He must find it to survive; he cannot return until Apollo is ready.This film has been heavily scrutinized for being boring, dated and any number of other things. Critic Howard Thompson calls the film a "limp space-flight drama" which "makes the moon seem just as dull as Mother Earth". Some of this might be fair, some might not. Director Robert Altman, who later went on to big things, got the job through Warner Brothers' B-movie producer William Conrad (1920-1994). So maybe we are wrong to expect too much. (Although it is great to see such early performances from Caan and Robert Duvall.) Where the movie is and is not Altman's is unclear. The bulk is obviously his, but the story goes that Jack Warner (1892-1978) did not like Altman's use of overlapping dialogue, had him removed from the set, and Conrad shot some new footage. So how much did Altman get to edit into the final film?

The film is interesting although very TV-movieish in many ways (editing, melodramatic score, zooms and pans) but it had some good points nonetheless.Many of the scenes involving characters in conflict were very realistic-people talked over each other, facial expressions, sarcasm, etc. The scene between Ross and Gus was exceptionally well done and very interesting since we had Ross trying to do his job for the government and Gus showing concern about the human element of the project.The training simulations were cool and it seemed many were filmed at NASA or at least recreated in an authentic fashion. This a good movie for Saturday or Sunday afternoon...give it a try and enjoy the acting, script, and low-key TV style film-making.

I've just got to throw my 2 cents in. I thought the Countdown was an excellent movie. The acting is what carries it for sure, but the special effects aren't bad either for the time period.I've seen Apollo 13 with Hanks and I thought this picture did a better job of portraying tension, ( although fictitious ) within the capsule. Robert Duvall is a superior actor as is James Caan. The overall dismay he portrays when not picked for the mission, and the subsiquent attempt to discredit Caan is great acting!

The overall story concept, writing and acting make this a pretty good film about a hurried attempt by the U.S. to place a man on the moon before the bad guys in Eastern Europe do. They come up with a plan to land an unmanned craft on the moon with enough air and Tang to last a year. Then land a man who will seek out the craft and live in it until the Apollo program can get up there to retrieve him. This was mentioned briefly in the James Michener Novel "SPACE" (The man in the moon and let him rot idea) The props/FX however are what ruins an other wise good picture. The landing craft used by James Caans character Astronaut Lee Stegler consisted of a Gemini spacecraft attached to the decent stage of a Lunar module. It's so hilarious you almost expect to see Jerry Lewis or the Three Stooges get out of it. Then to make matters worse it appears that Caans moon garb is a proximity suit, which is used in aircraft firefighting. The film is currently playing on AMC and also features Robert Duvall. Not as good as "Marooned" but worth watching despite the poor FX.