Marooned (1969)

Marooned-in my theater

Marooned was a poor movie at best having a minimal story, weak acting and dialogue, poor special effects, and no musical score to speak of. Rocky Jones Space Ranger, the TV space opera of the 50's for kids, had far better special effects. The drawn out ending was actually painful to sit through and watching the three astronauts go bouncing off the walls was not an interesting or credible story.

It is amazing that this film received any awards for special effects as the screen effects in Marooned featured suspended plastic models against simple and often very out of scale backgrounds. The crude models were not even airbrushed and reflected light off their specular points in the unrealistic lighting. How this effort warranted an academy award when compared to 2001 is criminal. In Hollywood anything is possible as great work can be totally ignored and mediocre work praised.

I first saw this film in 1969 at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York. I went to see it in high hopes of a good film experience with fresh memories of 2001 and knowledge of what can be done with good sci-fi film when they wish to do so and know how to do it. This was not to be. September 27, 2008

Gusto almost.

Another good idea for a movie. Mostly good acting with some almost. You know you are caught up when you catch yourself yelling, "stupid, look out for the..." May 1, 2008

TOP NOTCH

Marooned is a very well written movie with an all star cast, excellent story line, and a must have for your movie collection. A Sci-Fi about our space program, and the risks involved with space flight. It touches on achievements, team effort, and tragic developments. If you haven't seen it, you're missing a really great film.

Thomas January 8, 2008

brings back memories

This is one of the first movies I ever saw, and while the special effects are definitely 60s, the story is great. A little like Apollo 13. August 1, 2007

A Human Drama at the Outset of the Space Age

This may indeed be though of as a "space movie" because much of it takes place in space but to do so is to miss the point. It is a human drama.

An Apollo capsule has been in space for a while and the crew are tired and worn out. They are finally returning to earth but something goes wrong. Houston, we have a problem. At first, it is treated as just a temporary glitch but the glitch defies resolution. It becomes apparent that the astronauts run a real risk of running out of air.

Gregory Peck plays the NASA director. He is a tough man motivated by the best interests of the program. He does not see a real way to rescue the marooned astronauts. It is pointed out to him, however, that failure to even try will spell the doom of the program. Once he gets on board, he does so with every resource he can muster. Unfortunately, there is a hurricane heading for the cape. That makes launching a rescue even more problematical.

Meanwhile, on the stranded ship, the astronauts have their own problems. They realize they are on borrowed time and there is not a thing that they can do to help themselves. Saying goodbye to their families exhausts their capabilities.

It is a sad tale extremely well done. It does not focus on the machinery, instead it focuses on the people.
April 3, 2007

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