Capricorn One [Blu-ray]

Don't be put off by the label on the back of the box which says it is in 4:3 aspect with mono sound.
Actually it is in original 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 2/0 stereo sound and the video is in MPEG-2.

Picture and sound quality is pretty good for a film of its vintage and budget.

Action sequences of the reporters (Elliott Gould) out of control car and Telly Savalas with his crop spraying plane still look good and are exciting to watch.

Disc has no extras or alternate soundtrack but has subtitles should they be required.

Feature runs for 123 minutes.

Capricorn One is a film that seems to have fallen out of favor over the years but it still holds up as one of the best 70s conspiracy thrillers even if it spends more time as a chase movie than it does on the nuts and bolts of exactly how to fake a space mission from a TV studio in Texas. The chronology also gets a little awkward in the second half as Elliot Gould's cynical reporter uncovers NASA's little game and suddenly finds his brakes tampered with and the feds planting drugs on him for his troubles - you can't help feeling that his suspicions should have been aroused a lot earlier to stop him putting the pieces together a little too quickly and conveniently while at the same time the three astronauts who are only co-operating because their families have been threatened (since O.J. is on the crew it must have been a 2-1 majority decision) and suddenly find themselves excess to requirements spend far too much time on the run in the desert. Not that the interest falters, especially as James Brolin has an increasingly tough time of it, finding himself a playground for scorpions and rattlesnakes while chased by the two most malevolent looking helicopters in screen history that become vividly vulture-like characters of their own. It's extraordinarily well directed by Peter Hyams with a remarkably strong visual sense he's long lost since becoming his own cinematographer and some superb crosscutting, and Jerry Goldsmith's superb driving score is among his very best.

The extras package on Network's DVD is better than any previous edition - the full trailer (but not the better teaser trailer on the R1 disc), a 6-minute vintage making-of short and 40-minutes of raw production footage with sound - but not outstanding. However, it does feature an excellent new 2.35:1 transfer that greatly improves on all previous versions.

The rocket is on the launch pad. The astronauts have just strapped themselves in. Suddenly there is a tap on the window and the three men (James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O.J. Simpson) have become pawns in one of the most improbable conspiracies ever invented. Ushered out of the space capsule and flown to a remote military base in the desert, they are forced against their will to co-operate in a desperate plan to fake the first manned mission to Mars. The motive: Congress is looking for an excuse to cut NASA's funding, and an aborted mission, caused by the last-minute discovery of a faulty life-support system, would be all the excuse they need. So the mission must go ahead, or appear to go ahead, at all costs. All goes well until the capsule's heat shield disintegrates on re-entry to Earth and the capsule burns up in the atmosphere, leaving millions of people with the idea that the astronauts are dead. NASA cannot afford to have them around anymore....
Sounds silly eh? Well, essentially it is, but director Peter Hyams takes this silly idea and runs with it with such flair and energy that, disbelief suspended, the audience is taken on one of the most entertaining journeys of the 70s. Everything works together so well: the sardonically witty dialogue, the arresting visuals, the exhilarating stunts, all linked by Jerry Goldsmith's brilliantly atmospheric music. Never mind that the plot is full of holes, this is a film to watch again and again.