Marooned (1969)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Excellent adaptation.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I don't like "space" movies. Almost ever. But I liked this one. I was tempted to Google the film ahead of time, but resisted the temptation...and I'm glad I did. I didn't know where this was going. Would the marooned astronauts be saved? It seemed like they must. But would that be realistic. Maybe some would survive. But who? As the film progresses, those are the questions you will find yourself asking. Suffice it to say that I found the ending to be a reasonable balance between "realistic" and "feel good".Considering that we had landed on the moon only a few months before this was released, it was an interesting risk that the filmmakers took. And for its time, the special effects here were really quite good.But the real strength of the film here is the script and the acting.Was Gregory Peck ever anything less than brilliant. In a sense, this must have been a difficult film for him. He is mostly almost a "talking head" here, with most of his dialog being between him on land and an astronaut in space; not the typical back and forth dialog. And, in parts of the film he played the bearer of bad news...but he parlayed even that into a good, solid performance.Of the 3 astronauts, James Franciscus put in the best performance, followed by David Janssen, followed by Richard Crenna. Gene Hackman was not very impressive here, although admittedly he had a relatively thankless role. The 3 wives of the astronauts -- Lee Grant, Nancy Kovack, and Mariette Hartley are all but irrelevant to the story; they're there because they needed to be there...nothing more.A very good, solid film. If I were to criticize anything it would be that the film could have been edited more tightly and not have gone over 120 minutes (it is 134 minutes).

I love this movie! I own it and watch it every 1 - 2 yrs. I don't know the age group of some of the reviewers on here, but I notice several people mentioning Apollo 13, and the fact this movie was made prior to it. Does anyone remember Apollo 11? Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first people, Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the Moon on July 20, 1969. I remember being very excited as a child, crowded around the TV with my family, watching the Apollo 11 landing. Marooned was released less than 5 months later, on December 11, 1969. Maybe when watching Marooned, one should set aside what had not yet happened, Apollo 13, and realize what had already occurred, Apollo 11.

As far as books and/or movies, this was a real nail biter. I was fortunate to have met the author, Marty Caidin, in Cocoa Beach, FL. He was a rebelliously private person who actually attended the Oscars in his own type of uniform. He dressed like a motorcycle man in blue jeans and sleeveless vest with his extremely hairy chest bare. I hadn't seen the movie when I met him, but when I did see it, I was astounded that it was so like the missions I had witnessed. I came out of my seat several times. It isn't often that I remember wishing well for the bad guy, but this movie did that for me. Also, Gregory Peck was, without a doubt, the perfect actor to portray his part. I would watch this movie over and over if I could just to see the beginning and the end. If you have never seen this movie, you really owe yourself the chance to see it if you can. The book is just about as thrilling, too, but see the movie first so that you picture what these men are going through. If I understood correctly, the "Six Million Dollar Man" was also written by Marty.

for whatever reason,Marooned just didn't do a heck of a lot for me.i found it a b it too slow going,and too melodramatic at times.that's not to say it's a poorly made film.on the contrary,it's well done for the most part.the acting is believable from all involved.and the premise is one that should be gripping:three astronauts end up stuck in space,while their oxygen runs low.but for some reason it failed too engage me on a more than moderate level.the only thing i can think of is the dialogue,which was sometimes a bit hokey,in my opinion.still,this is just one person's opinion.but for me,Marooned is a 4/10