Operation Ganymed (1977)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Sorry, this movie sucks

Powerful

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

"Operation Ganymed" or "Helden, verloren im Staub der Sterne" is a West German film that is mostly in German and was made back in 1977, so it will have its 40th anniversary next year. The writer and director is Rainer Erler and it is one of his most known works. This is certainly also the case because the cast is outstanding for a film from that time. You can't really do much better than have Frank, Laser, Prochnow, Friedrichsen and Gärtner in your film. I will not say a whole lot about the plot other than that this is entirely science fiction with occasional thriller and drama moments. It is about an expedition to the planet Jupiter, but it's not about this one being successful or unsuccessful as we find that out early in the film already. It is all about what happens when the crew actually manages to return back to Earth years after everybody realized they had actually dies up in space.I personally thought from reading the title that this was some medical-themed thriller involving scandal and politics, but it has nothing to do with that and Ganymed stands for something entirely different. I like some of the actors in the cast and I think they are pretty talented, but it's a bit of a problem that they are in astronaut uniform for a large part of the film here and that stands a way in terms of showing us all their range. So does the script. I may be a bit biased as SciFi has always been one of my least favorite genres, but I thought the initially good idea here does not do too much in the end because there is not enough love to detail. The film runs for 120 minutes (although there are shorter versions out there) and it dragged quite a lot. Certainly a wasted opportunity. The actors and premise are much better than the actual outcome here. Only worth for the biggest fans of space-themed films. I give it a thumbs-down.

"Operation Ganymed" is sci-fi for thinkers, those with imagination, and those who enjoy looking beyond the obvious. Returning Russian and American crew finds their hook up for re-entry strangely absent. After four years in space they seem to have been forgotten. After landing somewhere in Mexico, they must try and survive on Earth. Their challenge is not an easy one. Everything appears as desolate and deserted as the planet Jupiter which they have just returned from. Gradually, individual dynamics and desperation, overcomes discipline. Flashbacks in the form of hallucinations unfolds a tragic story of exploration, and a savage hopelessness prevails. Despite marginal special effects, the story is excellent. - MERK

First, to the two nitwits on here who posted single-star comments, I have to say four words: Stick with your tripe. Not every science fiction movie aspires to be STAR WARS, guys. OK? Not every movie involving space travel and astronauts will have Han Solo, huge lumbering highly detailed space ship model effects and Burger King french fry cartons plastered with the faces of your lovable Ewoks. Thanks for being spoiled brats when it comes to what entertainment you choose to watch, this movie was above your brainwaves, and it owned you.I always wanted to be an astronaut. The opening 30 minutes or so of this film are a mesmerizing portrait of the workings inside of Apollo era spacecraft. Realistic looking sets, costumes, banal technical dialog and the anticipation of returning to Earth after a five year mission to Jupiter and back. We didn't have hyperdrive in 1972 or so when the science of this movie was being developed. Come to think of it we still don't have hyperdrive, warp nacelles, dilithium crystals or Hiesenberg Compensators. Faulting this movie for rooting itself in the science of it's age is like complaining about cowboys in a Western for riding horses instead of just getting a Humvee.This film is daring, experimental, and alarmingly realistic. After seeing it I recall vividly where I first encountered the formula of astronauts returning home to an Earth devastated by a nuclear war: DEF-CON 4, a tasteless, tacky, exploitation hell of a Reagan era cold war paranoia movie that quite obviously plundered OPERATION GANYMED for it's source material. Where that film devolves into a geek show by the time we are shown nuclear survivors carving fresh slices of astronaut leg over an open fire, this movie maintains a grim, prosaic, nightmarish quality that is all the more potent for not going overboard.Make no mistake this is a LOW, low budget film, dwarfed even by the amount of money wasted on DEF-CON 4 let alone the Lucas/Spielberg epics of it's time (1978) that only a fool would compare this too. The ending is shatteringly ambiguous, perhaps cut short on the 93 minute version I saw but all the more effective by not showing us how it all turned out. Five astronauts return from a five year mission to boldly go where no man has still yet to go, and find that humanity has unforgivably extinguished itself in a nuclear holocaust that is never really explained. Instead of being greeted by CNN, cheering masses and adoring Hollywood celebrities they find decay, fallout poisoning, madness, death, and worse. It's like DESERT COMMANDOS crossed with THE ROAD WARRIOR, with even the former movie's Horst Frank in another standout role as a mission commander who refuses to give in to hysteria even when his face starts to blister & peel with radiation burns. Nobody ever said science fiction HAS to be pretty or fun to work, here is a film that proves it.So pardon my urge to wish to take a tire iron to the numbskulls who dare mock this movie, watching it hoping to see something else than what is here. The paucity of human kind is shown in our willingness to make fools of ourselves, squander that which we have and then childishly stamp our feet and demand something more. Here is a film that dares to disappoint the thick skulled morons who thought they were getting a happy fantasy of a boy riding a rocket when choosing it and ignoring what the story had to offer. For that alone it earns not just my respect or admiration, but outright awe. Try it on a double bill with the equally frightening, weird & ambiguous A BOY AND HIS DOG. I dare you.8/10

This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen. The English dubbing is awful not to mention the plot. There is no excitement. I thought a sci-fi flick was supposed to have at least reasonable excitement or redeeming message. I recorded this film from TV back in Chicago many years ago and did not remember it, which tells you something, so this evening I was looking thru old tapes I had and pulled this one. Believe it or not but Jurgen Prochnow is in this mess. I am sure he regrets his face ever showing in this thing. The start of the film is at least interesting concerning a team of astronauts, both Russian and American on an ambitious expedition to Jupiter and one of Jupiter's major moons, Ganymed. It is interesting that the film writers chose Ganymed. Most other sci-fi space journeys to Jupiter involve either Io or Europa. Unfortunately from just about then on the flick drops into an abyss from which it never recovers. Makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Star Wars when it comes to quality and excitement. Sorry Jurgen, but these are just my opinions. Jurgen Prochnow is truly a great actor...