And all of these followed in the daunting footsteps of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1969). You could also make a good argument for classics like CHINATOWN (1974), MARATHON MAN (1976), and NETWORK (1976) counting as conspiracy films of the 70’s. My core list of great conspiracy films of the 70’s includes THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974), THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975), THE CONVERSATION (1974), ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976), CAPRICORN ONE (1978), THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979), and WINTER KILLS (1979). I certainly thought of this movie in 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. But I feel that this film certainly started a life-long interest in conspiracies, secret government actions, black ops, cover-ups, and mysteries. I was honestly probably a little young to appreciate all of the sinister governmental machinations at the time, and I just liked the sci-fi action elements. I even tracked down the movie novelization by Ron Goulart and read that, searching for further details that the film didn’t show. What young boy isn’t fascinated with space exploration and astronauts? I certainly was. The James Brolin action figure would have climbed onto a land speeder instead of a biplane to escape on Tatooine. I would have had the astronauts from Capricorn One being ambushed by Tusken Raiders and Jawas in the desert. It would have been mixed in with my Star Wars action figures and toys. If they would have made action figures of the 3 astronauts along with a jet plane playset, you best believe that I would have asked my parents to buy it for me. I don’t think my parents took me to see this one in the theater, but I saw it on TV countless times, and rented the VHS tape repeatedly once that technology surfaced. The three astronauts try their best, but government helicopters are searching for them and the adventure pushes towards an exciting climax. A reporter catches on to the hoax and investigates, at much risk to his own life. They separate and make desperate run for civilization to alert the media and the world to the hoax before they are killed. They escape from their isolated desert base and hijack a small plane, but they crash-land when the plane runs out of fuel. The astronauts figure out that now they are expendable and a liability and will need to be eliminated. Once the unmanned ship is returning to earth another error involving the heat shield makes the ship burn up in the atmosphere. They threaten the three astronaut’s wives in order to ensure their cooperation. In order to retain funding for NASA by not admitting to a fatal mistake in the onboard life-support system, administrators plan to fake a Mars landing and broadcast it to the world. This film came out in 1978 and concerns NASA deciding to fake a Mars landing with the three astronauts scheduled to fly the actual mission. Today I want to talk about one of my favorite conspiracy films of the 70’s, Peter Hyam’s CAPRICORN ONE. But this is honestly a topic for another piece. Independent young filmmakers were able to do things they never could do before, and could work outside of the Hollywood studio system. Add in subject matter that was previously taboo. The MPAA was created, and various film codes changed, allowing more realistic language, violence, and nudity in films. Films in the 70’s finally addressed the malaise and distrust of our government after the fall of President Nixon, the failure of our involvement in the Vietnam War, and countless political assassinations. If you’ve read my other film pieces, or spoken to me in person about movies at all, you know that I consider the 70’s to be the best decade for all genres of film. ![]() The murders were real.įor me there’s nothing quite like a conspiracy theory film made in the 70’s.
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