DVD Release Date: November 18, 2003

Cast: Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, Lee Grant

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By Jenny Halper

Ironically released one year prior to the Apollo 13 space disaster, John Sturges’ sci-fi thriller Marooned: The Sage of Ironman One is a meticulously plotted, flawlessly constructed film. It’s so good, in fact, that it defies both the sci-fi genre and the decade in which it was released. As relevant now as it was in the sixties, Marooned is even more noteworthy for its exemplary portrayal of human beings reacting to crisis than for the special effects that garnered it a 1969 Academy Award.

Marooned begins with an expansive shot of blue sky, a serenity that is abruptly broken by the launching of a space craft heralded by a freeing burst of take-off fire and the cheers of NASA staff. There’s very little dialogue, and none of the extraneous fanfare that’s come to be a hallmark of modern cinema. Simplicity is brilliantly utilized in Marooned, as rousing music and fast-paced sequences are exchanged for the rhythms of real life. Beginning slowly, Marooned tells the story of three astronauts (Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna, and James Franciscus) who are stuck in outer space when, after several months of space travel, their retro-engines don’t re-fire. It’s the job of NASA head Charles Keith (Gregory Peck) to deal with the situation in the most effective way- initially, in his mind- to abandon the three astronauts. As the men’s wives (Lee Grant, Nancy Kovack, Mariette Hartley) wait tensely in the NASA headquarters, Keith tells his staff, with stringently scientific unsentimentality, that statistics prove a rescue is impossible. But senior astronaut Ted Dougherty (David Janssen) refuses to back down, insisting on attempting a joint rescue mission that has almost no chance of success.

What happens next is pure “Survivor.” As the mission’s thwarted by a major hurricane, the three astronauts rapidly run low on oxygen. By the time a final plan’s devised by Dougherty- who is aided by the Russian space program- there’s not enough oxygen left for all three astronauts. In order for two to survive, one must cut off his air supply, martyring himself for his colleagues. These final, tense scenes are perfectly played by the four principal actors, most effectively by Hackman, whose low-key performance is the most extraordinary that I’ve seen him give. What’s so impressive about the acting in Marooned is the utter lack of melodrama- there’s a scene, for instance, in which each of the astronaut’s wives are asked to speak, and likely say goodbye, to their husbands. Like the rest of the film, in which potentially laughable lines like “Look at the earth Buzz!” are surprisingly uncorny, this sequence is heartrendingly honest. Hackman’s exchange with his wife (Hartley) is one of the most touching scenes I’ve seen in a movie to date.

Marooned may be slow-paced at times, but it certainly is worth investing in. The film’s style seems deliberately plotted by James Sturges, who also directed classics like The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. While at first I felt like I was watching a sequence of the news, I soon realized that I was completely emotionally invested in a riveting motion picture. In this fashion, the drama of Marooned sneaks up on you- it’s a thriller with the tempo of a documentary. Based on Martin Caidin’s novel and adapted for the screen by Mayo Simon (who also scripted the classic 50’s TV series “Studio One”), the first few scenes are a little heavy with NASA jargon, but they set the stage for snappy interplay amongst the ground staff that continues through the film, contrasting effectively with strained relations between the stranded astronauts. In fact, one of the most impressive things about Marooned is the ease with which it juxtaposes earth and space. Characters sharing the same square feet are alienated from one another while they’re strongly connected to their loved ones hundreds of miles away, and the movie depicts this flawlessly. While the space-bound scenes are claustrophobic, stagnant, (enhanced by stunning cinematography), the scenes on earth are busy with activity and chatter.

Unfortunately, Marooned does not have any special features. This is forgivable, however, given that both Caiden and Sturges have been dead almost a decade, making any sort of commentary pretty difficult. The DVD does provide four trailers, a scene selection index, and subtitle options in French, English, and Japanese. The bottom line: A great companion to Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Marooned is a must-have DVD for sci-fi fans, and must-see classic for anyone interested in filmmaking at its finest.

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