Marooned (1969) – A Review
A review of the sci-fi space drama Marooned, about three astronauts trapped in space. Starring Gregory Peck, David Janssen, Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman and James Franciscus.
Marooned was the Apollo 13 of its day. Released only months after the ’69 moon landing, Marooned was a box office hit and would go on to win an Oscar for Visual Effects. Its legacy has waned since then.
Directed by John Sturges, the legacy of Marooned has become somewhat muted. Compared to the classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and even popcorn flick Capricorn One, Marooned has quietly fallen into the cracks of space-age tales. It’s no wonder, despite the stellar cast and prophetic scenario of the real life Apollo 13 incident, Marooned plays more humdrum than nail biting and is quite the forgettable space-age disaster story.
After spending seven months in space, three astronauts (Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman and James Franciscus) prepare to come back home. Preparations are made for their reentry, the plan is set and a problem arises. The space crafts engines fail, leaving them no way to get back to Earth.
There’s basically nothing for control to do to fix the problem. The only thing to save the men is a daring recuse mission that David Janssen adamantly proposes. He can fly another rocket up to them, join them and bring them back home.
However, NASA director Gregory Peck sees the idea as too risky and refuses to jeopardize any more lives. There’s a lot of back and forth as the two argue the pros and cons and potential fallout if the rescue mission fails. Meanwhile, the three orbiting men don’t want to rely on the ‘suits’ to save them and set out to fix the problem themselves to get this engine to fire.
Ultimately, it’s decided a rescue mission is worth a chance. With time running out for the astronauts Janssen has to quickly prepare to go out in orbit. Then added complication comes when a hurricane hinders the launch of his rescue rocket. Everything that can go wrong does in this space-age tale.
There’s nothing wrong with the story itself. There are all the elements of a space age thriller unfolding. The astronauts in orbit, trying to stay calm as their oxygen gets lower and lower, Janssen and the scientists trying to organize a rescue and lead control man trying to maintain calmness with his staff, excited reporters and the concerned wives of the astronauts.
Yet none of it ever gels and plays out in the tense manner you expect. It is an extremely slow-paced film, which is probably how it ended up being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. It’s certainly not an awful film ripe for mocking, but it’s also very dull. There are very dry, longwinded scenes, it drags, there’s really no character development and this terrific group of actors just fill in the roles for the most part.
Other than some extended sequences of spacewalks, the three astronauts have little to do than sit and wait. While you’re eagerly awaiting Crenna, Hackman and Francisco to start bring their dramatic chops to the tense situation they’re trapped in, they become surprisingly secondary to the earthbound stars. Peck gets to act more frantic and passionate to his staff than anything that occurs in the space capsule. The astronaut wives (Lee Grant, Nancy Kovack and Marietta Hartley) have nothing more to do than sit and look worried.
The climax becomes a tenseless slog. I don’t recall any effective musical score to help with the tension either. Don’t expect it to be Gravity.
At the time it was released, I’m sure Marooned dazzled filmgoers. Released during the ‘Space Craze’, and while it might have been more of a sensation in 1969, it has dated very badly since.
Had the core components of the film, the story and characters, been better done, Marooned might have been another feather in the cap of Sturges career. A film that continues to entertain generations after it was made, like The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape.
On the plus side, Marooned is not a poorly made film. The locations and sets sell the story. There are some scenes in the cramped capsule that are effective and some touching scenes of the astronauts speaking with their wives trying to reassure them despite the dire situation they’re trapped in.
The components are all there for a space age thriller, but it just never comes together. The pace is extremely slow, there’s no riveting scenes to hold it together and the tension dissipates. Marooned left me feeling very underwhelmed.
