The Groundstar Conspiracy

PG

1972

1h 36m

Sci-Fi

List

33%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

67%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

When explosions destroy the American Groundstar space station control center, only scientist John Welles (Michael Sarrazin) survives. Badly injured, he stumbles to the home of divorcee Nicole Devon, who is soon dragged into the investigation of the explosion by security head Tuxon (George Peppard). When Tuxon suspects John has masterminded the sabotage, John undergoes weeks of brutal questioning. Only when he runs away with Nicole does John begin to learn who's behind the conspiracy.

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Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

Groundstar has a cheesy TV crime movie feel about it. But it is still entertaining, especially when Sarrazin is onscreen.

Rated: C-

Nov 30, 2020

Full Review

Quentin Tarantino

The New Beverly

Yes, the ending is really clever. And I would say it makes this whole movie worth watching.

Jun 22, 2020

Full Review

Maureen Koch

Los Angeles Free Press

At any point you choose to stretch or leave for popcorn, you won't be missing anything.

Jan 6, 2020

Full Review

Dick Lochte

Los Angeles Free Press

It belabors all the wrong points, while throwing away its moments of suspense.

Jan 6, 2020

Full Review

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Very dated action-adventure tale starring Peppard and Sarrazin.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 17, 2008

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Aug 11, 2005

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Audience Member

More relevant now than ever before

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

delysid d

i like this movie, although i find it confusing

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/17/20

Full Review

Audience Member

If you enjoy 70's conspiracy / paranoia / SciFi... (Andromeda Strain, Parallax View, etc) you will love this movie. I cannot believe it has not been remade. One of the greatest plot twists since Vertigo.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Groundstar Conspiracy is a peculiar hybrid of A-movie plot, effects and suspense and B-movie acting, music and occasionally editing. The story is intriguingly complicated (close to being far-fetched, but nevertheless): the twist and turns never cease to amaze the viewer. The same thing goes for the execution of the action scenes (great pyrotechnics during the opening scene) and the setting, with its fine locations (sci-fi-style research institute, villa near the beach, harbour area, helicopter views of the surroundings). All this together breathes quality and manages to secure and retain the viewerâs attention right till the end (where I was wrong-footed for one moment, until â¦). Unfortunately, some of the interesting action scenes are edited so tightly youâve almost missed them while blinking your eyes. The crucial blast that sets off the whole affair is over before you realized what youâve been looking at (mixing it with the opening credits doesnât help either), similar to the scene in which the intruder in the clinic is pursued and killed (again, before youâve even had the time to realize what has happened). There are some minor examples of such overhasty editing too (the accident in the ambulance, the capture of Wellesâ (Michael Sarrazin) kidnappers preceded by Wellesâ escape). Another nagging point is the music used in this film: true, it is varied, but some of it is somewhat exaggerated and cheap because of that. This is true to some point of the music used during the romantic interlude between Welles and Nicole (Christine Belford), but mainly of the odd sci-fi music including beeping sounds etc. It tends to draw too much undeserved attention to itself, making the events on the screen seem less serious than they are (I remember similar music being used in The Anderson Tapes). A last critical remark I would like to make is about the style of acting. It appeared to me (especially in the beginning) that the actors tended to sort of rattle off their lines, without making it sound all too convincing. Towards the end, this seemed to improve. Perhaps I just had to get used to them (Peppard is a very good actor, after all). As to the scenes between Welles and Nicole, I had some initial doubts too: I felt she confided in a total stranger far too easily. This seeming rather unrealistic, I drew up the theory she was part of some sort of a setup. When it turned out she was not, I began to appreciate her relevance to the plot anyway, considering she was the one who helped Welles on the way to recover his memory. The Groundstar Conspiracy is an amusing suspense thriller with some flaws, but it is definitely entertaining enough to please the viewer.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

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Lamont Johnson

Director

George Peppard

Tuxan

Michael Sarrazin

John David Welles

Christine Belford

Nicole Devon

Cliff Potts

Carl Mosely

James Olson

Senator Stanton

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Synopsis

When explosions destroy the American Groundstar space station control center, only scientist John Welles (Michael Sarrazin) survives. Badly injured, he stumbles to the home of divorcee Nicole Devon, who is soon dragged into the investigation of the explosion by security head Tuxon (George Peppard). When Tuxon suspects John has masterminded the sabotage, John undergoes weeks of brutal questioning. Only when he runs away with Nicole does John begin to learn who's behind the conspiracy.

Director: Lamont Johnson
Rating: PG
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Runtime: 1h 36m