Marooned

G

Released Dec 11, 1969

2h 13m

Sci-Fi

List

86%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

45%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

American astronauts Buzz (Gene Hackman), Jim (Richard Crenna) and Clayton (James Franciscus) are stranded in space on their return journey from a new space station when malfunctioning rocket boosters bring the craft to a halt. With the men drifting in orbit, facing death from declining oxygen levels in the shuttle, NASA director Charles Keith (Gregory Peck) quickly mobilizes to launch a bold rescue mission -- but a hurricane headed for the launch site may ensure the astronauts' demise.

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Steve D

Stagnant and lack any fully realized characters.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/29/23

Full Review

dave s

While it has some merit, Marooned could be the most uncinematic space adventure ever committed to film. When the ship carrying three astronauts (Richard Crenna, James Franciscus, Gene Hackman) experiences mechanical issues, the ground crew finds themselves in a race against time to save the three men before they run out of oxygen. The special effects are generally pretty decent, the cast is impressive, and the performances are solid, but the movie is hampered by a matter-of-fact script that provides no surprises by way of dialogue or story. To make matters worse, director John Sturgess seems to be content to allow his camera to remain static throughout the movie, giving the film a flat feel that never allows the audience to feel like they're a part of the experience. Thankfully, similar subject matter was covered much more effectively twenty-five years later with Ron Howard's Apollo 13.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ambitious for its time but is a very slow paced movie with a long run time. Worth a watch but not much more.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

david l

Though technically very strong, very well acted and intense in its third act, most of Marooned was overly slow in pace, riddled with way too many technical details, and thus quite slow and rarely gaining any momentum. It's interesting historically speaking, but as a movie, it is quite disappointing.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I saw it when this first came out in Huntsville, Alabama (my Dad worked on the IU - a part of the Saturn V). It created a lasting memory - as it did for the Director Alfonso Cuarón who makes multiple references to it in Roma. Looking at it 50 years later I can see why I loved it then, and why I like it still all these years later. Ironically the plot anticipates Apollo 13 in some ways. It is not a perfect movie and not for everyone - but it still works after all of these years.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

andy f

A slow burning great film with an all star cast. Made around the time of the moon landings, you can imagine the impact this must have had at the time. I first watched this about 35 years ago and it has lost none of its power. Played deadly straight, this is a masterclass in storytelling.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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John Sturges

Director

Gregory Peck

Charles Keith

Richard Crenna

Jim Pruett

James Franciscus

Clayton Stone

David Janssen

Ted Dougherty

Gene Hackman

Buzz Lloyd

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Marooned isn't very interesting from a stylistic point of view, and the actors tend to get buried beneath the technology, but it does tell an exciting story.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Richard Schickel

LIFE

The special effects are swell and I ended up feeling nice and tense despite myself.

Oct 2, 2019

Full Review

Penelope Houston

The Spectator

I suspect these distinctly disillusioned effects go with endeavours to inject human interest into a basically mechanistic movie. Where the human interest leads is another question.

Jul 11, 2018

Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 13, 2007

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

... heavy on the technical details.

Rated: B

Jan 4, 2007

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 14, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

American astronauts Buzz (Gene Hackman), Jim (Richard Crenna) and Clayton (James Franciscus) are stranded in space on their return journey from a new space station when malfunctioning rocket boosters bring the craft to a halt. With the men drifting in orbit, facing death from declining oxygen levels in the shuttle, NASA director Charles Keith (Gregory Peck) quickly mobilizes to launch a bold rescue mission -- but a hurricane headed for the launch site may ensure the astronauts' demise.

Director: John Sturges
Screenwriter: Mayo Simon
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: G
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 11, 1969, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 2h 13m

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