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Sci-FiYear1968Duration1h 41mIMDb5.9

Countdown

Sci-FiThriller

Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar shelter for a year.

Trailer

Cast

Robert Altman

Director

James Caan

Lee Stegler

Robert Duvall

Chiz

Joanna Moore

Mickey Stegler

Barbara Baxley

Jean

Charles Aidman

Gus

Steve Ihnat

Ross Duellan

Michael Murphy

Rick

Ted Knight

Walter Larson

Stephen Coit

Ehrman

JR

John Rayner

Dunc

CI

Charles Irving

Seidel

Bobby Riha

Stevie Stegler

Ray Ballard

Manager

BB

Benjie Bancroft

Technician

Arthur Bernard

Coopersmith

George Blagoi

Reporter

Ivan Bonar

Nogrady

Robert Buckingham

Party Guest

Loring Mandel

Writer

HS

Hank Searls

Writer

Comments

10 Comments

football._k1ng__May 29, 2023

source: Countdown

SafaeNov 18, 2022

QueenbHoliTijan😍🦋🧿Nov 16, 2022

Countdown

Chris LingtonNov 16, 2022

Desperate to reach the moon first, NASA sends a man (James Caan) and shelter separately, one-way. He must find it to survive; he cannot return until Apollo is ready. This film has been heavily scrutinized for being boring, dated and any number of other things. Critic Howard Thompson calls the film a "limp space-flight drama" which "makes the moon seem just as dull as Mother Earth". Some of this might be fair, some might not. Director Robert Altman, who later went on to big things, got the job through Warner Brothers' B-movie producer William Conrad (1920-1994). So maybe we are wrong to expect too much. (Although it is great to see such early performances from Caan and Robert Duvall.) Where the movie is and is not Altman's is unclear. The bulk is obviously his, but the story goes that Jack Warner (1892-1978) did not like Altman's use of overlapping dialogue, had him removed from the set, and Conrad shot some new footage. So how much did Altman get to edit into the final film?

Fatherdmw55Nov 16, 2022

Although this movie was made back in the 1960's, tonight was the first time that I ever saw it. My wife and I found it to be an enjoyable Friday night offering. This movie was not about special effects, meteors hurling through space, etc. Rather, it was about the people who comprise the team that organizes and develops the US Space program. As always, Robert Duvall was excellent, this time as an Astronaut who, because of political considerations, was removed as the person who was scheduled to become the first to land on the moon. Duvall played his character with just the right amount of anger and disappointment before becoming the instructor and motivator to the man who replaced him, also well played by James Caan. I wish the ending had been a bit longer but that is a mere quibble with what I feel is a fine movie

Agouha YomeyeNov 16, 2022

I've just got to throw my 2 cents in. I thought the Countdown was an excellent movie. The acting is what carries it for sure, but the special effects aren't bad either for the time period. I've seen Apollo 13 with Hanks and I thought this picture did a better job of portraying tension, ( although fictitious ) within the capsule. Robert Duvall is a superior actor as is James Caan. The overall dismay he portrays when not picked for the mission, and the subsiquent attempt to discredit Caan is great acting!

user9926591043830Nov 16, 2022

It's interesting that I initially had the same reaction as "anonymous" did to the lunar lander depicted in the movie. Sure, it looks like a Gemini capsule stuck on top of a descent stage, but guess what? When Altman made this movie, NASA actually had already planned the "Countdown" mission AND the Gemini lunar lander, although it was never used. BTW, I read Hank Searl's book "The Pilgrim Project" while I was in eighth grade and loved it.

meeeryem_bjNov 16, 2022

Released two months before '2001: A Space Odyssey', and on a soap opera scale compared to that, 'Countdown' comes from a time when movies didn't have to have huge budgets, big stars or auteur directors to get national distribution: I saw it as a second feature (remember them? - to 'Ice Station Zebra', I think, a far worse movie) in one of the now defunct three small cinemas in my home town. It's pretty formulaic, with a 'time clock' plot, a little bit of character play, a fair bit of topicality, and for its time and budget, a reasonable stab at gritty space realism, compared to the stagey, squeaky 'Star Trek' universe that had boldly gone on TV only two years before, and Kubrick's tour de force that was to follow shortly. Interesting as a snapshot of cinema history, with a director and lead actor (and Robert Duvall) who went on to join the A-list, which nobody knew about then. They don't make 'em like this any more; or if they do, they go straight to DVD.

ShadowNov 16, 2022

The Americans and Russians are in a race to the moon. For political reasons, Air Force pilot Robert Duvall is replaced by civilian James Caan as the astronaut for the mission. This leads to personal conflicts between the two and general doubts about whether Caan can pull the mission off. Director Robert Altman's space drama is a mostly unimpressive, static effort. If I didn't know better I would assume it was made-for-TV. Lacking in special effects and choosing instead to focus on the personal drama between the various parties involved in the space program, it can be a tough slog at times. It's very dry and has long stretches where it's boring. It's also lacking in the kind of suspense necessary for a story about a race to the moon. Anti-climactic ending doesn't help, either. If you're a fan of movies about the space program perhaps you should check it out. Otherwise I can't recommend it.

Girlish_touchNov 16, 2022

Mostly good, solid, well acted (especially by Robert Duvall and James Caan) story of behind the scenes politics among astronauts as we raced Russia towards the moon in the late 1960s. Gets a little soapy at times, some of the politics and science seem a little cheated, and key incidents are convenient and co-incidental. Production values, especially the special effects, are pretty weak. And Caan's astronaut is a little too open with his fears to be believed as a man of his position at that moment in history. On the other hand it's impressive that in 1969 someone made a space movie focusing on complex emotions and human behavior, not technology. The climax is a bit 'Hollywood', although at least a little more bittersweet than usual, if predictable (and a cheat). The small roles are well cast and played. Not really recognizably an Altman film, but certainly shows talent and is worth seeing.

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