I never saw the original one.. I remember seeing one movie with Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, and others.. It was some kind of anti space movie. I don't remember the title though...
I have seen the film and wish that I could erase it from my memory. It is the kind of crap that Oliver Stone would create.
In the original movie, one of the astronauts decides he can't be a part of such a hideous fraud on the American People, so he runs away and the government bad guys try to kill him. He gets to the tv news and saves the world by telling The Truth.
This plot is stupid because the space race was a propaganda fight with the Soviets. If NASA wanted a bunch of astronauts to pull a fast one on the Russians, they'd have hundreds of volunteers. This was at the height of Vietnam and MAD, 1969. Pilots were volunteering to fly missions over Vietnam; men were sitting in missile silos holding launch keys for hydrogen bombs. Telling a few lies to get at the Soviets would be nothing.
Also note that the hero (I forget which astronaut it was supposed to be) runs from the government murderers to the tv news to tell The Truth. The theme here is obvious.
The film actually does serve a useful purpose, though, and I hope they make it. Most of the kooks who believe in garbage like this and the Philadelphia experiment tend to keep their opinions to themselves until something publicly prompts them to speak freely. This film will encourage the local Fruit Loop Troopers to come out of the closet. If nothing else, it is fun to point at them and laugh.
That was "Marooned", based on the novel by Martin Caidin. Not really anti-space program, just cheesy and a bit silly. The novel was great, though!
That was "Marooned", not an anti-space flick, although it did have a "make nice with the Russians" moment. Corny, but entertaining, its one of those movies I'll catch at 2:00 AM on cable TV. Still would watch it. Special effects were pretty good for its day. Lifting body spacecraft, launching in the Eye of a Hurricane.. preposterous but cool!