Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

During the first manned landing on Mars, something happens and the video feed back to Earth is disrupted. What the folks at home DON'T know is that a disaster occurred and one of the astronauts was killed when his space suit failed. The NASA folks, however, are concerned with not just public relations BUT are worried about further funding so they put into effect a diabolical plan...to hire someone to pretend to be the dead man! Eddie is similar looking to Bryce....and with a bit of plastic surgery and training he can become Bryce! So, during the time they are waiting for the ship's return, Eddie is coached to become the dead man! When he lands, everything works like a charm....except for one thing. Bryce's wife (Susan Clark) realizes something is amiss...and she confronts 'Bryce' and asks him directly is he is really her husband! What's next? See the picture.Monte Markham does a nice job playing both roles in the film. While he's not a familiar name, he was a very familiar face and he was fine in the role. I also appreciate how the film is far less sci- fi--and more a story about people. In many ways, it's like the later film "Dave" and is filled with some terrific scenes. One of the better installments of "The ABC Movie of the Week".By the way, this was produced by Harve Bennett....a guy who was made famous for producing many of the Star Trek movies and shows.

Before "Capricorn One" appeared this taut little time filler starring Monte Markham in dual roles, ably supported by the under-rated Susan Clark as the wife of the first astronaut to land on Mars. Complications arise however and NASA (led principally by Jackie Cooper and Bob Lansing) create an elaborate ruse to ensure funding for future projects isn't jeopardised.Walter Brooke has a key supporting role as a reporter and friend to the shuttle commander, whilst there are small roles for James B.Sikking as the co-pilot and Richard Anderson as the NASA doctor and reluctant co-conspirator.It's remarkably tame considering the risks associated with the premise, and neither Cooper nor Lansing appear to have any sinister intentions, their plight driven by misguided loyalty and patriotism more than any villainous ambition. Economical movie of the week.

From the title, you might think The Astronaut was a sci-fi movie, but it wasn't. It was a very good made for TV movie which focused more on people than special effects, and dealt with the human cost of living a lie. The basic plot is that on the first manned mission to Mars, the first man to step on the Martian surface dies of poisoning due to mysterious gases in the Martian atmosphere that permeated his spacesuit. The head of the space program, fearing that this disaster could end the space program, covered it up and found a pilot who bore an uncanny resemblance to the deceased Astronaut and trained the lookalike to be the first man to step on Mars once the spacecraft returned to Earth. The deal was that after a period of time, the Astronaut would be killed in a pre-arranged boating accident with the body never found, giving the lookalike his life back.The Astronaut's wife soon figured out he was a fraud, but, over time, began to fall in love with the lookalike. She chose to join him on the boat so she also would be "killed" and have her identity changed to be with him. As they were getting ready to board the boat, they were informed that the Soviets had just announced that they had launched their mission to Mars. Knowing the same fate that befell the American Astronaut would also happen to the Soviet Astronauts, and the scam they pulled would be revealed, they decided not to board the boat, and instead decided to come clean. The Space Program Administrator, coming to the same conclusion, decided that he too had to come clean to the President and tell the truth about what happened on Mars.The acting was a notch above your run of the mill MFTVM, with Monte Markham playing the Astronaut and his doppleganger, Susan Clark as the Astronaut's wife, and Jackie Cooper as the Space Program head. The movie was predictable, but it was well done by TV standards.

This is the movie that made me a fan of Monte Markham. He positively shines! And I love how the movie is more concerned with the human factor rather than the hardware. Special effects are well and good, but that's all a lot of newer movies have. I taped this a couple of years after its first airing, and have never tired of watching it!