Review of Marooned (1969) by Éric I — 20 Jun 2012

"Marooned" is not a film for everyone; it is space science fiction filmed in 1969, which already says a lot. I had seen this film on television many years before and enough details from the adventure stayed in my memory to enable me to re-discover it.

Due to today's highly advanced film production techniques, the attempts to re-create a believable and convincing space setting here have clumsy, at times laughable, results. Still, the actors involved do not acknowledge the film's silly technical limitations and play their roles convincingly, which helps to look past any visual flaws.

The storyline is interesting, as three astronauts are, well, marooned in orbit, the mundane NASA makes plans to attempt a proper, yet risky, rescue mission. The protagonists' role in the film is mostly based on their patience and long hours of waiting, which is why the film is not action-packed and progresses rather slowly, which at times, I admit, was tedious.

Tension builds as time starts to run out and the NASA director informs the men that they're carrying enough oxygen to ensure the survival of two of the astronauts, but not three. It is up to them to decide who will live.

Though the film is carried through realistically (in terms of story), the entertainment is often lacking. Better directing might have reduced this two-hours-and-nine-minutes film into a more watchable one-hour-and-forty-minutes.