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The Groundstar ConspiracyRating:
Release Date: 19 September, 2000 Retail Price: $24.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
The Groundstar Conspiracy Reviews
Now there's something you don't see everyday
A good film, Peppard as Tuxan in a role that would resemble 2 of his roles on TV (Thomas Banacek that year, and Hannibal Smith of The A Team, 10 years later). The ending is that of a classic suspense film. The DVD version by the way is cheaper than most stores are offering the VHS copy (if you can find it) so get it while you can. Note Christine Belford, the woman down the road who falls for Sarazin also starred in Banacek, coincidence?
This one has TV movie stink all over it....
George Peppard plays a character named Tuxan, who is responsible for uncovering the break in and theft of highly classified information at a government facility called Groundstar. He uses any and all means necessary to do this, including hidden cameras, hidden microphones, and 24 hour surveillance. He has complete control most of the time, and absolute authority to find the information he needs in order to protect the United States against foreign interests that may try to undermine the government by stealing precious secrets.
That being said, this movie plays out like a cheesy 70's TV melodrama. I tried hard to like this movie, but it was a hard sell. The movie starts out with multiple explosions at some facility, and one character managing to make it out before the whole place goes up. We see this character running down a corridor, being chased by other individuals, and then the picture freezes at a dramatic moment to allow for a credit to be displayed on the screen. This happens about four or five more times, and becomes quite tiresome, but if I recall, this was a device used quite a bit in the 70's, on movie but more so on TV. This movie really has a 'TV' feel to it, so I am wondering if the director was primarily a TV director...well, I was right. The director is Lamont Johnson, and he has an extensive career directing TV, and it shows here. Anyway, one character escapes before the whole place goes blammo, and it's Michael Sarrazin playing Welles. This is one of those actors who you may not recognize the name, but you'd probably recognize his face. He was fairly popular in the late 60's through the 70's. This slender, dark haired actor seemed to be on the verge of becoming a major star, but has since been relegated to mostly TV roles.
Well, he escapes, and we find out later that he was the only survivor of the explosion. His face badly damaged from the explosions, he manages to make it to the house of Nicole, played by Christine Belford, and actress with a solid television background and a few parts in some features films. The role I remember her from was the over protective mother to Arnie Cunningham in John Carpenter/Stephen King's killer car classic 'Christine' from 1983.
Well, we soon find out that that Welles, the soul survivor of the explosions, was also the one who caused the explosions. Apparently he used false credentials to get his position within the ultra top secret facility, then stole vital information, and caused the destruction of the facility to cover his escape. He remembers none of this, as he has lost his memory along with his face in the incident. We learn all this information from Tuxan, who is now investigating the situation.
There is a conspiracy, and it does follow though. The rest of the movie has Welles trying to put the pieces back together, recall what happened, if he could have killed those people and done the things Tuxan says he did. Nicole provides a haven for Welles, and seems sympathetic to his plight.
The most memorable line comes from Tuxan (what kind of name is that?) and is in response to Nicole berating him for invading her privacy by having hidden cameras and microphones in her house. He says something like 'murders are planned in private, assassinations are planned in private' etc. I don't remember the exact line, but it showed a great deal of the motivation behind the character.
The movie plays out, the conspiracy unfolds, and we are treated to a shocking ending. Well, not so shocking, really, but whatever. It was kind of hard to swallow, though. My main problem with this movie is I never really felt the tension that should have been there and the acting seemed kind of wooden. I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but I had a hard time buying off on this one. The thing to keep in mind before you buy this movie is that it looks like a TV show. This was made in 1972, and prior to that, George Peppard had a somewhat promising movie career with Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), How the West Was Won (1962), and The Blue Max (1966) to name a few. Then around 1971, the movie roles seemed to dry up and he went into TV. He did make a number of movie after 1971, Damnation Alley (1977), Battle Beyond the Stars (1977), but none seemed to really have the prestige of previous movie roles. The same could be said for Michael Sarrazin. And the other main character, played by Christine Belford was primarily a TV actress. Given the director's history in TV, this all adds up to making this look like a high budget TV movie. I think once some directors immerses themselves in a particular medium, it's difficult to expand beyond the boundaries proscribed by that medium, and it shows here. I felt like the director was trying to exceed his grasp, and couldn't quite do it. Not a bad movie, for TV, but not a great movie for the big screen. I'd say 3 stars for a TV movie, 2½ stars for a theatrical release.
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