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James Caan, Joanna Moore, and Bobby Riha in Countdown (1967)

FAQ

Countdown

FAQ



    A technical answer would be that the lunar shelter was designed for one person. The astronaut would spend four days in the Gemini, then 300 to 365 days in the shelter. The Gemini was indeed a two astronaut ship. The only acknowledgement of the issue in the movie is when it is pointed out that the Gemini ship will give "twice the room, twice the air", even though Gemini spacecraft have held a two person crew for as long as two weeks, and the maximum length of a one person Pilgrim flight would be eight days (the 'abort and return to earth' scenario).

    But the real reason probably is the scripting. The original Hank Searles novel, "The Pilgrim Project", was about sending a Mercury capsule to the Moon, a one astronaut ship. All the plot's issues assume one astronaut: his personality, his relation with his wife, and his selection over the other astronaut. The audience identifies with the one person as he goes all the way to the Moon, to stay there, alone, for a year.

    To do the same if there were two people would be a major rewrite. They'd need new dialog, and new decisions on the plot. That, more than anything, was probably why the Gemini's capacity was unused.

Alexa top questions

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  • How long is Countdown?
    1 hour and 41 minutes
  • When was Countdown released?
    February 1968
  • What is the IMDb rating of Countdown?
    5.9 out of 10
  • Who stars in Countdown?
    James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Joanna Moore
  • Who wrote Countdown?
    Loring Mandel and Hank Searls
  • Who directed Countdown?
    Robert Altman
  • Who was the composer for Countdown?
    Leonard Rosenman
  • Who was the producer of Countdown?
    Jimmy Lydon
  • Who was the executive producer of Countdown?
    William Conrad
  • Who was the cinematographer for Countdown?
    William W. Spencer
  • Who was the editor of Countdown?
    Gene Milford
  • Who are the characters in Countdown?
    Mickey Stegler, Jean, Gus, and Ross Duellan
  • What is the plot of Countdown?
    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.
  • What is Countdown rated?
    TV-PG
  • What genre is Countdown?
    Sci-Fi and Thriller

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