A government investigator tries to find out the truth behind the break-in at a top secret research facility.A government investigator tries to find out the truth behind the break-in at a top secret research facility.A government investigator tries to find out the truth behind the break-in at a top secret research facility.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Anna Hagan
- Dr. Plover
- (as Anna Hagen)
Hagan Beggs
- Dr. Hager
- (as Hagen Beggs)
John Destry
- Sgt. Zabrinski
- (as John Destry Adams)
Don Granbery
- Technician
- (as Don Granberry)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Just re-saw The Groundstar Conspiracy after some 20 something years. Always been a big fan of both George Peppard and Micheal Sarrazin, so I was looking forward to this flick. Somewhat out-dated today, but for 1972, it wasn't all that bad. There are twists and turns. Plots and subplots. Action, suspense, drama, and even a little romance thrown in. Humor, at least a few lines, would of helped a lot here. There is a nice surprise sort of ending. Clearly this is not a masterpiece of a cold war thriller like The Spy Who Can In From The Cold or The Ipcress File, but The Goundstar Conspiracy is a nice little entertaining film. George Peppard looked great here and Micheal Sarrazin was in his prime. It's not their best roles, but if you're a fan. it's a good way to spend a rainy night.
When "Welles" (Michael Sarazin) is caught after an audacious break in to sabotage a top secret government lab, he claims to have been so traumatised by the whole experience and explosive aftermath that he cannot remember anything about who he is, or why his was there. That deduction falls to "Tuxan" (George Peppard) who sets about trying to help his quarry "remember" just who sent him and what their objective was. On the face of it, this is just another one of these standard television conspiracy thrillers, but there is quite a degree of mystery established by an on-form Sarazin and Peppard does rather better than usual as his gritty and hard nosed character starts to make us wonder just who is pulling the strings. Neither lead character are particularly likeable here and but for the occasional gentle interventions of Christine Belford's "Nicole", the whole thing builds to quite a dry and far-fetched enterprise that ran out of steam after the initial curiosity of the amnesiac scenario started to wear thin. It's watchable, but equally forgettable with a title that does it no favours at all.
There are not too many spy films which can conjure up a team of excellent actors for a movie. This however is one. "The Groundstar Conspiracy" is a dramatic thriller of sorts, except that in this movie, the private company is the target not the country. An explosion in a top secret installation causes a great deal of damage and sets off an investigation to find out who was behind the espionage. Enormous amount of destruction to be sure, but what the chief investigator (George Peppard) Tuxan wants to know is who is behind the sabotage. His only clue is in the form of a single survivor named John Welles (Michael Sarrazin) AKA Peter Bellamy, a man who has no memory of what happened. This is an excellent vehicle for the Cat and Mouse game which follows. The survivor is having tremendous difficulty trying to remember who he is or was and Tuxan is allowing him to struggle while he watches out for any of his friends to come and help him recover. It's an excellent film and one which gives the audience just enough information to follow the hero to the surprising ending. A good film and one which is enhanced by Nicole Devon as Christine Belford and Cliff Potts who plays Carl Mosely. ****
I saw this in its original run in a college theatre. I have never been able to find it anywhere. Frankly, I'm just glad to see that it was remembered in imdb. If anybody can steer me toward a copy, please tell me. It was an independent precursor to Bourne before Bourne became an industry. Peppard is terrific. In fact, everyone is terrific.
A super secret space research plant is blown up with all its six responsible members of the team, but one manages to get out of the inferno alive, although there is not much left of him, least of all a face. The story of John Welles, played by Michael Sarrazin, is intriguing indeed, as he finds himself without identity and memory as he is returned to life by extreme surgical efforts supervised by George Peppard as the man in charge of the investigation of the disastrous sabotage. As Michael is the sole survivor and the only one left who could have known about the secrets of the plant and why it was blown up (for the purpose of selling its secrets abroad), George Peppard has every reason to be extremely concerned about his case and bringing not only the survivor back to life but also and above all his memory. This proves more or less impossible.
This is the beginning of the plot, which leads into an abyss of mysteries and thickening intrigue unto the very last moment, when everything clears. It's an ingenious story, and although the environment of the film is dreadful, bunker prisons of mammoth overwhelmingness, it is nevertheless highly recommendable, and there is Christine Belford to add some necessary softer touch to the dreadfulness and inhumanity, which unfortunately is the dominating element of the film; and when Michael finally gets even with George Peppard, even that infallible dictator must admit that he deserved it.
This is the beginning of the plot, which leads into an abyss of mysteries and thickening intrigue unto the very last moment, when everything clears. It's an ingenious story, and although the environment of the film is dreadful, bunker prisons of mammoth overwhelmingness, it is nevertheless highly recommendable, and there is Christine Belford to add some necessary softer touch to the dreadfulness and inhumanity, which unfortunately is the dominating element of the film; and when Michael finally gets even with George Peppard, even that infallible dictator must admit that he deserved it.
Did you know
- TriviaSome scenes were shot at Simon Fraser University, at the top of Burnaby Mountain outside of Vancouver, BC. Although Vancouver attracts frequent film business today, in 1972 this film was a bit unusual for being shot in what would become known as "Hollywood North."
- GoofsIt is assumed that the saboteur has the secret data memorized in his brain, because he has seen it while copying it from a computer to tape reels. In reality, if you know what files you want, you can copy them on magnetic tape without studying their contents. This was also true in 1972.
- Crazy creditsThe end credits scroll in the opposite direction to the norm.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Lovelace (2013)
- How long is The Groundstar Conspiracy?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $200,406
- Runtime
- 1h 36m(96 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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