The Groundstar Conspiracy

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.

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 government space program laboratory known as Groundstar gets blown up while a woman, (Christine Belford) whose parents have recently died and is also recently divorced tries to find some solace for her shattered life in the summer house she was left in the will which just happens to be in the direct vicinity of the above mentioned lab. The lone "survivor" of the explosion stumbles to her house with a disfigured face followed by government security guru George Peppard and his crew who take him away to a high security hospital. Was he responsible for the explosion? The next time we see him, he turns out to be Michael Sarrazin. And what follows is a moderately intriguing story that delves into some of then, today's, and for all times big issues, such as unchecked government surveillance, brutal interrogation techniques, and brainwashing. The deft intermingling of personal elements with the government security apparatus and some political and public relations angles makes for a fairly sophisticated and complex movie.

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.

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.