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radio contact. The
Russians have also lost contact with their team. As Lee orbits the Moon, he does not see the beacon of the shelter. With only seconds left before he must abort and return to Earth, he lies about seeing it. Mission Control okays his retro burn and he lands. Now all radio contact is lost. Lee gets out of the Gemini lander and walks around with one hour of oxygen in his suit. He finds the crashed Russian lander on its side, the three dead cosmonauts sprawled around it.
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After a press leak about
Pilgrim, the Russians launch a week early. Deflated at not being first, everyone carries on. The shelter pod (a LEM lander) is launched and landed successfully. Lee is launched on schedule. He encounters a power drain malfunction en route which tests his character and hinders
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Altman was fired as director of the film for delivering footage that featured actors talking over each other; it was so unusual for that time that studio executives considered it incompetence rather than an attempt to make scenes more realistic. He had finished filming and was preparing to begin the
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benefited from the cooperation of NASA, lending facilities at Cocoa Beach, Florida, to enhance the production. Business and recreation scenes were filmed in
California at the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. plant in Huntington Beach, Jamaica Bay Inn in Marina del Rey, Warner Brothers Studios in
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Everyone on Earth is nervously awaiting news, but none comes. Lee takes the Soviet flag from a dead cosmonaut and lays it on a nearby rock with his own
American flag. With little air left and nowhere to go, Lee spins the toy mouse his son gave him. It points right, so he walks in that direction.
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People on Earth are losing hope as his time has run out. Lee looks at his watch to see that he has just minutes of air left. A red glow on his arm catches his attention. It is the locator beacon atop the shelter. Lee is last seen walking towards the shelter... towards survival.
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As a result of Altman's dismissal, the film's ending was changed. "I left it ambiguous--the guy was probably going to die on the moon...He goes off in one direction, and the camera pans back and reveals the beacon is in the opposite direction. That was how I ended it."
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saw your dailies and he said, 'That fool has actors talking at the same time.' And I had to drive up to the gate, and there was a cardboard box with all this stuff from my desk, which the guard handed to me. I was not allowed in the studio. And they cut the picture for
307:), one of Chiz's crew, is tapped. Chiz is outraged, but agrees to train Lee in the few days they have. Chiz pushes Lee's training hard, half to get him ready, half hoping he will drop out and Chiz can step in. Lee persists, driven by the same astronaut dream.
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craft. He would stay on the Moon for a few months in a shelter pod launched and landed before him. Later, astronauts from an Apollo mission would come to retrieve him.
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Critics were harsh with the unrealistic presentation of a rushed moon landing by an inexperienced astronaut. In a May 1968 review of
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The equipment is ready, but the
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as astronauts vying to be the first
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called it "an interesting, dated-really-quickly astronaut drama."
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Buffalo Bill and the
Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
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Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
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A comic book adaptation of the film was published by
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417:editing process when he received a call from
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758:"Visions of the future, relics of the past."
538:, a 2011 film about being stranded in space
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844:. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004.
491:Visions of the future, relics of the past
827:Leonard Maltin’s Movie & Video Guide
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566:List of films featuring space stations
1394:Films based on science fiction novels
619:"Countdown, Filming & production"
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1354:1960s science fiction thriller films
800:at the Comic Book DB (archived from
738:Vagg, Stephen (September 27, 2022).
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819:Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2013
1404:Films scored by Leonard Rosenman
550:novel of the same name about an
1399:Films directed by Robert Altman
1389:Films based on American novels
1364:American space adventure films
546:, a 1969 film adaptation of a
526:, a 1995 film dramatizing the
517:List of American films of 1968
1:
700:"Review: 'Countdown' begins."
689:Retrieved: November 16, 2023.
421:, then executive producer at
1374:1960s English-language films
904:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
385:Bobby Riha as Stevie Stegler
740:"The Stardom of James Caan"
395:Under the working title of
149:A William Conrad Production
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240:, based on the 1964 novel
16:1967 film by Robert Altman
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984:That Cold Day in the Park
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340:as Charles "Chiz" Stewart
173:August 20, 1967
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1414:Films set in outer space
1240:A Prairie Home Companion
1008:McCabe & Mrs. Miller
382:Charles Irving as Seidel
648:Altman, Robert (2006).
493:, a June 1995 story in
159:Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
1409:Films set in the 1960s
1379:Films about astronauts
687:Turner Classic Movies.
684:"Articles: Countdown."
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373:Stephen Coit as Ehrman
1419:Films shot in Florida
1216:Dr. T & the Women
784:Grand Comics Database
707:, May 2, 1968, p. 57.
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184:May 1, 1968
1439:1960s American films
1297:Nightmare in Chicago
1278:The James Dean Story
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776:Dell Movie Classic:
288:), using a modified
234:science fiction film
1200:The Gingerbread Man
842:Time Out Film Guide
571:Survival film genre
268:In the late 1960s,
242:The Pilgrim Project
60:The Pilgrim Project
1434:Warner Bros. films
1160:Vincent & Theo
951:Films directed by
881:TCM Movie Database
762:The New York Times
704:The New York Times
698:Thompson, Howard.
496:The New York Times
461:The New York Times
412:Altman's dismissal
408:in Redondo Beach.
115:William W. Spencer
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850:978-0-14101-354-1
835:978-0-451-23774-3
817:Maltin, Leonard.
721:New Straits Times
475:New Straits Times
334:as Mickey Stegler
248:. The film stars
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1208:Cookie's Fortune
1088:A Perfect Couple
1040:California Split
1024:The Long Goodbye
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89:Joanna Moore
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1251:Short films
1232:The Company
1192:Kansas City
630:23 November
596:Dell Comics
431:Jack Warner
419:Bill Conrad
377:John Rayner
356:Steve Ihnat
246:Hank Searls
205:101 minutes
71:Produced by
65:Hank Searls
36:Directed by
1349:1968 films
1344:1967 films
1338:Categories
1313:Tanner '88
1289:Television
1176:Short Cuts
1168:The Player
577:References
406:Space Park
391:Production
368:Ted Knight
326:James Caan
305:James Caan
270:astronauts
250:James Caan
232:is a 1967
192: (USA)
188:1968-05-01
177:1967-08-20
142:Production
105:Ted Knight
85:James Caan
1120:Streamers
1072:A Wedding
1048:Nashville
976:Countdown
911:Countdown
898:Countdown
887:Countdown
876:Countdown
865:Countdown
823:TV Movies
797:Countdown
778:Countdown
606:Citations
562:incident.
560:Apollo 13
528:Apollo 13
523:Apollo 13
505:Countdown
480:Countdown
464:, critic
456:Countdown
450:Reception
401:Countdown
299:colonel.
297:Air Force
229:Countdown
181: (UK)
121:Edited by
22:Countdown
892:AllMovie
726:Malaysia
670:53709872
543:Marooned
530:incident
511:See also
470:Malaysia
397:Moonshot
286:Titan II
218:Language
131:Music by
81:Starring
56:Based on
1080:Quintet
1064:3 Women
992:M*A*S*H
901:at the
879:at the
825:, then
782:at the
744:Filmink
484:Filmink
379:as Dunc
364:as Rick
346:as Jean
221:English
210:Country
186: (
175: (
144:company
1324:(2004)
1316:(1988)
1308:(1985)
1300:(1964)
1281:(1957)
1262:(1987)
1243:(2006)
1235:(2003)
1227:(2001)
1219:(2000)
1211:(1999)
1203:(1998)
1195:(1996)
1187:(1994)
1179:(1993)
1171:(1992)
1163:(1990)
1155:(1987)
1147:(1987)
1139:(1985)
1131:(1984)
1123:(1983)
1115:(1982)
1107:(1980)
1104:Popeye
1099:(1980)
1096:HealtH
1091:(1979)
1083:(1979)
1075:(1978)
1067:(1977)
1059:(1976)
1051:(1975)
1043:(1974)
1035:(1974)
1027:(1973)
1019:(1972)
1016:Images
1011:(1971)
1003:(1970)
995:(1970)
987:(1969)
979:(1967)
971:(1957)
848:
833:
668:
658:
556:Skylab
552:Apollo
478:calls
444:Altman
434:kids."
352:as Gus
274:Apollo
582:Notes
870:IMDb
846:ISBN
831:ISBN
724:, (
666:OCLC
656:ISBN
632:2023
624:IMDb
535:Love
458:for
319:Cast
301:NASA
264:Plot
252:and
914:at
890:at
868:at
489:In
472:'s
244:by
63:by
1340::
742:.
664:.
640:^
621:.
425::
260:.
944:e
937:t
930:v
852:.
837:.
804:)
746:.
672:.
634:.
554:/
190:)
179:)
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