Listless space-opera from Columbia Pictures (overseen by Columbia's main resident for lushly-produced soapers, M.J. Frankovich) concerns three astronauts working in space on-board the Ironman One, only to encounter immediate troubles with the engine which the folks back in Houston can't seem to rectify. The film, a December 1969 release, predated the real-life Apollo 13 scare (and won an Oscar for its effects), but it's a wheeze. The marooned astronauts start to come apart emotionally, and it's meant to be high drama when Gene Hackman finally freaks out, but all we in the audience can think is, "Didn't these men get the necessary training for this type of disaster?"... and when 'over the hill' Richard Crenna starts musing about his by-gone glory days, you can set your watch for his ultimate fate. "Marooned" is somber, laughably ominous and ultimately pneumatic. *1/2 from ****
Review of Marooned
