Yet another guilty pleasure from the Seventies, though when I view it today I am more inclined to recall the feelings I'd had in my in-theater introduction.
Even then I'd recognized Doug Trumbull from "2001", so I very much looked forward to his directorial debut. From his caterpillar's-eye view behind the opening credits to the claustrophobic interiors to the closing very long pullback he did not disappoint. (The end credits should remind you of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, on which Trumbull also participated.)
Later viewings and readings revealed the production design and FX were a triumph of innovation and plain hard work over accounting principles. They had a whole aircraft carrier to play on!
Holes in the premise and ongoing plot were (and remain) plentiful. They did not distract me but inspired me to fill them long after I was taken for the cinematic ride.
The setting was further along the optimist's future than popularly inferred, what with artificial gravity without a centrifuge, no visible means of "space freighter" propulsion, semi-autonomous maintenance "drones" that I positively marveled at, skintight spacesuits, and a fleeting inference by the lead character of terrestrial climate (or damage?) control. (Then again, perhaps accounting principles DID sometimes prevail.)
"Shooting the rapids" through a "quadrant of the outer rings" had to involve Saturn's upper atmosphere, for even then we were not quite sure what that planet's rings were truly made of. And I knew Trumbull had set his sights on Saturn because the gas giant was supposed to have been the spaceship Discovery's destination in "2001".
The ecological/environmental theme was timely, likely because we were just coming around to realize the only people who would make a difference were us. And, no, for the record, I did not endorse Freeman Lowell's countermeasures though they certainly made me wonder what would happen next...
Though the film score's songs were rendered "troppo vibrato" the sum of the music gently supported the film and enhanced some scenes. This was clearly not "space music". Years passed before I recognized the composer.
And though the script couldn't have given Bruce Dern much guidance in his characterization of Lowell he gave everything he had, which showed in every frame. Lowell's equally fleeting reference to "Everything is the same, all the people are exactly the same" on Earth while trying to provoke some response from his shipmates also supplied plenty for me to privately ponder for awhile...
This film may not age well but is to be forgiven its faults.
Even then I'd recognized Doug Trumbull from "2001", so I very much looked forward to his directorial debut. From his caterpillar's-eye view behind the opening credits to the claustrophobic interiors to the closing very long pullback he did not disappoint. (The end credits should remind you of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, on which Trumbull also participated.)
Later viewings and readings revealed the production design and FX were a triumph of innovation and plain hard work over accounting principles. They had a whole aircraft carrier to play on!
Holes in the premise and ongoing plot were (and remain) plentiful. They did not distract me but inspired me to fill them long after I was taken for the cinematic ride.
The setting was further along the optimist's future than popularly inferred, what with artificial gravity without a centrifuge, no visible means of "space freighter" propulsion, semi-autonomous maintenance "drones" that I positively marveled at, skintight spacesuits, and a fleeting inference by the lead character of terrestrial climate (or damage?) control. (Then again, perhaps accounting principles DID sometimes prevail.)
"Shooting the rapids" through a "quadrant of the outer rings" had to involve Saturn's upper atmosphere, for even then we were not quite sure what that planet's rings were truly made of. And I knew Trumbull had set his sights on Saturn because the gas giant was supposed to have been the spaceship Discovery's destination in "2001".
The ecological/environmental theme was timely, likely because we were just coming around to realize the only people who would make a difference were us. And, no, for the record, I did not endorse Freeman Lowell's countermeasures though they certainly made me wonder what would happen next...
Though the film score's songs were rendered "troppo vibrato" the sum of the music gently supported the film and enhanced some scenes. This was clearly not "space music". Years passed before I recognized the composer.
And though the script couldn't have given Bruce Dern much guidance in his characterization of Lowell he gave everything he had, which showed in every frame. Lowell's equally fleeting reference to "Everything is the same, all the people are exactly the same" on Earth while trying to provoke some response from his shipmates also supplied plenty for me to privately ponder for awhile...
This film may not age well but is to be forgiven its faults.