America is desperate to get to the moon but the Apollo rocket is not ready yet. The Russians are set to send a team to the moon. In order to beat them, the Americans deploy a risky scheme for one man to fly the modified Gemini craft on an one-way trip to the moon. There he must locate a previously landed shelter and wait for the return trip when the Apollo rocket is ready. The Russian team consists of civilians and the White House insists on putting up a civilian of their own. Team leader Chiz (Robert Duvall) is passed over due to his Air Force credentials and Lee Stegler (James Caan) is rushed into training.

There is a tension-filled space drama lurking here somewhere but director Robert Altman is unable inject any intensity. It's his first big budget theatrical movie. He does have some great actors giving some interesting performances. I am struck by Lee blowing up at his wife for lying to her about the risks. It seems like Altman may be more comfortable with the human conflict. He has nothing in terms of thrills or action or excitement. This is probably a wrong fit for him. The movie also ends before the adventure truly ends. The mission is not finished as far as I'm concerned. This is a partly movie and not the good part.

Desperate to reach the moon first, NASA sends a man (James Caan) and shelter separately, one-way. He must find it to survive; he cannot return until Apollo is ready.

This film has been heavily scrutinized for being boring, dated and any number of other things. Critic Howard Thompson calls the film a "limp space-flight drama" which "makes the moon seem just as dull as Mother Earth". Some of this might be fair, some might not. Director Robert Altman, who later went on to big things, got the job through Warner Brothers' B-movie producer William Conrad (1920-1994). So maybe we are wrong to expect too much. (Although it is great to see such early performances from Caan and Robert Duvall.)

Where the movie is and is not Altman's is unclear. The bulk is obviously his, but the story goes that Jack Warner (1892-1978) did not like Altman's use of overlapping dialogue, had him removed from the set, and Conrad shot some new footage. So how much did Altman get to edit into the final film?

A moving and exciting space opera with great cast , adequate production design and nail-biting final scenes . Concerning the preparatives, training , emotional crises affecting the men and their families and mutual competence between two astronautas : James Caan, Robert Duvall. At the end there is a bone-crushing last reel that will have on the edge of your seat .The motion picture that puts a man on the moon ... and you will follow every terrifying second of the way...From the director of The Player and Nashville comes a screen space adventure that's the Real Suff .

This is the personal drama of the man fate picked to live the great adventure of the century , resulting to be a nice thriller/drama/Scifi with overlapping dialogue , dealing with American astronauts being rushed out to the moon in an attempt to beat the Russians. This is a drama more than a thriller , concentrating less on Sci-Fi hardware than on emotional crises affecting the men and their families . Here there are three major talents connected with this science-fiction thriller , as Robert Altman , and Robert Duvall , James Caan went on to appear together in The " Godfather" by Francis Ford Coppola and " Killer Elite" by Sam Peckinpah , while director went on his own fame and fortune , all of them : Duvall, Caan, Altman were all on the theshold of their hugely successful careers . Moreover , including a rousing and twisted finale that will leave you breathless. Starring duo are well accompanied by a very good support cast , such as : Steve Inhat , Joanna Moore, Barbara Baxley, Michael Murphy , Charles Aidman and uncredited actor/producer William Conrad as a TV newscaster , among others.

It contains an atmospheric and functional cinematography by William Spencer. As well as a rousing and suspenseful musical score by Leonard Rosenman in Jerry Goldsmith style .This is most uncharacteristic of its filmmaker and the ethereal qualities of his later work, though being slightly soapy in parts . This one was made before MASH and subsequently Altman to develop a prolific and successful career . After his television works , first film's Altman was in 1957 The James Dean Story , following this Countdown 1967 , the big hit MASH and a series of successes and some flops , such as : That Cold Day in the Park, McCabe and Mrs Miller , Images , The Long Goodbye , Thieves like us , California Split , Nashville , Buffalo Bill and the Indians , 3 Women , A Wedding , A perfect Couple , Health , Quintet, Popeye , Secret Honor , Streamers , Fool for Love , Beyond Therapy , Aria , Short Cuts , Kansas City, The Gingerbread Man , Dr T and the women , Gosford Park, The Company , among others .