1967 · drama · space · cold-war
Countdown
Directed by Robert Altman1h 41m1967
Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar shelter for a year.
Our read: Countdown (1967) reads as a sombre, kinetic, grounded drama · space · cold-war entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, kinetic, measured drama / space, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- brisk
- intense
Watching Countdown tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
Your lens for tonight
?
Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
Availability in the UK · via JustWatch
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How Countdown feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want an early Altman grounded sci-fi about NASA's rushed solo lunar mission prep.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if slow 60s talky character dramas in space don't hold your interest.
Eight films that feel like this one.
Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Countdown, with why →
Discussion
Make it a movie night.
Pick a mood, get a film the whole couch will enjoy, and give everyone something to watch for.
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