BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Film_Angenieux Not a great film but very much worth it for Altman fans. In many ways it's a conventional cold war drama, but it has some wicked resonances if you see the Robert Duvall astronaut character as what he was surely meant to be: an over the top version of John Glenn: a boy scout rah rah guy who can't stand the much hipper, laid back James Caan, who is a stand-in for the real astronaut Al Shepard. (Wolfe's The Right Stuff, if I recall, has useful material on the mutual distrust between Glenn and Shepard.) Altman tries a few tricks for which he is later famous. The primary one is overlapping dialogue. Altman hated the formal style of traditional films in which everyone speaks in complete sentences and never overlaps. You can see the overlapping here, though not to the degree that comes through in later films like M*A*S*H and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Still, the innovation was enough to infuriate the studio execs when they began viewing the rough cut. Hey! We can't understand half of what the actors are saying! So they fired Altman about nine-tenths of the way through shooting. Watch closely and toward the end of the picture, you'll see a change in style as the replacement director takes over. It's much more stilted (especially in the press conference). And I recall (though can't be sure at this remove, I haven't seen or read about the picture in decades) that the original ending was a tragedy, which was changed to a happy one instead.The most effective aspect of Altman's interest in sound design was what he did when Caan loses contact with ground control as he approaches the moon. Altman heightens anxiety (Caan is already worried that Duvall is endangering his life) when the radio contact picks up static and it gets hard to hear. Caan begins to feel all alone out there, millions of miles from earth. And so do we, instinctively...we want to hear what Mission Control is saying, and their words keep breaking up. Very clever: using +bad+ sound to make viewers unconsciously uneasy. It's a great way to accomplish your goal on a lower budget project.

minimal-3 Looking at a film made 38 years ago (2006) about semi-reality was an actual bore. Forget Robert Altman made it (he is not that great during the next 38 years as Altman fans would have you believe) It was much more reminiscent of the soap operas of the time. I found nothing of any great interest here. The Duval/Caan game playing was lame and many of the other characters were overplayed. Yes, it is easy for me 38 years later with all the film and acting innovations that have taken place to make these comments but I simply was not entertained by the script/dialog/ and Altman's attempt at an auteur film. I will also throw in here I am not an Altman fan, or I would not spend money to see a film just because Altman made it. Michael Mann I would without question just as a comparison of my tastes.Duval is another consideration. I saw a film made in 1971 by Duval, which he claims, is his best work that was real 'art'. Quiet, simple, Wm.Faulkner 14 page tale of life in the Appalachians many years ago.This review is about Altman and 'Countdown'. The film is average at best and the auteur just starting an incredible career shows some flash of genius to come.

cinefyl The film is interesting although very TV-movieish in many ways (editing, melodramatic score, zooms and pans) but it had some good points nonetheless.Many of the scenes involving characters in conflict were very realistic-people talked over each other, facial expressions, sarcasm, etc. The scene between Ross and Gus was exceptionally well done and very interesting since we had Ross trying to do his job for the government and Gus showing concern about the human element of the project.The training simulations were cool and it seemed many were filmed at NASA or at least recreated in an authentic fashion. This a good movie for Saturday or Sunday afternoon...give it a try and enjoy the acting, script, and low-key TV style film-making.

shank6 I've just got to throw my 2 cents in. I thought the Countdown was an excellent movie. The acting is what carries it for sure, but the special effects aren't bad either for the time period.I've seen Apollo 13 with Hanks and I thought this picture did a better job of portraying tension, ( although fictitious ) within the capsule. Robert Duvall is a superior actor as is James Caan. The overall dismay he portrays when not picked for the mission, and the subsiquent attempt to discredit Caan is great acting!