Word: planet
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...tall ships will move up the Hudson River under a cumulus of sail, like a stately apparition from another century. A few hours later, more than 200 million miles away in space, America's Viking lander will glide through the thin Martian atmosphere and settle on the Red Planet like a gray metal mantis...
Then came what should have been the greatest letdown for the true believers. In 1965 Mariner 4 passed within 6,118 miles of the Martian surface and returned pictures showing what seemed to be a lifeless, cratered, moonlike planet. But even those desolate scenes failed to dissuade the diehards. In 1965 Carl Sagan-then a relatively unknown Harvard astronomer, now the best-known proponent of Martian life and a member of the Viking-lander photoanalysis team-suggested that had a Martian version of Mariner 4 passed within 6,000 miles of earth and taken 22 comparable photographs, it would have...
...Bicentennial spectacular, it was meant to be out of this world: a July 4 touchdown on Mars by Viking 1's robot lander to begin the search for life on the red planet. But true to its name, Mars was being belligerent. The first landing site in the Chryse region appeared so hazardous on careful photographic analysis that Viking scientists concluded late last week that a birthday landing was out. That part of the American celebration would come somewhat later...
...Signals from the controllers ordering Viking to avoid the site would take another 18 minutes to return to the craft, far too late to do any good. Russian space scientists can testify to the risks. In their four known attempts to land spacecraft on Mars, one ship missed the planet completely, two apparently crashed, and the fourth transmitted for only 20 seconds, sending an undecipherable portion of one picture before lapsing into silence...
What is compelling about the film and what makes it still of interest is the burning immediacy of the images: Newton skidding down a hill against a primordial New Mexico landscape; crossing the blasted wastes of a distant planet; Newton, finally without earthly disguise, standing as he really is before a terrified Mary-Lou or removing contact lenses from his yellow, glowing eyes. Roeg's skills always threaten to outbalance whatever he sets them to, and that has happened here. The movie, in all ways, is not good enough...