Depending on your point of view, Marooned directed by John Sturges was considered either “a taut and interesting film…” or “Tedious and Sad…” upon its release. That still remains the case today. It’s curious that despite the space race being such a big story at the time it seldom translated into good drama on the big screen. Like Robert Altman’s Countdown from the preious year, Marooned suffers from a rather clinical approach to the subject matter and a somewhat pedestrian pace. Perhaps the focus on real space travel and science fact was the problem. Robert Parrish’s Journey to the Far Side of the Sun which was released at the same time is far more dramatically engaging with its more overt science fiction narrative.