Why so much hype?

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This is the kind of movie that Hollywood doesn't usually produce. In Hollywood, there has to be a clear distinction between "good" and "evil" to win audiences and revenue. Unfortunately, this destroys a lot of significant films from being made. Groundstar Conspiracy was atypical in that there was a definite blur between "good" and "evil". None more so than in the character of Tuxan, played by the late George Peppard. Peppard plays a government operative who is maniacally obsessed with protecting national security. You like the guy at the beginning, but when he starts interrogating "The Alien" - played by Michael Sarrazin (in the same year played in "Never Given In An Inch", and has a striking resemblance to the singer BJ Thomas), you like Tuxan much less. "The Alien" allegedly committed terrible espionage crimes, but cannot recall due to amnesia. You immediately empathize with "The Alien" as a guy who has to act tough, but you can tell is a regular guy. The whole point of the movie is that Tuxan is dead-set on capturing "The Alien" at all costs. The ending has a strong moral message, and you have to decide whether you agree with what Tuxan does for a living or not. That is the strength of the movie - you have to decide upon morality for yourself (a powerful dilemma in America during the early 70s).

Lamont Johnson worked a lot in television but he also directed some interesting films that should be better known; A Covenant with Death, The McKenzie Break, The Last American Hero, You'll Like My Mother and Lipstick. (Even Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone has its felicities!) The Groundstar Conspiracy is a low budget but fast moving thriller with a few twists and turns until the tense ending. All the elements of music, photography and dialogue are pulled together neatly to serve the narrative's momentum.The plot may strain a little at the edges but the film is helped along by some good acting. Michael Sarrazin as the accused man is convincing. You can feel his terror and his bewilderment. Sarrazin's face helps, it looks beat about and haunted. George Peppard as the government man gives one of his best performances. A real hard case, driven almost by paranoia, single minded and ready to do anything to keep the state secure. Christine Belford and Cliff Potts are good too. It's a good little film.

When George Peppard is the major ‘name' of a movie – especially one made in the 70's – you may suspect you're on dodgy ground from the off. When his co-stars are Michael Sarrazin – a one-trick pony whose career spiralled downwards sometime around 1975 when the trick had been seen too many times – and Christine Belford – a brief escapee from TV movie hell – you know it for a fact.THE GROUNDSTAR CONSPIRACY is a far-fetched thriller with sci-fi undertones that moves far too slowly, telegraphs most of it's ‘twists' far too early (apart from the big twist at the end, which, believe me, sends this sad effort way off the credibility meter) and suffers from some horribly clunky dialogue. Perhaps a director at the very top of his game may have been able to salvage something, but, unfortunately Lamont Johnson – another journeyman whose labours have mostly been in television – was never that good a director. Peppard, as a tough, no-nonsense agent, seems to be rehearsing his Hannibal role in THE A-TEAM without the humour, while Sarrazin flashes puppy-dog eyes and tries to look puzzled. Lucky Christine Belford, then: her role calls for her to look bewildered much of the time, and, when she does, she looks completely natural. Approach THE GROUNDSTAR CONSPIRACY as a mediocre B-movie, ignore its obvious – and woefully unrealised – ambitions, and you may just wring some drops of entertainment from this old flannel.

This movie isn't really interesting in itself: the plot is far-fetched, the characters are wooden and the action scenes probably would have been considered dull even when the movie was made. Nevertheless a very interesting picture for anyone interested in early-seventies interiors, fashion, hairstyles, etc.: for me, being thirty-something, it was a feast of recognition :-)P.S. Don't forget to listen to the soundtrack.