this film be not particularly noteworthy in itself and but a a benchmark in the development of science fiction on the big screen . it mark one of the last gasp of the low budget and hardware drive ( rocket and rayguns and if you like ) school of sci fi and fall well short of it contemporary maroon and much less merit any comparison with 2001 and other later high concept film . altman direction be sufficient to keep the picture move along and the overlap dialogue be a refreshingly sophisticated stuff . the ego clash of the two pilot candidate for the moon flight seem a bit stilted ( duvall seem at home in the role and but caan not up to it ) and the anti soviet rhetoric be a bit grate at time and the female role be essentially throw aways . when it time to put together a retrospective on the sci fi genre ( a have be do for war film ) this one might get 15 second during the moonshot segment while it hardly deserve more . this film big problem be ( apparently ) budget it rare to see a film depict the prop and procedure of it own era so poorly .