Hangar 18 (1980)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

James L. Conway

Writers:

Thomas C. Chapman (story) &
James L. Conway (story) ...

Release Date:

6 May 1982 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It started with an accident in space . . . and led to the terrifying secret in . . . HANGAR 18

Plot:

Shortly after the launch of a satellite from a space shuttle the satellite collides with an UFO in front of the crew's eyes...

Plot Keywords:

UFO | Space | Alien Space Craft | Conspiracy | Decapitation

Cast

Gary Collins	...	Steve Bancroft
Robert Vaughn	...	Gordon Cain
James Hampton	...	Lew Price
Philip Abbott	...	Lt. General Frank Morrison
Joseph Campanella	...	Frank Lafferty
Pamela Bellwood	...	Dr. Sarah Michaels
Tom Hallick	...	Phil Cameron
Steven Keats	...	Dr. Paul Bannister
William Schallert	...	Professor Mills
Darren McGavin	...	NASA Deputy Director Harry Forbes
Cliff Osmond	...	Sheriff Duane Barlow
Andrew Bloch	...	Neal Kelso
Stuart Pankin	...	Sam Tate
Betty Ann Carr	...	Flo Mattson
H.M. Wynant	...	Flight Director

Also Known As:

Invasion Force

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba)

Filming Locations:

Big Spring, Texas, USA

Company:

Sunn Classic Pictures

Trivia:

This film was produced by Sunn Classic Pictures, the leading "four-wall" distributor of documentaries. Although this was a straight science fiction film, Sunn's TV spots promoted it as if it were another of their documentaries that would "reveal the truth about UFOs" even though the space shuttle which was used in the film had not yet had its first launch.

Goofs:

Factual errors: It is difficult to believe that a linguist, however skillful, could give a detailed, one-to-one translation of an alien language, programming a computer to give instant interpretations, all in the space of a few days.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead End (1985)

Supposedly truth-inspired story...

1st watched 5/8/2005 - 4 out of 10(Dir-James L. Conway): Supposedly truth-inspired story about the US hiding information about a captured UFO being in it's midst. The problem here is that if this is really true we'd know a lot more about what they found out, unless you believe that politicians are more interested in themselves than the history of mankind as we know it.(OK, so that's not a complete stretch) Anyway, I digress. The story is played well by the actor's involved which include Gary Collins, James Hampton and Darren McGavin(in a somewhat hammy portrayal of a NASA man almost "giddy" about the discovery). The Astronauts witness a UFO, it gets shot by a launched satellite and a remnant falls to earth. That remnant is captured by a government and a secret investigation ensues. The astronauts on board are kept out of the loop and even blamed for the incident and the death of a co-pilot, and they begin a quest to find out what's going on. The action is watchable but we can see what's going to happen as the government gets a tighter reign on concealing the information. This movie was definitely inspired by the "Chariots of the God" type movies with a little bit of the National Enquirer and this is where it fails. And definitely, with it's open-ended finale it's even harder to believe. As entertainment, it's OK; as truth, it's suspect at best.