MovieChat Forums > Marooned (1970) Discussion > Major goof **SPOILERS

Major goof **SPOILERS

posted 8 years ago by sc_taylor
3 replies | jump to latest

When the crew realise they don't have enough oxygen to last until the rescue craft arrives, Pruett opens the hatch! Ridiculous! In so doing he de-pressurises the cabin and wastes a vast quantity of oxygen. If he wants to sacrifice himself he should have just committed suicide in the cabin. We know they only had a small amount of oxygen left in their suit life support systems (10 man minutes) so why does he choose to vent all the cabin oxygen out into space by opening the hatch? Crazy! This would leave the other two with only their suit oxygen.
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[–] Uncle Dave M 8 years ago

Thank You. I thought I was the only one who noticed this. First they all get their helmets on, Pruett is going to go out and "fix the engine". He opens the hatch, goes outside, gets by the antenna and all of a sudden his suit is leaking... e almost looks surprised. Then, a few minutes later the other two are back in the command module with their helmets off...? How did they pressurize the cabin if there's no oxygen???

I let this slide because; 1) It was 1969, before audiences became so picky and "sophisticated". 2) It is otherwise a very good, classic movie. 3) A touch of naive nostalgia.

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[–] A_Dude_Named_Dude 7 years ago

The two of you have misunderstood what was happening. When Pruett goes to leave, he pumps the handle, which sucks the air out of the capsule, just like an airlock. When he opened the hatch there was no air to escape. When Buzz "blows the hatch," he pulled a separate lever that immediately opened it before the air could be evacuated, which is why the capsule moves slightly out of range of the Russian, although that was an error, as the craft should have moved "down," instead of away from the Russian.

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[–] jscott1000 7 years ago

Except there is no such handle with such function on an Apollo Capsule. Even if there were, you could not pump down an entire capsule with 2 or 3 strokes of the handle. It would take 1,000s of pumps of that handle. Ever pump up a bicycle tire? Ever pump it up with 2 or 3 strokes? Now multiply the size from a tire to a capsule.