Yet another entry in the seventies sci-fi genre, this one is better than others, but not by much. The plot is based on a compelling premise – a manned mission to Mars is scrapped due to faulty engineering, so the powers that be decide to hoax the Mars landing on a sound stage. Yes, this sounds partly inspired by the conspiracy theories that the moon landing was hoaxed. And yeah, one of the astronauts is played by OJ Simpson, the one and the same – who some would say lives in a conspiracy theory of his own.

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2010: The Year We Make Contact is a sequel to the masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey (2010 was made in 1984, but has no relation to the George Orwell book 1984, nor are we anywhere near going to Jupiter in 2006). Anyhow, initially it has a way of feeling useless, sort of custom-made for people that thought 2001 made no sense and were unwilling to read the Arthur C. Clarke book(s). But it soon picks up pace, and as events culminate, it captures a fair amount of the wonder presented in 2001.

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