Movie #20: Hangar 18

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100 Sci-Fi movies in 100 days!

"Hangar 18" is a sci-fi film from 1980. It is directed by James Conway and is chocked full of stars such as Darren McGavin (Kolchak, A Chirstmas Story,) James Hampton (F-Troop, Teen Wolf,) and Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) I remember watching this movie on TV when I was a kid and loving it.

The story is about astronauts on a mission to launch a satellite from the space shuttle. While in space, the satellite is hit by a UFO. 

The UFO crashes on Earth. Since it's election time, the UFO crash is hidden from the public and the spaceship and alien bodies are moved to Hangar 18, a secret hangar on an Airforce base in Texas which houses government secrets. 

When the space shuttle astronauts return to Earth, they are blamed for the death of their crew member who was killed during the accident. All records of the UFO hitting the satellite have been erased from video and the computers. The astronauts sneak away and set out on an adventure to find the fabled Hangar 18 and clear their names and reveal the conspiracy to the public.

                   click on the box above to watch the trailer

This is one cool, underrated movie! The acting is awesome and the pacing of the movie is great. One thing I really liked is that this movie featured the space shuttle before the real one ever went into space. 

I bet when it came out at the theater that was a real draw for sci-fi fans as well as aeronautical & space buffs. The miniatures and special effects were pretty good for an early '80s movie. The set designs for the space shuttle cockpit, the alien ship cockpit and Hangar 18 itself were very convincing. The Alien makeup was simple and effective. 

All around, I give this movie a very high rating.
Check it out on Netflix, DVD, or Youtube.







- Patrick Shawn Bennett
Broadcasting from a secret (beep...beep...beep... this transmission has been shut down by the government... beep...beep....beep)

XXX