Operation Avalanche (film)

Johnson and Owen Williams star as CIA agents who infiltrate NASA to expose a potential mole, only to become embroiled in a conspiracy to fake the Moon landing portion of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

In 1967, ambitious CIA agents Matt Johnson, Owen Williams, Andy Apelle, and Jared Raab convince their superiors to let them infiltrate NASA disguised as a documentary crew filming the Apollo 11 mission in an effort to root out a Soviet mole inside the organization.

To cover up the inability of the lander and prevent the Russians from winning the Space Race, the crew starts "Operation Avalanche"—faking parts of the Moon landing, gaining the approval of Brackett.

They learn about front screen projection, which they then use to make their faked Moon landing videos more convincing.

He calls Brackett on a payphone and offers to trade his location for the names of the agents the CIA plans to eliminate.

He threatens to release his uncut copy, and Brackett offers to make him head of his own department, but Matt declines.

[8] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Matt Johnson and Owen Williams' wild, borderline-illegal stunt delivers big time on its crazy premise.

"[9] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "likeable if not always convincing fantasy that gets much mileage from its period feel".