Space Mutiny (1988)

Directors:

David Winters
Neal Sundstrom (co-director)

Writer:

Maria Dante (written by)

Release Date:

1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

There is nowhere to hide from the enemy within!

Plot:

A pilot is the only hope to stop the mutiny of a spacecraft by its security crew, who plot to sell the crew of the ship into slavery.

Plot Keywords:

Mutiny | Space | Dancing | Cult Favorite | Lieutenant

Cast

Reb Brown	...	Dave Ryder
John Phillip Law	...	Flight Cmdr. Elijah Kalgan
James Ryan	...	MacPhearson
Cameron Mitchell	...	Cmdr. Alex Jansen
Cisse Cameron	...	Dr. Lea Jansen (as Cissy Cameron)
Graham Clarke	...	Capt. Scott Devers (as Graham Clark)
Billy Second	...	Flight Lt. Lemont
Rufus Swart	...	3rd Engineer Steve Codell
Arthur Hall	...	Mortuary Keeper
Norman Anstey	...	Joseph Enforcer
Rick Skidmore	...	Chief Engineer
Guy Pringle	...	Kalgan's Bodyguard
Claudia Jacobs	...	Female Lieutenant
Evan J. Klisser	...	Mohawk - Enforcer
Chip Mitchell	...	Blake - Enforcer

Also Known As:

Mutiny in Space (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min | Canada:108 min

Country:

South Africa | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company:

A.I.P. Productions

Trivia:

Stars Reb Brown and Cisse Cameron, who played romantic interests on screen, were married shortly after the completion of this film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In interior shots of the spaceship "Southern Sun", large, hinged, factory-type windows can be clearly seen (not to mention the fact that sunlight is clearly coming through them in several scenes) and much of the Southern Sun is made of brick and mortar.

Quotes:

Kalgan: You meddling fool!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Space Mutiny (#9.20)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

The Edge of a Dream

It would be sad if it weren't so pathetic.

OK, folks, here's a brief summarization of this film. I won't be giving away anything important, even though I don't think I could spoil this movie if I tried. Off we go...

As Kintaro's arrangement of 'O, Fortuna' wafts our way, we are treated to the film's opening credits. They look like they were produced by a Commodore 64 and they freeze up at least once because the programmer got too carried away.

Welcome to Battlestar Galactica -- no, wait! -- I mean the Southern Sun, a ship containing an entire civilization. It's run by Captain Santa Claus and his Billy-Idol-wannabe sidekick. The story is really too convoluted to go into, so never mind. As someone once said: "If you pretend you know what's going on, it's actually kind of exciting." Remember, he said, "Kind of."

Watch and enjoy the following: Vacu-formed unitards, ridiculously small weapons, Santa's incredibly fake beard, Kalgan's giggling fits, Ryder's bizarre reaction shots, a woman who punches in at work despite being dead, Leah's Dance of the Hoola Hoop, a troupe of scantily-clad women who worship Van DeGraf Generators, countless shots of computer screens (graphics by Kenner), Ryder's disturbingly girlish bellows, and numerous molasses-fast chase scenes involving golf carts... or floor waxers or something.

This movie is not campy at all -- that would imply the filmmakers were TRYING to be laughably bad. This movie is just one of those rare few in which everything is wrong in all the right ways. Acting, sets, lighting, costumes, dialogue... they're all hysterically inane. These folks tried very hard to make an exciting space-drama -- and maybe it would've been if they had dared to take ANYTHING to the next level. Every aspect of it just says, "space movie." Nothing more.

If this movie was just plain bad, you might have to feel sad for the people that made it, thinking it would work. However, it makes such a leap into the ridiculous that you just have to laugh. A must-see for fans of so-bad-it's-good movies. And whether you love or hate sci-fi, this is a very funny movie.

I give it a 4 -- it may not affect you the way it's supposed to, but it's great entertainment.