The Ice Pirates (1984)

In the far future water is the most valuable substance. Two space pirates are captured, sold to a princess, and recruited to help her find her father who disappeared when he found ... See full summary »

Director:

Stewart Raffill

Writers:

Stewart Raffill, Stanford Sherman

Stars:

Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael D. Roberts

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Urich	...	Jason
Mary Crosby	...	Princess Karina
Michael D. Roberts	...	Roscoe
Anjelica Huston	...	Maida
John Matuszak	...	Killjoy
Ron Perlman	...	Zeno
John Carradine	...	Supreme Commander
Natalie Core	...	Nanny
Jeremy West	...	Zorn
Bruce Vilanch	...	Wendon
Alan Caillou	...	Count Paisley
Marcia Lewis	...	Frog Lady
Daryl Keith Roach	...	Fitzcairn / Prisoner (as Daryl Roach)
Robert Symonds	...	Lanky Nibs
Gary Brockette	...	Percy the Robot

Storyline

In the far future water is the most valuable substance. Two space pirates are captured, sold to a princess, and recruited to help her find her father who disappeared when he found information dangerous to the rulers. A real Space Opera with sword fights, explosions, fighting robots, monsters, bar fights and time warps.

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Plot Keywords:

cult film | ice | mop cap | bar fight | sword fight | 

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Taglines:

See A Totally Spaced Adventure!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ice Pirates

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Theatre - 615 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,358,022, 18 March 1984

Gross USA:

$14,255,801

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,255,801

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), JF Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film parodies swashbuckling pirate flicks and space operas.

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Goofs

When the prisoner cage is being hauled along the hangar, it's broad daylight, as is obvious in the matte shot with the outside view and in various windows and openings in the background. Wenn the cage is set down however, it's suddenly dark outside the hangar door.

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Quotes

Princess Karina: How long have you known about this?
Jason: First we've heard of it.
Roscoe: Couple of days.
[Jason and Roscoe look at each other]
Jason: Couple of days.
Roscoe: First we've heard of it.

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Alternate Versions

There are two German VHS-Versions. One is the uncut version and is labeled FSK18 and one is a slightly cut version which is rated FSK12. In the cut version the bar fight for example is slightly cut. But the most paradox fact is that the uncut version is often shown in free TV, even in the midday and afternoon time-slots where only FSK12 movies are allowed.

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Connections

Referenced in Firefly: Out of Gas (2002)

User Reviews

If you liked Mars Attacks! and Buckaroo Banzai ....

This is the movie that killed Mary Crosby's career and nearly derailed Robert Urich's, Angelica Houston's and Ron Perlman's. It's one of those movies - like 1941 and Paint Your Wagon - that everyone knows is a total turkey, except for those who place what they see on the screen above what they read in the reviews. If you liked Mars Attacks! and Buckaroo Banzai, and laughed your ass off at Spaced Invaders and Killer Clowns from Outer Space, you'll love Ice Pirates.

The time is the distant future, where by far the most precious commodity in the galaxy is water. The idea that there were once ten planets whose surface was principally covered by water is considered a myth by most people, as is the story that the last surviving water planet was somehow removed to the unreachable center of the galaxy at the end of the galactic trade wars. The galaxy is ruled by your basic evil emperor (John Carradine) presiding over a trade oligarchy that controls all mining and sale of ice from asteroids and comets.

Robert Urich is Jason, leader of a band of ice pirates that includes Ron Perlman, John Matuzak and Michael D Roberts. Of course, the crew also prominently features the obligatory unbeatable master swordsman and latter-day samurai, but, in a blow for equality, the part is played to perfection by Angelica Houston. In the formulaic plot for outlaw space operas, our heroes attack an ice freighter, are captured, but escape with a princess (Mary Crosby) kidnapped by the evil emperor in tow. They rescue her, thread the perilous path to the center of the universe and the fabled tenth planet, and destroy the evil empire's stranglehold on the people.

Along the way, you are treated to some of film's oddest aliens, god-awful puns and excellent lampoons of space opera icons. It's full of bona fide toilet humor, from the pirates breaking through the hull of the ice freighter into a lavatory whose commode is occupied by a chickenman, to the standard reconditioning for outlaws and other deviants - castration by mechanical chompers, a lobotomy and a blond dye job, then sale as a soprano domestic slave.

Ice Pirates is the illegitimate child of Star Wars and Animal House. The jokes, both verbal and physical, range from the hackneyed to the truly brilliant - and most of both will have you rolling on the floor. It's a an hour-and-a-half of pure unadulterated fun. When I finally get the 6' x 8' screen for our light projector mounted, this will be one of the first movies we watch.