Space Mutiny (1988)

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.

Directors:

David Winters, Neal Sundstrom (co-director)

Writer:

David Winters (as Maria Danté)

Stars:

Reb Brown, John Phillip Law, James Ryan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Reb Brown	...	Dave Ryder
John Phillip Law	...	Elijah Kalgan
James Ryan	...	MacPhearson
Cameron Mitchell	...	Alex Jansen
Cisse Cameron	...	Lea Jansen
Graham Clarke	...	Scott Devers (as Graham Clark)
Billy Second	...	Lt. Lemont
Rufus Swart	...	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 (as Even Klisser)
Cameron Mitchell Jr.	...	Blake (as Chip Mitchell)

Storyline

One of the funniest films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the Emmy® Award nominated show's 11-year run, Space Mutiny is a hilariously bad sci-fi epic that's guaranteed to have you in stitches. Combine a wardrobe of spandex and tinfoil; a set boasting AstroTurf® and spray-painted floor buffers; and special effects that, well, aren't so special, and you've got one of the most hysterical cheeseball movies to ever come out of the '80s. Grab your friends and have a riot with this underground cult hit!

---

Plot Keywords:

unintentional humor | beard | cult film | psychotronic film | camp | 

---

Taglines:

There is nowhere to hide from the enemy within!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

All space-battle footage is from the TV series Battlestar Galactica (1978). Several shots of the Galactica itself are shown in reverse.

---

Goofs

The actress that plays Lea has her name spelled "Cissy Cameron" in the opening credits and "Cisse Cameron" in the closing credits.

---

Quotes

Ryder: Let's go out there and KICK SOME ASS!

---

Crazy Credits

Cisse Cameron is credited as Cissy Cameron during the opening credits and with the correct spelling (Cisse) during the end credits.

---

Alternate Versions

UK versions are cut by 4s for a '15' rating.

---

Connections

Referenced in I Hate Everything: the Search for the Worst: The Little Panda Fighter (2015)

---

Soundtracks

The Edge of a Dream
Written by Steve McClintock & Tim James
Vocals by Steve McClintock
Courtesy of McJames Music

User Reviews

Should of been titled, Factory Mutiny!

This is a film that was riffed on by Mystery Science Theater 3000. There may be debate on whether a film deserves the riffing, but this one most certainly deserves all the ridicule one can muster. A film that takes place on a spaceship, but the only reason you would even know this are the occasional outside shots showing the ship flying or the dogfights; however, those outside shots are not even from this film, but rather old clips from the television series Battlestar Galactica. The rest of the film looks like they shot in a high school for the bridge scenes, the futuristic bar scene and the Ballerines' room and all the fight scenes take place in a factory. In some of the scenes you can clearly see the sunshine coming through the windows. Do not get me wrong, there were a lot of bad science fiction films made during this time, but this film makes Roger Corman's stuff look amazing! It was certainly done on the cheap side of things, but I guess the hope is that you make it as incredibly cheap as possible and hopefully you can trick people into coming into the theater to see it with an awesome poster. Which could be done back in the day as there was no internet and suffice to say that trick did work on my parents a couple of times. Thankfully, they did not have to sit through this horrible train wreck and neither did I, that is until the gang from the Satellite of Love took no prisoners!

The story is a mess. You start out getting a voice over explaining that what is left of the people of Earth live on this large spaceship and that they are content to live there; however, there is a faction that wishes to leave said ship. Granted, I cannot say I blame them for wanting to leave if that futuristic bar is an example of the entertainment! Well there is a space battle that is completely random and is just a clip from Battlestar Galactica and then we meet Ryder who is beefy and the only one who can take out Kalgon and his evil army! Ryder falls in love with the commander of the ship's daughter. The daughter looks about the same age as her father as we get a woman trying to play the role of someone younger. Not going to say she looks bad, but she does look too old to be playing the love interest. There are kidnappings, betrayal and strange women who are called Ballerines that really serve no purpose...

This film was rightfully riffed by MST3K as it is kind of a mess. They riff the fact there are a lot of people flung over railings and rightfully so as there are a lot of people who get killed and then get flung over a railing! The woman's age is also a running joke as is the beefy hero. The most ridiculous thing that occurs in this film is when they start chasing each other in little carts that go at an extremely slow speed making one wonder why they do not just run or something?

So, this is a bad film as the best parts are the clips from an old television show. Too much going on that makes no sense as you have random space pirate attacks that really go nowhere and people wrapped in plastic. Kalgon seems to be nothing but a mere human, yet they act like he is a super powered foe and how exactly did he gain so much power? One also has to wonder why they cannot just leave the ship as Ryder the hero came on board and came from somewhere else. Just a mess, as this one has virtually no redeeming qualities. Makes another Reb Brown film, Yor, the Hunter from the Future look great by comparison.

Details

Country:

South Africa USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mutiny in Space

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Box Office

Gross USA:

$397,887

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$397,887

Company Credits

Production Co:

Action International Pictures (AIP), Gad Films, Unital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1