Space Truckers (1996)

A space trucker and his cute fiancee are on their way from a space station to Earth with an unknown cargo. When space pirates hijack them, 5000 disintegrator robots are found in the cargo.

Director:

Stuart Gordon

Writers:

Ted Mann (screenplay), Stuart Gordon (story)

Stars:

Tim Loane, Ian Beattie, Olwen Fouéré

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Loane	...	Trooper Officer
Ian Beattie	...	Trooper
Olwen Fouéré	...	Building Commander (as Olwen Fouere)
Shane Rimmer	...	E. J. Saggs
Charles Dance	...	Nabel / Macanudo
Roger Gregg	...	Tank Patrol
Denis Akiyama	...	Tech Leader
Seamus Flavin	...	Chopper 4
Jason O'Mara	...	Chopper 3
Dennis Hopper	...	John Canyon
Sandra Dickinson	...	Bitchin' Betty
George Wendt	...	Keller
Graeme Wilkinson	...	Jackie
Sean Lawlor	...	Mel
Debi Mazar	...	Cindy

Storyline

John Canyon is one of the last independent space transport entrepreneurs. Rough times force him to carry suspicious cargo to Earth without questions being asked. During the flight the cargo turns out to be multitude of unstoppable and deadly killer robots.

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Plot Keywords:

b movie | robot | killer robot | die hard scenario | bare chested male | 

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Taglines:

They've shipped everything from square pigs to anti-gravity beer... But now they've got a load of real trouble.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, sensuality and drug content, and for language

Details

Country:

UK USA Ireland

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Star Truckers

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldcrest Films International, Peter Newman Productions, InterAL

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Stuart Gordon had the idea of truckers in space for years. After the international success of his last film, Fortress, the head of marketing was able to work up the grosses and ended up with a budget of 25 million dollars. Gordon also met with an Irish producer convincing him to film the movie in Wicklow, due to tax breaks.

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Goofs

An object in motion will stay in motion until acted upon by another force or object. Pay close attention to the mustard bottle. It is delightfully spinning in a gravity free environment, after the vehicle is stopped, the free floating bottle is in the same space, it should have shot forward until it hit the windscreen. If you pay close attention they place other obvious errors for the viewer to discover. My query, are they intentional or accidental? Regardless they add to the silliness of the film.Makes for fun watching.

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Quotes

Mike Pucci: John we gotta do something. What do think they're doing to her up there, huh?
John Canyon: It's not the first time, kid, and she's doing it for the team.

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Connections

Referenced in Best of the Worst: Shakma, Python II, and Beaks: The Movie (2014)

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Soundtracks

Highway Junkie
Performed by Chris Knight
Written by Chris Knight, Sam Tate, Annie Tate
Published by Bash Music (ASCAP)/Critter City Music (SQSAC), Blue Water Music, BMI (Administered by Blue Water Music Corporation)
Courtesy of Vertical Records (Administered by Blue Water Music Corporation)

User Reviews

Stupidly awesome

The plot: Space truckers run into problems with space pirates, space politicians, and killer robots (who, technically, are not space robots).

Space Truckers is essentially a low budget, B movie space opera that's a parody of low budget, B movie space operas. It's full of cheesy lines, cheesy set design, and cheesy special effects. In fact, it's such a cheesy movie that it sometimes makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show look like The Godfather. At its heart, this movie is stupid, pointless, mindless, and has nothing to say about the human condition, except that it's funny to laugh at bad movies. If you're a Stuart Gordon fan, that's probably enough for you to enjoy this. As an added bonus, it's got a great cast, including many B movie veterans.

It can be enjoyed as either a so-bad-it's-good B movie or a clever parody. Like most Stuart Gordon films, it has rather narrow demographic appeal, and people who are not genre fans (or Stuart Gordon fans) are likely to hate it. I love Stanley Kubrick as much as the next film snob, but the world also needs ridiculous movies like Space Truckers and The Toxic Avenger. In fact, this movie is something of a marriage between Troma and New World Pictures. If you're unfamiliar with those studios -- or you dislike their copious output -- I'd strongly warn you away from this film. Space Truckers was reviled by the critics, rejected by audiences, and thought to be unintentionally funny by B movie fans. Well, for the true believers, this is an awesome movie, and nothing will ever convince us otherwise. Such is the cult of Stuart Gordon!