Space Mutiny (1988)

Thanks for the memories!

Memorable, crazy movie

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I'm giving this a two only because I liked Cameron Mitchell's costume. He wore the better clothes. Some of the rest was a joke. This movie was stupid. The story line/screenplay made no sense. Did anyone review this before it was sent out? Obviously not. The editing was bad. It was filled with continuation errors. The list goes on. Why would someone make this mess? We watched this through the Mystery Science Theater Thanksgiving Special. That helped and the cast and crew may thank that TV Show for the free promotion.The murdered girl just goes back to work right afterwards and she is never brought up again. Practically some twerking from our heroine there, in the club scene. And there's the others who happily drink a toast to their ship being bombed. SMH

Like a lot of people, I first saw this movie on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike and the bots did a great job riffing it, and it's probably one of the best episodes they've ever done. I went online, and found the original, unedited version, as I was curious to see what had been taken out, and wanted to see if maybe the movie was a lot better without someone riffing it.The storyline is actually not half bad: a spaceship known as the Southern Sun is moving through space looking for a planet to call home, and disenfranchised officers within the ship form factions, planning a mutiny to take over the ship. A fighter pilot named Ryder who has recently arrived must stop the plot, since he is one of the few aboard who has specialized combat training. Again, the story itself has potential...unfortunately, as so often happens with movies, a good idea can get ruined in the execution.One of my biggest gripes with the film is the editing. Entire sequences are reused and easily recognizable ("They're having the same party!" as Mike Nelson lamented). Some scenes are completely useless; for example, they have a sequence where Kalgan learns of the Bellerians (when just a few seconds before he was setting up the bombs - what?), then several minutes later Blake calls Kalgan and tells him about the arrival of the Bellerians...which he already knew about! There is also the infamous scene where Lt. Lemont appears alive and well...after she was killed (even without Mike and the bots, you'll find yourself yelling, "Hey wait a minute, she's dead!"). I'm also curious about the stock footage from Battlestar Galactica used for all the outer space scenes: just how did they get the rights to use that footage, and did they really think people wouldn't recognize the ship designs? It was almost as bad as using X-Wings and Tie Fighters.The acting is a mixed bag. Reb Brown can be a good character actor, but here his role amounts to running around screaming for no reason. John Philip Law, who is usually a hokey but likable actor, is played out like a cartoon villain, cackling madly while making corny speeches and insults. James Ryan is immensely over the top as the limping MacPhearson. The only capable actors who aren't completely wasted (Cameron Mitchell and Graham Clarke) don't have enough film time. Also, interesting trivia: Camille Mitchell, Cameron Mitchell's daughter, plays the voice of lead Bellerian Jennera (which makes the semi-seduction scene between her and the commander rather... interesting). Another bit of trivia: Cisse Cameron (who plays Lea, the "sexy senior citizen") is actually *younger* than Reb Brown; she was born in 1954, while he was born in 1948.Perhaps the one thing I appreciate about this movie is that, as a hokey sci-fi action film, it delivers. Yes, you've got plenty of "railing kills", and if you're looking for a movie where lots of people die and lots of laser guns get shot, this one delivers. Honestly, even after all I've said, it's not the WORST movie out there; yes, it's bad, but it's bad in a fun way. Yeah it's got the usual tropes of the sub-genre ("Why can't they hit this huge, slow-moving white thing?!"), but that's part of what makes it enjoyable.If you're curious about what was taken out for the MST3K episode, most of what was removed was done for time: there's a scene where Lea and Ryder talk after they make love in her garden; there are extra scenes in the dogfight with the pirates; there are extra scenes in the initial Enforcer chase between Ryder, Lea, and Kalgan, as well as the laser fight beforehand; the commander's council (where Ryder is given command) is much longer; you actually see MacPhearson's flaming body flail around before he dies; etc. The only two significant scenes of note are: one where you actually see Kalgan get up and run away after the big gunfight at the end - that explains why he's still alive for the climactic Enforcer chase at the end (whereas in the MST3K edit, it's like "Hey, wait, I thought he was killed"); and another where MacPhearson reveals that it was Ryder's squadron that caused his limp.Like I said, the movie's bad, but it's an enjoyable kind of bad. Watch it with your friends, see how much of the MST3K riffs you remember, and enjoy the badness of it all.

Watched this horrible piece of garbage movie as an MST3K episode, and if not for the MST3K treatment, this would have to be one of the worst low-budget sci fi flicks ever. But, this one is so bad that it's funny, especially if you look out for all the goofs. For example: the woman with the big hair gets killed by Kalgan and shows up in the next scene like nothing happened, the beginning of the movie has footage from Battlestar Galactica, the captain of the space ship has an obviously fake Santa beard, all the action takes place on board a space ship, yet they have no problems blowing stuff up or starting fires, at one point the hero is running down a hallway next to a brick wall even though he's on a space ship, a flamethrower appears to be a propane bottle painted silver, the buff hero knocks out some skinny dude and then puts on his uniform which he manages to fit, a bunch of people running around in a factory and falling over railings to their deaths, and everyone uses 8088 desktop computers. Then throw in some useless plot points about some alien women who like to do tai chi while running their hands over plasma balls direct from Spencer's Gifts, a cheesy 80's soundtrack (don't get me wrong, I grew up in the 80's and love the music), and a steroid-filled leading man and you get Space Mutiny.Watch the MST3K version, it makes for some pretty funny moments, especially when Captain Santa gets lucky.

This is a brilliant rendering of the proverbial tale of Good vs. Evil. A mutinous scientist plots to overthrow the captain of a large interstellar vessel that suspiciously resembles the original Battlestar Galactica. It boasts a variety of colorful characters, a captivating plot line, heart pounding action, and state of the art special effects.One of the best MST3K episodes. The 'bots had a field day with this, one of many lost anti-classics they resurrected from obscurity to goofy cult status. It's one of the most fun to watch and laugh at, though, in its naive over-wrought sense of wild adventure. Actors really seem to be approaching their roles with childlike enthusiasm, and the overall feel of the thing has children's adventure TV show stamped all over it.There's a macho lead who takes more steroids than Barry Bonds. The captain looks like he should be at the mall asking kids what they want for Christmas, fake beard and all. Cult female priests do exotic disco/belly dances, and worship lava lamps with dancing electricity bolts. A group of acrobats perform repeated gymnastic jumps off of catwalks when they get zapped by ray guns (about 100 times over). One particular character gets killed, and appears later alive and well. But this film's ultimate moment of glory is the heart-stopping and masterfully shot golf-cart battle sequence. The outcome of this duel is something that has to be seen to be believed.Profound and uniquely visionary. A must-see.