Space Mutiny |
  • South Africa / USA • 1988 • 91m •   • Directed by: David Winters, Neal Sundstrom. • Starring: Reb Brown, John Phillip Law, James Ryan, Cameron Mitchell, Cisse Cameron, Graham Clarke, Billy Second, Rufus Swart, Arthur Hall, Norman Anstey, Rick Skidmore, Guy Pringle, Claudia Jacobs. • Music by: Tim James, Mark Mancina, Steve McClintock.      The Earth starship "Southern Sun," helmed by Capt. Alex Jansen, is looking for a new planet to colonize, but the ship's security crew, the Enforcers, led by Elijah Kalgan, are growing restless and impatient, not wanting to spend their lives on a starship. They plan a mutiny, where they will force the ship to land on a nearby planet and sell the rest of the crew into slavery. It's up to pilot Dave Ryder, Alex's doctor daughter Lea, and the rest of the crew of the "Southern Sun" to stop Kalgan and foil his plans, with some psychic assistance form a group of Bellarians, who are female humanoids.
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Review:
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.
Review by Machiavelli84 from the Internet Movie Database.
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