I won’t even use qualifiers like cheesy or ironic, I liked it. It ain’t hard sci fi, it probably barely qualifies as science fantasy but man it was fun. I liked the characters, I actually cared what happened.
It had that certain quality where an earnestness among the creators and actors allowed them to push past how silly some of it was. Hell not once did I groan cliche hero’s journey despite the basics being pretty much that, it was so good it never came to my mind.
I’d recommend this completely if you’re looking for a fun time, and will leave your inner technical scifi fan away at the babysitters.
The only thing that really bugged me about it was how, in the big finale, the heroes took turns attacking the enemy fleet, instead of engaging it jointly. Made all the heroic deaths feel cheap, because I couldn’t help thinking, “If you idiots had even the most basic grasp of tactics, you probably wouldn’t be dead right now.”
I have to dusagree. it’s fun, and all, but it just didn’t click, and the writing seemed obvious. It is fun to watch, for several reasons. Two of those being:
1.) Robert Vaughn reprising the very same role he played in The Magnificent Seven, the “official” western remake of The Seven Samurai.
2.) Sybil Danning as the Valkyrie. Fanservice at its Fan-serviest. Please note that they filmed two versions of her scenes, one with a costume that covered her, and one that’s crevealing. By all means get the revealing one. And true male fans join in, Rocky Horror-like, in quoting her final line “I’ll show you how a Valkyrie goes down!”
I’m afraid not. I don’t recall seeing anything on the box, and nothing is on the Wiki or iMDB sites.
I suspect that any copies you buy will be the “revealing” ones, with “clothed” ones shown on non-premium cable. If you get it through some download service, your guess is as good as mine.
I thought is was pretty good. It certainly had a first-class writer, John Sayles, working on the screenplay (he used some of the money he earned to finance Return of the Secaucus Seven). Sayles was especially good with B movie screenplays – his Piranha is also pretty good for the genre.
Better and more fun than it had a right to be. I saw it with friends several times in the theater when it first came out. I think it could have gone the midnight movie route if anyone had thought to do it, what with the silliness and quotable lines. I confess having a crush on John Saxon for a couple years after that film.
