1 out of 5 – Would Recommended: Space Mutiny

Welcome back to 1 out of 5 – Would Recommend, where Reb Brown is the best Captain America…Ok, not really, but he’s great! Today we’re talking about what may be the man’s most famous movie, 1988’s Space Mutiny!

What’s The Plot?

Heroic pilot Dave Ryder (Reb Brown) joins the crew of the Southern Sun, a generational ship that is totally not the Galactica, just in time help put down a murderous space mutiny! Along the way he romances the commander’s daughter, takes part in a high speed go-kart chase, and screams a lot.

Who Made This Beautiful Garbage?

The producer of Firehead (a movie destined for inclusion in this column), but that’s not important. Once again, the star is the reason to see this – it is Reb Brown at his Reb Browniest, full of musclebound screaming and utter ridiculousness. For bonus points, his love interest is portrayed by his real life spouse, Cissy Cameron.

 

Five Reasons to See It

1. The outer space effects are phenomenal, though only because the movie reused footage from the much-higher-budgeted original Battlestar Galactica. All the other special effects are…less impressive.
2. The mutineers are trying to conquer the ship so they can land and colonize a planet, which seems not unreasonable for residents of a generational colony ship to want to do.
3. Cissy Cameron’s character is actually a pretty useful heroine in her own right, a relative rarity for B-movies of yesteryear. She even rescues herself when held prisoner by the bad guys, which is pretty rad.
4. A bridge officer is murdered, kicking off a “thrilling” chase sequence and alerting our heroes to the villains’ plot. She then reappears doing her duty on the bridge in the very next scene.
5. “It’s not unlike ancient dental equipment on Earth – not that you’d know anything about that!”

Recommendation

Space Mutiny is incredibly funny, though not in an intentional way. The good special effects are lifted from a better movie, the ship’s run by Santa Claus and Sting impersonators, and absolutely everything – from the hair to the computer equipment – is so 80’s that you’ll forget the USSR fell. And if you’re hesitant to watch the movie clean, you’re in luck: this movie was used in one of Mystery Science Theater 3000’s funniest episodes (whole episode here), serving as a great intro to the show for newcomers. Go forth and check it out, bots or no bots.

NEXT WEEK: Two of the best Asian pop culture products of the disco decade collide in 1975’s Super Inframan.