Review: SPACE WARS is a Shallow Sci-Fi B-Movie Fun with a Bucket of Popcorn
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar is a movie that was recently released to select theaters. The film features a story created by Garo Setian (Automation) and Joe Knetter (Blind) with Setian directing and editing it and Knetter writing the screenplay with Michael Paré (Streets of Fire), Olivier Gruner (Nemesis), and Sarah French (Pretty Boy) starring. The team at Uncork’d Entertainment were kind enough to send me an advanced screener for the film and it’s a wild ride. If you’re unable to watch Space Wars in theaters, you’ll be able to watch it via digital release on May 2.
The film concerns a father-daughter team of space scavengers who must race against a band of evil mercenaries to reach the legendary treasures on board a lost mythical freighter. Their quest will force them to navigate a universe filled with giant monsters, aliens, robots and a mortal enemy seeking vengeance.
Guys, Space Wars is a bit of a trip. We’re going to start with a few obvious statements. It’s a B-movie (at best) with less than stellar acting and writing. I will say that I was surprised by the quality of the special effects. GeekTyrant was gifted with an exclusive clip from the movie that shows off some of the special effects and while they’re not on the level of say a Marvel or Star Wars film, it is well ahead of several other B-movies. Sadly, I would say that’s the peak of the movie.
In the world of Space Wars, the rich have found a way to take a person’s essence, store it as a glowing blue liquid, and then for the right price bring the person back to life via robotics. It’s an interesting premise to be sure although there is literally no explanation of how a person’s essence is gathered which raises a lot of questions. Also, they keep talking about human-cyborg hybrids which is annoying because cyborgs are, by definition, a human with robotic parts. I know this is all semantics, but it bothered me.
The plot of Space Wars is pretty simple and there aren’t really any twists and turns which is fine. One problem I have with the story is that it doesn’t seem to really go much of anywhere. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I will just say that the big lesson they try, but fail, to have is that sometimes we just need to move on and take pleasure in the moment. Unfortunately, the messaging falls flat for several reasons including the fact that there’s no choice made by the main characters that help with that goal. That shouldn’t be too spoilery.
The cast is an interesting mix of talent. My friend and wife were quick to point out the acting talent that Sadie Katz’ (Wrong Turn 6) nose has. Her nose puts in a lot of work in Space Wars. Overall, I would say that Katz, her nose, and Anahit Setian (Automation) were the best actors. I actually really liked Setian’s character Jackie who is a scientist that starts out a little eccentric, but is actually one of the best in Space Wars.
One interesting part that I do want to talk about is the use of robotics as a metaphor for LGBTQIA+ individuals. There’s a very disturbed and creepy character named Wade (played by Tyler Gallant (Alpha Wolf)) who says he hates all cyborgs and he can always tell when a person is really a reborn cyborg. Well, egg on his face because another character is later revealed to be a cyborg in a fun moment with a line close to “I thought you could tell.” It’s a fun moment and an interesting lens to view the LGBTQIA+ community. I feel like it could’ve been taken a bit further, but at least there’s something.
At the end of the day, Space Wars is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. However, when you watch it with friends, have a big bucket of popcorn, and know not to expect much, it can still be fun. I don’t feel like I wasted my time watching it, which is probably the best praise I can give it.
