Saturn 3
Encyclopedia
Saturn 3 is a 1980 science fiction
film
starring Kirk Douglas
, Farrah Fawcett
and Harvey Keitel
. Direction is credited to Stanley Donen
. The project was conceived by John Barry
. Barry was due to direct until a dispute with Douglas led to his replacement. The screenplay was written by award-winning British novelist Martin Amis
.
The film was widely panned by reviewers as derivative, mediocre and lacking in suspense. Some of the space effects shots were perceived as lackluster compared to the new standard set by Star Wars
. The film was given an MPAA rating of R, for scenes of brief nudity.
is in orbit
about the planet Saturn
and is set to launch a craft to one of the moons, carrying
an experiment on board. There is a small experimental food research station
on the moon containing a hydroponics system, which is
maintained by a two-person scientific crew consisting of Adam (Douglas) and his colleague and lover Alex (Fawcett). The crew is also assisted by three robots.
Adam, the younger Alex and their dog Sally enjoy an Edenesque
life isolated and growing their own food, while Earth is overpopulated
. The couple has been on Saturn 3 for three years, and Alex has spent all her life in space.
Prior to launch the captain of the craft is murdered by the psychologically unstable pilot Benson (Keitel). Benson takes his place and boards the craft for its trip to the base, taking with him a canister that contains brain tissue samples.
On board the moon base, while contact with Earth is blocked for 22 days by an eclipse, the experiment is unloaded by an assistant "Demi-God series" robot
named Hector. Benson states that it will render one of the crew "obsolete", most likely Major Adam who tells his partner that he is close to "abort time" according to the government on Earth
.
The cyborg
is given a canister-sized living brain (originally taken from multiple human fetus
) that Benson then is able to reprogram by connecting it with a socket in the back of his head. In the process the machine acquires Benson's homicidal nature and his lust for the beautiful Alex. Hector initially kills Sally the dog and then assaults Benson, since it has learned about him being a murderer during the reprogramming process. However, Adam and Alex manage to disable the robot while it is recharging. Adam accuses Benson of gross incompetence and orders him to dismantle the robot and return to Earth when the eclipse ends. Benson obliges, but Hector is soon reassembled by the moonbase's older robots while Benson tries to persuade Alex to come with him to Earth. He then beats Adam unconscious, but Hector intervenes and kills him just as he is about to drag Alex with him to the waiting spacecraft. Hector also blows up the spacecraft, stranding everyone on moonbase.
The remainder of the movie includes a battle scene as the two scientists try to avoid the deadly machine and make repeated attempts to destroy it before it is too late. In the final scene, the doomed Adam kills the cyborg and himself. Alex travels back to Earth, alone.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
and Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
. Direction is credited to Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
. The project was conceived by John Barry
John Barry (set designer)
John Barry was a British film production designer, known for his work on Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, for which he received the Academy Award for Best Art Direction.-Career:...
. Barry was due to direct until a dispute with Douglas led to his replacement. The screenplay was written by award-winning British novelist Martin Amis
Martin Amis
Martin Louis Amis is a British novelist, the author of many novels including Money and London Fields . He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, but will step down at the end of the 2010/11 academic year...
.
The film was widely panned by reviewers as derivative, mediocre and lacking in suspense. Some of the space effects shots were perceived as lackluster compared to the new standard set by Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
. The film was given an MPAA rating of R, for scenes of brief nudity.
Plot
A huge spacecraftSpacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
is in orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
about the planet Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
and is set to launch a craft to one of the moons, carrying
an experiment on board. There is a small experimental food research station
on the moon containing a hydroponics system, which is
maintained by a two-person scientific crew consisting of Adam (Douglas) and his colleague and lover Alex (Fawcett). The crew is also assisted by three robots.
Adam, the younger Alex and their dog Sally enjoy an Edenesque
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
life isolated and growing their own food, while Earth is overpopulated
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
. The couple has been on Saturn 3 for three years, and Alex has spent all her life in space.
Prior to launch the captain of the craft is murdered by the psychologically unstable pilot Benson (Keitel). Benson takes his place and boards the craft for its trip to the base, taking with him a canister that contains brain tissue samples.
On board the moon base, while contact with Earth is blocked for 22 days by an eclipse, the experiment is unloaded by an assistant "Demi-God series" robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
named Hector. Benson states that it will render one of the crew "obsolete", most likely Major Adam who tells his partner that he is close to "abort time" according to the government on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
is given a canister-sized living brain (originally taken from multiple human fetus
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
) that Benson then is able to reprogram by connecting it with a socket in the back of his head. In the process the machine acquires Benson's homicidal nature and his lust for the beautiful Alex. Hector initially kills Sally the dog and then assaults Benson, since it has learned about him being a murderer during the reprogramming process. However, Adam and Alex manage to disable the robot while it is recharging. Adam accuses Benson of gross incompetence and orders him to dismantle the robot and return to Earth when the eclipse ends. Benson obliges, but Hector is soon reassembled by the moonbase's older robots while Benson tries to persuade Alex to come with him to Earth. He then beats Adam unconscious, but Hector intervenes and kills him just as he is about to drag Alex with him to the waiting spacecraft. Hector also blows up the spacecraft, stranding everyone on moonbase.
The remainder of the movie includes a battle scene as the two scientists try to avoid the deadly machine and make repeated attempts to destroy it before it is too late. In the final scene, the doomed Adam kills the cyborg and himself. Alex travels back to Earth, alone.
Development
- John Barry conceived of the project as a much more lavish vision of the future. The film's producers, Lew GradeLew GradeLew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's ITC EntertainmentITC EntertainmentThe Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
, intended the production to be a cash in on the sudden vogue of science fiction and horror following the success of AlienAlien (film)Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
. Farrah Fawcett was also hoped to be a major draw for a teenage male audience and much of the film's promotion was based around the revealing space suits she was due to wear in the film. Donen played down the exploitation elements resulting in a film that the producers struggled to market.
- ITC was also producing Raise the Titanic!Raise The Titanic (film)Raise the Titanic is a 1980 American big budget adventure film by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, directed by Jerry Jameson and written by Eric Hughes and Adam Kennedy . The film stars Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer, and Alec Guinness. The film's tagline was "Once they said...
. As the other film went over schedule and budget the production of Saturn 3 was cut back.
- The director reportedly was unsatisfied with Harvey Keitel's characteristic BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
accent. Keitel's voice is dubbed over by British actor Roy DotriceRoy DotriceRoy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
, who, for this performance, adopted a mid-AtlanticMid-Atlantic EnglishMid-Atlantic English is a cultivated or acquired version of the English language that is not a typical idiom of any location. It blends American and British without being predominantly either. It is also used to describe various forms of North American speech that have assimilated some British...
accent.
- In screenwriter Martin AmisMartin AmisMartin Louis Amis is a British novelist, the author of many novels including Money and London Fields . He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester, but will step down at the end of the 2010/11 academic year...
's novel MoneyMoney (novel)Money: A Suicide Note is a 1984 novel by Martin Amis. Time magazine included the novel in its "100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present".-Plot summary:...
the main character John Self is based in part on John Barry (Self's father is named Barry Self as well). The aging film star "Lorne Guyland" obsessed by his virility is based on Douglas. Similarly, the project that John Self attempts to complete is as wracked with disaster as was the production of Saturn 3.
- When the film was broadcast on NBC in mid-1984, certain scenes that had been edited from the original print had been restored. The following scenes were restored: Adam offering to take Alex to Earth, Alex was voicing her concern to Adam about taking Hector outside of the complex, Adam taking Hector outside in the moonbuggy, Benson asking how Alex's eye was after her accident, Adam leaving Hector near the shuttle probe, Hector re-entering the colony and sabotaging the outer airlock mechanism to prevent Adam from coming back inside, an extended scene of Benson walking down a corridor, Adam trying to re-enter Saturn 3 and blowing the outer airlock door off with an explosive adhesive, an extended scene of Adam in the decontamination chamber, Alex voicing her worry that Hector might have killed Adam, Alex being dragged away by Benson and yelling at him, Adam embracing Alex and watching Hector drag away Benson's dead body, Adam holding a towel to his head after Benson had hit him with a pipe and claiming that "Hector is no humpty-dumpty", both Adam and Alex wondering how Hector managed to reassemble itself, and finally both Adam and Alex sharing a laugh over a humorous incident while hiding in the communications room.
- In the 1984 NBC broadcast, additional music cues were added to the film: scenes involving the opening credits and Benson's death.
- Two scenes that had been filmed for the production were edited out, due to Lew Grade objecting to its subject matter. The two scenes were a dream sequence that involved both Adam and Alex killing Benson. The other involved a scene where Hector ripped apart Benson's dead body on a table in one of the colony's laboratories.
Awards and nominations
- 1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Nominated: Worst Picture
- Nominated: Worst Actor (Kirk DouglasKirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
) - Nominated: Worst Actress (Farrah FawcettFarrah FawcettFarrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...
)