Space Mutiny
Encyclopedia
Space Mutiny is a 1988 South African science-fiction
action film
about a mutiny
aboard the spaceship
known as the Southern Sun.
system and the ship’s Chief Engineer MacPhearson. Kalgan hatches a plot to disrupt the Southern Sun’s navigation systems and use the Enforcers, the ship’s police
force, to hijack
the ship and direct it towards this system. At this point, the inhabitants of the Southern Sun will have no choice but to accept his "generosity".
Kalgan sabotages a key part of the ship just as an important professor's shuttle is on a landing trajectory. The loss of guidance control causes the ship to explode. The ship's pilot, Dave Ryder, is able to escape, but the professor dies in the explosion. This sabotage seals off the flight deck for a number of weeks, which gives Kalgan the opportunity to attempt to wrest control. With the Enforcers in his hand, and with the flight deck out of commission, he holds the entire population of the Southern Sun hostage. Commander Jansen and Captain Devers enlist Ryder’s assistance, aided begrudgingly by Jansen’s daughter Dr. Lea Jansen, to regain control of the ship.
, Cisse Cameron
, Cameron Mitchell
and John Phillip Law
. The spaceship effects were lifted wholly from the original Battlestar Galactica
TV series.
The director of Space Mutiny has stated on his website that he was called away from set due to a death in the family before filming began, and delegated directing duties to the assistant director. Contractually he was apparently unable to get an Allen Smithee credit. Some commentators began to compile rather large lists of continuity errors.
The engineering areas of the ship were filmed in an industrial building with un-futuristic brick walls, windows and concrete floors, while the bridge looks remarkably like a vintage-1980s corporate office (non-shag, neutral carpeting; white particleboard desks; computers with 16-color ANSI
displays, including one with a 5¼ inch floppy disk
drive as an ID card
reader). Kalgan’s “torture chamber” set features contemporary computer keyboards inexplicably mounted on the walls. The characters tend to wear the silver or white lamé
outfits that were common to science fiction/futurist productions of the time, while many of the female characters wear spandex
leotard
s.
The film's notable flaws provided substantial material for later spoofing on Mystery Science Theater 3000
(see below). The engineering deck interiors include several shots of windows, which show sky beyond. In one scene, the camera passes by a bridge officer, Lt. Lemont, working at her computer console as an extra despite having been killed in the previous scene. ("I think it's very nice of you to give that dead woman another chance.")
One chase scene involves slow-moving Enforcer vehicles (inspiring the MST3K comment, "Put your helmet on! We'll be reaching speeds of three!"), strongly resembling bowling-alley floor polishers, and the collision of two of these vehicles produces an extraordinary explosion for such small craft. The scene is further undermined by the intense sunlight streaming into the corridor — far more sunlight than one would see on a space ship traveling between the stars.
John Phillip Law, who appeared in this movie as the villain Elijah Kalgan, also starred in the 1968 Italian film Diabolik
, which coincidentally was used for MST3K's final episode in 1999. Cameron Mitchell
played Commander Jansen, along with his daughter Camille Mitchell, who provided the voice for Jennara, the lead Bellarian; and his son Chip Mitchell played Blake, a mustachioed member of Kalgan’s crew (in an early scene he is shown apologizing because "the information's so scanty").
The song that plays over the end credits, "Edge of a Dream", is performed by Steven McClintock
. The song is also lampooned by Mike and the Bots, who compare it to other 80s songs before a fight breaks out between them as they blame Mike's 80s generation for producing this movie.
(MST3K). The movie’s editing flaws, stilted dialog, and poor production lent itself well to the MST3K treatment, and it has repeatedly proved to be one of the most popular episodes, released as part of the MST3K DVD Collection, Vol. 4 from Rhino Entertainment
.
On watching Space Mutiny, MST3k character Crow admits that it's better than Days of Thunder
, and Mike points out that the characters seem to distrust each other's ability to move forward, as evidenced by repeated orders to "Move!"
The Space Mutiny episode of Mystery Science Theater spawned one of the most enduring, repeated meme
s for the show, from scenes where Mike and the bots mock the muscular lead character: at points during the movie all three call out different silly nicknames for Ryder, such as "Slab Bulkhead", "Fridge Largemeat", "Hunt Speedchunk", "Butch Deadlift", "Bold Bigflank", "Splint Chesthair", "Flint Ironstag", "Bulk Vanderhuge", "Thick McRunfast", "Blast Hardcheese", "Buff Drinklots", "Trunk Slamchest", "Fist Rockbone", "Stump Beefknob", "Smash Lampjaw", "Punch Rockgroin", "Buck Plankchest", "Stump Chunkman", "Dirk Hardpec", "Rip Steakface", "Slate Slabrock", "Crud Bonemeal", "Rip Slabcheek", "Punch Sideiron", "Gristle McThornbody", "Slate Fistcrunch", "Buff Hardback", "Blast Thickneck", "Crunch Buttsteak", "Slab Squatthrust", "Lump Beefbroth", "Touch Rustrod", "Reef Blastbody", "Big McLargehuge," "Smoke Manmuscle", "Heat Punchbeef", "Hack Blowfist", "Roll Fizzlebeef", and, incongruously, "Bob Johnson."
Many of the scenes involving characters being thrown to their deaths over guardrails in the interior were coined as "railing kills" by Mike and the Bots. In a host segment, Tom Servo installs a bunch of railings in the Satellite of Love, causing Mike to trip over them and fall into a large pit (Which Tom also created in order to justify the existance of the railings). In a later scene, when a stock character succumbs to a railing kill, Servo says that the movie is good at "tossing Canadians around" in which Mike adds "It's just rife with the smell of back-bacon." However, Space Mutiny was not made in Canada, but in South Africa during the Apartheid era.
Some ten minutes of footage were cut from Space Mutiny for its use on MST3K. Much of the edited footage featured space battle scenes taken from the original television series of Battlestar Galactica. The version of the film featured in the episode was, in essence, consistent with the full version; the discontinuities apparent in the episode were all present in the 1988 film. MST3K viewers found it odd that Mike Nelson and the 'bots did not comment on the reused Battlestar Galactica footage. Best Brains
writer Paul Chaplin acknowledged the omission, but did not provide an explanation. Notably, the episode featuring the film Future War
included a joke related to Battlestar Galactica, indicating that the writers had some knowledge of the show.
Mike and the Bots also mock the fact that a character killed on screen shows up prominently as an extra in later scenes (see above).
The credits for the film go on for so long that Mike and the 'Bots turn on each other, fighting over the legitimacy of the 1980s.
Best Brains, Inc, the producers of MST3k, market a "Space Mutiny" T-shirt, commemorating this film on their website.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
about a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
aboard the spaceship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
known as the Southern Sun.
Plot
The Southern Sun is a seedship, or a spacefaring vessel that contains large amounts of people, whose mission is to colonize a new world. Its voyage has lasted generations, so many of its inhabitants have been born and will die without ever setting foot on solid ground. This does not please the antagonist, Elijah Kalgan, who conspires with the pirates infesting the nearby Corona BorealisCorona Borealis
Corona Borealis is a small constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "northern crown", a name inspired by its shape; its main stars form a semicircular arc. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and remains one of the 88 modern...
system and the ship’s Chief Engineer MacPhearson. Kalgan hatches a plot to disrupt the Southern Sun’s navigation systems and use the Enforcers, the ship’s police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force, to hijack
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
the ship and direct it towards this system. At this point, the inhabitants of the Southern Sun will have no choice but to accept his "generosity".
Kalgan sabotages a key part of the ship just as an important professor's shuttle is on a landing trajectory. The loss of guidance control causes the ship to explode. The ship's pilot, Dave Ryder, is able to escape, but the professor dies in the explosion. This sabotage seals off the flight deck for a number of weeks, which gives Kalgan the opportunity to attempt to wrest control. With the Enforcers in his hand, and with the flight deck out of commission, he holds the entire population of the Southern Sun hostage. Commander Jansen and Captain Devers enlist Ryder’s assistance, aided begrudgingly by Jansen’s daughter Dr. Lea Jansen, to regain control of the ship.
Cast
- Reb BrownReb BrownReb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
—Dave Ryder - John Phillip LawJohn Phillip LawJohn Phillip Law was an American film actor with over one hundred movie roles to his credit. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Phyllis Sallee and the brother of actor Thomas Augustus Law .He was best known for his roles as the blind angel Pygar in the science fiction cult...
—Flight Commander Elijah Kalgan - Cameron MitchellCameron Mitchell (actor)Cameron Mitchell was an American film, television and Broadway actor with close ties to one of Canada's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City.-Early life and career:Born Cameron MacDowell Mitzel in...
—Commander Alex Jansen - Cisse CameronCisse CameronCisse Cameron is an American television and film actress. She made her film debut in Billy Jack , and culminating into the lead female role of Dr. Lea Jansen in the 1988 science fiction film Space Mutiny...
—Dr. Lea Jansen - James RyanJames Ryan (actor)-Career:In 1984, he appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep in the romantic-drama film, Falling in Love. He appeared in Five Corners alongside Jodie Foster and Tim Robbins, and stopped acting professionally in order to focus on writing and directing...
—Chief Engineer MacPhearson - Graham Clark—Captain Scott Devers
- Billy Second—Lieutenant Lemont
- Gary D. Sweeney—Ranger
Production
Space Mutiny stars Reb BrownReb Brown
Reb Brown is an American actor.Known as superhero Captain America in the TV pilot/movies, he's also known for the 1983 cult classic, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, as well as the scifi film, Space Mutiny, and for the collaborations with director Bruno Mattei in films Strike Commando and Robowar ...
, Cisse Cameron
Cisse Cameron
Cisse Cameron is an American television and film actress. She made her film debut in Billy Jack , and culminating into the lead female role of Dr. Lea Jansen in the 1988 science fiction film Space Mutiny...
, Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell (actor)
Cameron Mitchell was an American film, television and Broadway actor with close ties to one of Canada's most successful families, and considered, by Lee Strasberg, to be one of the founding members of The Actor's Studio in New York City.-Early life and career:Born Cameron MacDowell Mitzel in...
and John Phillip Law
John Phillip Law
John Phillip Law was an American film actor with over one hundred movie roles to his credit. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Phyllis Sallee and the brother of actor Thomas Augustus Law .He was best known for his roles as the blind angel Pygar in the science fiction cult...
. The spaceship effects were lifted wholly from the original Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
TV series.
The director of Space Mutiny has stated on his website that he was called away from set due to a death in the family before filming began, and delegated directing duties to the assistant director. Contractually he was apparently unable to get an Allen Smithee credit. Some commentators began to compile rather large lists of continuity errors.
The engineering areas of the ship were filmed in an industrial building with un-futuristic brick walls, windows and concrete floors, while the bridge looks remarkably like a vintage-1980s corporate office (non-shag, neutral carpeting; white particleboard desks; computers with 16-color ANSI
American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organization also coordinates U.S. standards with international...
displays, including one with a 5¼ inch floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
drive as an ID card
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
reader). Kalgan’s “torture chamber” set features contemporary computer keyboards inexplicably mounted on the walls. The characters tend to wear the silver or white lamé
Lamé (fabric)
Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic yarns, as opposed to guimpé, where the ribbons are wrapped around a fibre yarn. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other...
outfits that were common to science fiction/futurist productions of the time, while many of the female characters wear spandex
Spandex
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's...
leotard
Leotard
A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
s.
The film's notable flaws provided substantial material for later spoofing on Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(see below). The engineering deck interiors include several shots of windows, which show sky beyond. In one scene, the camera passes by a bridge officer, Lt. Lemont, working at her computer console as an extra despite having been killed in the previous scene. ("I think it's very nice of you to give that dead woman another chance.")
One chase scene involves slow-moving Enforcer vehicles (inspiring the MST3K comment, "Put your helmet on! We'll be reaching speeds of three!"), strongly resembling bowling-alley floor polishers, and the collision of two of these vehicles produces an extraordinary explosion for such small craft. The scene is further undermined by the intense sunlight streaming into the corridor — far more sunlight than one would see on a space ship traveling between the stars.
John Phillip Law, who appeared in this movie as the villain Elijah Kalgan, also starred in the 1968 Italian film Diabolik
Diabolik
Diabolik is a fictional character, an anti-hero featured in Italian comics. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black and white digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from Italian and French pulp...
, which coincidentally was used for MST3K's final episode in 1999. Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell
Cameron Mitchell may refer to:* Cameron Mitchell * Cameron Mitchell , a fictional character in the series Stargate SG-1* Cameron Mitchell Restaurants* Cameron Mitchell...
played Commander Jansen, along with his daughter Camille Mitchell, who provided the voice for Jennara, the lead Bellarian; and his son Chip Mitchell played Blake, a mustachioed member of Kalgan’s crew (in an early scene he is shown apologizing because "the information's so scanty").
The song that plays over the end credits, "Edge of a Dream", is performed by Steven McClintock
Steven McClintock
Steven McClintock is a singer, songwriter, and a music producer. He has written many top 40 hit songs. He has been a part of the music group Fertitta & McClintock since the mid-1970s...
. The song is also lampooned by Mike and the Bots, who compare it to other 80s songs before a fight breaks out between them as they blame Mike's 80s generation for producing this movie.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Nine years after its initial release, Space Mutiny was lampooned in a November 1997 episode of movie-mocking television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(MST3K). The movie’s editing flaws, stilted dialog, and poor production lent itself well to the MST3K treatment, and it has repeatedly proved to be one of the most popular episodes, released as part of the MST3K DVD Collection, Vol. 4 from Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
.
On watching Space Mutiny, MST3k character Crow admits that it's better than Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American auto racing film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and Michael Rooker. The film also features appearances...
, and Mike points out that the characters seem to distrust each other's ability to move forward, as evidenced by repeated orders to "Move!"
The Space Mutiny episode of Mystery Science Theater spawned one of the most enduring, repeated meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
s for the show, from scenes where Mike and the bots mock the muscular lead character: at points during the movie all three call out different silly nicknames for Ryder, such as "Slab Bulkhead", "Fridge Largemeat", "Hunt Speedchunk", "Butch Deadlift", "Bold Bigflank", "Splint Chesthair", "Flint Ironstag", "Bulk Vanderhuge", "Thick McRunfast", "Blast Hardcheese", "Buff Drinklots", "Trunk Slamchest", "Fist Rockbone", "Stump Beefknob", "Smash Lampjaw", "Punch Rockgroin", "Buck Plankchest", "Stump Chunkman", "Dirk Hardpec", "Rip Steakface", "Slate Slabrock", "Crud Bonemeal", "Rip Slabcheek", "Punch Sideiron", "Gristle McThornbody", "Slate Fistcrunch", "Buff Hardback", "Blast Thickneck", "Crunch Buttsteak", "Slab Squatthrust", "Lump Beefbroth", "Touch Rustrod", "Reef Blastbody", "Big McLargehuge," "Smoke Manmuscle", "Heat Punchbeef", "Hack Blowfist", "Roll Fizzlebeef", and, incongruously, "Bob Johnson."
Many of the scenes involving characters being thrown to their deaths over guardrails in the interior were coined as "railing kills" by Mike and the Bots. In a host segment, Tom Servo installs a bunch of railings in the Satellite of Love, causing Mike to trip over them and fall into a large pit (Which Tom also created in order to justify the existance of the railings). In a later scene, when a stock character succumbs to a railing kill, Servo says that the movie is good at "tossing Canadians around" in which Mike adds "It's just rife with the smell of back-bacon." However, Space Mutiny was not made in Canada, but in South Africa during the Apartheid era.
Some ten minutes of footage were cut from Space Mutiny for its use on MST3K. Much of the edited footage featured space battle scenes taken from the original television series of Battlestar Galactica. The version of the film featured in the episode was, in essence, consistent with the full version; the discontinuities apparent in the episode were all present in the 1988 film. MST3K viewers found it odd that Mike Nelson and the 'bots did not comment on the reused Battlestar Galactica footage. Best Brains
Best Brains
Best Brains, Inc. is an entertainment company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is best known for its creation and production of the comedy/sci-fi television program Mystery Science Theater 3000, aka MST3K . The company ceased producing the program in 1999 and closed its studio...
writer Paul Chaplin acknowledged the omission, but did not provide an explanation. Notably, the episode featuring the film Future War
Future War
Future War is a 1997 direct-to-video American science fiction film about an escaped human slave fleeing his cyborg masters and seeking refuge on Earth. It was lampooned in a 1999 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Plot :...
included a joke related to Battlestar Galactica, indicating that the writers had some knowledge of the show.
Mike and the Bots also mock the fact that a character killed on screen shows up prominently as an extra in later scenes (see above).
The credits for the film go on for so long that Mike and the 'Bots turn on each other, fighting over the legitimacy of the 1980s.
Best Brains, Inc, the producers of MST3k, market a "Space Mutiny" T-shirt, commemorating this film on their website.
External links
- "Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt" on Space Mutiny