Space Truckers

I have to respect movies which promise something and deliver exactly that. When I rented this (I was bored tonight) I had absolutely no expectations for some great piece of art, another Star Wars or Aliens. It was, however, a very cute and often amusing piece of sci-fi satire. (probably my favorite bit was how the truck's voice was a redneck woman, instead of the usual authoritative british guy) If you try to take it seriously, of course you'll hate it. But if you rent it because you want to see a beer & popcorn B-movie, then it's a REALLY good B-movie. I may have lost 90 minutes of my life and gained no new insights on the meaning of the universe, but I did have a good time.

This is a good B-Grade film, and there are many reasons to watch it.

First, and the reason I watched it: Debi Mazar is gorgeous and gets plenty of quality screen time.

Second: the story line is interesting and imaginative.

Third: the special effects are more than decent when one considers the mid-range success this film's creators would have been aiming for.

Fourth: the acting from the main pair (Charles Dance & Dennis Hopper) was spot on - considering this film was meant to be a space adventure/comedy.

Fifth: the design of ships and cargo carriers was very good.

Sixth: almost all of the dialogue was well written.

Seventh: the film should provide many laughs all the way through.

So why the terrible 4.9 rating? Is the film badly edited and hard to follow? Absolutely not. On the contrary this side of things was very well handled, and the film is very easy to follow with no errors of continuance.

Did the film suffer from bad casting? Definitely not, and both Charles and Dennis would be irreplaceable in my opinion. Remember Dennis Hopper's terrific one liners in Water World? Well, he repeats that performance here in Space Truckers. Besides, we get to see Dennis play a heroic character for a change!

Does the film suffer from a lack of character development like some reviewers have said? Utter rubbish! I can't say much here that would not give elements of the outcome of the story away, but I will say that if you miss character development in this movie then you didn't watch it properly.

And one last thing; this movie is close to the mark as far as the reality of our world is concerned. Technology has created power for some people that we should all be very concerned about, and while Space Truckers is a comedy, I felt it hit very close to home on a few fronts.

What an unusual, but never before thought of idea! It gets big points for originality by reviving the old days of 70s "truckin' man" flicks and updating the genre into a sci-fi visual feast that compares closely to STARSHIP TROOPERS! Imagine if Bo and Luke Duke were flying around in their orange coaster without jumping over obstacles, and avoiding capture by Sheriff Roscoe! There has to be a good sense of fantasy surrounding this old fad. Well, I'm not gonna get all hyped up about SPACE TRUCKERS, which is mainly your regular dosage of outer space mayhem. The simple action looks as good as the rich visual quality, but don't take it too hard. It plunges into the offbeat stage, and loses its sci-fi luster to some needless "hot" sexuality (added by the lack of gravity), and a captivity scene. I can tell that the minds of script writers skirted around the explicit subject matter, just to prevent any further boiling on the offensive side. You know, the two lovebirds running and floating around in their undies. And could it be that there are two different endings? Campy as it will sound, there is reason to have fun with it after all. Okay by me.

B-Movie GOLD! A ridiculous story about truckers in space dealing with super deathbots and a cybernetic warlord with a pull start penis that may as well have been a modified weed whacker that he threatens Mazar with. It is absolutely nuts, the effects are crazy, the story barely even tries to make sense and you get bad space effects and super visible wire work all over the place.

If that sounds like a fun time, then this is the movie for you! Personally, I couldn't stop laughing at it.

Space Truckers is a perfect B-Movie. It has a title which makes anyone cringe, and a lightweight plot with no originality, except perhaps the concept of a square pig. That said, as long as you watch it with no expectations you will be pleasantly surprised. The quality of acting is generally good, with a competent cast (particularly Charles Dance) managing to avoid laughing their way through the script. The ending however is almost unwatchable, yet I can't escape from the feeling that this film is entertaining, which is all that any movie should aim to do.