The Ice Pirates

I found a very used copy at a yard sale and boy does it bring back memories. It is funny, romantic, provocative, even sexy. Comedy is hard and the actors in this film make it look easy, and when your willing to put up with a worn out tape; that's when you know it's good. Someday I hope to see it on DVD.

Ice Pirates is a B-movie, it's campy, trashy and it is most of the time hilariously funny.

To me it probably is the funniest sf movie I ever watched. Sure, Galaxy Quest is funny, but it is also totally selfconcious, the whole humour comes from making fun of Star Trek.

Ice Pirates also makes fun of sf tropes, but it never takes itself seriously. While the story might be less strange than Buckaroo Banzai, the former is as quirky as the latter.

On the other hand, some of the visuals still look great to me.

This is one of the few films, I loved as a child, that stood up to the test of time and entertained the adult me as well as the young peg.

This movie clearly has a small budget, looks cheap, and isn't very serious. Fortunately, that is exactly what the film makers were going for. I enjoy this one, though it is apparent by its score that most people don't. I just find it funny and I love the cast which includes Ron Pearlman and even Angelica Houston. Heck, John Carradine even has a small role in it, though his scene is absolutely pointless and adds nothing to the flick. In fact it is a rather serious scene especially considering the rest of the movie. This one doesn't look great, kind of like Space Mutiny, but unlike Space Mutiny this one isn't trying to be serious so the effects can be forgiven. This one has a band of space pirates that go after, you guessed it, ice. They do this at the beginning and get immediately captured and this sets up the rest of the movie. No work of art, but it is entertaining to me.

This movie is generally underrated, which may be because people expected it to be something it's not. It's a comedy, a spoof, and an excellent one. It is not a serious sci-fi action adventure.

Who knew Robert Urich could be this funny? The scene where the captured ice pirates are being prepared for slave duty alone is worth the price of admission!

Then there's the robot that was purchased for an inexplicably good price. That particular scene is so dark that it may be necessary to play it back a couple of times to see what's going on.

You find a beautiful woman in suspended animation. What would you do?

The biggest shortcoming of this film is the ending, where there's a rather silly chase through a wormhole or some such. It doesn't really work, and since it's right at the end of the film may help explain why so many review the film so poorly.

Water is scarce and the evil Templars from the planet Mithra have taken control of all of the supply. Jason (Robert Urich) leads a band of pirates in a raid to steal ice from the Templar fleet. Their raid turns into a kidnapping of Princess Karina. They are captured. Jason and his men are rescued by Karina who has her own plans.

It's a schlocky Star Wars derivative with a lot of campy 70s feel with some Alien and Mad Max thrown in. It's a lot of silly slapstick and broad sex comedy. I would like it if the jokes are actually funny. For some, this may be so bad that it's good. For me, this is mostly bad with a lot of amusement at how good actors get trapped in bad movies. The sets and costumes are a cheesy mix. The special effects are good B-movie work. I can't believe Anjelica Huston is in this. It's fun to see John Matuszak hulking over Ron Perlman. It's got bad sword fights, swashbuckling action and silly space battles. I'm not disputing that this brought a smile to my face which is always a good thing. It doesn't make it a good movie.