Saturn 3

There's no point whining about what 'Saturn 3' COULD have been with a script by Martin Amis, direction by Stanley Donen ('Bedazzled'), and the star power of Kirk Douglas and Harvey Keitel. It is what it is, and that is, despite the impressive production values, basically a throw back to a fifties b-grade monster movie. Hector is still one of the scariest movie robots of all time, even if the idea of a sex-crazed machine is a trifle ludicrous and reminiscent of all those horny BEMs on pulp magazine covers and silly flicks like 'The Brain From Planet Arous'. Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas ('Spartacus') must have been in his early 60s when this was made but still exudes charisma and virility. 1970s sex symbol Farrah Fawcett ('Logan's Run') is less convincing as his love interest and is, let's face it, little more than eye candy. Keitel must have been wondering just how he ended up in this silliness so soon after his excellent work in 'Blue Collar' and 'Fingers', but he is creepy enough, though apparently dubbed. I also got a kick out of the very brief cameo by Ed Bishop, star of 1970s cult classic SF series 'UFO'. All in all, an unambitious but generally effective thriller, which has a few dull spots but enough scares to make it some cheesy fun. Just don't expect too much and you will enjoy it all the more.

A lot of people bag on this film and I'm the first to admit that it is not a good film but I would be lying if I said I wasn't entertained by certain things in it. I was entertained by the incredibly bad set designs. Here's a film with a good budget, big stars and directed by the great Stanley Donen and it looks like it was filmed in someone's garage! And of course Farrah gets naked. Thank god for VHS and the pause button! If your wondering why Farrah was a sex symbol in the 70's freeze the scene where she takes her clothes off. And Keitel was creepy and his voice sounded different. Maybe it was dubbed but he gave a convincing menacing performance. Not a good film but the story had promise.

Two lovers stationed on a remote moon base of Saturn are intruded upon by a murderous man and his malevolent 8-ft robot.

Its production issues, changing of directors (one of which was the late great John Barry) and budget cuts aside for a film that was made in 1980 it feels like late 60s/70s. That said, the sets that take a leaf from Alien (1979) are partially effective and the blue ominous lighting works but is sadly used sparingly.

The late Farrah Fawcett is still a major draw and although there's a cringe worthy age gap between leads it is fitting to the narratives themes. Acting legend Kirk Douglas is a little inconsistent and not on form possibly due to the script or production woes. Harvey Keitel has been unconventionally re-dubbed which is a shame, but he still is effective as the homicidal sociopath, off beat, boorish Earth Captain Benson. Although choppy, there's some great setups with the interestingly designed Hector robot and Elmer Bernstein's score if fantastic.

It's not purposely ambiguous, but it leaves many questions and loose ends. It's by no means the worst science-fiction movie, John Barry's story offers some great ideas and has clearly influenced subsequent scifi's notably the Matrix (1999) plug-in.

It's flawed and inconsistent but still worth viewing for the concept alone.

Saturn 3 (1980)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Adam (Kirk Douglas) and Alex (Farrah Fawcett) are lovers who are working on a space station right outside of Saturn. The two of them spend their times working as well as messing around but they're thrown for a loop when Benson (Harvey Keitel) shows up. What they don't know is that Benson has killed the real Captain that they were expecting and he's brought on board a new robot that can think and act for itself.

SATURN 3 is a film that was released to some really awful reviews with most critics calling it one of the worst films of the year. Even worse for the filmmakers was the fact that people believed the critics and stayed away from the pictures making it a huge disaster at the box office. The film eventually gained a cult following on video but there's no question that this is one of the weirdest movies released from this era.

The film was released early in 1980 but there's no doubt that it has a 70's vibe to it. The film is without a doubt one of the dumbest science fiction movies ever made. You can read Roger Ebert's review where he points out countless flaws with the scientific aspect of the film including such easy stuff as gravity. I will admit that the film is really dumb and there's an even bigger problem with the screenplay and that's the fact that we don't really know why Benson wanted on the spaceship and we really don't know why the robot goes crazy.

Speaking of the crazy robot, the final twenty-minutes of the movie are basically like a slasher as Alex and Adam must run, hide and try to fight the robot that is after them. What's even stranger is the three-way love story that blossoms and the fact that the robot wants to join as it falls for Fawcett. Douglas, for the most part, gives a good performance and Fawcett does what she was paid to do and that's look sexy. Her role doesn't really allow her much to do but the two stars do show off some nudity. I think Keitel was good in the part but the awful dubbing really hurts the film. I'm familiar enough with his voice where I could picture it saying the lines in the movie and I can't help but think things would have played out better with it.

SATURN 3 has a lot of bad things in it but at the same time it's weirdly watchable. Some of the special effects are good, although quite dated. Some are really lousy looking but at the same time they're still fun. The film really does play out like a film that tries to be intelligent and thinks that it is intelligent yet most people are laughing. It certainly takes itself way too serious but overall the film is mildly entertaining as a cult film.

Would-be foreboding sci-fi looks all shiny and new, like a futuristic department store. Three good actors (Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas and Harvey Keitel) come off looking like incompetent dummies in this derivative, cardboard cartoon. When Keitel arrives at the space station of lovers Douglas and Fawcett, he is carrying a strange metal container. Douglas offers to carry it for him and Keitel answers, "NOOOOOOOO!" in a hilariously chilly manner that makes even Richard Burton's overacting seem tame by comparison. Poor Kirk and Farrah even strip down for this one (so much for the classy reputation of vet director Stanley Donen). There is a neat scene where robotic Hector takes a splinter from Farrah's eye, but her reaction afterward (rubbing it like a child and sticking her bottom lip out) is embarrassing. This is one step beyond, all right. It's so far out it's brain-dead. *1/2 from ****