Space Truckers

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.

The plot: Space truckers run into problems with space pirates, space politicians, and killer robots (who, technically, are not space robots).

Space Truckers is essentially a low budget, B movie space opera that's a parody of low budget, B movie space operas. It's full of cheesy lines, cheesy set design, and cheesy special effects. In fact, it's such a cheesy movie that it sometimes makes The Rocky Horror Picture Show look like The Godfather. At its heart, this movie is stupid, pointless, mindless, and has nothing to say about the human condition, except that it's funny to laugh at bad movies. If you're a Stuart Gordon fan, that's probably enough for you to enjoy this. As an added bonus, it's got a great cast, including many B movie veterans.

It can be enjoyed as either a so-bad-it's-good B movie or a clever parody. Like most Stuart Gordon films, it has rather narrow demographic appeal, and people who are not genre fans (or Stuart Gordon fans) are likely to hate it. I love Stanley Kubrick as much as the next film snob, but the world also needs ridiculous movies like Space Truckers and The Toxic Avenger. In fact, this movie is something of a marriage between Troma and New World Pictures. If you're unfamiliar with those studios -- or you dislike their copious output -- I'd strongly warn you away from this film. Space Truckers was reviled by the critics, rejected by audiences, and thought to be unintentionally funny by B movie fans. Well, for the true believers, this is an awesome movie, and nothing will ever convince us otherwise. Such is the cult of Stuart Gordon!

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.

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.

OK, this is not the best movie in the world, but it's pretty funny. It's clearly tongue in cheek and doesn't take itself seriously at all. You just have to watch it and enjoy its cheesiness. I mean, before this, Stuart Gordon wrote Body Snatchers, Castle Freak and The Dentist. You would probably expect some sort of body horror extravaganza, not the pastel colored corporate world of space transportation in the near future. But the thing is fun. It's like Super Mario Brothers mixed with Hardware.

Bottom line: it's not good, but it's not bad either. And it's silly fun.