Space Rage

A super bad dude named Grange (Michael Pare) is sent to an off Earth penal colony called Botany Bay after he commits murder and armed robbery. There we meet the warden Gov. Tovah (William Windom) who looks like Boss Hogg when first introduced. Grange just wants to escape and cause mayhem. Problem for him is there is an old retired LA cop (Richard Farnsworth) who he must face in his attempt to escape.

Sort of good premise is ruined by low production values and if you think about what you are watching at all sense is thrown out the window if you are to enjoy it. One question I had was could they not afford another song as the song 'Blood Money' is played 3 times over the film. And for a penal colony where you send the worst of the worst there certainly are a lot of escapes happening. Seems like one a day. Guess that happens when there are no fences.

The car chase near the end is certainly influenced by the much better MAD MAX movies, but it is somewhat enjoyable. By the time Farnsworth rolls around to face Pare the movie has run out of steam, which is quite incredible as it runs only 77 minutes in total.

In the very first minutes the movie makes it clear for us that Michael Paré is not going to be our hero, as we witness how he executes in cold blood a few people in a bank robbery just for the fun of it. Because of that, he is sent to the desert of Californ... I mean, to prison in planet Centaury 3 to serve his life sentence. Then, for the sake of your typical action movie, there is a mutiny and prisioners escape and the only three wardens in the whole planet must stop them. Of course, being a B-Movie, you would expect cheap settings and a script full of holes, but on the other hand the acting is rather good (specially oscar-nominated Richard Farnsworth who is in this), and the action in the last third made it for me. There is a lot of violence and cool car chases and explosions, but the best for me was to watch an old guy like Richard Farnsworth taking the lead and becoming the action hero of the movie when you less expected it. Seriously, ignore those negative reviews and give this one a chance, you'll have a great time watching this (and it's only 74 minutes long, too)

Richard Farnsworth is one of my favorite actors. He usually gives solid performances, such as in The Straight Story, and The Grey Fox. He also does fairly well here, but the rest of the film suffers from a low budget, poor writing, and so-so photography. The Miller-Movie formula gives it a 4. Richard gets a 5.

Richard Farnsworth( recently nominated for an oscar for THE STRAIGHT STORY)plays a retired space ranger. An escaped prisoner(Michael Pare) goes on a rampage, and it's up to already-crotchety Farnsworth to stop him.

Yawn. This is some of the most dull filmmaking that is possible. The sets a cheap and resemble cardboard. The story is recycled from countless westerns. And, although the actors here have been good in other films, the acting is sub-par. If only someone could have figured a way out of making this 80 minutes so unbearably boring. There is hardly any action untli the end, and when it finally comes, you'll be sleeping.

SPACE RAGE is pretty poor. I see where everyone has cast very low votes. It makes me wonder how long it will take for this flick to reach the bottom 200.

Still, this is better than watching PIPPI LONGSTOCKING again. Now, there's a real painful experience!

This movie is really not all that bad. But then again, this movie genre is right down my alley. Sure, the sets are cheap, but they really did decent with what they had.

If you like cheap, futuristic, post-apocalyptic B movies, then you'll love this one!! I sure did!