Saturn 3

The talent working on this film should have meant the end product was a lot more coherent than it actually was.John Barry who was involved with a story credit but was production designer for Star Wars and Superman must have had a big hand in the set design for this film as it looks incredible.The sets are so good they are a character in themselves and lend effectively to creating a sense of isolation.The sets remind me of Alien,yes they are that good which would be testament to the brilliance of Barry.Its a shame then that the rest of the film is rarther poor.It shows glimpses of promise but seems to falter just as its picking up.An expressionless Harvey Kietel seems dubbed and gave a physically hollow performance alongside an energetic Kirk Douglas and an airhead Farrah Fawcett.The visual effects are actually OK but the film seems to be missing big chunks and i get the feeling there's a version out there on the cutting room floor that is actually a lot better than what we have here.This film could probably be remade quite successfully,it has a great premise and is lacking a quality director to see it through. 6/10

This movie is about a couple that lives on this outpost in space. They are lovers and their world is carefree and simple. That is until a criminal comes and builds a robot that goes insane. The problem with this movie is that there just isn't enough cast here to make this movie as cool as it should have been. The robot needed people to kill, but there were only three people around so it didn't really get to flex its muscle. On the plus side Kirk Douglas is good, and so is Harvey Kietal as the criminal. Fawcett isn't great, but she does ok. The plot should have included more though as a lot of this movie goes unexplained, like Kietal's character motivations, or why didn't anyone warn Kirk and Farrah that a criminal was out there. In the end this movie has its moments, but tends to become a bit tedious.

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.

Right. Saturn 3 is one of those films that always seems to divide reviewers into the two old and trustworthy camps: "what a great picture" and "who the heck let this pile of manure be made?" And then, it has the ability to have a solid middle ground; the "nyah...not bad..." crowd. I have to say that I fall into this latter group. I first saw Saturn 3 when I was a teenager and was gripped by it. I remember thinking how cool Hector looked and the fact that he was also downright creepy. In the years before seeing The Terminator Hector, for me, was the archetypal maniac machine that will stop at nothing to kill you in a (probably) gruesome way. Okay, the film's saving graces: the overall design of the sets and costumes. Ignoring the rather bleak look of the corridors, the Saturn 3 station has that feeling of being futuristic but also familiar in a Holiday Inn-sort of way, and the launching area at the film's beginning, with that great big flaming hole image effectively acting as a rather cool backdrop. Benson's (and also James') space suits are very nicely done. They give off the distinct air of practicality, like a hyper-modern air force pressure suit, and also a sense of impersonality about them which becomes menacing with the addition of the dark face plated helmets. Adam and Alex's work-out gear, however, is very dated and it's also quite excruciating to watch their exercise routine. The ships aren't Star Wars Star Destroyers, but then they're not meant to be. The way I look at it, they were designed to look slightly other worldly and also practical. Benson's pod that he flies to Saturn 3 looks entirely functional and although it appears rather clunky and distinctly un-aerodynamic, it's worth remembering that in space there isn't any wind resistance so sleek lines aren't necessary. Unfortunately, because this was a full-sized prop for the actors to interact with the other ships do look like the models they are. Hector is a piece of design excellence. For a start, the actual costume is made from metal, instantly rendering the appearance of a real robot. The actual laboured gait and measured way of moving employed by the actor playing Hector (probably due to the considerable weight of the suit) is instrumental in convincing the viewer of his cybernetic credentials. What helps is that we see Hector being constructed and that can block out any ideas of the "man in a suit" mold, particularly in regards to the insertion of the brain tissue into (effectively) the torso of the costume. Finally, Harvey Keitel. His performance in this film is derided by many as being too over the top and hammy but I think that he actually saw the script for what it really was - eighty-odd minutes of comic-book fun. He had a ball with the Benson character and it's quite obvious that he knew he wasn't asked to do Shakespeare and play it straight. Kirk Douglas and Farrah Fawcett are a let down to be sure. It's evident that Kirk's entering his dotage and the idea of him being an action hero and hot stud when he's the same age as most of the audience's grandfathers is frankly ludicrous. And showing your sagging butt, Kirk? Should've kept those training suit bottoms on. Farrah does play Alex well when she's there to look good, but any semblance of the idea that she's a research scientist just doesn't compute. The film in itself is a bit of a hit and miss affair. It aims to be a sophisticated sci-fi thriller like Alien but the casting of Douglas and Fawcett certainly taint any idea of it being classed as a thriller. The music (what there is of it) is original, the direction so-so and the overall concept is there, but it fails to it the target spot on. An enjoyable piece of hokum to pass the time would be a fair review.