Star Command

I have to disagree with negatives comments about this movie. I have watched it and to be sure it does not compare to the likes of Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5 etc. However it was a plausible story and the effects while not top notch were adequate. It portrayed the darker side of human nature when one of the cadets shirked from his duties, faced a court martial and then took his own life.

The ladies uniforms were easy on the eye for us men folk however all that was exposed was thighs. It is not as though you lived in fear that one of their boobs was about to fall out. I did not know that this film represented a pilot episode and I think that it would have been hard to make a series out of the film because the story was pretty much closed and I myself was not left feeling that I wanted more. However to reiterate,it was a decent movie and one that I would have no trouble watching again should I come across in the TV listings.

Most of the reviews are pretty negative, but I have to admit that I rather enjoyed this piece of hokum. Someone compared the film to the Hornblower stories and I have to agree, but I'll go one step further and suggest that the Hornblower influence comes via David Feintuch's Nicholas Seafort books, the first of which, Midshipman's Hope, must have appeared a year or so before this film.

The parallels are almost too striking. Junior Officers on first cruise in space, Senior officers killed in sneak attack, one hero becomes captain, sense of honour forces him to execute traitor, overcomes incredible odds, defeats enemy, etc, etc, etc. Leaving aside the hokey teen telemovie elements, this film contains a lot of the classic story elements that you often find the best space operas but rarely find in effects-driven, high-concept, Trek inspired Sci-fi films we are forced to contend with.

Go on, give it chance -- A guilty pleasure.

When i first heard about this movie, I thought it was going to be another total Star Trek knockoff, but when I finally sat down and watched it, I was totally wrong. Now I may be the only person on the planet who liked it, but I have to say the best parts of this movie were Chad Everett and Jennifer Bransford. Chad's been a favorite actor of mine since I could walk, and Jennifer's portrayal of Ali had all the attitude I only wish I had(I'm really REALLY shy in real life).

All in all I loved this movie, and I think UPN should re-air it soon so I can tape it :)

Though I would have like to seen more of Chad and Morgan, and though the acting wasn't exactly Academy Award (it was a bit kitchy), this was a fun story with an interesting plot, watchable special effects, and a storyline that I always like (junior officer takes command and saves the day).

Seeing the hero win by cleverness and bravery instead of a plot trick makes it worth watching. The bad guys were suitably evil to deserve their fate. There was probably an even better movie in here somewhere, but what we got was a lot of fun.

I'd compare it to Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch or On Basilisk Station by David Weber (though those are probably a cut above this movie in story). Seafort in Midshipman's Hope is a bit more doom ridden though, and that gets kind of old. The hero here is gets to actually enjoy the experience, finding his forte at last instead of washing out of the academy.

I suspect that "Star Command"gained it's genesis from "Starship Troopers", the success of which probably prompted it's inception. However it is a very different type of sci-fi film to "Troopers", which I saw as a good old fashioned shoot 'em up war movie. And a good one at that.

Rather, "Star Command" reminded me very much of the recent and excellent British "Hornblower" TV series, where the protagonist/s use initiative and daring to outwit the enemy rather than guts and straight out firepower.

I'd not class this as even a very good movie, the acting, by a very pretty cast, is only just adequate, the characterisation stereotypical and some of the lines embarrassingly bad.

However the story itself is interest holding and the special effects/sets quite good. Not a deep film by any means but not excreable either.

2½ *'s out of 4