Bullet Points: Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar
When I was a young kid I fancied myself a writer and wrote a story about an intergalactic war titled “Space Wars”. Sure, I was somewhat obsessed with Star Wars and couldn’t think of a better name at the time, but I never thought over 25 years later I’d be reviewing a film titled Space Wars. Funny how things work sometimes….
Synopsis: Life is an adventure for space scavengers Kip Corman and his daughter Taylor as they navigate their ship through a universe filled with monsters, aliens, and robots in order to reach the mythical Deepstar and collect the riches within.
- In a pickle: We meet our hero Kip Corman (Michael Paré) when he’s at his most vulnerable. It’s a great way to set up his “talents” as he talks the talk, and then walks the walk with the help of his daughter Taylor (Sarah French). It’s the classic intro that we’ve seen in many films where the hero evades capture, his execution, a lava-dragon, or in this movie, all of the above.
- Essence: One important thing that we learn as the film begins is that death is no longer the end for some people. Your soul can be extracted as a blue liquid, and put into a human/cyborg hybrid. It’s important for us to know this because Kip and his daughter Taylor are trying to earn enough money to finish the process that was begun with Taylor’s mother. Currently, she’s just a vile of blue liquid.
- Bad guys: The film is very much about Kip and Taylor’s mission to earn the necessary money to bring dear old mom back, but what would an adventure movie be without some bad guys. Olivier Gruner plays Dykstra along with his crew of attractive evil-doers. We hear more about how bad they are then we actually get to see, but we do get to witness them beat the shit out of some alien dudes in welder masks.
- Macguffin: As the film progresses, the story all of a sudden brings in this plot device that promised to bring everyone together. That was about all it was good for as the Deepstar was as interesting to me as this review will be to a great segment of the non-Michael Paré fan population. It does, however, force Kip and his ship to be in the same place as Dykstra which means the movie can’t go on for much longer. Right?
- Family matters: Paré and French are the most interesting members of the cast and I would argue that we spend too much time with Dykstra buddy Wade (Tyler Gallant) and the scientist played by actress Anahit Setian. While I quite enjoyed Setian as a third member of the Corman crew, I couldn’t get behind Gallant as the tough guy while at the same time watching him get his ass kicked. I know that Paré is up there in age but I was expecting to see at least one Gruner beatdown scene and I’m sorry to say that it just didn’t happen.
The Verdict: Space Wars isn’t exactly about a war. It does, however, occur in space. So there’s that. It also features an actor whom I have enjoyed for a very long time in Michael Paré. He does his best job as an aging smuggler/treasure hunter in Space so basically he’s playing Harrison Ford. He doesn’t crash as many ships as Harrison Ford, but he does have the charisma of a man who has been in approximately 200 projects. If you’re a fan of his, then you’ll manage your way through this film. It isn’t a good one, to be honest. It doesn’t quite know what it wants to be at times and other times it relies too heavily on CGI that is lacking. Somewhere in there are characters who could work in a number of settings but this one was a struggle even for me. As an Uncork’d project goes it’s better than some, but as a science fiction film amongst the many others that are made each year, it just isn’t good. Sorry Mike. I’ll be sure to watch your next one.
