Space Wars: The Quest for Deepstar review
It’s obvious early on that Space Wars: The Quest for Deepstar isn’t vying to challenge the Star Wars or Star Treks for sci-fi supremacy.
This is aiming far more along the lines of a Battle Beyond the Stars or Buck Rogers style sci-fi with a little slice of old school cheese. There’s some YouTubers who put together more convincing CGI and special effects that lack such obvious and basic green screen work.
Weak special effects should be the death kneel for any sci-fi film. Deepstar somehow still manages to be an effective low-budget genre entry thanks to its cast, ambitious story and commitment to making a fun adventure.
Kip Corman (Michael Paré) and his daughter, Taylor (Sarah French), are space adventurers in 2980 in search of a major score.
They’re not entertaining ludicrous dreams of a big payday to be filthy rich and lead a life of ridiculous excess. They need the money to pay for the very expensive act of bringing Kip’s wife and Taylor’s mother back to life. Technology has evolved to the point people are basically immortal if they’ve got the means to afford it.
Their essence is placed into a human/cyborg body that’s indiscernible from a fully human body. Director/co-screenwriter Garo Setian and co-screenwriter Joe Knetter craft a pretty easy to follow script with a simple objective no matter the various obstacles they place before Kip and Taylor.
That big score could come from the fabled Deepstar space vessel, which holds an exorbitant amount of treasure. Kip and Taylor encounter a scientist Jackie (Anahit Setian) who has a method for finding the Deepstar.
First, they’ve got to avoid the persistent a trio of sadistic mercenaries Dykstra (Olivier Gruner), Wade (Tyler Gallant) and Nina (Rachele Brooke Smith, Iron Man 2).
MORE:
- DC Comics reviews 5/2/23 – The Flash #798, SHAZAM! #1
- Marvel Legends action figure reviews
- Citadel – The Human Enigma review S1 E1
- Arrow TV Reviews CW Seasons Episode Guide
The trio has a nasty habit of killing people once they’ve outlived their usefulness and naturally their loyalty to each other is tenuous as well.
Kip has another rival in Elnora (Saide Katz), his former boss who’s carrying a massive grudge since he crossed her. Paré gives Kip a largely indifferent attitude and his deadpan reactions to Elnora are amusing.
Let’s just assume they were intentional. Annoyed with her minions’ failure to bring Kip in, Elnora chases after Kip, Taylor and Jackie herself.
Some of the subplots come off unnecessary since the main plot was all that was really needed with this kind of story. Jackie makes for decent comedy relief though it’s weird how quickly she gets attached to Kip and Taylor.
There’s a surprising amount, probably too much, intergalactic travel to different locales and dogfights that seems to tax an already strained budget.
Setian makes up for flashy special effects by having some brutal — in a good way — fist fight brawls with French leading the way. French is convincing in these scraps and has the presence of a quick to quip, quicker to lay hands on dudes that cross her main character.
Taylor gets most of the film’s best lines and moments, which was the right call as French is one of the stronger performers.
The starship and creature designs are solid even if they look somewhat dated compared to fancier CGI constructions that are the norm now.
There’s a throwback to the aesthetic as if Deepstar could have come out in the mid-80s. Whether that’s a good thing is up for debate.
For 80s-era sci-fi fans, this will probably feel like more of a pleasant trip down cinematic memory lane while younger audience members might find this a relic of the genre best left in the past.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Photo Credit: Uncork’d Entertainment