I'm dead serious. I caught this one during a Showtime free preview weekend real late at night, drunk off my ass. I must say though, it wasn't that bad. The acting was fairly decent and John Pyper-Ferguson's Colonel Fraser was just an awesome bad guy. I'm serious, this unknown actor actually did an incredible job in an otherwise average B-movie. The action scenes ranged from p***-poor (rifles that eject spent casings, but make laser sounds?!?) to pretty cool. This was a better than average direct to video flick and not a bad way to kill some time though cliched as hell. I give it a 5/10.
13 Reviews
Funny!
m434114 August 2004
It's predictable, and not very realistic, but the stereotypes are so clear it's actually funny to watch!
Not in the same class as the Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers, but at least in the same category.
The bad guy seems to be a rip-off from a James Bond movie or something, but not as convincing.
One thing that surprises is that the film is rated for viewers 18 and up.
In all, a fine film to reset your brain with after a week full of ugly work, but nothing more.
Not in the same class as the Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers, but at least in the same category.
The bad guy seems to be a rip-off from a James Bond movie or something, but not as convincing.
One thing that surprises is that the film is rated for viewers 18 and up.
In all, a fine film to reset your brain with after a week full of ugly work, but nothing more.
Not up there with Captan's finest work
wellthatswhatithinkanyway10 June 2005
STAR RATING: ***** Unmissable **** Very Good *** Okay ** You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead * Avoid At All Costs
In the future, all is kept fine and dandy by a group of men and women called The United Federation of Planets. But when some dastardly fellows take over a space-ship to enforce a gold deal, some fellows called the Space Marines are called in to sort them out.
This is a far glossier presentation than Talaat Captan's earlier work such as Digital Man and A.P.E.X., but it's still glaringly low budget. It all basically just feels like Under Siege in outer space (even the spaceship is named the Missouri as in Under Siege!) In fact, there are weird scene references through-out to that particular film that left me with the impression that the writer had some special kind of liking towards it. Aside from that, it's just the usual collection of clichés that are typical of a straight-to-video work such as this. Not to mention some really bad acting, from the token black guy to the lead bad guy who seems to think he's in some production of Hamlet at the local rep as opposed to such a flimsy piece of work as this. Glossier and more violent, certainly, but definitely not as enjoyable as Captan's earlier work. **
In the future, all is kept fine and dandy by a group of men and women called The United Federation of Planets. But when some dastardly fellows take over a space-ship to enforce a gold deal, some fellows called the Space Marines are called in to sort them out.
This is a far glossier presentation than Talaat Captan's earlier work such as Digital Man and A.P.E.X., but it's still glaringly low budget. It all basically just feels like Under Siege in outer space (even the spaceship is named the Missouri as in Under Siege!) In fact, there are weird scene references through-out to that particular film that left me with the impression that the writer had some special kind of liking towards it. Aside from that, it's just the usual collection of clichés that are typical of a straight-to-video work such as this. Not to mention some really bad acting, from the token black guy to the lead bad guy who seems to think he's in some production of Hamlet at the local rep as opposed to such a flimsy piece of work as this. Glossier and more violent, certainly, but definitely not as enjoyable as Captan's earlier work. **
An observation
davidecasteel19 June 2018
Eek!
MSHughes-118 September 2008
I don' know what movie you guys were watching, or alternately how to characterize the parallel branch of the Great Tree on which this trash comes out looking entertaining. You l i k e d the guy channeling a third-rate panto artiste doing his Captain Hook? If a ticking crocodile had emerged from subspace and taken a bite out of him - hey, let's be fair - out of everyone involved in this tax-scam fiasco - t h a t might have been entertaining. A little bit of Aliens (rendered in high-impact chipboard), a little bit of every maverick-takes-on-stiffnecked-brasshat -but-they-end-up-pals movie, a bunch of no-hope has-beens (rendered in high-impact chipboard). Hey, what's not to like - once the Lithium's kicked in
It's a big bad universe
themibjc-214 August 2000
From the creators of APEX & just as bad... This film has an 18 certificate god knows why? The acting is very cardboard, the story predictable & boring, even the FX & design are poor, I've seen better on 'Thunderbirds'. Not even Meg Foster could stop this space ship from sinking, avoid at all cost, go see Starship Troopers instead.
Disastrous
Koenschoen2 November 2001
To me it is a great mystery that movies such as Space Marinies actually get made. The plot is ridiculous and predictable, the acting one big joke. The only thing preventing me to rate this movie a plain zero is the unability to do so.
I tried to give it away.
mike-bird23 July 2004
I've seen my fair share of B-films, bad acting, non-existent plot, so bad that they are funny. Unfortunately this film doesn't make it into the last category which may have redeemed it slightly. With the exception of Meg Foster, the characters are out acted by the Thunderbird puppets. The script (script? nothing this bad deserves the name of script) is banal, boring, riddled with inconsistencies and loaded with clichés. It was either written by someone who has never read SF in their life, or was hacked to pieces by the director so it could be filmed for $10.50.
It is not even worth seeing as shlock. I tried to give it away but found no takers. The film was a waste of time and effort to film, and is both a waste of time and an insult to the viewer.
It deserves a negative vote, I would even settle for a zero, but have had to give it a one under protest. The only worth in this film was in the DVD case.
Avoid like poison ivy. Watch a decent B-film like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
It is not even worth seeing as shlock. I tried to give it away but found no takers. The film was a waste of time and effort to film, and is both a waste of time and an insult to the viewer.
It deserves a negative vote, I would even settle for a zero, but have had to give it a one under protest. The only worth in this film was in the DVD case.
Avoid like poison ivy. Watch a decent B-film like Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.
This movie is awesome!
Morpheus-3326 April 2002
I just have to say that I thought this movie was awesome. You can't rent this movie and expect it to Academy Award caliber, you have to take for what it is; a fun, cool movie. To me, the thing that really made the movie was John Pyper-Ferguson's portrayal as Colonel Fraser. He was awesome, one of the coolest characters I've seen in awhile. If nothing else, I think everyone should see this movie just to see his performance.
a critique, not a review
Ivan_Bradley22 July 2006
How do you tell someone what a film "tastes" like? Well, wine-lovers, instead of giving you a list of ingredients, amply covered in other commentaries by those who are better than I at such things, . I'll simply try and describe the taste.
I LOVED this film. I loved it because though it has enough schlock and splatter to have it rated an "18," it is nevertheless a film for young kids: kids who can't legally watch it. Not a recipe for box-office success, unfortunately. It IS great fun for adults who enjoy camp, over-acted larger than life drama as humour.
In terms of taking itself seriously, this film sits just this side - but right on the line - of parody. Think of the A Team with a Thunderbirds plot played by Peter Pan pantomime characters with the look and feel of Unreal Tournament and you've got it summed up. Bluto, playing Pugwash, auditions for the part of a villain in Power Rangers.
Any more to it than that?
Not really. Not necessary in a film aimed at six year-olds.
It's got: Bad guys who declare themselves to be Evil. Good guys who see the only way forward as gung-ho heroism. Diplomats who haven't got the common-sense of the heroes and basically get in the way. I'll contrast this with the diplomats and politicians in Battlestar Galactica who also keep thwarting the common-sense heroics of the good-guy military, but whereas in Battlestar, the diplomats are irredeemably stupid, weak and corrupt and keep getting in the way of the 100% right xenophobic all-action solution, here they vacillate with reasonable and clearly understandable cause and show an understanding, a view of the big picture which seems to escape the military mind. This gives the screenplay the only grown-up element and pretence at purpose. But it's only a pretence, and a McGuffin to bring in a Girl. The screenplay and this plot component has a token effort at making the hero(s) try very hard to be complex, but it doesn't come off.
Hell, this film don't need no mamby-pamby plot or gratuitous human interest 'cuz it's got action.
Lots of action; even more posturing. The Space Marines meet, er, Space Pirates.
You'd know they were pirates even if their flag and (ahem!) pirate-flag insignia attached to their uniforms and props didn't spell it out for you.
My favourite was the Evil Surgeon's white coat carrying its proud badge of the obsessively organised evil bunch. Just like it would be. Just like all the bad guys wear black hats, but this film hasn't got cowboys. If it did, their black hats would sit atop unshaven scowls and the white hats would keep the sun out of the eyes of ruggedly-handsome heroes wearing freshly-pressed shirts and ironed 'kerchiefs. Nooo, this film's got Pirates. They've all got costumes from the local futuristic fancy dress hire shop's "Pirate" rail and it's only the lack of wooden ships and a token attempt to keep it ostensibly "this" side of parody that eliminates the "Shiver me timbers, me hearties!!" and the random shouting of "Oooh Ahrrr, Jim lad!"
Toned down a bit, and with a few dollars more, this could have been Starsip Troopers. the merest micron further over the top would turn it into Doctor Phibes meets Flash Gordon.
The question is, would you then want to watch a film like this just for the sheer entertainment of it?
It all depends on who you are. When I was a kid and watched the original Adam West Batman,, I didn't quite "get" it. The irony escaped me. I had to develop a slightly more mature outlook to appreciate the humour fully, and I suspect that many people might be a little too literal in their perspective to enjoy this truly amazing film.
WE all know that spaceships don't "Woosh!" through outer space and that there is no sense at all in marking the go-faster widget in a space Viper cockpit "Turbo" or the in the huge amount of lip-gloss necessary to keep Earth's defences running through Buck Rogers' series, but we can still suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the stories and the action. In SM, grenades, bombs and standard military weaponry kill as cleanly as in any made-for- television film or pre Spaghetti Western Hollywood. The schlock is all sort of bolted on to show just how Bad the bad guys are and how "serious" things really are.
Well, if you aren't too worried about a message, future "historical" or logical accuracy and you enjoyed Team America, Adam West's Batman and Plan 9 from Outer Space, you WILL enjoy this.
I LOVED this film. I loved it because though it has enough schlock and splatter to have it rated an "18," it is nevertheless a film for young kids: kids who can't legally watch it. Not a recipe for box-office success, unfortunately. It IS great fun for adults who enjoy camp, over-acted larger than life drama as humour.
In terms of taking itself seriously, this film sits just this side - but right on the line - of parody. Think of the A Team with a Thunderbirds plot played by Peter Pan pantomime characters with the look and feel of Unreal Tournament and you've got it summed up. Bluto, playing Pugwash, auditions for the part of a villain in Power Rangers.
Any more to it than that?
Not really. Not necessary in a film aimed at six year-olds.
It's got: Bad guys who declare themselves to be Evil. Good guys who see the only way forward as gung-ho heroism. Diplomats who haven't got the common-sense of the heroes and basically get in the way. I'll contrast this with the diplomats and politicians in Battlestar Galactica who also keep thwarting the common-sense heroics of the good-guy military, but whereas in Battlestar, the diplomats are irredeemably stupid, weak and corrupt and keep getting in the way of the 100% right xenophobic all-action solution, here they vacillate with reasonable and clearly understandable cause and show an understanding, a view of the big picture which seems to escape the military mind. This gives the screenplay the only grown-up element and pretence at purpose. But it's only a pretence, and a McGuffin to bring in a Girl. The screenplay and this plot component has a token effort at making the hero(s) try very hard to be complex, but it doesn't come off.
Hell, this film don't need no mamby-pamby plot or gratuitous human interest 'cuz it's got action.
Lots of action; even more posturing. The Space Marines meet, er, Space Pirates.
You'd know they were pirates even if their flag and (ahem!) pirate-flag insignia attached to their uniforms and props didn't spell it out for you.
My favourite was the Evil Surgeon's white coat carrying its proud badge of the obsessively organised evil bunch. Just like it would be. Just like all the bad guys wear black hats, but this film hasn't got cowboys. If it did, their black hats would sit atop unshaven scowls and the white hats would keep the sun out of the eyes of ruggedly-handsome heroes wearing freshly-pressed shirts and ironed 'kerchiefs. Nooo, this film's got Pirates. They've all got costumes from the local futuristic fancy dress hire shop's "Pirate" rail and it's only the lack of wooden ships and a token attempt to keep it ostensibly "this" side of parody that eliminates the "Shiver me timbers, me hearties!!" and the random shouting of "Oooh Ahrrr, Jim lad!"
Toned down a bit, and with a few dollars more, this could have been Starsip Troopers. the merest micron further over the top would turn it into Doctor Phibes meets Flash Gordon.
The question is, would you then want to watch a film like this just for the sheer entertainment of it?
It all depends on who you are. When I was a kid and watched the original Adam West Batman,, I didn't quite "get" it. The irony escaped me. I had to develop a slightly more mature outlook to appreciate the humour fully, and I suspect that many people might be a little too literal in their perspective to enjoy this truly amazing film.
WE all know that spaceships don't "Woosh!" through outer space and that there is no sense at all in marking the go-faster widget in a space Viper cockpit "Turbo" or the in the huge amount of lip-gloss necessary to keep Earth's defences running through Buck Rogers' series, but we can still suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the stories and the action. In SM, grenades, bombs and standard military weaponry kill as cleanly as in any made-for- television film or pre Spaghetti Western Hollywood. The schlock is all sort of bolted on to show just how Bad the bad guys are and how "serious" things really are.
Well, if you aren't too worried about a message, future "historical" or logical accuracy and you enjoyed Team America, Adam West's Batman and Plan 9 from Outer Space, you WILL enjoy this.
A fun little Sci-Fi action movie.
jhpstrydom19 November 2009
Taking into account all of the major blockbusters coming out with their big budget effects and big name cast, they almost never have anything going for them except the fact that they have major effects and a big cast, enter SPACE MARINES, a film that didn't have a big budget or mind blowing effects or a big name cast but it was ten times more entertaining than any big film.
The storyline is simple and easy to follow, the cast all give better performances than most would let you to believe, the direction is well handled and it also has reasonable production values for a DTV film.
I recommend this film to anyone that wants to have a good time, it doesn't have the budget but the entertainment is there.
The storyline is simple and easy to follow, the cast all give better performances than most would let you to believe, the direction is well handled and it also has reasonable production values for a DTV film.
I recommend this film to anyone that wants to have a good time, it doesn't have the budget but the entertainment is there.
Not One of Meg Foster's Best, But Still Decent (SLIGHT SPOILER)
michael195120 January 2004
Warning: Spoilers
CAUTION: SLIGHT SPOILER IN LAST PARAGRAPH, although I try to keep it vague.
This is the kind of movie you've got to be a fan of one of the cast or you probably won't want to bother seeing it. Considering Meg Foster's one of my favorites, I obviously took the time to look at it.
One interesting feature is the interplay between some of the characters. The most obvious is that between Zack Delano (played by Billy Wirth) and Dar Mullins (played by Cady Huffman).
The not-quite-so-obvious interplay, though, is that between Capt. Gray (played by Edward Albert) and Cmdr. Lasser (played by Meg Foster). Meg puts on that ice-queen persona that she can be so good at, playing the cool and disciplined starship commander, obviously not liking having to kowtow to galactic bureaucrats, but putting up with it and insisting that her subordinates like Capt. Gray do likewise.
Until, in the end, she and Capt. Gray finally DO see eye-to-eye on something, he kind of gives her a thumbs-up, and she gives a VERY slight smile, just a little breaking of that iciness but kind of sweet.
This is the kind of movie you've got to be a fan of one of the cast or you probably won't want to bother seeing it. Considering Meg Foster's one of my favorites, I obviously took the time to look at it.
One interesting feature is the interplay between some of the characters. The most obvious is that between Zack Delano (played by Billy Wirth) and Dar Mullins (played by Cady Huffman).
The not-quite-so-obvious interplay, though, is that between Capt. Gray (played by Edward Albert) and Cmdr. Lasser (played by Meg Foster). Meg puts on that ice-queen persona that she can be so good at, playing the cool and disciplined starship commander, obviously not liking having to kowtow to galactic bureaucrats, but putting up with it and insisting that her subordinates like Capt. Gray do likewise.
Until, in the end, she and Capt. Gray finally DO see eye-to-eye on something, he kind of gives her a thumbs-up, and she gives a VERY slight smile, just a little breaking of that iciness but kind of sweet.
Is there some sort of Central Casting for disposable goons?
junk-monkey5 May 2005
The only reason to watch this cliché ridden piece of crap is to watch John Pyper-Ferguson chew up the scenery as the villain. He's great! The accent wobbles a bit from time to time though. It was the fashion when this movie was made that all the baddies in Hollywood movies had to have English accents. Charles Dance, Alan Rickman, and Jeremy Irons made a lot of money out of this sort of thing. John Pyper-Ferguson blows them all away.
As I said up top there, the rest of it is cliché-ridden tosh with little or nothing going for it. The plot (such as it is) is a war movie and has clean shaven Gung-Ho Marines blasting vast numbers of evil-looking, scruffy, unshaven bad-guys (sometimes in slow motion*) and has just had SF element nailed onto it because... I dunno, maybe they got the SFX cheap.
As soon as the Rookie is teamed up with the Beloved Old Sargeant at the start of the movie you know that a/. the BOS is going to be dead by the end of the reel and b/. the Rookie will have redeemed himself with a selfless act of valour by the end on the film.
As soon as battle-hardened, sexy, young Marine is teamed up with innocent, Liberal, female diplomat (they obviously hate each other's guts on sight) you know that a/. they will end up in bed and b/. the innocent Liberal female diplomat will be blasting evil-looking, scruffy, unshaven bad guys by the end of the second act.
The film ends weirdly. It's a very anti-climactic ending after all the pyrotechnics and mayhem that leads up to it. It just stops. Rookie shoots Evil guy dead and manages to get himself killed as well - somehow - it's not very clear quite what happens. Then there is a quick Marine and Diplomat in bed moment. Then suddenly a shot that was obviously done as a gag on set. Credits. Bizarre.
So if you like watching men in uniform shoot scruffy biker types so stupid they stand up in plain sight while millions of people shoot at them This is the movie for you. Where do these megalomaniac villains get all their disposable goons from anyway? Is there some sort of Central Casting for Bad Guys. "Hi I'm a Megalamonic Villain set on Global Domination, I'd like to hire 200 idiots who can't shoot fish in a barrel please".
* By the way. How is it in crap like this, bullets make big, messy holes in people, whereas grenades just toss them up in the air to do nice, graceful somersaults?
...and why are all spaceships fitted with an 'Auto Destruct' button - even freighters, as in this movie? Trucks don't have an auto destruct button, cars don't, planes don't - so why do spaceships? (Answers on a postcard please).
As I said up top there, the rest of it is cliché-ridden tosh with little or nothing going for it. The plot (such as it is) is a war movie and has clean shaven Gung-Ho Marines blasting vast numbers of evil-looking, scruffy, unshaven bad-guys (sometimes in slow motion*) and has just had SF element nailed onto it because... I dunno, maybe they got the SFX cheap.
As soon as the Rookie is teamed up with the Beloved Old Sargeant at the start of the movie you know that a/. the BOS is going to be dead by the end of the reel and b/. the Rookie will have redeemed himself with a selfless act of valour by the end on the film.
As soon as battle-hardened, sexy, young Marine is teamed up with innocent, Liberal, female diplomat (they obviously hate each other's guts on sight) you know that a/. they will end up in bed and b/. the innocent Liberal female diplomat will be blasting evil-looking, scruffy, unshaven bad guys by the end of the second act.
The film ends weirdly. It's a very anti-climactic ending after all the pyrotechnics and mayhem that leads up to it. It just stops. Rookie shoots Evil guy dead and manages to get himself killed as well - somehow - it's not very clear quite what happens. Then there is a quick Marine and Diplomat in bed moment. Then suddenly a shot that was obviously done as a gag on set. Credits. Bizarre.
So if you like watching men in uniform shoot scruffy biker types so stupid they stand up in plain sight while millions of people shoot at them This is the movie for you. Where do these megalomaniac villains get all their disposable goons from anyway? Is there some sort of Central Casting for Bad Guys. "Hi I'm a Megalamonic Villain set on Global Domination, I'd like to hire 200 idiots who can't shoot fish in a barrel please".
* By the way. How is it in crap like this, bullets make big, messy holes in people, whereas grenades just toss them up in the air to do nice, graceful somersaults?
...and why are all spaceships fitted with an 'Auto Destruct' button - even freighters, as in this movie? Trucks don't have an auto destruct button, cars don't, planes don't - so why do spaceships? (Answers on a postcard please).
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