Space Station 76

I can't remember the last film I saw that frustrated me as much as SPACE STATION 76. I remember reading reviews when it hit the festival circuit and thinking how awesome it sounded. Then I was disappointed when it was finally released on home video and never found it's way into stores. I finally ordered it on Amazon (DVD because there was apparently no Blu-ray release) and…ugh…I want to like this movie more. It's not horrible. In fact, there's a lot of hilarious stuff in this movie. But the execution...the lack of any real main plot thread…it's aggravating. The premise is perfect: a science fiction film based on the imagined future of the 70's with a modern bent. Jessica Marlowe (Liv Tyler) is a new arrival on the station and finds that she's having trouble with her new crewmates. Captain Glenn (Patrick Wilson) is a closeted homosexual, an alcoholic, and a misogynist who resents Jessica's assignment under his command. Ted (Matt Bomer) and Misty (Marisa Coughlan) are unhappily married and have a daughter, Sunshine, who suffers more than anyone else aboard the station. Finally, there's Steve (Jerry O'Connell) and Donna (Kali Rocha); another picture perfect couple, Steve cheats on his wife while she remains home drinking wine and tending to their newborn child. SPACE STATION 76 is basically a comedy/soap opera that follows the lives of our deep space rejects as the tensions mount. The movie is apparently based on a stage play and I'm sort of curious to see it.

Rarely had I seen a movie with so much going on but very little actually happening. Of all the subplots bubbling around each other, the thread with Marlowe, Ted, and Misty could probably be considered the "main" plot since it gets the most attention. Jessica and Ted are also the only decent people in the whole movie. Literally everyone else in the movie is pretty unlikeable. Funny, but unlikeable. The crew of the station and their significant others are two-faced, fickle, and brimming with distaste for everyone around them. You really start to feel bad for the little girl trapped in the middle of it all. At no point do they come together to overcome some obstacle or achieve a goal; there is no growth of any sort in SPACE STATION 76. In the end, no one has learned any sort of lesson or changed in any sense. The big climax seems to be the realization that their squabbles are small and stupid in the grand scheme of things. It's all very unsatisfying, story-wise. Although, with some tweaking, this could have worked as a mini-series or potential full television series. Actually, that sounds pretty good. I'd watch that. But as a 90 minute film, it falls pretty far short. It's a bummer because I wanted to love this movie. Still, aside from the aimless nature of the plot, this movie works well in most every other sense. SPACE STATION 76 is obviously someone's passion project and it shows in the details.

The production design and the visual gags are where the movie shines. Casual audiences might not see the charm in the simplistic sets and retro costuming. Fans of cheesy 60's and 70's science fiction will love it. It's very much a classic design with a modern (miniscule) budget. The CG effects are limited and cheap, and they fit the vibe of the film just right. Most of the film's humor is derived from the setting and it works. A prime example: the station has a therapist on board, Mr. Bot. Mr. Bot looks like a cheap 80's children's' toy robot and he's programmed to latch on to key phrases, distributing advice…and Valium…to his patients. It's a fun recurring gag. Ted is missing a hand and has had it replaced with what reminds me of an old Nintendo power glove that he must physically plug into a wall to recharge. There's a great ongoing bit where one character's repeated attempts at suicide are foiled by the system's automated safety protocols. There's a lot of really good stuff in this movie and there were more than a few scenes that got a laugh from me. The problem is the dull ensemble melodrama it's all wrapped around. I hate to say it but I'm not sure there's enough to elicit a recommendation out of me. Fans of the genre it's satirizing will probably find enough to enjoy but, if you're like me, it'll leave you feeling unsatisfied. It's all sadly forgettable.

When I first heard about this movie, I was quite interested in it. I grew up watching those sci-fi movies and TV shows from the 70s, all those leisure suits and haircuts and the wonderfully cheap special effects. Retro is my thing, and anything with punk in it – steampunk, dieselpunk, atompunk – so I was looking forward to seeing Space Station 76.

Now, for the positives: it was well made, well acted (especially from Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and young Kylie Rogers), well directed. In addition, it looked like something that could have been made in the Seventies, which was obviously the intention: the computer graphics, the smoking, the Valium, the beige, the videocassettes, the robot therapist (although the exterior space shots and interior zero- gravity scenes looked a little too good – no strings to be seen!).

Where it fell for me was the story. This is *not* a science fiction movie. It may be set in space and the future, with all the expected trappings, but it could just as easily had been set in a suburban street in the Seventies, or in a groovy apartment complex. The plot lines are all very human and Earthbound (and certainly not anything that would have been part of any movie or show from the era): the alcoholic, closeted gay Captain, the lonely little girl who can't keep her pets alive, the bitter couples in the broken, empty relationships where even affairs are just masturbation by proxy, and the infertile Assistant Captain who arrives onboard the station (although everyone keeps calling it a ship) unwittingly brings all the tensions to the surface. There's an asteroid headed for the station, an obvious metaphor for the proverbial lid that's about to blow among them, but it doesn't really play a part in all of this.

I had read the other reviews that warned not to expect Galaxy Quest, Spaceballs, Red Dwarf or other laugh out space comedies, and I'm not some neophyte cinephile unfamiliar with black comedy, but I had expected *some* laughs. I laughed once. More often than not, I was sad, which was more a testament to the performances. Billing this as a comedy, even a black comedy, is misleading.

To be honest, I'm not sure who this might be for: the sci-fi fans will be mostly disappointed, as will the comedy fans, and those looking some adult psychodrama might be confused by the retro-future setting.

The idea of spoofing 70s sci-fi TV shows is great, even if it's been done before. (And better, as in "Galaxy Quest.") This has all the right trappings in terms of sets, costumes and soundtrack track choices, as well as a game-enough cast. But where is the script? There are a few half-baked comic ideas here, but few if any of them are developed beyond the level of the verrrrrry mildly amusing, at best. There's less than a SNL skit's worth of actual laughs here. Worse, the characters are mostly irritating, with ideas that are potentially funny (Wilson's Captain being a closet case) and those that really aren't (two sets of bad, oblivious parents) both simply repeating themselves without building toward any big payoff. In fact, what they build toward is a weirdly serious scene at a Christmas party where everyone reveals how much they hate each other, something that might actually be cathartic in a movie that WASN'T aiming to be a comedy. I just don't know what the filmmakers were thinking. It's very strange to go to all this trouble and expense to mount a sci-fi fantasy satire, and seemingly forget to include much in the way of actual humor. No, the humor wasn't too "subtle" for me--deadpan is one thing, but this was just flat and lacking wit. A pity.

Space Station 76. It's not a bad film, neither is it a good film, nevertheless it is watchable. The film has a reference to Valium and to be fair watching it gives you a feeling that you are on tranquilisers, as the film has a gentle almost tranquil effect from the calming Elevator type music playing in the background, to the slow composed way the actors speak.

I did not find the film to be over humorous, in fact it barely raised a smile but it was addictive. The characters were well developed and interacted well. The sets are well designed and the reference to the seventies makes it seem somewhat timeless. The film played out a little like an afternoon soap opera.

Whether the film will over time develop into a cult film, maybe! Give the film a try as it has its moments.

Perfect movie to watch if you feel a teensie bit melancholy and want something to remind you simply of how complex and at the same time how shallow relationships can be. Ignore everyone who moans about a lack of plot or not delivering a surgery sweet ending or that its not a LOL comedy. If a film isn't pretentious crap critics seem to hate it, and if its not formulaic Hollywood blockbuster or special effects driven the public bag it - this movie was obviously a labor of love and it really is a joy to watch, easily the best retro styled film I've seen forever.

Watch this, 'Moon', and 'Love' and you've seen the 3 most under-rated Sci-Fi films made in the last 20 yrs