Nightflyers (1987) directed by Robert Collector, and written for screen by Robert Jaffe, from the novel by George R.R, Martin. Before I begin, I should mention I saw this as an upload on You Tube. The choppy sound quality almost made the film unwatchable, it always drew attention to itself and was very distracting. None the less, I shall attempt to be objective in my review.
It stunk.
But in a grand overblown manner. Should you watch it? Sure give it a try but keep in mind, it gets worse. Spoilers ahead, I will be mentioning plot details, to a degree
The concept of a computer running a spaceship, and going out of control had been done many years before, with much more élan. Still, I will give this attempt credit where credit is due,
First a mention of the plot details, A Professor, played by John Standing, Rents out a Space Freighter, "Nightflyer" to pursue his research: To trace an Alien signal, and have a crew that could interpret it, He hires a handful of professionals, from all fields, to assist him in his research. The group that he assembles is a rag tag bunch and few seem very gungho on the missions success, especially when they discover that the pilot, "Royd", is isolated and connected to ships mother board. No pun intended. The term Mothership takes on a new perspective, here.
Actually until the computer turns homicidal, the movie works quite well; In it's favor is the set and production design. these are the real heroes here. They gave us a Art Nouveau set design a throwback to the Thirties, Even the ship itself is styled like a classic car, Smooth curved lines, The interior set piece is elegant, a drawing room more akin to Nemo's Nautilus then to the Enterprise lounge. Pipe organ included. The Computer display stuff was pretty advanced for it's day
The score was composed by Doug Timm, and was performed on synthesizer. It reminded me of the works of Alan Parsons, and Rick Wakeman. too bad the upload sound quality was over all crappy. So much for the good.
The movie was overall stupid, repetitious and juvenile. It becomes evident that the cast is to be fodder for the Killer Computer. Things get much worse when the computer is aware of attempts to shut it down. The overuse of the "Wind Machine is almost comical. It should get top billing. By the time we get to Royd shooting blue beams out of his head to combat the red beams being shot from the mother computer, do we realize how ludicrous the movie ultimately is. out of Power rangers, man! There was no way to edit this monster short of blowing up the ship after the first forty minutes. Six out of Ten Stars for the design crew, ,
It stunk.
But in a grand overblown manner. Should you watch it? Sure give it a try but keep in mind, it gets worse. Spoilers ahead, I will be mentioning plot details, to a degree
The concept of a computer running a spaceship, and going out of control had been done many years before, with much more élan. Still, I will give this attempt credit where credit is due,
First a mention of the plot details, A Professor, played by John Standing, Rents out a Space Freighter, "Nightflyer" to pursue his research: To trace an Alien signal, and have a crew that could interpret it, He hires a handful of professionals, from all fields, to assist him in his research. The group that he assembles is a rag tag bunch and few seem very gungho on the missions success, especially when they discover that the pilot, "Royd", is isolated and connected to ships mother board. No pun intended. The term Mothership takes on a new perspective, here.
Actually until the computer turns homicidal, the movie works quite well; In it's favor is the set and production design. these are the real heroes here. They gave us a Art Nouveau set design a throwback to the Thirties, Even the ship itself is styled like a classic car, Smooth curved lines, The interior set piece is elegant, a drawing room more akin to Nemo's Nautilus then to the Enterprise lounge. Pipe organ included. The Computer display stuff was pretty advanced for it's day
The score was composed by Doug Timm, and was performed on synthesizer. It reminded me of the works of Alan Parsons, and Rick Wakeman. too bad the upload sound quality was over all crappy. So much for the good.
The movie was overall stupid, repetitious and juvenile. It becomes evident that the cast is to be fodder for the Killer Computer. Things get much worse when the computer is aware of attempts to shut it down. The overuse of the "Wind Machine is almost comical. It should get top billing. By the time we get to Royd shooting blue beams out of his head to combat the red beams being shot from the mother computer, do we realize how ludicrous the movie ultimately is. out of Power rangers, man! There was no way to edit this monster short of blowing up the ship after the first forty minutes. Six out of Ten Stars for the design crew, ,