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Arrow in the Head reviews Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar, a sci-fi adventure starring Michael Pare, directed by Garo Setian

PLOT: Space scavengers and a group of mercenaries race across the cosmos in a search for a long-lost freighter that is said to contain great treasure.

REVIEW: I have a lot of admiration for filmmakers who don’t let financial limitations stifle their creativity or force them to minimize the scope of their stories. Director Garo Setian’s sci fi adventure film Space War: Quest for the Deepstar is a great example of this. Space War, just like its title, is reminiscent to the low-budget sci-fi films produced by Roger Corman in the wake Stars success. You know, movies such as Battle Beyond the Stars or movies that used stock footage from Battle Beyond the Stars. Space Wars just happens to have been made on an even lower budget than those had.In his feature debut, the killer robot movie Automation

, Setian featured more impressive special effects than you would expect to see in a movie with such a limited budget. Setian does the same thing in Space War, but on a larger scale. Armed with a budget that other filmmakers would use to make a movie about people interacting in one location, Setian has made a universe-trotting adventure that takes place on different planets, space stations, and space ships, featuring alien creatures and action sequences that take place in the far reaches of space, including a chase through an asteroid field like in The Empire Strikes Back.Michael Pare, who first gained attention from both the mainstream and fans of cult movies back in the ’80s with the likes of Eddie and the Cruisers

and Streets of Fire, and has plenty of sci-movie and Starhunter experience, stars as space scavenger Kip Corman. The character’s name is a nice nod to Roger Corman. Kip and his daughter Taylor (Sarah French) are on the final frontier in 2980 looking for a big catch. Scientists have now figured out a way to extract the soul of a dead person and use it to make a liquid called Essence. This liquid can be used to bring a dead person back to live by placing it in a cyborg. Kip’s wife/Taylor’s mother was killed in an accident and, while they have her essence, they do not have enough credits to finish the process of bringing back her in a cyborg. The Quest for the Deepstar is a story about a long-lost cargo ship that’s said to be full of treasure. Kip and Taylor team up with a celestial cartographer named Jackie (Anahit Setian), who claims to know how to locate the Deepstar.Finding the Deepstar and its treasure would be treacherous enough, but the script by Joe Knetter (who crafted the story with the director) throws more problems at Kip, Taylor, and Jackie: not only are a group of mercenaries also seeking the Deepstar, but Kip is also being chased across the cosmos by his insane former employer Elnora (Sadie Katz). Elnora’s scenes are entertainingly unhinged, but the mercenaries have more layers. There’s the leader Dykstra, played by Olivier Gruner, his loyal lackey Nina, played by Rachele Brooke Smith, the bloodthirsty Manx in Jed Rowen and Wade (Tyler Galant )…), a character who could be redeemable. Some viewers will be put off immediately by Space Wars

due to its low-budget. The opening CG sequence will determine whether or not viewers are able to enjoy this ride. If you’re willing to accept a modernized version of the ’80s sci fi cheapies, this film is entertaining. Kip and Taylor make a great pair of heroes. Their interactions with Jackie are also fun. Setian and Knetter put up a good bunch of villains against them and keep the action moving at a steady speed. I wasn’t engrossed in the storyline for the entire 90-minute film, but I appreciated what the filmmakers did. It was also nice that the story had some unexpected twists and turns, and ended with a heartwarming conclusion. You probably know if it’s right for you. There’s a certain audience that will enjoy it. This one didn’t connect with me as well as

Automation did, but it’s fun – and if there were to be more adventures in the Space Wars

universe, I would watch them too.Uncork’d Entertainment is bringing Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar to theatres on April 21st, and a digital release will follow on

May 2nd. Here is the list of theatres that will be showing Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar: April 21st, and a digital release will follow on May 2

nd.

Entertainment - Media News Watch originally published at Entertainment - Media News Watch