Director: Stewart Raffill
Written by: Stewart Raffill, Stanford Sherman
Cast: Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael D. Roberts, Anjelica Huston

Year / Country: 1984, USA
Running Time: 91 mins.

This is a pretty odd movie: a Star Wars-like comedy; a sci-fi spoof that doesn’t always feel like one; a cult classic. In terms of special effects and production design, it looks good. Especially considering that this must have been – by Hollywood standards at least – a modestly budgeted flick. The cast of relatively unknown actors is – like in Star Wars – good enough to arouse and maintain interest from the viewer. The main problem with The Ice Pirates is that it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.

The setting is a dried-up galaxy where there is virtually no water. Evil Templars from the water planet Mithra have gained control of this life-giving resource. A group of rebel pirates, under command of the roguish Jason (Robert Urich), survive by stealing ice from the great Templar fleets. During one of their missions, they are captured by the evil rulers, but with the aid of Princes Karine of Argon, they escape and start searching for the all-problem-solving Seventh World.

The story, including a romance between Jason and the princes, ensures a strangely entertaining ninety minutes. Only too often, does the movie shift from one genre to another and doesn’t go full throttle in any of them: the comedy at its best is only good for a modest smile; there is too little action to create a real sense of excitement and finally, the spoof level doesn’t go nearly over the top enough. Nevertheless there is still a lot of creativity and fantasy to be discovered. Especially the altered time element during the climax is a lot of fun. Those looking for more serious sci-fi should avoid this flawed film. But B-movie fans are – like many others – probable to embrace it as a classic in its kind.

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Biography: Stewart Raffill (1945, USA) is a US writer and director. He mostly made adventure / family films such as Lost in Africa, Mac and Me and Three.

Filmography: The Tender Warrior (1971), When the North Wind Blows (1974), The Adventures of the Wilderness Family (1975), Across the Great Divide (1976), The Sea Gypsies (1978), High Risk (1981), The Ice Pirates (1984), The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), Mac and Me (1988), Mannequin: On the Move (1991), Tammy and the T-Rex (1994), Lost in Africa (1994), The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997, TV-episodes), The New Swiss Family Robinson (1998), Grizzly Falls (1999), A Month of Sundays (1999), Adjustments (2001, short), While You Were Waiting (2002, short), Three (2005), Croc (2007, TV), Mysterious (2007)