A father-daughter duo of space scavengers comes across adventures and villains as they travel the universe in search of the Deepstar.
Written by Joe Knetter and Garo Setian with Setian directing, the film feels very much like an homage to all the Star Wars knockoffs, space travel, space adventure films of the 1980s and even early 1990s. The film is clearly written and directed from a place of love for the genre, giving the characters and their situations some originality and some beloved clichés to work with. The characters are loveable on the good side and dislikable on the bad side of things. The line between good and evil is quite clear, but it’s something that works here. The way the story develops may be a bit predictable, but that does not make it any less enjoyable, especially for fans of these types of films.
The cast here is officially led by Michael Paré and Olivier Gruner, but the real star here is Sarah French who plays Paré’s daughter and someone with a secret. She’s that fun badass space traveler lady here and she makes it look almost easy. She definitely shines here, but Paré and Gruner are also a lot of fun to watch. There’s a lot going on here and the fact that most of the action is on ships, in smaller rooms, gave the cast a bit of challenge for sure, being in such close proximity at all times, and they really make the most of it.
Working with the cast are the stunts here which are fun to watch, just like the rest of the film. These show work done under stunt coordinator Allen Woodman. Having Gruner in the cast, he had to have at least a bit of fighting and he does, showing his skills are still very much alive and well. Sarah French and Tyler Gallant also get to have some fun on that front and get to show off what they can do. This adds to the entertainment of the film and the fun.
In terms of look, the film looks its budget, but that is not a bad thing here. The decor and costumes are on point for what they represent, and they have just the right amount of nostalgia in them. The way the film looks also has a lot to do with the cinematography by Michael Su who does well here in letting the audience see the action and feel like they are joining in. Su is a regular name of the independent film to mid-range budget film world, showing that he can shoot just about anything he wants and make it look great.
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar is a solid sci-fi nostalgia film that takes just the right elements of 1980s-90s films, mixes them with some current technology, has a cast that knows what they are doing and who are clearly enjoying themselves, which all mixes to make for a fun romp through the stars for the viewer. If you’ve noticed the word “fun” coming back many times over this course of this review, it’s because that is the best word to use to describe this sci-fi action film, it’s fun. What more can a film like this really ask for?