Space Rage

Two centuries in the future, a dangerous lunatic named Grange is sentenced to a penal colony, Botany Bay, on the planet Proxima Centauri 3. There, a bounty hunter and an ex-policeman team up to prevent him from escaping.{{cite web | first=Sandra | last=Brennan | title=Space Rage (1986) | url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/45875/Space-Rage/overview | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124094641/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/45875/Space-Rage/overview | url-status=dead | archive-date=2007-11-24 | department=Movies & TV Dept. | work=The New York Times | date=2007 | accessdate=2009-11-06 }}

{{cast listing|

• Richard Farnsworth as Colonel
• Michael Paré as Grange
• John Laughlin as Walker
• Lee Purcell as Maggie
• William Windom as Gov. Tovah
• Lewis Van Bergen as Drago
• Frank Doubleday as Brain Surgeon
• Dennis Redfield as Quinn
• Harold Sylvester as Max Bryson
• Wolfe Perry as Billy Boy
• Ricky Supiran as Kirk
• Nick Palmisano as Carny
• Rick Weber as Nose
• Eddie Pansullo as Mean guard
• Paul Linke as Duffy
• Gene Hartline as Bubba
• Allan Graf as Tiny
• Paul Keith as Dr. Wehiberg
• R.J. Ganzert as Tallahassee
• Jim Bentley as Bob Smith
• Susan Madigan as Mary Smith
• William Cowley as Charlie

}}

The film was the brainchild of Beverly Hills psychologist Morton Reed. During a luncheon with film industry friends Roger Corman and Elliott Slutzky, he heard them complain about how hard it was to find fresh concepts. Reed, who had moonlighted as a writer, told them on a dare that he could easily come up with an exciting movie.{{cite news |author= |date=May 17, 1985 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/746346753/ |title=Psychologist becomes a filmmaker on a dare |newspaper=The Daily Press |location=Victorville |agency=Associated Press |page=C-3}} He formed his own company Morton Reed Productions{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7707fa5a|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114043611/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7707fa5a|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 14, 2017|title=Space Rage (1985)|work=British Film Institute|accessdate=2017-11-13}} and found a partner in Vestron, a distributor of genre films looking to branch out into production.{{cite book |author= |title=Variety's Film Reviews 1987–1988 | url=https://archive.org/details/varietysfilmrevi0000unse/page/n201/mode/2up |location=New Providence |publisher=R.R. Bowker |page=n/a |date=1991 |orig-date=July 1, 1987 |volume=20 |isbn=0835226670}}{{cite book |editor=Leahy, William |title=The 1988 Motion Picture Annual (covering films of 1987) | chapter=Space Rage | url=https://archive.org/details/motionpictureann0000unse_m4c2/page/214/mode/2up |location=Evanston |publisher=CineBooks |page=214 |date=1988 |isbn=9780933997172}} His project was the most expensive of Vestron's initial three-picture slate, which also comprised two chillers from Friday the 13th producer Steve Minasian, Don't Scream: It's Only a Movie! and April Fool's Day (later renamed Slaughter High).{{cite magazine |last1=Zuckerman |first1=Faye |date=March 23, 1985 |title=Vestron launches Feature Film Division |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1985/BB-1985-03-23.pdf |magazine=Billboard Magazine |location=New York |publisher=Billboard Publications |volume=97 |issue=12 |page=22 |issn=0006-2510}} The film's budget was initially estimated between $3.2 million and $3.5 million.{{cite book |last1=Canton |first1=Rolf |date=2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/behindcamerasmin0000cant/mode/2up |title=Behind the cameras: Minnesotans in the Movies, Volume II | chapter=Producers: Patrick Wells |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Micawber's |page=22 |isbn=9781932472530}} It was helmed by stunt coordinator Conrad Palmisano, in his main unit directorial debut.

Principal photography began on January 26, 1985.{{cite web | url =https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90984/space-rage#notes | title =Space Rage: Miscellaneous Notes | author= | website =Turner Classic Movies | access-date =April 2, 2023}} During a personal appearance in early March, Farnsworth confirmed that he had just wrapped up work on the film.{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Tom |date=10 March 1985 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/688337195/ | title=State trying to draw filmmakers: arts fund plans drive |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader |page=D2 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}} The movie was shot under the title A Dollar a Day. Shortly after however, it had been re-titled to Trackers: 2180 or just Trackers. Some sources mention another considered title, The Last Frontier. Farnsworth, who was disappointed with his previous performance and contemplating retirement, expressed satisfaction with the picture. Reed conceded that he had been surprised by the demands of filmmaking, saying: "It's incredible, such hard hours, that I don't think there can be a really, totally bad filmmaker in the world. If you finish, you're a hero. No matter how you did it, it's incredible." Following test screenings however, Reed's efforts fell short of expectations and the movie was ordered to undergo reshoots, which were directed by production executive Peter McCarthy.

The film received a theatrical premiere in Stamford, Connecticut, the hometown of production company Vestron, on Christmas 1985. By early 1986, it was still being promoted as Trackers: 2180.{{cite news |author= |date=12 January 1986 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/401992397/ |title=The '86 Pix Mix |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |page=12 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}} It was then shelved and retooled before its actual release as Space Rage in Ohio, starting on November 21, 1986.{{cite news |author= |date=November 20, 1986 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/304305487/ |title=Area Showtimes |newspaper=The News-Messenger |location=Fremont |page=Time Out 3 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}} However, there is no indication that it ever expanded to other markets.

The film was released on Betamax and VHS cassettes via Vestron subsidiary Lightning Video on July 21, 1987.{{cite news |author= |date=July 17, 1987 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/130384139/ |title=Home Video Guide |newspaper=Palm Beach Post |page=23 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}

The Variety reviewer identified as Lor. was negative, opining: "Special effects are meager and there is almost no futurism to the picture's design, an instant disappointment for sci-fi fans. A good cast is wasted, particularly Lee Purcell." He summed up the film as a "clunker." Leonard Maltin wrote that Farnsworth "should've turned [his laser-beam six-shooter] on the negative of this bomb."{{cite book|title=Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2014|isbn=9780698183612|page=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F60TAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2208}} Sister publications The Motion Picture Annual and TV Guide called it "an uneasy blend of science fiction and western," although they praised the unconventional casting of Paré as a villain.{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/movies/space-rage/review/118622/|title=Space Rage|work=TV Guide|accessdate=2017-11-13}} Bantam Books' Movies on TV and Videocassette felt that "futuristic trappings fail to enliven this tired shoot-'em-up."{{cite book | editor=Scheuer, Steven H. |date=December 1989 | edition=14th |url=https://archive.org/details/moviesontvvideoc00stev/page/738/mode/2up |title=Movies on TV and Videocassette 1990–1991 |location=New York |publisher=Bantam Books |page=739 |isbn=0553282883}}

The soundtrack includes song by alternative rock bands The Spikes, The Screaming Believers, Exploding White Mice, Dream Syndicate and Blood Money.

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• {{IMDb title|0090054}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Space Rage}}

Category:1985 films

Category:1980s Western (genre) science fiction films

Category:American Western (genre) science fiction films

Category:Space Western films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:1980s American films

Category:1985 science fiction films

Category:English-language Western (genre) science fiction films