Wizard-8 This comic take on space films (and swashbuckler films) did have potential - it had a significant budget, as well as a capable cast. However, I have to confess that I found the end results to be somewhat disappointing. Oh, there is some good production design here and there, and there are a few chuckles generated, the most coming from the wacky space warp climax. But for the most part, the movie is a mess. It seems to be making things up as it goes along instead of having a clear vision (comic or otherwise) from the start. And for the most part, it is acted and directed in a way that seems to be screaming, "Ha ha, aren't we clever?" - which gets tiresome really fast. Because of this, I didn't really care for the characters despite the cast giving gung ho performances. Evidence for how this movie should have been done can be seen with the Mel Brooks movie "Spaceballs". Yes, that movie was very goofy, but it was made with a clear vision throughout and had likable characters.

mdenvee Anyone who does not rate this movie 8 or higher is not being objective. I give it a 10 for what the movie was designed to be- a dark sci-fi satire, emphasis on the dark. No, it doesn't compare to Gone with the Wind or Schindlers List, and it's not supposed to. It is a unique, rarely produced seriously dark edgy comic-drama. People who compare it to Spaceballs and others of that ilk are misguided- Ice Pirates is NOT a spoof movie or juvenile comedy. Yes, there are some clearly adolescent moments, but this movie is of that uncommonly found genre of dark satire like "Mystery Men". What sets this movie apart from silly comedies like Spaceballs and others is the variety of serious emotional moments, love scenes, death scenes and a generally elevated plot- finding a new source of water in the galaxy. Basically it is like making a movie based on Han Solo and Chewbacca and their adventures- serious but replete with comic, witty, edgy, and romantic moments. Star Wars would have been a completely serious film like 2001 if not for Han Solo, and would have suffered for it. When you watch Ice Pirates, you need a bit more of "suspension of disbelief". Unlike most other movies of ANY genre, Ice Pirates has a fast pace, endlessly interesting backdrops, and surprisingly few ridiculous aliens- compared to the numerous silly creatures in Stars Wars/Return of the Jedi. The movie is underrated, I think, primarily due to the campy nature of the comic moments- but then again that is Han Solo from top to bottom. And never a boring moment.

Ed Yates There are some films that are so bad that they come back out the other side and become so bad they are good. Or at the very least funny - given time. This film is not one of them.It's not like there isn't any effort involved in the making of this film either. Ron Perlman and Angelica Houston pop up as supporting characters - not that they are very good or have that much to do. So much so, you wonder why they even picked this film to be in. Equally the costuming for the most part is still pretty interesting. Some of the visual effects might now have been funny because they look so B grade if not for the constant abysmal dialogue peppered throughout the entire film. The nonsensical plot and padding out of the script with irrelevant and poorly executed sequences really make this film drag terribly.It's not like they weren't making decent sci-fi films during the same period either. Ice Pirates hit cinemas one year after Return of the Jedi (1983) and seven after A New Hope (1977). Alien screened in 1979 and Blade Runner 1982. These films changed the face of filmmaking and none of these films have dated as badly as The Ice Pirates. Possibly the problem is because The Ice Pirates is trying to be a space-comedy-adventure: an extraordinarily difficult thing to well and this film fails on all three counts. That and they decided to go nuts with the synthesizers. Which just seems to date films from the 80s awfully.When I turned on the TV I was hoping for a bit of a romp or at least something that would make me laugh because it was so bad. Unless you are going to watch it for some interesting costuming please don't waste your time like I did.

JoeB131 And this really wasn't. I think they tried to find jokes that reminded you of Star Wars and Alien, but they just didn't work. Most of the jokes fell flat, like the "Space Herpe". (Remember in the 1980's when were were all afraid of Herpes?) The plot is that water is a rare commodity in the future. (Again, if you want to write GOOD science fiction, you have to understand science!) So this Evil Empire called the Templars controls all the water, except for Ice Pirates who steal it, (probably inspired by some hack California screenwriter who was told he couldn't turn on his sprinkler during a drought.) You had a bunch of actors essentially committing career suicide here. Mary Crosby, fresh off her stint on "Dallas", was never heard from again. Neither were most of the cast, except for Ron Perlman and Robert Urich, who got new chances to crash their careers...The special effects were cheesy looking, which is probably the movie's main problem.