I saw this in the theater on the day it was released in 1980. This was a Grindhouse movie shown in little theatres, not in huge complexes. I went to see it not expecting much…

Not expecting, but got: This film had the coolest robot I had ever seen in my life. Back then I was not familiar with Harvey Keitel, I did not know that Roy Dotrice had overdubbed his voice, all I knew is this creepy guy, opens an airlock on a space station and lets his Captain fall through, shattering him into a million pieces of gore, and that was disturbing, and it was shown within the first 5 minutes of this film - And Keitel, who at the time was hidden by a black space helmet, giggling about killing this guy in that horrible way, what kind of film is this with a beginning like that.

Not the best Stanley Donen film, but Donen clearly had a talent for doing the best he could with very low budgets, it could have used a few more dollars in the effects budget. It is highly Likely that John Barry directed a lot of this, and his design handiwork is evident.

After seeing Space done so beautifully and economically by Ridley Scott in Aliens, this film for me was a return to my roots of Low Budget Science Fiction, which I grew up on, so I enjoyed the cheesy view of Saturn's Rings, I even loved the 2-D effect of the space station, and Donen's directing of the initial scene where you think is this going to be a musical in space? But there were some good effects despite the Apparent lack of dollars to make them really good. And I first saw this in the theater, and things always look better on that huge screen, until you see it on TV and it looks Cheap.

So now, 32 years after I sat in that theater and was creeped out by Harvey Keitel and his robot "Hector" - I found a fairly good transfer of that film online and got it - And I watched it last night, for the first time in 3 decades.

And I still liked it, the interactions between Kirk Douglass, Farah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel were subtle and the dialog was understandable although a "future slang" was being used, we can get the gist of the conversations... "No Taction Contact!" IE, "Do Not Touch!" - Kirk Douglas was far from being a decrepit old man in this film, he plays the lead role in his usual way, although toned down from his gritting teeth roles like Spartacus. In fact, this was the first film I had seen Douglas in where he was very subdued in manner but held his authority, when usually he acts with a lot more force behind his words and actions. I think this was probably the biggest Movie role for Farah , not counting several made for TV movies like "The Burning Bed".

The Saturn 3 set is convincing as a space habitat, except of course the gravity would be less than earth's, there is no mention of artificial gravity, so we have to take all that for granted in the film.

The Hector concept, was the first time I had seen in a movie, that a robot had to be programmed from a human brain, and if that brain has problems: "I'm not malfunctioning, You are" as Hector tells "Benson"- So this film makes clear that a guy who giggles over murdering his captain in cold blood, if this guy is the template for Hector's Programming, then watch out - The film made this concept very clear. This was also the first time in a movie where we see a socket at the base of a man's skull, this has been used in Science Fiction movies up to The Matrix.

The design of some of the space-ships came from earlier science fiction movies, and we can blame veteran effects man Wally Veevers for some of the opticals in this film... The three-winged craft that comes to check on Saturn 3 is very familiar- I like that this was done that way, it connected this film which was at the time, a modern science fiction film, to its predecessors from the late 50's and early 60's. Most of the spaceships look like they came from the covers of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" or "Analog Science Fiction" or "Galaxy" or any number of those pulps where these stories came from...

And of course, the writer of this story was Martin Amis, the son of author Kingsley Amis, who wrote several science fiction stories with slants like used in this film.

So basically, this was a B Movie that got some attention because of the then use of Kirk Douglas and Farah Fawcett, it could have been a great film, but as it is, it is not horrible, the science is believable, the effects typical but not great, the resolution not perfect but satisfying. The story could have been fleshed out a bit more, but as it is, the robot Hector, I remembered that Robot, when I saw Terminator I thought of Hector, when I saw Aliens I thought of Hector, there were a lot of possibilities for that character, this was not just an "Evil Robot" but a robot that became evil because of the way it was "taught" - Much like people in that respect. And that cylinder that held "Hectors Brain" - was creepy, any brain that is 4 times the size of a human brain, well you just have to say "Why is that a BAD IDEA?"

This must be the worst film Kirk Douglas ever appeared in during his long and very successful career and it's amazing he agreed to do such a lousy film. Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel, however, are more in their element as both have done some terrible movies. You can safely assume they took these parts because, at the time, these may have been their best offers.

Another interesting decision for the movie was the director, Stanly Donen, who had a long and respectable career doing mostly MGM musicals (such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers). It's very surprising that they lured him into doing such an odd-ball picture. Maybe he, like Kirk Douglas, has a skeleton or two in his closet that they used to blackmail them into doing the movie (this is the only LOGICAL reason I can think of).

Whatever the motivations, the story is about a strangely mismatched couple (Farrah and Kirk) who man a small space station. They are happy to be alone because it gives them a lot of time to dress and undress and dress and undress. I guess maybe Farrah being nude COULD be why Mr. Douglas chose to appear in the film. Hmm--maybe I CAN understand why he chose to do this film.

Anyway, Harvey Keitel's character stumbles into the station. Given that it's the 1-dimensional Keitel, you can rightly assume that he is a slimy scumbag sociopath (that's pretty much all he's played since) and he wants to score with Farrah. Well, along the way he is killed and somehow implants his consciousness into a sex crazed robot who terrorizes both of our heroes.

Gee, with a plot like that, it sure sounds like a surefire recipe for success (or at least giggles). As a comedy, it kinda works. You could laugh at Farrah's acting, the stupidity of the script or the excuses they come up with for the leads to take off their clothes. But, considering it is supposed to be straight sci-fi, it's a total mess.

As far as killer robot stories go, this one isn't bad. It's not up there with the classics of the genre - films such as THE TERMINATOR, WESTWORLD, and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, but there are some genuinely spooky atmospherics as Douglas and Fawcett are chased around some dingy corridors by a psychotic robot. Although the set design and action seems to have been partially lifted from the previous year's popular ALIEN, this film still has enough different slants to keep you watching.

For a start, there are only three main actors in this film (apart from a supposed blink-and-you-miss-it cameo from Ed Bishop) so they have a lot of work to do between them. This isn't helped by having some major miscasting - namely the role of the film's masculine hero, Adam, being played by a far-too-old Kirk Douglas. We're supposed to imagine that old-man Douglas is capable of strenuous physical activities and getting his head smashed in to little effect. The film really needed an actor twenty years younger to fill the part. Douglas also feels a little too over-qualified for a simplistic thriller like this, as both he and Fawcett have little to do apart from fighting the unstoppable robot.

Fawcett herself is little better. I'm sure she's a good actress and all, but she never becomes more than two-dimensional here. The camera enjoys lingering on her naked and scantily-clothed body (and, more disturbingly, Douglas' too) so perhaps that's the reason for her casting. Thankfully, at least there is one effective actor on screen, a young, menacing Harvey Keitel as a murderer who eventually falls foul of his own creation. The film kicks off with Keitel murdering the real captain and taking his place (sucking him through an airlock and blowing him apart outside, quite literally),then travelling to one of Saturn's moons where Douglas and Fawcett reside. We never do learn of his past, or his motives, and this makes his character even more mysterious. Despite Keitel simply doing his patented twitchy routine, he's still very effective and a little frightening.

The killer android itself is a mixed bag. For a start, it's a good head taller than the other actors, to allow for an operator to fit inside, of course. It certainly looks good on the outside, a mixture of hydraulics, crushing pincers, and some cute little lights for a head. On the downside, it's not exactly a difficult foe to foil, seeing as it gets repeatedly pushed into pits of water, electrocuted, and disassembled during this film's length. There are some brief gory bits to add to the horror, including a decapitated dog and the robot "wearing" the battered head of Keitel, as well as cutting Keitel's hand off, but I would much rather face this slow-moving enemy than an alien or a velociraptor, for example.

I did like the ending, which is kind of clichéd but has a good bit where Douglas realises he has been partially assimilated by the robot when he discovers a hole in the back of his neck. The final destruction of the android is a huge explosion, shot by apparently throwing buckets of water about along with some body parts, and it's very arty. Please don't ask me to explain the epilogue, which shows Fawcett watching a spaceship return to Earth, as I have no idea of it's relevance. This isn't a brilliant film, but it passes the time nicely.