Saturn 3 (1980)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Stanley Donen
(more)

Writers:

Martin Amis (writer)
John Barry (story)

Release Date:

15 February 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Trapped between unnatural love and inhuman desire

Plot:

Two lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid fields of Saturn are intruded upon by a retentive...

Plot Keywords:

Saturn | Robot | Space | Android | Digit In Title

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Farrah Fawcett	...	Alex
Kirk Douglas	...	Adam
Harvey Keitel	...	Benson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ed Bishop	...	Harding (uncredited)
Roy Dotrice	...	Benson (voice) (uncredited)
Douglas Lambert	...	Captain James (uncredited)
Christopher Muncke	...	2nd Crewman (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Donen
John Barry		(uncredited)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Martin Amis		writer
John Barry		story

Produced by
Stanley Donen	....	producer
Eric Rattray	....	associate producer
Martin Starger	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Billy Williams

Film Editing by
Richard Marden

Production Design by
Stuart Craig

Art Direction by
Norman Dorme

Set Decoration by
Alan Cassie

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Ann Brodie	....	key makeup artist
Leonard Engelman	....	makeup designer: Miss Fawcett
Jeanette Freeman	....	assistant hair stylist
Pauline Heys	....	assistant makeup artist
Stephanie Kaye	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Terence A. Clegg	....	production manager (as Terry Clegg)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Cotton	....	assistant director
Nick Daubeny	....	assistant director (as Nicholas Daubeny)
Terry Madden	....	assistant director
Michael Murray	....	assistant director
Eric Rattray	....	second unit director
Roger Simons	....	assistant director
Gareth Tandy	....	assistant director
Andrew Warren	....	assistant director

Art Department
George Ball	....	property master
Ken Pattenden	....	construction manager
Andy Aitken	....	scenic plasterer/mould maker (uncredited)
Gari Bacon	....	props (uncredited)
Keith Short	....	sculptor (uncredited)

Sound Department
Derek Ball	....	sound mixer
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Roger Limb	....	electronic sound effects
Tony Message	....	sound editor
Ken Nightingall	....	boom operator
John Poyner	....	sound editor
Nicholas Stevenson	....	dubbing editor

Special Effects by
Colin Chilvers	....	special effects
Chris Corbould	....	special effects assistant
Michael Dunleavy	....	special effects assistant
Joe Fitt	....	special effects assistant
Peter Hutchinson	....	special effects assistant
Jeff Luff	....	special effects assistant
Terry Schubert	....	special effects assistant
Roy Spencer	....	special effects assistant
Jonathan Williams	....	special effects assistant
Neil Corbould	....	special effects runner (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Dennis Bartlett	....	matte technician
Roy Field	....	optical effects
John Morgan	....	model unit camera operator
Peter Parks	....	optical effects
Wally Veevers	....	optical effects
Martin Body	....	matte cameraman (uncredited)
Keith Holland	....	visual effects camera operator (uncredited)
Philip Sharpe	....	model maker (uncredited)

Stunts
Roy Scammell	....	stunt arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
Chic Anstiss	....	camera operator
George Cole	....	gaffer
Ted Deason	....	focus puller
Vic Fuller	....	focus puller
Harry Gillam	....	camera operator
Keith Hamshere	....	still photographer
David Harcourt	....	camera operator
Robert Paynter	....	additional photographer
Jonathan Taylor	....	focus puller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dorothy Edwards	....	wardrobe mistress
John Hilling	....	wardrobe master

Editorial Department
Campbell Askew	....	assistant editor
Roy Benson	....	assistant editor
Roy Birchley	....	assistant film editor
Bob Gavin	....	assistant editor
Mark Gill	....	assistant editor
John Preston	....	assistant editor
Paul Hamill	....	post-production assistant: Cinema Research Corp. (uncredited)

Music Department
Michael Clifford	....	music editor
Keith Grant	....	music mixer
Christopher Palmer	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Sidney G. Barnsby	....	production accountant
Gavin Bocquet	....	space equipment deviser
Penny Daniels	....	continuity
Garren	....	miss fawcett's hair design
Doreen Landry	....	publicist
Loretta Ordewer	....	production assistant
Judith Van Amringe	....	jewellery

Production Companies

• Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
• Transcontinental Films (II)

Distributors

• Associated Film Distribution (AFD) (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (198?) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Artisan Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2003) (UK) (TV) (BBC1)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2005) (2008) (UK) (TV) (BBC2)
• CBS/Fox (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (198?) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Elephant Films (2005) (France) (all media)
• Geneon Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• ITC Home Video (1982) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Live Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Magnetic Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1984) (USA) (TV)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cinema Research  optical effects (as Cinema Research Corp.)
• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Saturn City (USA)
Saturn Three (Philippines: English title)
The Helper (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min | 103 min (uncut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:18A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | Australia:M | Norway:18 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Trivia:

Elmer Bernstein wrote an hour of music for the film, much of it progressive and experimental, but most of it was unused after the opening sequences until the film's last half hour. Bernstein removed some of the cues himself after the film was extensively re-edited because they did not work in truncated form while others appear to have been removed by producer and replacement director Stanley Donen. The full score was released as a very limited edition CD in 2008 that is now deleted.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Kirk Douglas' character picks up one of the "Blue Dreamer" pills off of the dresser in the bedroom, a crew member can be seen moving in the lower corner of the same mirror in which we see Kirk's reflection.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Announcement: Captain James, your presence on pad 73, immediate, urgent.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (#4.21)" (1991)

I'm just ecstatic there isn't a Saturn 1 or 2...

Madman and robot chase couple in space. This was the synopsis digital cable gave me, but I went ahead and watched it anyway.

Um, yeah, truly a very very bad movie. One of those films that just fails in every aspect possible; acting, effects, script, sets. And the coup de grace in my book, the pointless killing of a dog. And it's a shame, because the dog was the only decent actor in the flick. I truly believed that it WAS a dog. Unlike "scientist" Farrah Fawcett, or whatever the hell Keitel was supposed to be. At first, with his wooden portrayal and monotone, I thought HE was the robot and maybe Douglas would be the madman. Also none of the actors seemed to be working together, it was almost as if each person was shot separately reading their insipid lines, and then with the magic of 1980s Parent Trap technology, spliced together for the finished product. I bet they never even met each other in person. The high point was Fawcett's nude scenes, but the movie wouldn't even let us have that without showing Kirk Douglas's old man butt. They give with one hand, and punch us in the jimmy with the other. The shoddy acting is enhanced, that is to say made shoddier, by a script so threadbare, they let Fawcett wear it in one of the bedroom scenes (shudder). The words were just there to fill space between the actors who were talking to themselves. This was by no stretch of the imagination a cerebral pick...it pretty much was madman and robot chase couple in space. In a time where you had films like the Black Hole or even 2001, you kinda wanted more from a sci-fi, and Saturn 3 offered nothing but intense stomach cramps and volatile flatulence. We know it is the future and space due to the presence of brightly colored tubes framing all the sets. What is it about tubes that imparts that feeling of future advancement to crappy set designers? My guess, cheapass to procure. The remainder of the sets were just black soundstages with the occasional pipe and metal grid floor. I mean, when even the sets anger you, you know it's gonna be a bad movie. And let's not forget effects. The robot Hector...i mean come on..ABS?? Why would a robot need abs? And the head is just one of those robot arms with two christmas lights for eyes...why sculpt the abs and then give it no head? It's pretty obviously a dude in a suit with a robot arm on his head. And when I say madman and robot chase, I think pursue is a better word, as there's little fast movement where this robot is concerned. Again, costumes and spaceship models anger me in such a non-specific way that I believe it's my hatred for this movie spreading like a cancer through all areas of production...worst gaffing i've ever seen, and the catering was pretentious and tasteless...

cough...

All in all, a very bad movie...good for whatever bad movies are good for. Peace.