"Earth Star Voyager" (1988) TV mini-series

Director:

James Goldstone

Writer:

Ed Spielman (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Earth Star Voyager is a spaceship sent to another solar system to prepare it for colonization. Earth itself is horribly polluted...

Plot Keywords:

Colonization | TV Mini-Series | Railgun | Space | Pollution

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

  (Series Credited cast)

Brian McNamara	...	Capt Jonathan Hays
Duncan Regehr	...	Jacob 'Jake' Brown
Julia Montgomery	...	Dr. Sally Arthur
Jason Michas	...	Jessie 'Beanie' Bienstock
Tom Bresnahan	...	Huxley Welles
Margaret Langrick	...	Luz Sansone
Sean O'Byrne	...	Vance Arthur
Peter Donat	...	Adm. Beasley
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dinah Gaston	...	Lani Miyori
Bruce Harwood	...	Dr. Leland Eugene
Henry Kingi	...	Shell
Lynette Mettey	...	Priscilla
Ric Reid	...	Capt. Forbes
Frank C. Turner	...	Willy
David Paul Hewitt White	...	Guard

Runtime:

240 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Marstar Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: The ship supposedly catches up with radio waves broadcast from Earth in the past. However, their objective was only 18.7 light years away. Especially since they had only begun the trip, they should not have received any broadcasts older than a few weeks or months old. The broadcasts they received range from 1927 to 1987, which should have been 101-161 light years from Earth by the year 2088, more than five times the distance to Demeter. Also, because light cannot vary speed, they would not have caught up to all the broadcasts at once. The broadcasts would have gradually gotten older as they traveled further from Earth. (Additional note: There is no reason to suspect that the intercepted radio signals were original broadcasts; although that is the aside made in the movie. These could be rebroadcasted (reruns) programs from Earth on the same day in the same spatial direction.)

Quotes:

Jake: What is this? Good Ship Kindergarten?

A Great Space Frolic!

I remember watching this years ago on the Disney Sunday Night Movie. Not only did it never re-run on network television, but Disney has for some unknown reason, never thought to release this on video or DVD. That is unfortunate, because it's a fun space frolic that has something for just about everyone: fairly good special effects, the ubiquitous "boy genius", Duncan Regehr in all his masculine glory, a rather thoughtful plot line, suspense, Duncan Regehr, cheesy fight scenes, a wonderful space ship, "lovable" bad guys and, of course, Duncan Regehr.

This premiered at the same time as "Star Trek: The Next Generation", which has gone into the annals of TV history as an SF classic, however, at that point most fans were already appalled and disgusted at the Wesley Crusher character being given so much screen time. (It seemed ridiculous that a ship manned by hundreds of intelligent, capable adults constantly needed the help of a preteen to save them from their weekly dilemmas.) On the other hand, "Earthstar Voyager" deals with the subject of precocious scientific youngsters in a believable, understandable way, therefore winning the interest of young and mature viewers alike. The fact that the ship is on a 40 year mission is a great plot device to introduce young crew members, who are being groomed to take over the helm of leadership half way through the voyage.

Over the years, I've thought often about this movie, especially after watching a disappointing major release like "Phantom Menace". It makes me appreciate the fact that Disney made such a worthwhile, fun movie with good characters and plot line on a well defined, yet modest (by Lucas standards) budget.

My friend taped "Earthstar Voyage" when it aired, but the tape was destroyed. Both of us wish we still had it. If anyone reading this has a copy, let me know!