SummaryTwo lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid fields of Saturn are intruded upon by a retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent eight foot robot.
Directed By:Stanley Donen, John Barry
Written By:Martin Amis, John Barry
Saturn 3
Metascore
Overwhelming Dislike
9
User score
Mixed or Average
4.3
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Metascore
Overwhelming Dislike
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
88% Negative
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
40
Stanley Donen's otherwise witty and diverting science-fiction thriller Saturn 3, a parable of jealousy set on a remote, futuristic Eden suddenly contaminated by insane lust, suffers desperately for the lack of an epilogue. As a result, an hour and a half of tense, funny sexual melodrama is squashed flat by a dud of a fadeout. [18 Feb 1980, p.B1]
25
The level of intelligence of the screenplay of "Saturn 3" is shockingly low - the story is so dumb it would be laughed out of any junior high school class in the country - and yet the movie was financed. Why?
20
Douglas grins and grimaces through his role as the ultimate defender of beautiful Fawcett, and it's all pretty dreadful.
10
Douglas is sprightly, but he has to handle some pretty awful lines in this Martin Amis script [from a story by John Barry]. Keitel’s dialog, if quoted, would be on a par.
0
As should be obvious by now, Harvey Keitel is a lucky man indeed: how many actors, stuck in an atrocious film, have so many immortal lines? [20 Feb 1980]
0
The best and perhaps only way to enjoy Saturn 3 is to pretend that you're watching a "Saturday Night Live" parody of Saturn 3. Imagine that Harvey Keitel is one of the Coneheads, that Kirk Douglas is the guest host, lampooning his own overemphatic acting style, and that Farrah Fawcett is, well, Farrah Fawcett. Viewed in this light, the unintentionally risible dialogue by Martin Amis becomes sparkling comic repartee. Keitel to Fawcett, with nary a flicker of expression in his voice: "You have a beautiful body. May I use it?" [10 March 1980, p.88H]
0
Just another miserable muddle from the Lew Grade empire; there's more fun to be had cleaning out your cat litter tray.
User score
Mixed or Average
33% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
25% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
42% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
May 25, 2018
9
IT's so money, and people who deny its greatness are just fooling themselves.
Sep 6, 2023
4
Wow where to begin. This is an odd film. A space horror campy schlock disaster. The making of is far more interesting and worth researching before or after as it explains the WHY as the film will leave you with so many questions. It cost more to make than star wars and alien but it looked and ended up worse than an episode of 70s tv lost in space. And it has Farrah Fawcett tv actress to cement that cheap feel. The lead lovers/ couple are food scientists aged in their 20s **** that's alot but not as distracting as you might imagine and the least of the films myriad of problems. They are trying to save earth from starvation after some kind of war or accident. But they're behind schedule so a scientist is sent to speed up production using a prototype robot which uses foetus brains to learn stuff or something. And there is a **** as you might imagine... it doesn't last long. It also stars Kirk Douglas and Harvey keitel. But it's not 100% Harvey as he refused to do his lines. So his voice is a British actor using a dub much like James earl Jones in star wars a year before. It's a pervy film too! The robot monster spend the entire film lusting after the Charlies Angel star! I guess he wants to spread his "Demon Seed"!. It's all totally bonkers and not really worth your time when there are so many amazing late 70s early 80s sci fi films. What is interesting is the first time director died as the film was being made but only after he quit to be the second director on empire strikes back. And the director who took over was famous only for musicals and knew nothing about sci fi or horror ...which weirdly comes across in the filming. It was also the debut for the screenwriter whose draft was then rewritten over 7 times by other hack writers which shows leaving the film a mix of many conflicting **** all bad. And there is a nude wrestling scene between two men but it's ok as a 9ft sex crazed robot is watching. That same robot used up most of the budget but spent alot of its time falling over or breaking down. It's all bonkers but not very fun. It's really a failed film and once you know the production issues it becomes more of a 'space oddity'. Check it out as a master class in how not to make a sci fi film...there is so much not to learn here.
Thank goodness there is no saturn 1 or 2!
