Trapped in Space (1994 TV Movie) User Reviews

A traditional story well told

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 17 March 2015]

TRAPPED IN SPACE is an old-fashioned B-movie, made with a TV movie budget and a cast of former soap and TV actors. The plot is similar to those found in LIFEBOAT and the ubiquitous TEN LITTLE INDIANS, with a group of five astronauts finding themselves trapped on a remote spaceship with their oxygen supply rapidly depleting. The only way anybody will survive is if a few of them die, but how can they begin to choose?

The worst thing about the story is the low budget, which gives the whole spaceship setting a cheap look, like something out of a STAR TREK rip-off. The rest of it is pretty good. The performances are effective, especially Craig Wasson (BODY DOUBLE) as the crazy guy, but the best thing by far is the script, which keeps you guessing as to what's going to happen to whom. The suspense never stops, and the tension keeps you on the edge of your seat. Let's just say that despite the family friendly rating, there's some very unpleasant stuff transpiring here.

Just Okay

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 24 May 2005]

In Britain most newspapers on a Saturday and Sunday give away free TV magazines with listings as to what's coming on television for the next week and all of them were unanimous in saying that the worst movie being broadcast on network television was TRAPPED IN SPACE , but I've got to disagree since it wasn't even the worst movie on that night

!!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!!

Yeah okay this isn't a great movie and the fact that the opening credits feature white bold letters superimposed over the action means its production values are very similar to a TVM . It's fairly obvious that production value wise it is indeed a TVM since the camera work is very static , most of the cast have done more television than cinema work and there's a woman saving a really cute dog . It also becomes obvious that when you see a cryogenic chamber this somehow ties in with at least one character being saved from a slow suffocating death and I bet the majority of the audience managed to work out the ending long before it played out on screen

But let me defend the movie to a point . It has a fairly impressive premise of a spaceship being hit by some debris , the captain escaping in the only lifepod and the remaining five crewmen realising there's only enough oxygen for three personnel on the voyage to Venus . Perhaps it's not as developed as well as it should but the story did hold my interest and some of the main characters do die which means TRAPPED IN SPACE isn't as predictable as first thought

A nifty little sci-fi

[Prophetess · 14 March 2000]

A nifty little sci-fi that made me think "Lifeboat" meets "Alien." No monsters in this movie and just a little blood (no gore). Thought provoking as it makes you wonder who will survive and, moreover, makes you pull for certain characters to survive. Not for those who are looking for mind boggling special effects. A good story with a very satisfying ending.

Trapped In Space

[davercrb · 2/10 · 21 January 2016]

This is one of those adaptations that should never have been made. Some spoilers here-

The original story by Arthur C. Clarke concerned a freighter en route to Venus when a meteor strike left the vessel with only enough oxygen for one crewmember to survive the trip -a variation on the "Lifeboat" theme. Like all good such stories it centered around the psychological strains as they struggle with the up coming decision.

Here is where the movie breaks down. One of the endearing traits of a properly handled SF story such as this is that the authors treat physics seriously. There is no deux ex machina rescues. There are consequences to accidents in space and the better writers do not attempt to evade them. In fact -the basic thrust is that there may not be any solution (See "The Cold Equations" for an example.) The scriptwriters here violated every tenet of good SF writing. This particular spacecraft had a lifeboat- an utterly absurd concept on a spacecraft limited to Hohman Transfer orbits. Trust me on this- All the captain did in leaving on that lifeboat was to guarantee himself a slow agonizing death- I hope he had no children so we could give him a Darwin Award for "Too Dumb To Live." The actions of a crewman in bungling repairs was about as pointless as it gets. -i.e. yeah big deal he repaired the damage but where do we get the oxygen to replace that lost? Oh- he lost even more oxygen. He is a qualified astronaut- how? The interactions of the crew with each other was such that I really wanted them ALL to die.- and the little dog too. Not very good storytelling. And the ending with a hibernation chamber was the very epitome of a deux ex machina by a writer that doesn't want to actually follow a story to the proper ending. This film ranks as a big missed opportunity. Because Television has done some decent shows. The remake of the "Twilight Zone" did a very good job with the Tom Godwin story "The Cold Equations", William Lee's "A Message From Charity" and Arthur Clarke's "The Star." The key to doing these adaptations is to stay true to the story as written even though some things simply have to be changed for the nature of the TV medium. Contrast this one with "Gravity" -one I thoroughly enjoyed and willingly let them use their "artistic license" to violate some orbital physics for the sake of the story. Tell a good yarn and I will let you get away with a lot. Tell a bad one and I won't. This was a bad one.

token characters and run-of-the-mill plot

[steelsniper · 3/10 · 11 December 2003]

well, since you're reading a review there's bound to be spoilers. but i might as well issue the warning anyways. but its not like i'd be ruining anything. the plot is predictable.

an asteroid hits the ship, oxygen supplies are lost, the entire crew cant survive the trip. one guy decides to go on a rampage. how original.

the effects are awful, the acting is often clunky, the plot is inconsistent.

it is, however, a good time waster. IF you have absolutely nothing else to do. 3/10

Hideous

[PlasticActor · 1/10 · 27 January 2022]

Another example of Hollywood's rubbish TV. Zero story ideas so violence fills in the trapped space. I guess the lack of oxygen is what starves off the acting talent brain cells. LIKE watching robots in a vaccum. There was an Oxygen shortage while the writers were at work too? "We are going to need an enquiry" (punch, slam, bang)...prefer Paris - - punch and Judy, with oxygen masks.

A Surprise!

[Space_Mafune · 7/10 · 19 April 2003]

This is much better than I expected it to be. I mean it stars Jack Wagner fer crying out loud! That it's as entertaining as this is amazes me. And you know Wagner is actually pretty good here as his character was given the most depth and personality...and I actually liked him in this!? That's never happened to me before. Jack Coleman's Grant stands out as well even if his character is never fully developed. Coleman still manages to add something mysterious to the character with his mannerisms and expression. The best thing I like about this film though is the ending which raises it above the norm in terms of 90s Science Fiction television films.

Fantastic

[senbenfootball · 10/10 · 15 February 2022]

Fantastic movie, love every second of it. The 90s vibes, the nicely spoken and acted parts, the logical script, no unnecessary cheap literally primitive music like nowadays. Very good looking actors. Love how the space station looks. Love the 90s graphics which are more realistic than from nowadays with the exaggerated cgi technology. Wonderful movie, only thing that's too bad about it, is that there weren't a whole bunch of follow ups, like 20 sequels that's how good this is, just love it.

Stereotypical characters get trapped in space and do the usual stuff

[bob the moo · 18 February 2002]

When a cargo vessel is struck by a small meteorite the captain escapes, leaving the rest of the crew with a greatly depleted oxygen supply. With time running out it becomes apparent that there will only be enough air for one person to survive to safety. The crew react in different ways to this news.

Based on a short by Arthur C Clarke the set-up for this premise was never going to be totally lacking in intelligence. Unfortunately the cheap TVM delivery of the idea is so lacking in merit that it loses whatever intelligence the short may have had. The effects are poor (with one exception being the decompressing space suit) and the characters are poorly scripted. The end result is that the story is one that has been done much better in plenty of other films (from Hitchcock's excellent Lifeboat to the iffy Lifepod) and should have been left, rather than wheeling it out again to fill 90 minutes of network time.

The cast are poor - made up of daytime soap actors. In fairness they don't really have anything to work with. All the characters are stereotypes like in disaster movies - we have the coward, the nutter, the kind one, the quiet plotting one, the nervous rookie, even a dog to make up the check list! None of them are ever developed beyond the first scene and to be honest it's hard to care who lives or dies.

Overall this has some good moments, but the poor script, poor effects, poor characters and poor actors manage to almost ruin any merit this may have once had.