Slipstream (1989 film)

Last updated
Slipstream
Slipstream lobby small.jpg
UK Theatrical release cinema poster
Directed by Steven Lisberger
Screenplay byTony Kayden
Story by
Produced by Gary Kurtz
Starring
Cinematography Frank Tidy
Edited by Terry Rawlings
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Production
company
Entertainment Film
Distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors
Release dates
  • February 10, 1989 (1989-02-10)(United Kingdom)
[1]
  • January 24, 1989 (1989-01-24)(United States, home video)
[2]
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom [1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million [3]

Slipstream is a 1989 science fiction film directed by Steven Lisberger, who had previously directed the cult classic 1982 science fiction film Tron . It was produced by Gary Kurtz, best known for his collaboration with George Lucas on the first two Star Wars films and American Graffiti . Slipstream reunited Kurtz with his Star Wars lead Mark Hamill, who features alongside Bill Paxton, Bob Peck and Kitty Aldridge, with cameo appearances from Robbie Coltrane, Ben Kingsley and F. Murray Abraham.

Contents

Plot

A voiceover sets the scene: the time is after the Harmonic Convergence, when drastic climate change has swept away civilization as we know it. A vast wind current, the Slipstream, encircles the globe, and a few scattered settlements of survivors attempt to keep human life going.

An aeroplane pursues a man running down a canyon, cornering him at a precipice. The plane lands, and its occupants, bounty hunters Will Tasker and Belitski, chase the man and shoot him with a grappling hook. The fugitive looks at his arm, but seems intrigued rather than distressed. Tasker pulls on the rope and the man tumbles down the side of the canyon, but he is not harmed. Immediately after his fall, the fugitive quotes from the aviator and poet John Gillespie Magee, Jr.: "I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, put out my hand and touched the Face of God."

The bounty hunters take their prisoner to a busy airstrip, where he stands beside them, handcuffed, as they eat in the diner. Matt Owens, a smalltime arms dealer, nearly gets his arm broken when he makes a pass at Belitski, then tries to sell contraband to Tasker. It is then revealed that Tasker and Belitski are part of the remnants of a law enforcement agency, trying to keep the peace in a post-apocalyptic society. Tasker seizes some of Owens' goods. However, as the pair are leaving, Owens abducts their prisoner so that he can claim the large reward. Tasker shoots Owens with a dart, telling him that it is poisoned; but it also implants a tracking device in Owens' body, enabling Belitski and Tasker to follow them.

Owens first flies to his home, Hell's Kitchen. On the way, the prisoner quotes from the poetry of Byron, and misunderstanding, Owens begins to call him Byron. After their arrival at Hell's Kitchen, Byron heals a boy blinded by cataracts, and Owens begins to wonder if Byron is more than he appears. After getting lost, they land at the home of a cult of cave-dwellers who worship the Slipstream and who have recently been under attack by bandits. Byron attempts to help, lifting a heavy milling stone off Avatar, the cult's leader. Avatar, in his dying words, curses Byron as being part of the out-of-control technological advancements that led to the apocalyptic Convergence. The cultists decide to let the wind decide what to do with Byron, and tie him to a massive kite in the wind.

The bounty hunters arrive in the middle of a windstorm, and Owens bargains with them to work together to get Byron down. Tasker reveals to Owens that Byron is an android. After a rough landing from the destroyed kite, Belitski allows Byron and Owens to get away. Another visitor to the valley, Ariel, helps them escape and convinces them to take her to her former home. Ariel introduces them to her people, who inhabit a fortified underground museum. Byron's knowledge and appreciation of the museum's ancient contents lead Ariel to become emotionally attached to him. Byron and Ariel spend the night together, while Owens gets drunk and hooks up with a girl in the community. The girl helps Owens decide to free Byron, who has become his friend. Later, Byron reveals that the man he killed was his master; he himself was designed as the man's companion, and when the man asked him to end his life, he obeyed, even though he was programmed to do no harm. Byron also excitedly tells Matt that he has slept for the first time, and that he dreamed of a land at the end of the Slipstream, inhabited by other androids.

Having tracked the trio to the museum, Tasker and Belitski force entry, killing guards and some inhabitants. After beating the Curator, Tasker forces the rest to find the fugitives. Byron is captured while Belitski shoots Owens in the chest with a dart; Owens retaliates by knocking her out and handcuffing her to a bed. She wakes and explains that the dart is the antidote to the poison. Owens engages in a shootout with Tasker in which Ariel is killed. Enraged at her death, Byron pursues Tasker to his plane. Tasker shoots Byron to no effect, then tries to run him down with the plane as he takes off. However, Byron manages to climb on and smash his way into the cockpit. As Byron is on the verge of killing him, Tasker quotes the Magee poem, and he relents. He then attempts to regain control of the damaged aircraft by using the control wires, but it crashes. Tasker is killed, but Byron survives; he is apparently indestructible. He returns to the museum to find that Belitski has consented to become Owens' partner; they fly off together. Byron leaves to seek his promised land.

Cast

Production

The original script for Slipstream was written by Charles Edward Pogue shortly after the success of Mad Max and was heavily inspired by that film's stylistic and thematic approaches. [4] Producer Gary Kurtz came across the script through a friend and while he was intrigued by the core premise, Kurtz was more uncertain about the violent and exploitative elements. [4] Structurally, the film was inspired by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain with the original premise involving a 14 year old boy traversing the wasteland with a runaway android. [4] Slipstream marked Kurtz' first production in four years after his investments in The Dark Crystal and Return to Oz under-performed and forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1985. [5]

In 1987, Kurtz hired Steven Lisberger to direct and rework the script with Lisberger accepting the role as he wanted to work on something more character based in contrast to effects heavy productions like Tron . [4] Kurtz offered the role of Will Tasker to Mark Hamill as Kurtz had always wanted to see him in an antagonistic role, which Hamill accepted as he liked the idea of playing against type with this being Hamill's first part in a film since Return of the Jedi . [4]

The distinctive and futuristic aircraft piloted by Tasker is the Edgley Optica (also known as the Brooklands Optica Scout), a low volume British light aircraft designed as an alternative to helicopters for law enforcement and low-speed observation work.

Slipstream began ten weeks of principal photography in March 1988, at Pinewood Studios as well as locations in Yorkshire and Turkey. [4]

Release

Slipstream had a short cinema run in the United Kingdom, where it was considered a flop, and Australia, where the film grossed just $66,836 during its entire theatrical run. The film was never released in theaters in North America and enjoyed only moderate VHS sales. The film was released on videocassette by M.C.E.G. Virgin Home Entertainment in 1990. Several budget DVD copies of Slipstream have been released. Fans awaiting a director's cut have been disappointed after producer Gary Kurtz said in an interview that the script was originally much more violent, but that these violent scenes, which would have made the plot more coherent, were never filmed.

It has also been released as a DVD double feature by "Destra Entertainment – Payless", the other feature being 1967's In the Year 2889 ; it was also distributed in Australia by Showtime DVD as a double feature entitled "Action", along with Midnight Cop .

Also available on YouTube and Amazon to rent or buy in HD Widescreen.

As of August 2024 the film has a "no consensus" score on Rotten Tomatoes of 43% based on 7 reviews. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</i> 1968 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a 1968 dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. It is set in a post-apocalyptic San Francisco, where Earth's life has been greatly damaged by a nuclear global war, leaving most animal species endangered or extinct. The main plot follows Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who has to "retire" six escaped Nexus-6 model androids, while a secondary plot follows John Isidore, a man of sub-par IQ who aids the fugitive androids.

<i>Dreamcatcher</i> (novel) 2001 novel by Stephen King

Dreamcatcher is a 2001 science fiction horror novel by American writer Stephen King, featuring elements of body horror, suspense and alien invasion. The book, written in longhand, helped the author recuperate from a 1999 car accident, and was completed in half a year. According to the author in his afterword, the working title was Cancer. His wife, Tabitha King, persuaded him to change the title. A film adaptation was released in 2003.

<i>The Crow: Salvation</i> 2000 supernatural superhero film directed by Bharat Nalluri

The Crow: Salvation is a 2000 American superhero film directed by Bharat Nalluri. Starring Eric Mabius as Alex Corvis and the third installment of The Crow film series, based on the comic book character of the same name by James O'Barr. After its distributor cancelled the intended wide theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels' negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released direct-to-video after a limited theatrical run. Film critic reviews were overwhelmingly negative. It was followed by 2005 film sequel The Crow: Wicked Prayer.

<i>Brainscan</i> 1994 horror film by John Flynn

Brainscan is a 1994 American science fiction slasher film directed by John Flynn and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The film stars Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, Amy Hargreaves, Jamie Marsh, and T. Ryder Smith. The soundtrack was composed by George S. Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Kurtz</span> American film producer (1940–2018)

Gary Douglas Kurtz was an American film producer whose list of credits includes American Graffiti (1973), Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), The Dark Crystal (1982) and Return to Oz (1985). Kurtz also co-produced the 1989 science fiction adventure film Slipstream, which reunited him with Star Wars star Mark Hamill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Lisberger</span> American film director (born 1951)

Steven M. Lisberger is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the 1982 film Tron.

<i>Solo</i> (1996 film) 1996 American film

Solo is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed by Norberto Barba, and starring Mario Van Peebles, William Sadler, Adrien Brody, Barry Corbin and Demián Bichir. The film was based on the 1989 novel Weapon by Robert Mason, and was adapted into a screenplay by David L. Corley for Columbia/TriStar Pictures.

<i>Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders</i> 1989 film by Howard Ziehm

Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders is a 1990 Canadian superhero sex comedy film, and the sequel to the sex comedy Flesh Gordon. Like the original, it spoofs the Flash Gordon serials, though the humor is more scatological than the original. Only William Dennis Hunt returns from the original cast.

<i>The Guyver</i> 1991 science fiction superhero film

The Guyver is a 1991 science fiction tokusatsu superhero film directed by Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, and produced by Brian Yuzna. Loosely based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Yoshiki Takaya, the film was produced in conjunction with Shochiku Films, the film stars Mark Hamill, Vivian Wu, Jack Armstrong, Jimmie Walker, and David Gale.

<i>Drive</i> (1997 film) 1997 American film

Drive is a 1997 action science fiction film starring Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison, Tracey Walter, John Pyper-Ferguson, Brittany Murphy, and Masaya Kato. The film was directed by Steve Wang with stunt work and fight choreography done by Koichi Sakamoto. The film was premiered on HBO before ultimately being released straight-to-video.

Kaddish (<i>The X-Files</i>) 15th episode of the 4th season of The X-Files

"Kaddish" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written by producer Howard Gordon and directed by Kim Manners. The episode originally aired on the Fox network on February 16, 1997. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot unconnected to the series' wider mythology, or overarching history. The episode received a Nielsen household rating of 10.3 and was viewed by 16.56 million viewers. It received moderately positive reviews from critics.

<i>Communion</i> (1989 film) 1989 drama/thriller film directed by Philippe Mora

Communion is a 1989 American science fiction horror film based on the book of the same name by Whitley Strieber in 1987.

<i>The Man Who Wasnt There</i> (1983 film) 1983 American film

The Man Who Wasn't There is a 1983 American 3-D comedy film directed by Bruce Malmuth and starring Steve Guttenberg.

<i>Journey to the Center of the Earth</i> (1989 film) 1989 American science fiction film by Albert Pyun, Rusty Lemorande

Journey to the Center of the Earth is an American 1989 fantasy film directed by Rusty Lemorande and starring Nicola Cowper and Paul Carafotes. It was a nominal sequel to the 1988 film Alien from L.A., both of which are very loosely based on the 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

<i>Transylvania Twist</i> 1989 American film

Transylvania Twist is a 1989 comedy film that parodies horror films. Originally released by Concord Production Inc., this film is distributed on home video by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In the film Angus Scrimm reprises his role of the "Tall Man" from the Phantasm films, as a parody. The humor of the film is most often said to be in the style of Airplane!, and Mel Brooks comedies. It occasionally breaks the fourth wall rule with characters looking at the camera, and one even saying "I'm in the wrong movie". The film's main theme has been released on a variety of albums, and the entire soundtrack was released on CD and as a direct download in the year 2010, twenty-one years after the movies initial release.

<i>Starship</i> (film) 1984 British film

Starship, also known as Lorca and the Outlaws, and 2084, is a 1984 science fiction film directed by Roger Christian from a screenplay by Christian and Matthew Jacobs, and starring John Tarrant, Deep Roy, Donogh Rees, and Cassandra Webb. The music for the film was written by Tony Banks of Genesis.

<i>Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star</i> 1986 Canadian film

Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star is a 1986 Canadian-American science fiction film directed by Peter R. Hunt and starring Dennis Holahan, Ricky Paull Goldin, Sydney Penny, Keenan Wynn, and Rosie Marcel.

<i>Phantom of the Mall: Erics Revenge</i> 1989 American film

Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge is a 1989 American slasher film directed by Richard Friedman, and starring Derek Rydall, Jonathan Goldsmith, Rob Estes, Pauly Shore, Kari Whitman, Ken Foree, and Morgan Fairchild. It follows a young man who apparently dies in a suspicious house fire after saving his girlfriend, Melody; a year later, at the new mall built over the site of the burned-out house, thefts and murders begin to occur as a mysterious figure secretly prowls around the shopping center and takes a keen interest in watching over and protecting Melody.

The Crow is an American media franchise based on the limited comic book series of the same name created by James O'Barr. Since then, there have been five released films and a television series, as well as a video game.

The Dark is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by John Cardos and starring William Devane, Cathy Lee Crosby, Richard Jaeckel, Keenan Wynn, and Casey Kasem.

References

  1. 1 2 "Slipstream". British Film Institute . London. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  2. ↑ ' "Slipstream (1989)". tcm.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  3. ↑ Jones, Alan (May 1989). "Slipstream". Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Alan (July 1989). "Slipstream". Cinefantastique . Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ Maxford, Howard (January 1, 2000). George Lucas Companion. B T Batsford Ltd. p. 114. ISBN   978-0713484250.
  6. ↑ "Slipstream (1989)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.