Movie review: ‘SpaceCamp’

FloridaGator80
A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

The January 1986 tragedy of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger dominated the news throughout the year and cast a pall over our nation for just as long. So, in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster, the arrival of the movie “Space Camp” that summer wasn’t a fortuitous coincidence for the filmmakers, potential audiences or even the country. It was too bad since “Space Camp” is a decent little youth-oriented film that won’t insult your intelligence while being a flick for the younger market. However, current events can overshadow Hollywood … even though Hollywood wishes they didn’t.

‘Space Camp’
(1986; 107 minutes; rated PG; directed by Harry Winer and starring Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson and Kelly Preston)

A FORGOTTEN BUT GOOD SPACE MOVIE

(NOTE: I expanded this review with additional opinion and updated links on Dec. 5, 2015. I reorganized and again expanded the review on March 27, 2020. I again expanded it on Feb. 14, 2026.)

The film “SpaceCamp” looked to have it all: A story involving space and NASA; kids; a snarky talking robot; some adult actors (Kate Capshaw and Tom Skerritt); and good young talent (Joaquin Phoenix and Lea Thompson). Producers had to have believed it would do well at the box office and all the post-production expectations were rosy, too. Well and sadly, reality reared its head for everyone.

The tragedy of the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986 visited a bucket (or two or five) of ice water on the movie. The real-life tragedy had an effect on people wanting to see a space film where a movie shuttle is launched into space by accident less than five months after the Challenger put a nation in mourning.

However, if you go back and watch “SpaceCamp,” you’ll find a solid youth-oriented film that plays pretty well today (if you don’t remember the retirement of the shuttle program). You’ll find a bunch of stereotypes here (cool kid, over-achieving kid, smart kid, rebellious kid, etc.), but “SpaceCamp” actually manages to pull it off.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

It’s the story of a group of kids coming to Space Camp and they will get training as if they were going up into space on the shuttle. Each brings his or her own emotional baggage to the camp and each will sort it all out by the end. Ever heard that one before? Well, I already wrote that there are stereotypes in the film.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

Anyway, the “boy” lead “Kevin Donaldson” is played by Tate Donovan, who is the cool kid who, to the consternation of any adult, is a natural leader; while the “girl” lead “Kathryn Fairly” is played by Lea Thompson, who is the actual pilot who aches to be an astronaut. Toss in Kelly Preston as “Tish Ambrosei,” the quirky teen with an eidetic memory, and Larry B. Scott as the science-loving “Rudy Tyler” and you’ve nearly completed the cast.

So, let me take a look at them …

  • A Primetime Emmy winner, Donovan, who was 22 at the time of the film’s release, begins the list of actors who wasn’t able to manage to elevate his character. However, like the others, he doesn’t give a bad performance. Donovan conveys his character, but doesn’t get much chance with the plot. He has been in “Argo,” “Manchester by the Sea” and voiced in “Hercules.” Donovan’s Emmy was for “Outstanding Short-Format Nonfiction Program” for “30 for 30 Shorts.”
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

    Thompson, who was 25 at the time of the film’s release, gives an energetic performance and stands out among the group of actors. However, this one isn’t anywhere near the top of her acting resume, but, thankfully, only because it was an ordinary effort. Thompson, who was on the fringe of the “Brat Pack,” was much, much better in the “Back to the Future” franchise and did an better drama with Tom Cruise three years earlier in “All the Right Moves.” I liked Thompson’s work in the little-remembered but totally excellent comedy-drama “Casual Sex?” with SNL’s Victoria Jackson and Andrew “Dice” Clay. She was also in the original “Red Dawn” (click here to read my review).

  • Now an Oscar winner and three-time nominee and Golden Globe winner and four-time nominee(not for this one), Phoenix, who is credited in the movie as Leaf Phoenix, is in his first big-screen role at age 12. Previously, he had 11 roles on TV shows and TV movies. His character “Max Graham” is the stereotypical obnoxious kid who has moved up to the big-kids side of camp and has a bad case of “Star Wars-itis.” Of course, he bonds with “Jinx” the likable robot. Phoenix is OK but doesn’t really have much of a chance to elevate the character. He won both an Oscar and Globe for “Joker” and was nominated for Oscars for “Gladiator,” “Walk the Line” and “The Master.” In another role from his youth, Phoenix played “Garry” in Ron Howard’s “Parenthood” (click here to read my review).
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

    Capshaw is the lead adult as “Andie Bergstrom,” a NASA pilot who just missed out on being named to the next shuttle mission and now must spend the summer with her husband (“Cmdr. Zach Bergstrom,” an astronaut who walked on the moon and played by Skerritt). Of course, she is the strength of the film and does a commendable job of it. Capshaw was in “Black Rain” with Michael Douglas and the bad, but interesting, sci-fi thriller “Dreamscape” with Dennis Quaid. She hasn’t had an acting credit since 2002.

  • Scott is earnest and conveys his character as well as any actor could in this film and so grades out as “solid.” He doesn’t headline, but he’s not retiring in any of his scenes. Scott has had an impressive career including iconic roles such as “Lamar Latrelle” in the “Revenge of the Nerds” franchise (click here to read my review of the original) and in such notable films as “The Karate Kid” and a string of TV episodes. His latest film will be with the release of “Spring Break ’83,” a “completed” film in which he plays “Lamar.”
  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

    Preston manages to appear much more comfortable in front of the camera than the others in the group and is quite watchable. She has done excellent work in roles including in “Twins” with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito (click here to read my review) and “Jerry Maguire” with Tom Cruise. Plus, she was the only character not to get bloody in the “From Dusk Till Dawn” gore-fest from Robert Rodriguez (click here to read my review). Also, Preston “won” one “Razzie” for worst supporting actress with Travolta in his “Battlefield Earth” super-stinker and was nominated for two more. Sadly, Preston died of breast cancer at 59 in 2020.

OK, so a not-so-A-list cast, but I’d say that they are all hardworking and never disappoint.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “SpaceCamp.”

Donovan establishes his cool early by parking in an official spot at the start of the film while Eric Clapton’s “Forever Man” blasts on his new Jeep’s sound system (it’s a bribe from his parents to get him to go to Space Camp … not bad) and telling Capshaw she has “nice boosters.” Capshaw rides Thompson hard because she wants her to succeed as an astronaut and only needs a riding crop and say “sweet pea” several times to reprise Louis Gossett Jr.’s role in “An Officer and a Gentleman” (just kidding!).

The plot then follows a predictable path as the group implodes and through fate and some hijinks by “Jinx” are sent up into orbit aboard the shuttle. Some critics derided the premise. Really? So, all films have to have a completely technically accurate plot? How about just suspending your disbelief and enjoying it? You’re welcome!

The predictable plot plays out to a predictable end, but you won’t mind. It’s a solid job. Not Olivier at the National Theatre, but a fun film that you’ll enjoy all these years after it was released.

The film used the shuttle Atlantis for its vehicle and the actual shuttle has a great history being the fourth built and the last into orbit. Click here to read about it.

By the way, the real United States Space Camp continues operations. Click here read about it on Space Camp’s official website …

On the most somber note, it’s easy to see why the film would have been somewhat chilling directly after the Challenger tragedy. At one point the young crew is pronounced dead after a failure in the simulator and they are launched into orbit because of a “thermal curtain failure” faked in the computer system by “Jinx.”

Finally, I say it’s great that the stupid idea in early development of the film of having a Russian shuttle go up to help the group and thereby have a bunch of Russian kids rescue the Americans was discarded. It’s the kind of idea that idiots in Hollywood get so that films can be internationally “inclusive” (or simply pander to a PC ideal). American moviegoers would be insulted many years later when another filmmaker has China helping save NASA’s bacon in “The Martian” (click here to read my review). Well, “Space Camp” was more than 30 years ago and common sense prevailed and, today, China’s money talks with authority in Hollywood, whose influencers have never been granted much in the way of common sense.

“Space Camp” raked in only $9.6 million in 1986, according to Box Office Mojo, and was 74th grossing film of the year (on a budget of $18 million to $20 million). The No. 1 film was Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” with $176.7 million. The other films from the year that I have reviewed are:

Here are some cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Preston’s birth name was Kelly Kamalelehua Smith; Phoenix’ birth name is Joaquin Rafael Bottom; and Donovan’s middle name is Buckley.
  • Capshaw’s birth name is Kathleen Sue Nail. She has one child with and was married to and divorced from Robert Capshaw (1976-1980); and married Steven Spielberg in 1991 and the couple has five children.
  • Jinx is voiced by Frank Welker, who has more than 800 acting credits – nearly all for voicing characters. His early work included a few scenes in front of the camera and I liked his voicing of “Fred Jones” and some villains on the late ’60s TV cartoon show that’s both classic and iconic today: “Scooby Doo, Where are You?”
  • Filming was originally scheduled for three months, but delays from day one pushed it to six months. It was reported that Thompson said members of the cast/crew wore T-shirts that read “Space Cramp.”
  • Capshaw has been married to Steven Spielberg since 1991, having starred in his second “Indiana Jones” film in only her second big-screen film role. The couple have five children. She took the Capshaw name from her first husband and her birth name is Kathleen Sue Nail.
  • Skerritt landed the role of “Duke Forrest” in the film “MASH” in 1970 after nearly a decade in mostly TV roles (this is the official name of the movie; the asterisks were added for the movie poster). He has since had a long career as a supporting character in films such as “Top Gun” and “Tears of the Sun” and dozens of TV roles such as “The Good Wife.”
  • Preston was married to megastar John Travolta on Sept. 12, 1991, and the couple were parents to three children until her death in 2020.
  • There’s no presence of a connection to “The Love Boat” among the main players (or secondary cast for that matter). Too bad. To alleviate your disappointment over this fact, click here to read my review of the series.

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