Director – Garo Setian, Screenplay – Joe Knetter, Story – Joe Knetter & Garo Setian, Producers – Joanna Fang, Sarah French, Bill Klinakis, Joe Knetter, Jeff Miller, Robert Parigi, Anahit Setian, Garo Setian, Ted Smith & Ben Stobber, Photography – Michael Su, Music – Joel Christian Goffin, Visual Effects Supervisors – Steve Clarke & Paul Knott, Visual Effects – CKVFX, Production Design – Anthony Pearce. Production Company – Hungry Monster Entertainment/Millman Productions/Ron Lee Productions.
Cast
Michael Paré (Kip Corman), Sarah French (Taylor Corman), Olivier Gruner (Dykstra), Anahit Setian (Jackie), Tyler Gallant (Wade), Rachelle Brooke Smith (Nina), Sadie Katz (Elmora), Jed Rowan (Manx), Elise Muller (Lacey), Hunter Setian (Ezekiel)
Plot
Adventurer Kip Corman escapes execution by the warlord Manx after he is rescued at the last second by his daughter Taylor. Their dilapidated old spaceship is only capable of one more hyperdrive jump. Kip is hoping that they can find an adventure that will lead to the big win so that he can get enough to transfer his late wife Lacey’s Essence into a clone body and bring her back to life. They are pursued by Elmora who wants Kip dead or alive. They take refuge at an abandoned space station where Taylor discovers Jackie, a scientist who promises to lead the way to the legendary treasure of the Deepstar. As they set out to do so, Jackie is pursued by the mercenary Dykstra and his team of associates.
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar was the second film from director Garo Setian. Setian is a former editor who has mostly worked on trailers and Making Of shorts, before making his feature-length debut with Automation (2019) about a robot that gains self-awareness. In addition, he has also produced House in Time (2023) and the anthology Creepypasta (2023). Setaian’s wife and co-producer Anahit also plays the role of the scientist Jackie.
(l to r) Sarah French, Anahit Setian and Michael Paré in search of the treasure of the Deepstar
Space Wars: Quest for the Deepstar has all the hallmarks of the 1980s Star Wars copy – the planet-hopping adventures; the space pirates (or mercenaries here); an intergalactic treasure hunt; the pursuit through the asteroid belt (which is unscientifically shown to be like the rocks of a planetary ring); lots of laser beams shootouts; and assorted Monstrous Encounters. Michael Paré plays the Han Solo-styled adventurer, albeit one who has slid into a laidback middle-age and is reminiscing about the good old days, while trying to resurrect his wife. About all that is missing is the dark lord and the cute robot companion. Not to mention that there are characters named in homage to figures from the 1980s Star Wars copy – a hero named Corman after B movie producer Roger Corman who was behind Battle Beyond the Stars and Space Raiders, while the pursuing mercenary is named Dykstra after John Dykstra, the visual effects supervisor on Star Wars.
I enjoyed Quest for the Deepstar more than Garo Setian’s Automatic. It could have quite easily been an average 1980s space opera. It is likeably knockabout. The special effects and models are of a surprisingly high and professional standard for the B movie that this essentially is. The only times the film hits a flat note are some its efforts to go for a cocky, flip sense of humour: Michael Paré and Sarah French exchange lines “She seemed harmless,” “That’s what you said about the baby dragon that grew into the three-headed destroyer of worlds.”
