SpaceCamp

1986
PG
1h 47m

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

16K

YOUR RATING

Kelly Preston, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan, and Larry B. Scott in SpaceCamp (1986)

The young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is accidentally launched into orbit.

Play trailer2:04

1 Video

88 Photos

Space Sci-Fi Adventure Family Sci-Fi

The young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is accidentally launched into orbit.The young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is accidentally launched into orbit.The young attendees of a space camp find themselves in space for real when their shuttle is accidentally launched into orbit.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

16K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Trivia
What was supposed to be a somewhat light-hearted action/adventure movie turned into a marketing nightmare. SpaceCamp was originally scheduled to be released in early 1986 but on January 28 of that year the real-life space shuttle Challenger exploded 74 seconds after liftoff, claiming the lives of seven American astronauts. After the Challenger disaster the release was pushed back months. When it was finally sent to theaters, it grossed less than $10 million in the U.S. Like the Challenger accident, the malfunction in the film involved a solid rocket booster.

Goofs
The shuttle program had several abort options prior to achieving orbit. There was a return to launch site abort, meaning after dropping the solid rocket boosters they would turn about and go right back. There was also a transatlantic abort (land in a friendly foreign country in Europe) or abort once around (one orbit and back in). In all cases, the shuttle could've returned pretty quickly. Of course, then there would've been no movie. However, it should be noted that NASA never actually tested any of these space shuttle launch abort functions which was noted in the Challenger accident report. So there's no way to know if they would have actually worked.

Quotes
Tish:Whip me, beat me, take away my charge cards... NASA is talking!

Connections
Featured inThe Goldbergs: Smother's Day(2016)

Soundtracks
Walk of Life
byMark Knopfler
Chariscourt Ltd. adm. by Almo Music Corp. in USA and Canada
Performed byDire Straits
Courtesy of Phonogram Ltd./Warner Bros.
Records by arrangement with Warner Special Products

User reviews71

Review

Featured review

7/10

Very nostalgic

I saw Spacecamp when I was a kid. In fact I have it on VHS. I really am a boomer in disguise aren't I. Going into it I was nervous since most relics from my childhood end up being mediocre at best. This held up pretty well though if I do say so myself. Obviously a bit of it is nostalgia but this was a pretty good summer space movie. The CGI? Miniatures? Not sure exactly what it is but it looks pretty good. The zero gravity stuff is done pretty well and they use camera cuts to hide the fact it's all on a set. Some of the dialogue and pacing of the film felt a bit whacky though. I wish we got to see more of the day to day life style and training at Spacecamp. It's in there for half the film but I wish I could have seen a bit more of it. There's a remake planned apparently and I'd be more then happy to go and see it or watch it on Disney+. It's a fun summer movie that has nostalgia for me and a unique premise. While the idea of kids accidentally being sent to space is a little far fetched they explain it in a way that's satisfactory and I honestly think that's what this film is. Satisfactory. It's a nice summer movie with some cool characters and it radiates the 80's vibe but not much more then that. 6.5/10

Oh and Joaquin is pretty good in this for a kid actor.