INTERSTELLAR CIVIL WAR REVIEWED
“Interstellar Civil War” should’ve been a hard film to make. The problem with making a deep space movie about warfare post 1977 is that everyone keeps comparing it to a single film. It’s this unique concept tied to the dawn of the blockbuster. Other movies get unfair comparisons to The Godfather, Gone with the Wind and Ben-Hur. However, remote thematic ties always seem to push fans back to Star Wars. Let’s be clear from the star, “Interstellar Civil War” isn’t Star Wars or a clone of any Lucas project.
When the cinema handles warfare, it has to find a delicate balance. The audience wants entertainment, but they demand reality to a degree. So, while we get to see a ton of political planning, the film exists around the need to capture a cyborg woman. Brad Thornton is quite capable as the lead of the paramilitary styled Space Rangers, but the rest of the cast ebbs and flows. No one is ever bad, but the feeling of stock political play comes up often. Hell, even Jose Ferrer fell victim to this in Lynch’s Dune.
The film sports a great deal of action, but so much of it involves heavy dramatics. Flashbacks are plentiful, as well as playing with the story’s narrative flow. Still, you can’t ever shake the desperation of the Empress No-Bu. The Empress and her enemies aren’t dark magical practitioners building planet destroying weapons. All they are doing is locating and controlling weapons to save the lives of their people. Very few Sci-Fi films force the audience to identify with base human needs.
I guess that’s what makes “Interstellar Civil War” so different. The real sense of humanity in every scene forces an audience to think past the Sci-Fi theatrics. War with lasers or bullet is a scary ordeal, but it has purpose. Hopefully, the final cut will trim down most of the flashbacks and keep the plot pushing forward. Most of the scenes play way more intense, when the stakes don’t get a chance to settle.
FILM STATS
- Not Rated
- 2 hrs and 10 mins
- Curnan Films
