SpaceCamp

Name: SpaceCamp
Director: Harry Winer
Released: 1986

Harry Winer

1986

Synopsis

Andie Bergstrom, an astronaut eagerly awaiting her first trip to space, runs a summer camp for teenagers with her NASA-employed husband, Zach. One night during an engine test, Andie and four teenage campers are accidentally shot into space. Together, the group -- which includes Kathryn, a pilot-in-training, and Tish, a ditz with a perfect memory -- must work together to operate the spacecraft and return home.

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Cast

Recommendations

70
The New York Times
The outcome is pretty predictable, but it's done well, and the actors do a good job of transforming general types into individuals whom we grow to like. It is also hard to resist Jinx, the funny little computer responsible for all the trouble.
50
Chicago Tribune
Their adventures are not special, nor are their personalities. If young people want to experience a genuinely exciting airborne adventure in a movie theater right now, "Top Gun" is the picture to see--not SpaceCamp. [6 June 1986, p.AC]
50
Miami Herald
SpaceCamp is perfectly harmless and perfectly dull, but it comes at a time when NASA could use an esteem booster. For all those who get just a touch queasy at the Top Gun lesson, in which shooting down planes in peacetime is presented as role-model behavior, SpaceCamp offers a nonviolent corrective. [6 June 1986, p.D6]
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
At almost two hours, the film is a solid 20 minutes too long. [6 June 1986]
40
Empire
Pitched halfway between a comedy and a morality tale, this space race often falls between the two, but is mildly diverting and boasts a strong young cast that will go on to make better things.
40
TV Guide Magazine
Plagued by cliched characters, ridiculous situations, and a bombastic John williams score, SPACECAMP is just not a very good movie. All the stock shuttle footage or good looking special effects proffered can't disguise its tired treatment of well-worn ideas. SPACECAMP is just a conglomeration of overworked notions, coupled with a wholly unmemorable ensemble.
40
Washington Post
A kind of landmark of exquisite bad timing. And that's the most intriguing thing about it. [6 June 1986, p.D3]
38
Chicago Sun-Times
The great looming presence all through this movie is the memory of the Challenger destroying itself in a clear, blue sky. Our thoughts about the space shuttle will never be the same again, and our memories are so painful that SpaceCamp is doomed even before it begins.