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 in The Goldbergs: Smother's Day (2016)

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

User reviews71

Review

Featured review

7/10

Bad timing.

Never had events placed a movie in an untenable situation. According to the Trivia part of IMDb the original premiere was for early in 1986. With the tragedy of the Challenger blowing up the decision to delay the film for a few months wasn't a good idea in hindsight. The premise was about as plausible as having a bunch of Victoria Secret's models fighting over me.

You have a group of kids and a an adult (at least chronically) are placed in a situation where an error with a mathematical probability of being dealt ten consecutive "Royal Flushes" in a straight up poker game. The crew is now forced to apply their knowledge to survive. Oh, did I mention that there isn't enough fuel and oxygen to survive for long? After some improvisation and the only true pilot being out of commission the crew buy some time. When Max the child prodigy of the group damages a satilette he is chided: "Just wait until your parents get the bill." Well, they can deduct from the nine figure checque they'll get from the government. Fortunately there is a happy ending.

This movie was over all good but with the association with the challenger tragedy and being released at the same time as "Karate Kid", and "Top Gun" didn't help the box office.