Product Details

• Actors: Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Joaquin Phoenix
• Directors: Harry Winer
• Writers: Patrick Bailey, Casey T. Mitchell, Clifford Green, Larry B. Williams
• Producers: David Salven, Leonard Goldberg, Patrick Bailey
• Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: March 2, 2004
• Run Time: 107 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00015HVM4
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,388 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Movies & TV > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Space Adventure
  #19 in	Movies & TV > Kids & Family > Science Fiction

• For more information about "Space Camp" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazom.com

SpaceCamp shares a striking similarity to Ron Howard's Apollo 13--it's about NASA trying to bring some people down from outer space, except in this case 13 represents the median age of those in danger. Kate Capshaw plays Andie, who throws off the curve by being on the high end of that age scale. She's always a bridesmaid, but never a bride in the shuttle program, an astronaut doomed to play wet nurse to a gaggle of kids enrolled in NASA's summer program. Of course, out of all these teeming hordes of children (there don't appear to be any particular qualifying standards to attend the camp), the film focuses on five. Kathryn (Lea Thompson) is a hopeful pilot who wants to be at the controls of the shuttle one day. Tate Donovan plays Kevin, a daft young carouser who is supposed to be so incorrigible he's winning (he's not). Kelly Preston is Tish, a valley girl with a photographic memory, and Larry B. Scott is Rudy. Rudy's there to meet the Hollywood quota for capsule diversification, but neither he nor Trish does much. Most oddly, Joaquin Phoenix is Max, the young Star Wars nut whose brain and fast friendship with a NASA robot get them all sent into orbit. It's unfortunate that a lot of topical swear words are peppered throughout SpaceCamp, as it could operate as a diverting night's watch for the young astro-nut in your house. Director Harry Winer, who rose from television and sank back to television after this film stiffed over the summer of 1986, directs in 20-minute blocks like he's pacing himself for a commercial break. Once the embarrassing, extremely '80s, opening 40 minutes are dispensed with, however, and the crew accidentally gets blasted into space, the effort to return home is involving, even if it is pretty silly. SpaceCamp won't win any merit badges for script writing, acting, or direction but it's got the right li'l Camp NASA spirit. --Keith Simanton

Product Description

Zero gravity meets zero fear in this cosmic comedy-adventure about a summer camp where regular kidscheck in and real astronauts check out! Starring Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Leaf Phoenix and Tate Donovan, SpaceCamp is a wild and wonderful thrill-ride packed with 'special effects'spectacular moments (Film Journal) and a gripping climax (Time Out) that's out of this world! For five typical teens, NASA's space camp promises to be a fun wayto blow off the summer. But when a space shuttle exercise misfires, they find themselves launched into orbit, facing the adventure of a lifetime. Now, the only way back to Earth is to take command ofthe ship and control of their destinies, before timeand oxygenrun out!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love this family movie that was a victim of terrible timing, May 10, 2006

By	Darren Harrison "DVD collector and reviewer" (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Space Camp (DVD)

When the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred the movie "Collateral Damage"was pulled from release, to be postponed for months after the incident. It's also quite common for television stations to pull a scheduled showing of a disaster movie when a real-life disaster occurs. However, there is perhaps no more glaring example of bad timing having an adverse affect on a movies chances than SPACECAMP.
It's 1986 and the United States feels pretty good about itself. It's clearly winning the Cold War and under the Reagan administration the country feels strong and prosperous. The U.S. also seems to be winning in the space race too with the first teacher set to go up on a shuttle mission and a movie on a group of kids being accidentally sent into space due to be released among a slate of fun summer movies.
Yet all that changed on Jan. 28, 1986 when the United States (along with the rest of the world) is rocked by the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Initially scheduled for a June release date the family movie "SpaceCamp" is pushed back into the doldrums of the fall, it seems the country is not able to stomach a movie that makes light of the dangers of space travel when the country is in the shadow of a real-life disaster.
This was highly unfortunate and the lack of box office has meant that this movie has been mostly forgotten. Sure, there is no Oscar worthy performances here and the script seems to be somewhat sophomoric at times, but it is entertaining in its execution, with a great soundtrack by the legendary John Williams and it has an appealing cast headed by the gorgeous Lea Thompson (from the Back to the Future movies) and (future wife of Steven Spielberg and female lead in the second Indiana Jones movie) Kate Capshaw. Also featured is the always excellent Tom Skerritt as Cmdr. Zach Bergstrom..
The movie follows four teens (Thompson, Larry B. Scott, Kelly Preston and Tate Donovan) and one pre-teen Max (Joaquin Phoenix - yes, you read that right) who get launched into space after a small robot decides to make Max's dream of being in space a reality.
In the space shuttle for a look-see the teens (along with their instructor playes by Capshaw) must launch after a crisis with the solid fuel boosters is manufactured by the good intentions of the robot (incidently, this was also a cause of the real-life Chalenger disaster).
Truth be told Max is an annoying character and the presence of the robot obtrusive and also annoying. But the movie as a whole is mildly diverting and entertaining. Thompson never looked more appealing and it was this movie (not the Back to the Future trilogy) that led me as a 15-year old to develop a teenage crush on the actress.
The movie has its adreneline rish moments, its suspense and excitement. It's a pure popcorn movie to sit back and enjoy on a rainy Saturday. It's not high class entertainment, but then again it was never meant to be.
Unfortunately the DVD is lacking in special features. Hopefully, this will be rectified by the studio soon.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kindled my interest all the way to Space Camp 1988!, February 15, 2001

By	"husker57" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Space Camp [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I remember flipping through the channels at home and came across a preview for this on HBO. I sat down and watched it. I was hooked! When I saw at the end that it was filmed at the US Space Camp, I ran to the Post Office to look up Huntsville, AL's ZIP code and I sent a letter off. I got info. I worked hard the summer of '88. I was only 12 but everything I earned went towards my trip to Space Camp in Florida (which had just opened that year).

I remember the trip down there by van with my dad and two bothers. All the way from southern Minnesota to Florida by van. My brother quizzed me on every system of the shuttle and I wound up being Commander of my team.

What's this got to do with the movie? Well, if not for this movie, I never would have gone there. This movie inspired me to reach beyond what I think I can do and 'reach for the stars'. This movie taught me that anything is possible. I loved this movie then, but today I understand even more what it did for me. Great movie, great story.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun and silly, but wholly unrealistic and ridiculous, May 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Space Camp (DVD)

I saw this film when it came out on video in the United States in the mid 1980s. It was mere months after the Challenger disaster and the U.S. just wasn't in the mood to watch five plucky kids and their astronaut leader be accidentally launched (safely) into space and return (safely) home. NASA's cooperation on the film was total and it might mystify those who weren't aware of the internal politics at NASA at the time, who was deathly afraid of losing the public's interest in space travel, which at the time of the Challenger explosion was seen as "routine." NASA's participation in this film surely was meant to spark renewed interest in the shuttle program.

That being said, the film is a LOT of fun for kids. I was only 11-12 years old when I saw it and I thought it was the BEST film ever made. To this day it is a guilty pleasure. I attended Space Camp myself in 1988 at the age of 13, and though the camp had changed noticeably in just the 2-3 years since the movie was filmed, certain parts of the camp stood out obviously as locations from the film. To rebut the Amazon reviewer, there ARE standards for the camp and you must have written recommendations from science and math teachers to attend. Incidentally, Space Camp is actually located in Huntsville, Alabama, but like the hundreds of other inaccuracies of the film, that is too overlooked. Interesting sidenote: the bulk of the movie was filmed inside one of the Space Camp's shuttle simulators.

All said, the film is fun for children and a lovely guilty pleasure for adults like myself who once dreamed of going into space. Just ignore the inaccuracies.