Customer Reviews

Space Is the Place [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're a fan of the avant garde, the obscure, or the psychedlic, please do yourself a favor, and get your hands on 'Space is the Place'. Non-linear, but a true underground classic. Witness: not-of-this-earth music, the funky rightenous of Ra, and the bending of your mind. I'd heard good (and bad) things about this film, so my curiosity was peaked. Usually when very strong reactions are evoked of such diametric opposition, it can only mean one thing: Great Art. This movie is truly mind blowing. I can think of nowhere else, where one can obtain: Sci-Fi, Blaxplotation, Philosophy, Space Jazz, and the hella ill coustumes in one easy-to-swallow capsule. I picked this up on Ebay cuz it's outta print, I strongly urge you to view this film if you are into: Sun Ra, space Jazz, being high, or wicked sounds to sample. (PS- this is available @ the Detroit Public Library, so it may be available at your public library as well).....Peace...

__________________
Sun Ra:
"If you can't involve your spirit in the creative process, you can never expect to defeat the destructive elements on earth."

I was very excited to finally be able to purchase this film on DVD. The VHS version has long been a favorite of mine. I bought this new Director's Cut DVD along with the new director's cut DVD of Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. Boy, I sure do wish that the manufacturers of the Sun Ra DVD had employed Pink Floyd's tactic of including both the new director's cut and the original theatrical cut. Both director's cuts suffer from the same problem--the directors felt that they should mess around with the original releases and "improve" them according to their directorial visions. If you ask me, messing around with the vision of great musicians is not advisable unless you are an equally great director. A note to Space director John Coney: You are not even in the same universe as Sun Ra!

According to Coney, after showing the completed film to Sun Ra, Ra requested that several scenes be deleted. Coney explains this as a kind of prudishness on Ra's part because the scenes had some nudity and sexual content. True, the bulk of the cut scenes follow a pimp and hos story line that is rather racy, but more importantly, it is slow, boring and tangential to the plot. It features some crass humor, pointless nudity, and ugly violence. And, the worst of it all, these new scenes pretty much don't feature any new footage of Sun Ra. They take away from the cool mystery and cosmic themes of the movie and don't improve upon it at all. It is interesting to see these extra scenes, but couldn't they have been included as "deleted scenes"? I only hope that the original cut will make it to DVD some day.

it is with great anticipation that I have been awaiting the plexifilms dvd release of SITP. Having seen the VHS version of the film countless times, as well as being aware of plexifilms high standards from the release of Wilco's "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," my expectations have been high.

the design of the package is clean and well done--very classy. Although this is a new transfer of the film, this is hardly a restoration in the vein of "Casablanca." There are still many blemishes and defects from the tranfer print that have not been cleaned up at all, as far as I can see. That said, color and saturation are richer, definition is clearer (especially noted in textures etc.), blacks are deeper, and there are no evident digital artifacts from compression. The soundtrack has less background noise, and hiss, but this is hardly a new 5.1 remix or anything. In fact, I have yet to determine if the soundtrack is in stereo or mono. the most significant aspects of this release is that the frame has been restored to its original widescreen presentation, and roughly 15 minutes of footage has been restored. Unfortunately, the restored footage is mostly scenes of sex and violence and does little to further the plot. I understand why Sun Ra cut this footage for the VHS edition, and I actually prefer the shorter cut of the film.

I found the interview with director and producer very good, but too short. the team comes across as being very sympathetic, supportive, and admiring of Sun Ra's music and myth. There are some nice revelations (the bad effects are not just a budgetary limitation, but a satire of cheesy 50's science fiction, sun ra wrote his own dialogue, the film was originally to be a concert film in a planetarium, etc). Considering how much more light they could have shed though it is dissappointing only because it is too short. The interview is illustrated with some gorgeous previously unseen still promo shots from the set and film.

For me the real jewel of this DVD are the "Home Movies" shot by Richard Wilkinson. Having not been there to see the earlier days of the Arkestra, those days are to me a mythic time. While watching the footage I was almost giddy with excitement, literally catching myself holding my breath in concentration! The Arkestra at the pyramids, dancing, in the studio, in the streets, in concert. Great shots of Sun Ra, John Gilmore, June Tyson, Marshall Allen...the stuff of dreams. amazing! in fact, I would pay just to see this few minutes of film.

this is a hard one to review. it seems very few people have seen this, or something. if you havent, you should, no matter who you are because it will fill you in on what's going on and what they dont want you to know (surprised nobody's seen it? right?). like the title says, space is the place - it is where we are and there is no place else you can really go - or i s there. It helps to know a bit about mr Ra, Sun Ra that is. there's a bunch of stuff on the web if you're curious but i dont know exactly where off hand, but check it out, have a look because he is important. This is a profoundly important movie about blackness in america, but there's a lot more to it than that, and its not preachy, it's freaky, get it? I mean i almost dont want to say that's what it's about because it is unlike anything you've probably seen and it's also about space and aliens and the devil and everything else.

I picked up this curious period piece of psychedelic, indie-fueled moviemaking some time ago. Sorry now I waited so long to view it. It's a delightful combination of '70's pop culture, science fiction fantasy, Sun Ra musical storytelling through his Inter-Galactical Outer Space Archestra, and black pride allegory that manages to be quite on point.

Initially, I was too fascinated by the imagery and music to think much about any message. In retrospect, Sun Ra is a spiritual being from a space colony playing chess with an earthly demonic pimpmaster for big stakes: the souls of exploited people, black (mostly) and white. The pimpmaster also plays the system, selling his black brothers and sisters to addiction and prostitution for his own pleasure, trapping them in an oppressive, seemingly inescapable existence. A third main character is the media commentator--Jimmy Fay--who seems to be a shill for the pimpmaster and his worldly culture but eventually comes around (perhaps more John the Baptist than Jesus Christ) to sharing the enlightened message of Sun Ra, joining those who are delivered from bondage. All ends happily in a Sun Ra space colony of resurrected, reborn black/white humanity.

Even if you don't buy the Biblical allegory, it's still a cool trip, with a bit of harmless nudity and violence for good measure (just like Cecil De Mille).

What a simultaneously hysterical with fits of lucidity presentation! The running battle between Ra and "Overseer" is a great subtext. Gives some insights into the man, somewhat in spite of Sun Ra's best efforts to stay a "Mystery". The cheesey effects and over the top acting has to be viewed as an ultimate camp cult movie. A JOYFUL NOISE is almost as bizarre, but probably more accessible. Most of the charm is that you can't tell whether he is plain nuts or goofing with you. I understand this was very calculated and intentional on his part.

Parliament/Funkadelic owe more to this guy than I think anybody realizes. I don't know if George Clinton has ever acknowledged his debt to Sun Ra, at least conceptually, for doing the full blown conceptual thing decades before him.

The film is mysterious and colorful and I think thats its biggest strength. But you don't get a good handle on Sun Ra's own space philosophy other than "black people must free themselves". Overlong with good performances, but not enough musical performances. It finishes with the classic 70s ambiguous ending. In truth, not a very good music film or blaxploitation film or weirdo-art film. It has genius moments you would find in all three, but only remains infamous due to it being a weird mix of the great ingrediants.

What a great super-fly atmosphere, Oakland in the early 70s.
Ra has some great parts, and as always the music is tops.

SPACE IS THE PLACE!

This may not be the ideal starting place to enter the heliocentric worlds of the late Sun Ra, but, if you've checked him out AND seen him perform, well, you might be more likely to "get" this. Not that it's some art-house film. It's just way-out-weird. Like Sid-&-Marty-Kroft meets Parliament/Funkadelic... Underneath all the great-but-misunderstood space talk is a keen look at race in America. But, don't let THAT heavy statement put you off; being enlightened by this is like learning from SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK, it's valid, but, it's FUN and delightful and wacky... Then again, maybe I'm just a sucka for '70's cheese... Who knows? Loving this for me was all the more easy for having encountered several Arkestra members in full regalia, shopping at the local supermarket while they were in town. They're the real deal..

this film is pretty nice but not nearly as great as the documentary A Joyful Noise. I highly recommend purchasing A Joyful Noise first because it provides a deeper look into Sun Ra.