Why does every 70s and 80s film about space try and crowbar in either a cute robot, a cute chimp or a young child? When I was little I always hated these intrusions on the proper action, and found 'Wesley Crusher' characters that I was supposed to relate to just intensely irritating. The 'cute' robot in this film is annoying, and is so unrealistic that you wonder whether he was tagged onto the script at the last minute by some executive worried about selling the picture to 'family' (i.e. 'braindead') audiences.
Incidentally, don't be fooled by the setting, this is a 1980s 'isn't it hard being young, rich and middle class in a developed nation?' film featuring ambition, whining and cliches.
One interesting thing to note is that the fault in the shuttle that causes the launch in SpaceCamp is rather unfortunately a problem in one of the solid fuel boosters, the same location of the fault that caused the Challenger disaster.
The film implies in a moment of Strangelove-style propaganda that the booster fault has a one-in-a-million chance of actually happening, but the truth of the matter is that space travel is a very risky business. Were civil airliners to have the same failure rate as spacecraft there'd be several jumbo crashes a day. There was none of that risk brought across in SpaceCamp, where the only criteria for success in space are how much above average you were your exams and how you cope with the emotional turmoil of making a mistake.
If you like kids-as-adults films of the Disney Family Movie saccharin variety, then this is for you.
Incidentally, don't be fooled by the setting, this is a 1980s 'isn't it hard being young, rich and middle class in a developed nation?' film featuring ambition, whining and cliches.
One interesting thing to note is that the fault in the shuttle that causes the launch in SpaceCamp is rather unfortunately a problem in one of the solid fuel boosters, the same location of the fault that caused the Challenger disaster.
The film implies in a moment of Strangelove-style propaganda that the booster fault has a one-in-a-million chance of actually happening, but the truth of the matter is that space travel is a very risky business. Were civil airliners to have the same failure rate as spacecraft there'd be several jumbo crashes a day. There was none of that risk brought across in SpaceCamp, where the only criteria for success in space are how much above average you were your exams and how you cope with the emotional turmoil of making a mistake.
If you like kids-as-adults films of the Disney Family Movie saccharin variety, then this is for you.