The accumulation of team members in space movies

September 2, 2009 5:08 PM

Please name some sci- fi space movies that have a team of (at least) four characters, a team of heroes that eventually forms organically over the course of the film (ex: Star Wars.)

I'm -not- looking for any situation where there is a PRE-ESTABLISHED team/military force/family unit of space travelers already in place before the film begins, such as in Star Trek movies, that has Star Fleet already established to put groups together.

I AM interested in sci fi movies set in space where a team of characters that have never met before, band together as the story progresses. My definition of "team" is that they all share a common goal, even if it's just survival, and they work closely together to achieve that goal.

Only looking for space movies, thanks. Other than Star Wars and Spaceballs, I can't think of any.

posted by np312 to media & arts (29 comments total)

You definitely want "Battle Beyond the Stars," a B-movie tribute to "The Seven Samurai."
posted by Kirklander at 5:15 PM on September 2 [1 favorite]

The Matrix series
Firefly
posted by jamaro at 5:17 PM on September 2

Aliens ... nobody really trusts Ripley or the kid, but they earn the Marines' respect.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:17 PM on September 2

Pitch Black
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:18 PM on September 2

also every movie involving zombies
posted by jamaro at 5:19 PM on September 2

Jamaro-- zombies in space? Also, Firefly is a TV show, not a movie. If you mean Serenity, it still has a pre-established crew at the beginning of the film.
posted by np312 at 5:21 PM on September 2

Technically Han and Chewy knew each other prior to the start of the movies, as did Lone Star and Barf. But I get your point.

The Matrix was not set in space. Firefly doesn't meet the criteria either, since in the first episodes they all know each other except for the Tams, who knew each other. Aliens was a crew, of the sort explicitly rejected by the no-Star-Trek-clause. I've never seen a Zombie movie in space.

The Fifth Element meets your criteria, I think
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, if you overlook the Arthur-Ford connection.
Perhaps Independence Day (not really set in space).
The Last Star Fighter.
Spacecamp, but they don't save the Universe; just themselves.
posted by jeffamaphone at 5:24 PM on September 2

The Fifth Element
posted by teg at 5:28 PM on September 2

Flash Gordon
Total Recall
posted by orme at 5:44 PM on September 2

Though there are only two of them, Enemy Mine with Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. meets your other criteria admirably (enemies in wartime who cooperate to survive). Not a bad film either.
Does Planet of the Apes satisfy your criteria (Taylor/Zira/Zaius/Nova, cooperating to discover the nature of the Earth)?
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:46 PM on September 2 [1 favorite]

The Matrix isn't in space....unfortunately.

Well, you could argue the newest Star Trek film...where the crew is formed. Also, I don't remember it that well (definitely time for a rewatch), but Starship Troopers may fit the bill.

Cowboy Bebop, definitely.... the team forms over the course of the series.

I wish your criteria was instead "at least 2 members...", so I could say Moon. Awesome film.
posted by pilibeen at 5:50 PM on September 2

WALL-E, sort of.
posted by teraflop at 5:50 PM on September 2

@jeffamaphone The Firefly movie makes clear that Firefly is indeed such a case.
posted by rbs at 5:53 PM on September 2

Ok, I read the Star Fleet clause....but you can't say the formation of part of that crew wasn't organic. cmonnn
posted by pilibeen at 5:57 PM on September 2

If I recall, the team in Event Horizon were pretty much thrown together at the beginning. Though I don't think it's a great film if you're not either 17 or on drugs.

Starship Troopers starts with a group of friends who decide to go into space to battle aliens and get put in different divisions, thus getting thrown together with new people.

Also (I saw it a long time ago) Cube involves strangers who are just thrown together all at once at the beginning, although I'm not sure if it is firmly established that events are occurring away from Earth.

Species involves a team of heroes thrown together at the beginning, but it takes place on Earth (versus an alien) instead of in space.
posted by K.P. at 6:08 PM on September 2

Aliens
Moon 44
Total Recall (characters sort of know one another, but not that well)
Stargate (soldiers know each other, but not the experts)
Independence Day (hey, they at least break orbit!)
Cube
The Fifth Element
Starship Troopers
Wing Commander
Barbarella(?)
Planet of the Apes
posted by xingcat at 6:25 PM on September 2

2010
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:43 PM on September 2

TVTropes may be of some use here; a good starting place in particular might be the Five Man Band trope.

(Warning: TVTropes can cause large amounts of time to suddenly disappear.)
posted by pts at 7:17 PM on September 2

Oh, also, the new Star Trek film fits this description perfectly, since it's about the crew coming together for the first time.
posted by pts at 7:18 PM on September 2

Outland, but the team is just Marshall O'Neil and Doc Lazarus.

Polydichloric euthimal's a helluva drug.
posted by nicwolff at 7:38 PM on September 2

Serenity
posted by tylerfulltilt at 7:59 PM on September 2

The Ice Pirates

Three of them start out knowing each other, but the movie is all about them gathering crewmates and it's an amazing example of awesomely bad 80s scifi movies! And I mean awesome. Plus, it's on Netflix' streaming movies.

Armageddon

They don't start off together, but already kinda know each other. They are a team but are scattered everywhere and have to learn to mesh as a crew of astronauts instead of a crew of oil drillers.
posted by bookdragoness at 8:04 PM on September 2

Pitch Black, definitely. Was the first one that came to mind.

SpaceHunter: Adventures in The Forbidden Zone (Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson and the three shrieking bimbos) qualifies. No matter how bad it is.

Dune comes pretty close - you've got members of the House Atreides teaming with the Fremen against the Harkonnens.

Not in space, but sort of sci-fi: The Stand.
posted by Thistledown at 8:49 PM on September 2

This long a thread and nobody has mentioned Farscape yet?
For shame.
posted by nightchrome at 10:11 PM on September 2 [1 favorite]

Oh, right, movies. Nevermind.
posted by nightchrome at 10:12 PM on September 2 [1 favorite]

Considering the popularity of star Wars there are actually surprisingly few space opera films. Check out the weedy Wikipedia list and consider how most of the answers here fail to meet the actual criteria. Directors just don't like going outside the solar system.

So pts's suggestion of TV Tropes is a good one. It isn't quite what you were after but it should be helpful.
posted by ninebelow at 3:25 AM on September 3

Moon?
posted by criticalbill at 4:13 AM on September 3

Les Maîtres du temps
Space Truckers
Titan AE
The American Astronaut
posted by koeselitz at 4:35 AM on September 3

message from space a.k.a. Uchu Kara no Messeji.

AFAIK to see this it's either Youtube or bittorrent.

In spite of the snark you'll see in some of these links, IMO this is a neat film...
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 12:34 PM on September 3