2001: A Space Travesty (2000)

Now I do like spoof movies, when they are funny and done right. There are some funny spoofs around, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and Loaded Weapon 1 for example, but the spoof genre has also had some excrement such as Disaster Movie and Epic Movie. 2001: A Space Travesty is not as bad as any of the worst of Friedberg and Seltzer. However, that is not saying much, 2001:A Space Travesty is still a terrible movie, being contrived, embarrassing and unfunny and it makes you think what possessed Leslie Nielson to take on this project.As I said in the review title, the irony in the word "travesty" is correct. To be honest, while hardly clever or original the title is the best asset of this movie, as well as the end credits which was the only time in the entire movie when I cracked a smile, you know immediately there is something wrong when that is the case. The production values are cheap, with the costumes more reminiscent of fancy dress, shoddy camera work, dismal special effects and wobbly sets. The soundtrack is poorly thought out, In the Navy by The Three Tenors especially felt as though it was shoe horned in.The story is predictable and almost a non-event, the pace didn't draw me in in any way and the direction was decidedly patchy. Also the characters are little more than stereotypes and caricatures and really bad ones at that with names that felt like poor Carry On lampoons. The acting is terrible, yes including from the talented Leslie Nielson. Nielson shows he can be funny as with Naked Gun and Airplane, which are comedy classics in my opinion, but he overacts and mugs shamelessly here which saddened me hugely. Everyone else either overplay, are bland or seem to be playing themselves. Worse is the humour, the film just isn't funny and is filled with the crude and vulgar kind of humour that doesn't come close to the inspired zaniness of the best of the spoof genre. The homages and references to sci-fis such as 2001:A Space Odyssey(one of my favourite films) are obvious and poorly thought out and the script is abysmal and didn't make me laugh one time.In conclusion, not the worst of the genre but a mess all the same. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Oh dear. Poor old Leslie Neilsen must be the only movie star who feels like the rest of us: every day he has to get up for work and do the same thing over and over and over again...This so-called comedy is in the style of Neilsen's Naked Gun flicks, but the humour on display here is far removed from the inspired zaniness of that series of films. Neilsen's OK - he can do this kind of thing with his eyes shut, I imagine - but everything else about this film is bad. The female lead in this just about passes muster, but she only weighs about two stone, and the bad guy used to be Richard Briers' suave neighbour in Ever Decreasing Circles back in the 80s, so its just about impossible to see him as a real baddie.The film itself doesn't really have much to do with 2001 - in fact it looks more like a take on the Men in Black flicks, although films of every genre are referenced throughout. It does get marginally better in the last 20 minutes when the three tenors give a spirited rendition of Village People's In the Navy, but by then only the strongest-willed of viewers will still be around.Bottom line: Everyone involved in this should hang their heads in shame...

I personally don't quite understand why this movie is seen as so rotten. Sure, there are downsides to it. It's rather goofy, and a lot of Dix's narrative humor doesn't quite fly. And, most importantly, no I don't think real gorgeous women would find Leslie Nielsen THAT attractive. But let's face it: not all movies should be taken seriously, especially comedies. The pace was quick enough that it kept me watching the whole time, the action was entertaining, the plot was light but still actually made sense, and the lovely ladies featured didn't exactly hurt as well -- the movie is actually better than most I have seen in the attractive woman department. If you like silly slapstick humor, and particularly if you like the Inspector Clouseau Pink Panther movies and Galaxy Quest, I think you should enjoy this one. And if you haven't seen those, it should still be good if you want to watch some lame, non-serious humor to get your mind off all the trouble in the world. I'll give it an 8 out of 10.

i guess i have seen this movie. i've watched the first 15 minutes of it several times, and once i even watched the first 20 minutes. why do i keep trying? because i really like Leslie Nielsen. why don't i watch the whole thing? because it's awful. no, it's worse than awful. it's pathetic, and it's embarrassing. the jokes are not funny, not even when they are off-color. ("stifficus" for a constellation? come on, come on.) do i somehow think it's going to be better the next time i watch? i must think so, because i keep trying. and i suppose one of these days i will try again. it's very sad to see a long-time favorite star descend to such depths. i felt the same way with "the world's greatest lover" with gene wilder. well, i guess it's back to "naked gun" and "dracula - dead and loving it."