The Ice Pirates
A pair of captured space pirates join a princess on a wildly chaotic quest through a water-starved future ruled by dangerous secrets.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- campy
- chaotic
- cult movie night
- retro sci fi marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film noisy, bewildering, and overstuffed, though its tongue-in-cheek absurdity has earned some retrospective cult appreciation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jason and Roscoe are space pirates whose capture leads them into a rescue mission involving princesses, rulers, robots, and monsters.
Water is presented as the most valuable substance in the far future, while dangerous information threatens the ruling powers.
The plot moves through sword fights, explosions, robots, monsters, bar fights, and time warps in an intentionally bewildering structure.
The film's underdeveloped-galaxy look, practical genre set pieces, and budget limitations reinforce its ridiculous space-adventure charm.
Films like The Ice Pirates, and why
Star Wars
shared space opera adventure, comedic irreverence, pirate-like rebels, and scrappy production charm
Battle Beyond the Stars
shared space western atmosphere, eccentric cosmic characters, comic action, and low-budget science fiction energy
Spaceballs
shared tongue-in-cheek science fiction, chaotic action comedy, and knowingly pulpy genre spectacle
The Last Starfighter
shared futuristic resource scarcity, space combat, comic-book adventure, and cult science fiction tone
Movie Details
- Director
- Stewart Raffill
- Release Date
- 1984-03-16
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (224)
Cast
- Robert Urich
- Mary Crosby
- Michael D. Roberts
- Anjelica Huston
- John Matuszak
- Ron Perlman
- John Carradine
- Natalie Core
- Jeremy West
- Bruce Vilanch
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Ice Pirates about?
- A pair of captured space pirates join a princess on a wildly chaotic quest through a water-starved future ruled by dangerous secrets.
- What is The Ice Pirates like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Ice Pirates as breakneck, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Ice Pirates violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Ice Pirates as mild.
- What did critics think of The Ice Pirates?
- Critics broadly found the film noisy, bewildering, and overstuffed, though its tongue-in-cheek absurdity has earned some retrospective cult appreciation.
- Which films are like The Ice Pirates?
- Films with a similar feel include Star Wars, Battle Beyond the Stars, Spaceballs, and The Last Starfighter.
- How long is The Ice Pirates?
- The Ice Pirates runs 94 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Ice Pirates?
- In United States, The Ice Pirates is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
