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MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Hyperspace’: Mild Version of a Live Cartoon

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Although the three stars of the modestly budgeted “Hyperspace” (Vagabond) are David Letterman stalwarts, this 3-D sci-fi comedy is most likely to find its most appreciative audience at kiddie matinees. It is OK for what it is, but it is hard to imagine anyone over the age of 10 being caught up in it.

A rodent exterminator (Alan Marx), a cashier (Paula Poundstone) at a transmission shop and a scientist (Chris Elliott) find themselves coping with some menacing aliens who’ve mistakenly landed on Earth. Their leader, Captain Buckethead (Robert Bloodworth), is a tall guy all in black, wearing a long cape and a cylindrical mask/helmet, and his minions are all diminutive, black robed and hooded creatures.

Considering his stars, writer-director Todd Durham seems to have intended a parody, but “Hyperspace,” which has been on the shelf five years, isn’t sharp or inspired enough to be much more than a mild live-action equivalent of a Saturday morning cartoon souped up with a John Williams-like score. Chris Condon’s Stereovision process, unlike the 3-D of the ‘50s, is sharp and actually does not induce headaches. Unfortunately, there seems no reason whatsoever for the picture being presented in 3-D since virtually no use is made of its unique resources.

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“Hyperspace” (Times-rated Family) is being presented one week only at the Vagabond as part of a 3-D festival and will be followed on Friday with “Kiss Me Kate” (1953). Also on the bill is Durham’s comedy short “Visions of Sugar Plums,” which is Part 3 of his 3-D trilogy “Tales From the Third Dimension” (1984).

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