Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      The American Astronaut

      Released Oct 12, 2001 1 hr. 34 min. Musical Comedy List
      63% 32 Reviews Tomatometer 89% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score Samuel Curtis, an interplanetary trader, deals in rare goods -- living or dead. After getting a device which will clone the extremely rare "Real Live Girl," this sets off a series of strange trades throughout the universe which grabs the attention of his nemesis, Professor Hess (Rocco Sisto). Determined to find Samuel, Hess systematically kills every person who has come in contact with Samuel. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (248) audience reviews
      Audience Member Quirky. Fun. Original. What more could you want? Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member maybe like a cross between Blood Simple and Schizopolis, if directed by David Lynch (with, say TWICE the budget of Eraserhead). Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie, although can be disturbing at times and probably not for everyone, is always honest, unbelievably original, and definitely entertaining ))) "Hey Boy" is quite possibly one of the greatest musical scenes ever featured in motion pictures. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm always leery of music-related filmmaking. Too easy for the entire movie to feel like a big, long music video or promo vehicle. And some of that is evident here. What is also evident is the rock-bottom budget they had to work with. Not surprising--a sci-fi fanta-western done by a who-are-they band? Of course there is no budget. It shows, but several excellent decisions help keep the viewers from noticing (too much). The best decision was in filming in black and white. While, yes, black and white can be an artsy decision, here it allowed the lack of special effects and quality to be downplayed by the viewer. The over all story arc of The American Astronaut is a bit nonsensical and cops out at the end (perhaps out of budget?). But the individual scenes frequently stand tall. Unfortunately, the strongest of the scenes are in the first half of the movie, letting everything else peter out awkwardly. Still worth a watch if you're into sci-fi westerns, artsy cinema, or enjoy integration of the music and film formats. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member A genuinely eccentric art film that mixes musical, western, sci-fi and outright surreal moments. Beautifully shot in stark black and white and gorgeously lit with distinct homages to the old Saturday serials (Buck Rogers, Flash gordon et. al.) Not something that's going to appeal to all tastes but something very different. The simplistic story is really just there to move the set pieces along, but the cast are so committed to the oddness (and treat it with a great sense of seriousness) that I couldn't help but get caught up in the universe being created. Give it a try, you'll love it or hate it but you'll not forget it quickly. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member "The Ketchup and Mustard Man" was a good CD so this should be good... right? Nope. "Quickly becomes an endurance test." "Camp is tricky. The very real problem in making a movie that's so bad that it's good is that you can easily overachieve and create a genuine stinker by mistake." Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      50% 40% Love's Labour's Lost 53% 56% Romance & Cigarettes 46% 37% Blues Brothers 2000 TRAILER for Blues Brothers 2000 51% 63% The Producers 91% 79% Little Shop of Horrors Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Photos

      View All The American Astronaut photos

      The American Astronaut

      The American Astronaut (2001) The American Astronaut (2001) The American Astronaut (2001) The American Astronaut (2001) View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (32) Critics Reviews
      Michael Booth Denver Post It's a rockabilly space romp, often very bad but usually a visual treat. Rated: 1.5/4 Mar 19, 2004 Full Review Gary Dowell Dallas Morning News Movies don't get much more homemade or endearingly eccentric. Nov 29, 2001 Full Review Jim Sullivan Boston Globe It's equal parts creepy, campy, funny, and tedious. Rated: 2.5/4 Nov 25, 2001 Full Review Jason Gorber Film Scouts A black-and-white, cardboard set, 1930's Buck Rogers-style musical romp. Rated: A- Jun 21, 2007 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jun 30, 2005 Full Review Christopher Null Filmcritic.com Rated: 3/5 Jan 24, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Samuel Curtis, an interplanetary trader, deals in rare goods -- living or dead. After getting a device which will clone the extremely rare "Real Live Girl," this sets off a series of strange trades throughout the universe which grabs the attention of his nemesis, Professor Hess (Rocco Sisto). Determined to find Samuel, Hess systematically kills every person who has come in contact with Samuel.
      Director
      Cory McAbee
      Screenwriter
      Cory McAbee
      Distributor
      Artistic License
      Production Co
      BNS Productions, Commodore Films
      Genre
      Musical, Comedy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Oct 12, 2001, Wide
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Mar 22, 2016
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $37.5K
      Sound Mix
      Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital