Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Saturn 3’

Written by Scott Edwards

Every once in a while, I sit back and just take a look at the stars. It amazes me that even with all of the resources that have been put into researching them, we still know very little about what is waiting for us in our galaxy and beyond. While it seems that we are still a way away from being able to find life out there, the thought of finding a place that we can colonize comes to mind. With traces of water being found on Mars and the moon Titan showing real chances of being able to sustain some sorts of life, we may be better off checking out what is happening in our own solar system before looking light years away.
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Keeping up with their work on trying to send back food to Earth, Adam and Alex have other things on their minds as they get a new visitor in their little home on Titan. Knowing that the couple has fallen behind on alternative food for the planet, Benson has been sent to the moon to get them back on track. Bringing along a new robot that will replace at least one of the members of the crew, Benson is starting to take note that young Alex is a very attractive woman and would like to have her as his own. Trying to keep the strange man at arm’s length, Alex may be forced to flee the moon if the promise of what the robot can do is true.

Watching as his new opposition is building his robot, Adam sees that the robot will be programed using Benson’s mind instead of normal programing. Not fully understanding how this could be done, since he quickly learns that Benson’s mind likes to wander, even when performing the most mundane of tasks, he is reassured that Benson has been trained for this and is a professional. But little does the couple know what Benson did prior to arriving on Titan as his last evaluation deemed him as being unfit for the mission. Keeping to himself and completing his creation, the massive robot Hector, Benson links in to help the robot learn, but he is giving the robot much more than even he knows.

As Hector becomes fully trained by his creator, Benson sees that some of his life traits are taking over, especially when it comes to young Alex. With the robot crushing on the young woman and noting that his creator is a murderer, Benson tries to delete these memories from the system, but the robotic mind is able to house them for later. After killing the station’s dog, Hector is looking for love from Alex and has turned its sights on killing anyone that gets in its way. Not being able to get word back to Earth about the malfunction, the group is forced to take Hector on before they all become just another causality of outer space.

When I stumbled upon this movie, it was further down by my viewing list, but after starting and stopping four space movies prior to it, it was a welcomed gift. I have got to admit that some of the older movies really got it right when seeing madness come to light and Benson is one strange character that does not seem to have his priorities in order. I liked the relationship between the older Adam and the younger Alex and everything they shared before the arrival of Benson. The distrust for people from Earth and the planet itself is a little disconcerting when it comes to Adam, but even he admits that after being gone for so long, things might be better back home…yet they might be worse as well. With a killer addition to the base, the promise of better production, a giant robot, a love triangle, plants, a dog and a fight for survival that revolves around love, I won’t call it a classic, but I will say that it was pretty entertaining when the fear of life and death was put first and foremost. It is hard to have a bad story when you have a killer robot that is more human than human. Stay Scared.

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