What I Think About Movies I've Seen

Stingray Sam is a movie shot in the style of a 50's serial television show, much like Buck Rogers. It stars Cory McAbee (who was also the writer and director) as Stingray Sam, a lounge singer that gets pressed into service to help rescue a girl and return her to her father. The mission takes him and his sidekick, the Quasar Kid, across a couple of galaxies and into and out of some tight situations. David Hyde Pierce narrates the action.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It reminded me a lot of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a kind of satirical space drama, but it also has elements of a western, and I suppose you'd also have to classify it as a musical since there's a song in every episode. The best way to get a feel for the movie is to go to the movie's website, where you can see clips and buy digital and/or DVD copies of the movie.

My biggest complaint about the movie is that it's pretty short. It's comprised of six episodes of about ten minutes each for a total runtime of an hour, and each episode includes an opening song and a short set of ending credits, and a surprising amount of the remaining time was taken up with handshakes. I think that there could have been more legitimate content added without feeling too stretched out or wearing out its welcome.