In the 1980’s, South Africa was persona non grata in “civilized society” due to its backwards policy of apartheid. Eager to get outside investment after most companies had abandoned the country, South Africa offered humongous tax breaks to get multinational corporations to open up businesses in the beleaguered country. One incentive was meant to attract film production. Enter Action International Pictures, which decided to make Space Mutiny in South Africa with the hope that its lower budget could be stretched further with South Africa’s production credits.
The budget was stretched, but not significantly enough to make the film look like Star Wars. The film was laughed out of theaters. The film’s star, Cissy Cameron claimed that the film was always meant as a spoof of space films and that the goofy costumes, set dressing and bad editing were all done on purpose. The myth has taken hold among fans of the film, but the story is just not true. Looking at the initial promotion of the film and the film itself, it is obvious that the filmmakers were serious and thought that they were making a dramatic film. The laughs generated by this film were obviously unintentional.
