User Reviews

Redux is proclaimed as the original vision, minus the interference from censorship cuts. From watching just the first episode, and remembering that other titles that pushed boundaries in first episode were also censored on re-release (looking at you SG-1 'Children of the Gods'), but in a post Spartacus and Game of Thrones world, the more 'adult' nature of the Redux edit is pretty tame.

As is the 3D CGI, in a post-Battlestar Galactica era, showing more a limitation of budget then any lack of skill, with the look being fairly consistent, though perhaps not matched to the style of the live action sequences in the way Babylon5 was.

On a technical level, the one item that really jars is the audio transitions for music and background atmospherics between scenes. There is none. It's jarring to the ears, while the sound within scenes is consistent, minus the odd obvious ADR dropped in.

For fans, this will be interesting to watch, for the newcomer they'll be laughing at the overall quality, as it doesn't compare to even current Indie projects, thanks to the march of production technologies.

This is a decidedly Pre-HD romp, loosing the battle to survive in a 4K world.

Whoever decided to resurrect Starhunter deserves some credit for having guts. This reboot series is pretty bad: poor writing, acting, sfx, and direction. Serious science fiction fans will either howl with disgust or derisive laughter at this series. It ain't great, but if you want to practice your heckling skills, then grab a bowl of popcorn and a soda and enjoy yourself. That's how I'm handling this show. Even so, it is good to see Michael Pare on screen again.

I don't know who resurrected this show and thought it was a good idea to re-cut re-release it under a new 2017 - 18 release date, but, if you go into this thinking it's something new, you're getting catfished with something that's from 2000 that looks and sounds like it was done in the 1980s.

Apologies to anyone who loved this show ... 18 years ago, but, I couldn't get beyond the first 10 minutes, despite the spectacular boobs in the first minute of the show. If you don't already have some retro-attachment to this show, then, by today's standards, it's unwatchable. The acting (or directorship, since bad directors can make stellar actors looks awful) is ... well, it's so bad, you just have to see it to believe how bad it is. The same seems to go for the writing as well. Calling the dialogue "uncomplicated" would be extremely gentle and kind. The whole thing is ... I just couldn't, and I tried my best. Compared to other shows filmed around the same time, it might be on par with Lexx when it comes to budget and special effects. I liked Lexx. I still love Lexx. That, however, comes from watching Lexx decades ago and liking it decades ago. I would not expect anyone that's never seen Lexx to watch and like it today. Thus, there's that. This might be a fantastic re-showing for anyone that was familiar with and loved it ... when it was filmed decades ago and is now re-whatevered. I lack that favor bias, and find it unwatchable. Again, that's subjective, and some folks might maybe, perhaps think otherwise.

Well I'm just a few episodes in but it reminds me of a badly done Firefly. I will soldier on and see.

I haven't seen the original Starhunter for quite some time, back in 2008, so I don't recall it well enough to compare to the redux version; however, I would say the changes that I do notice are quite good. The Special effects works, even if they are basic models; I really enjoyed the planet/space scenes.

I always have enjoyed Tanya Allen's character in the series and Michael Pare's. I am only one episode 3, but I was hoping there would have been a season 3 by now; it would be nice to have one before the original cast gets too old to do it.

For everyone comparing it to Firefly, Starhunter was released before Firefly: While I enjoyed Firefly, it seemed to lack original ideas like Starhunter. Firefly is a sugar coated version with mainstream ideas, for me. Starhunter could have used better dialog and such, but I found it rewatchable; in the end, a rewatchable series is more satisfying for me.

Appreciated.

Horrible soap opera with less than mediocre actor efforts and on the verge of sheepish script. I'm not happy to use such negative terms in a review. Conscious of how many have worked hard to create this series, it is not my intention to hurt them personally. That doesn't mean you have to wrap up the truth about how bad the series is in cotton candy. The only good thing about this show is the inside of the spaceship. Well built and fully in line with grunge sci-fi. Costumes and attributes are in class with many classic space shows. What is bad? Personally, I do not like the soap opera's over-theatrical unengaged expression. Fantasy is one of the mainstays of sci-fi, which the show lacks in all aspects. Creativity ends up in freezing degrees. Lighting strives for sci-fi drama but lands in visual tragedy. The music theme and the background music are synth-flat, boring and as copied from ... surprise ... soap opera. I don't believe that a show would be bad just because it was a cross between soap and sci-fi. Both genres have a lot in common. However, it falls flat unless one genre respects the other. Soap and sci-fi often lack qualities forgiven by the fans, but it doesn't work to allow the sum of these in a crossover production. The sum of their actual qualities is the yardstick fans in both camps will measure the show by. Bad special effects are nothing that sci-fi fans have any problems with really. Countless are cult-declared space shows where you almost saw the fishing line from which rockets built by toilet rolls hovered. Unfortunately, lack of technology becomes yet another embarrassment for this show in this plethora of embarrassments.

Its not the best Science Fiction show out there. But its not the worst either. We all have our favorites, and this is one of my favorites. To those that are saying this program is riding on Firefly's coat tails, or eating its dust. You're wrong. Firefly came out in 2002. Starhunter was out in 2000. Do the math. Its rather simple.

Enjoy this show for what it was. An interesting science fiction, that wasn't a carbon copy of something else out there. It was different. It was unique. If you're going to complain about the special effects, take look at Doctor Who in the 1960s or how bad the CGI was in the early seasons of Babylon 5.

Besides. The story is reallly what matters. This tv show has that. Story. And yes at times it can be disjointed. But its still there.

This is so ridiculous that it is hilarious fun if you like scifi. The story is interesting and unique especially for 2000. The acting is pretty bad but enjoyable. The special effects are 1980's style mixed with 1990's style. I personally can look beyond bad special effects. There are some great actors with horrible lines. If you like campy scifi with a good story, you will like this show.

Where do you start with this? I'm not sure if it's a parody and everyone is in on it or not. Or do they really think they are doing a good job? Absolutely no context for any of the scenes, just random script with no subtext. So strange it's just unexplainable.

You have to watch a couple of episodes to get used to the style; but once I did, I loved it. It did remind me of Firefly . Percy is the highlight of the show. I hope it gets picked up sometime to finish it.

So...if you look at this with today's lens it's pretty bad. But I am having fun nonetheless. You can see the other shows that this inspired, and the overarching plot is interesting, elements of it being pretty fun/interesting.

The characters are...pretty flat by today's standards, but you can see where they were going with them. The primary negatives are that the editing and cinematography is really bad, even with the late 90s/early 2000s in mind. They cut scenes too early, have odd angles, and way too many pointless closeups. Also sounds like there was some dubbing after the fact.

The really bad part is the line delivery, I can't tell if this is poor direction, bad acting, or they forgot to tell the actors the tone of the scene but there's just no consistency in delivery at all. It's like the director took the first take of everyone's line and only set the stage 20% of the time.

Also some of the characters act as if someone pulled a trope out of a hat and added the trope to the scene. Like absolute no reason anyone with any kind of a brain would make a specific decision and the writer said "You know what? There's an injured lion in a cage, most people would call a vet, watch from afar, or just leave...not THIS Character though! She's going to kill a chicken, rub the blood all over her body, completely ignore the 5 people who are older, outrank her, and are wiser than she is as they tell her not to do this, order her not to do it, and even lock her in her quarters...yeah, she'll just jump in the cage all bloody and stuff...then she will be surprised that she's in trouble..but THEN everyone will have 25% of a like where they rebuke her and then things will just be normal again!"

Also what's the point of "Max Privacy Mode" when literally anyone can just walk in?

I think the concept and intent were good, the execution is pretty poor, but the fun factor keeps it at 7 for me. That said, if I weren't a scifi nerd from back in the day this would be pretty close to unwatchable if I was just getting into it now.

I cringe when I think this redux "fixed" anything to make it that much improved over the original. When a show is this bad, you can't fix it. It comes across as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century with the spandex jumpsuits removed. It tries so hard to get out of that era of cheesy 80's sci-fi although originally airing in 2000. They cover up what use to be laughable sets with CGI but it doesn't "fix" anything. I made it into the fourth episode before I stopped watching and cleaned my house instead.

I recently discovered the pilot for Nobility (on Amazon), which I'd recommend as a sci-fi story that tries to be different. However, despite its all-star cast, I was sad to find out that it never got picked up as a series. It's very campy, very low-budget, like a couple other cheap sci-fi things on Netflix and Amazon. At first my reaction was "ick", then it was "I'm bored", but I kept watching and I became very interested by the end. I realized I wanted more of this. I like high-budget, high-end science fiction just fine, like Star Trek: Discovery or The Orville. But sometimes I want to watch something unchallenging and soothing, the equivalent of baby food.

Starhunter gives me exactly what I was looking for. Be warned! The pilot is the worst episode by far. The rest make much more sense. The second one isn't as good as the others, but after that they quickly increase in quality and scope, with tons of things happening at once in each story.

Each episode so far has been divided with some people on the ship and some on the ground during a mission, but unlike something like Star Trek where the planet and the ship can feel like two completely different A and B stories, in Starhunter the two plots are much more tightly woven together, making a feeling that you're watching one continuous coherent piece of action. This creates a stunning sensation of breadth and unpredictability which I frankly find more exciting than a lot of big name sci-fi which has fancy lights and swearing but keeps the plot underneath far too safe and predictable.

If you're into video games, maybe I could say that instead of this being Star Wars Battlefront or Elite Dangerous, it's more like Evochron Mercenary or the X series of games. Meaning, rough around the edges, unapologetically ugly in the graphics department, but focused more on all the little details, all the little bits and bobs, than its more expensively produced cousins.

Instead of dragging you by the nose and then forcibly directing your eyes to the important attractions, Starhunter trusts you to figure out what you'd like to focus on, out of a menagerie of character traits and world details. It doesn't fight for your attention like modern stuff, it's understated. But I like that better. I never liked being told what parts I should care about (I'm looking at you, Killjoys).

To compare it to other series, I'd say it's a lot like Farscape but with self-contained plots, one for each episode. Farscape started having many-episodes long stories, almost like Dragon Ball Z in how some episodes would focus on a single conversation between hero and villain. None of that here. It's Andromeda but with more action (less likely to fall asleep, at least once you get past the first episodes), Lexx with more focus on actually doing things quickly, Crusade with more interesting situations, Earth: Final Conflict but camper (yes, campier. somehow.). Hopefully those comparisons give you some idea of what to expect.

Now I have to come to terms with knowing that there's never going to be any more of it. :( I didn't realize it was a remastering of one of the 2000s-era shows, I thought it was a complete reboot but in the style of early-2000s shows (including bad 3D scenes for authenticity). I thought it had a chance of being renewed and continuing. Sob. We could use a cheesy series like this in our all-too-serious world some days!

Conclusion: Don't go based on your first impression, second impression, nor your third, fourth, or fifth. Wait until you've come up with a half-dozen or so different reactions to the show. Reserve a weekend and watch at least three episodes. If you still don't like it, shake your fist and curse my review for misleading you. But I hope you'll find something you like. All I know is that I can PROMISE you won't know whether or not you like it until you've seen a few episodes. Expect sci-fi comfort food type fluff, and you won't be disappointed.

Starhunter Redux is totally fluff, but it's the fluffiest fluff I've found yet. :)

Definite inspiration for elements of firefly - Percy is Kaylee in every way, the Raiders are similar to Reevers, weaponry fire bullets not lasers, there is a back story of a great war, the 2nd in command is a women with military background.

Plots are decent but scripts and music are reminiscent of Hercules and Xena. Editing is appalling with scenes clipped too short at times and special effects are like something made in a 1980's camcorder however, pushing through these down points there is certainly a decent programme underneith worth watching.

I am likewise only a few episodes in. It is definitely derivative of plenty of other, superior sci-fi. That being said, I still gave it the maximum amount of stars, because, let's be honest, in this day and age we just want more content. With the average season now consisting of 8 to 10 episodes, it is easy to mow down an entire season over the course of 2 days. So, while this Canadian knock off is by no means amazing, it'll do.

Man, there are some harsh reviews here but I really liked it. Supposedly the effects were re-done. I think there must be mix of new CG with an occasional older clip with original CG. That said, even the newer CG isn't going to break any records. It is good enough for me and the majority of the spaceship stuff is not bad. Other non space travel/battle effects are a bit campy. Anyway, I really liked the story, and in particular liked Percy. She reminds me of the ship engineer from Firefly. Seeing the guy that plays Dante brought back memories of my younger years. I forget what he was in...the 80s V perhaps? I really enjoyed a partial binge watch of this show. Compared to some of the complete garbage Amazon has floating around VOD land, this series could be an Emmy award winning show. If you don't base your opinion of sci-fi completely on whether they meet the most bloated budget today's quality CG, I totally recommend this. I will say I am really disappointed Season 3 never happened back in 2015. I am excited that someone did buy the rights, and is planning a 3rd season at some future date TBD.

Great storytelling, great turns, great special effects and great acting by a great cast with the lead in Michael Pare!!