Saturn 3 (1980) – Filmsack Show Notes

INTRO

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Oh hi,

This week on Filmsack, we find ourselves in a real Sofie’s No Choice when we are forced into a SATURN 3 – way with an Old-Man/Strong Man and a Brain Tube Face Stealing Robot who is hot for our … smile…  fit for a poster on every 12 year old boy’s wall of the 1980’s in this SCI-FI horror now reassembling itself on Amazon Prime but available on YouTube for free because nobody is monitoring this movie for signs of life. No Taction Contact

Anywho, we don’t have to fly through the rocky rings of Saturn to land on it’s 3rd moon and current home of Earth’s hydroponic food farm, but nobody says we can’t. So everybody does. Weeee! oh and not to bring everybody down while we are tripping the light fantastic on these Blue Pills but I sure hope nobody is out here in this lawless space taking advantage of young women by leveraging there position of power.

Hey Randy, you have a great body… may I use it. Holy Hal.

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BRIEF

Saturn 3 (1980) is a sci-fi horror film set in a remote research station orbiting Saturn. Adam (Kirk Douglas) and Alex (Farrah Fawcett) live in peaceful isolation until an unexpected visitor, Captain Benson (Harvey Keitel), arrives. Benson has brought along a state-of-the-art robot named Hector, designed to help with research—but Hector becomes dangerously obsessed with Alex, fueled by its link to Benson’s warped psyche. Directed by Stanley Donen, Saturn 3 delivers a claustrophobic atmosphere of paranoia, sensuality, and robotic menace in the vacuum of space.

Rated: R
1980 ‧ Sci-Fi/Horror ‧ 1h 28m

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Social Media Post

Saturn 3 (1980) – When your galaxy needs an enema. Stick this in it. #HolyHal-HarvyKeitel

SHOW NOTES

• oooh the names. Silent opening? Bold choice. But when you have 3 names like… Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas and Harvey Keitel… why not. Stanley Donen!
• Saturn 3 like aliens…but Saturn 3
• Square with a circle in it Stanley Donen
• Like Star Wars intro space opening… that that is how you do it.
• What is wrong with that Satellite dish? Oh man… This like Star Wars / Star Trek / Aliens / everything Sci fi up until this point.
• Even got some Close Encounters and 2001 Space Odeyssey.
• Captain James – Pad 73 for immediate launch! 
• Man they are packing that tiny ship fiull.
• Hey… it is the Benson
• Leather Space Suit… sexy.
• Benson blew the Mental test. If I were to get Saturn 3.
• Holy Hal…  that dude got chopped up… seems like a safety hazard
• Nothing better than a hurried launch…
• Everything is bug headed in design.
• You are already in space with artificial gravity… so do you need a takeoff with jet fuel or whatever that is?
• Hey look… it Saturn!
• That is kind of cool. Flying through the rings of Saturn… seems avoidable…but still… cool… 
• Experimental Food research moon…
• Is fake Benson carrying some CO2 for the pepsi dispenser?
• Any urgent unloads? I’ll take that. No.
• in the future… in space… doors open diagonally … because… Space! and Future.
• Here is where we have been for the past 3 years…  I’ve gotten lucky… my partner is Farrah Fawcett
• I see by your scan tatoo you have never been to earth.
• Saturn 3… when your galaxy needs an enema. Stick the tube in.
• Scan and acknowledge
• The earth is hungry.
• 22 days of shadow lock. No communication.
• I will just take a couple of blues… Blue Dreamers. 
• Harvey Keitel have a tiny little space pony tail.
• 4 shower heads and coed showers.
• His name is Adam
• Holy cow… naked cuddles with Farrah Fawcett and Kirk Douglas…  weird. 
• Alex. Cover up!!
• Just me…naked with my puppy Sally and the canister and… HARVEY KEITEL checking out butholes.
• Randy, you have a great body… may I use it.
• That is penally unsocial.
• Fine… if she won’t let me use it… I will just watch you and take a handful of blues.
• I got a robot… the first of the Demigod series… that doesn’t sound ominous at all.
• No Taction Contact
• I know why you are denying me hospitality.
• No thanks.
• Pure Brain Tissue.. this is a non-born. Develop in 3 to 4 weeks. Then one of you will be obsolete… guess who.
• Sweating in my turtle neck.
• I am close to my abort time. Obsolete… 
• People are being flushed all over the solar system.
• Space Gregorian chants begin.
• This blue dreamer… now… why not.
• Somebody got paid to build that fluid tube robot.
• Quite please… you are blocking him. That will come back.
• Here is your tube… squeezed just like you asked.
• Where did they put the brain at?
• Direct input… ominous music… begin…. vrrrr… vrrrrr.
• Time for some space chess made up of metal salt and pepper shakers.
• Hector does not find stuff funny… nor does he likes to be laughed at. 
• I see his brain tube.
• I said direct input… brain to brain. A brain drain. Radio contact… right behind my pony tail.
• Sacrifice… it is the one thing you cannot teach them. Checkmate.
• Is it the box? You can hear me… but you can’t talk..
• Is he teaching the robot to be horny.
• Take that off very slowly while I think about nothing but hydroponics. and boobs.
• Adam can help… let the robot that squashes stuff take a poke at your eye. 
• eye scare!!
• I got a pill of earth pills.
• I am today… he is yesterday.
• He is coo coo… you can tell the time by him.
• Why does a robot need pectoral striation muscles.
• Why won’t you talk… MURDER… shutup!
• Improper thought leakage.
• I said to blank that. I said to blank that. 
• Am not Malfunctioning. You are… suck it!
• Space Dog!
• That is one loud ass dog… the living quarters is a long ways from the lab.
• Sally got no head. That makes me sad.
• Sally is malfunctioning.
• Hector put her down. Conform. 
• Hector is what his master taught him.
• Did you teach him to kill?
• Let the robot have him. I can’t do it…
• How strong is Hector… 
• and if we were chickens we could lay eggs.
• Hector is getting low on charge. Let him charge…
• Suck it Hector… overload.
• Get his Brain out!!
• Leather pants!
• Captain. Your flunked.
• The original Hector came to a tragic end.
• Dismantle
• You want the girl.
• I’m just not update enough to kill.
• awww chit. He don’t learned to build himself a new body.
• Showing off our robotic skills in this movie are we?
• Insert Brain Tube…. inject fluid… 
• Supercharged!
• Time to take all the pills I brought.
• I’m leaving and taking your partner with me… you are inadequate major… naked Kirk Dougl-ASS wrasslin.
• Ultimate test of your head rug strength.
• Turns out I am capable of killing.
• Captain is 0 for 2. Hector took that hand right off.
• Kirk Douglas was literally twice her age. 32 vs 64
• Their space logos look too much like Pepsi.
• They built their lab over a funky oozy Saturn Moon river?
• We set a trap. You are the bait.
• Don’t fall for it hector. Use your tube shaped brain.
• Why you try to fool me pretty lady.
• Oh hector… why are you so unbalanced…
• Frozen hector is full of unbridled rage!! I detonate your escape plan.
• Hector don’t want to kill us… what does he want? A handshake?
• All the cameras are watching us!
• You’ll get your trip to earth. I promise. Sacrifice.
• The captain is alive? Hector and I have come to an arrangement
• How strange that it ends like this?
• Hurry along please.. shutting doors!!
• I’m here. I’m alive. I haven’t died… just kidding. I’m wearing a Benson mask. This is our arrangement.
• Ship number 19.
• You don’t have to ride the rings of Saturn to get to the moon… but it sure makes it a lot more fun.
• I’m not trying to put anything in. I am pulling it out. Now I have a sense of humor.
• Your program today is repair the damage to the lab.
• Survey 19… in ship 19.
• How is our favorite space girl… nooo… AI is mocking me. Talk to  you in 6 months. By now.
• Profitable and mostly painless.
• “Hurry Along Please”
• Stop using my voice. I’m Everyone. Conversation is an art. I do it to perfection.
• I make an annoyed noise when you annoy me.
• It’s Everybodys fault. This is at least 40% Doctor Who.
• I hope on the final day of filming everybody got a chance to throw up a Hector part into the fountain of water. 
• World Spaceways…
• I hope you are enjoying the ongoing flight situation.
• And if you look to the left you will see earth.
• They saved the most ominous music for her decent down to earth. Crescendo!
•  

• Cast & Crew:

  • Kirk Douglas as Adam: The veteran scientist co-leading the research station.
  • Farrah Fawcett as Alex: The younger partner and colleague, isolated in deep space.
  • Harvey Keitel as Captain Benson: The uninvited officer with a secret agenda—and a sinister robot.
  • Director Stanley Donen: Renowned for musicals (Singin’ in the Rain)—an unexpected pivot to sci-fi horror.

• Setting & Premise:

  • A remote station on Saturn’s third moon, focusing on food research for Earth.
  • Isolation is key: just two scientists in a self-contained habitat—until Benson arrives.
  • Hector, the robot, is a “Demigod Series” creation, linked mentally to Benson’s disturbed mind.
    
    

• Tone & Themes:

  • A blend of claustrophobic horror, psychological thriller, and retro-futuristic décor.
  • Explores obsession, isolation, and the dangers of playing god with AI.
  • Tension arises from close quarters, the love triangle, and Hector’s growing menace.
    
    

• Production & Style:

  • 70s-80s sci-fi aesthetic: cavernous sets, bold colors, swirling starfields, and the occasional polyester jumpsuit.
  • Grimy, chunky robotics for Hector’s design—less sleek Star Wars, more eerie mechanical man.
    
    

• Key Scenes & Highlights:

  • Hector’s assembly and “imprinting” with Benson’s mind sets up the central conflict.
  • Tense standoffs and cat-and-mouse hunts within the station’s corridors.
  • Farrah Fawcett’s iconic presence, bridging glam and horror in space.
  • Kirk Douglas in a memorably physical role, despite his older age.
    
    

• Legacy & Reception:

  • Received mixed reviews—some praised its atmosphere, others found it campy or derivative of Alien.
  • Over time, it’s gained a cult following among fans of vintage, offbeat sci-fi horror.
  • Notable for star power (Douglas, Fawcett, Keitel) and Donen’s directional curveball from musicals to bleak space horror.
    
    

• Fun Trivia:

  • Harvey Keitel’s voice was reportedly dubbed over by another actor (Roy Dotrice) for the final film.
  • Tensions on set and script rewrites led to a somewhat disjointed final product.
  • Despite its flaws, Saturn 3 stands out as a unique blend of Hollywood star power, creative set design, and B-movie spirit.

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