Barbara Deloney, Sun Ra, Raymond Johnson, Erika Leder, Christopher Brooks ...( see more  see more... ) , La Shaa Stallings

Sun Ra--space-age prophet, Pharaonic jester, shaman-philosopher and avant-jazz keyboardist/bandleader--land his spaceship in Oakland, having been presumed lost in space for a few years. With Black Pow...( read more  read more... )er on the rise, Ra disembarks and proclaims himself "the alter-destiny." He holds a myth-vs reality rap session with vblack inner-city youth at a rec center, threatening "to chain you up and take you with me, like they did you in Africa" if they resist his mplea to go to outer space. He duels at cards with The Overseer, a satanic overlord, with the fate of the black race at stake. Ra wins the right to a world concert, which features great performance footage of the Arkestra. Agents sent by the Overseer attempt to assassinate Ra, but he vanishes, rescues his people, and departs in his spaceship from the exploding planet Earth.

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69% liked it

896 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

7 critics

R, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: John Coney

Release Date: December 1, 1974

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DVD Release Date: October 28, 2003

Stats: 78 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (78)


  • October 16, 2009
    A true underground classic. Witness: not-of-this-earth music, the funky righteousness of Ra, cinematic excellence and be prepared to alter your destiny. I'd heard good (and bad) things about this film, so my curiosity was peaked. Usually when very strong reactions are evoked of s...( read more)uch diametric opposition, it can only mean one thing: Great Art. This movie is truly mind blowing. I can think of nowhere else, where one can obtain: Sci-Fi, Blaxplotation, Philosophy, Space Jazz, and dynamite costumes in one easy-to-swallow capsule. I highly recommend this to Sun Ra fans and those with an interest in fine Avant Garde films. Sun Ra is truly an enigma, and in excellent form in this movie. See him battle the devil across many dimensions and get ready for transmolecularization and isotope teleportation...
  • September 16, 2008
    "If you find earth boring, just the same old story, you can sign up for Outer Space Ways Incorporated!"

    Hilariously bad at times, but also kind of amazing. "Fear of A Black Planet", as the "Public Enemy" reference goes, is kinda the jumping point ...(read more) for this movie...( read more), about an interglatic Jazz keyboardist named Sun Ra(who really used to perform, and speak like this), trying to start a new planet (or mythology), for Black People, based on budget Egyptian costumes, sci-fi lyricism, and Jazz music.

    At one point the agents of the Overseer(the anti-Sun Ra, whose name is a plantation reference), capture Ra, and incapacitate him by tying him up, and making him listen to...horror of horrors... Big Band music...

    If nothing else it's got an Awesome soundtrack, in fact performances by Sun Ra, and his band, puncuate most scenes, making it a wierd combo of performance, and sc-fi (think Nashvillle, about one guy, bad) but not "blacksploitation", which referes to films, made by whites, about and staring blacks with an emphasis on stereotypes, but little to no real political or social content like "Shaft" , or "Dolemite" ,"The Mack", or the best "Coffy", this is more like "Sweet Sweetbacks' Badass Song"...or "The Spook Who Stood By The Door", which are scincere and genuine documents of there time, both pretty bad too.

    But the best of the bad, is "Space Is The Place" it has all the stereotypes you find in blacksploitation films of the 70s, but pushed to absurd, mythic, and mystic levels.

    Drunk: My man, what's happenin?
    Sun Ra: Everything is happenin.
    Drunk: What is this... I mean what... where am I? Who is you?
    Sun Ra: I am everything, and nuthin.
    Drunk: Nuthin? Well you betta tell me about this nuthin stuff, cause, uh, I need a job. I... I don't know what to do.
    Sun Ra: What have you been doin lately?
    Drunk: Uh huh uh, nuthin, really, nuthin.
    Sun Ra: How long have you been doing nuthin?
    Drunk: Quite some time. Quite some time.
    Sun Ra: You must be an expert at it.
    Drunk: Got my B.A., ya see.
    Sun Ra: We'll hire you to do that.
    Drunk: How much I get paid, man?
    Sun Ra: Nuthin.
    Drunk: Nuthin? NUTHIN? I got to have sumthin so I can get me anotha bottle. I can't go for that shit!
  • February 10, 2008
    I really dont understand the Synopsis...
  • January 12, 2008
    Sun ra is a genius!!!!!!!!
  • March 18, 2007
    Sun Ra and the intergalactic myth-science arkestra, an avant-garde progressive jazz band from the 70's made this wondrful little film. it's not exactly good, it's not exactly heavy hitting cinema, but it is a unique and entertaining movie worth a look no matter who you are. I SAY...( read more) WATCH IT!!!
  • July 11, 2006
    filmed in oakland california.
  • June 20, 2006
    If you have had enough of this world Space is the Place.
  • June 6, 2006
    Sun Ra with a joint is an all-night laugh trip. The electric pink hair and the egyptian wardobe killed me.

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Space Is The Place Trivia


  • "the universe is a massive place beyond anyones imagination, if we were the only ones, it would be in awful waste of space"  Answer »
  • In the film adaptation of RENT, what is the name of the place where Maureen holds her protest?  Answer »
  • Which movie has that quote: the universe is bigger than any place you know.. if there is not another ways of life, what a great waste of space.  Answer »
  • In the movie Tron, what is the place called?  Answer »

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