It is possible, although unlikely, that you have heard of or seen the movie Earth Star Voyager. It is a movie released back in 1988 by Disney. It was a Disney Sunday Movie. Remember those? At that same time we also got the Disney classic Flight of the Navigator. I was only 12 at the time, so I really enjoyed the movie.
Now keep in mind that Earth Star Voyager and Flight of the Navigator are both movies you probably won’t enjoy unless you have some kind of nostalgic attachment to the movie or you’re a kid. I still enjoy watching Earth Star Voyager, so I’m certain that some of you will still enjoy watching this movie.
Earth Star Voyager, in a nutshell, is about a group of teenagers/kids that are sent to another solar system for colonization during the year 2088. These teenagers are highly skilled, educated and trained individuals. This is in an effort to help preserve the human race as humans have brought the future Earth to the brink of destruction. The movie is about this journey, adversaries they face and their adventures. I don’t want to give away too much more in case you decide to rent it.
There are two different versions of the movie floating around. There is the original version is about 240 minutes long. This is the version that originally aired on TV. There is also a condensed version of the movie that was used for the VHS/Betamax release.
Unfortunately renting it is the only way you’ll see this movie. That is because today the movie is STILL unavailable to purchase! I have made several requests to Disney on their site, but don’t see any sign that they will release the movie anytime soon. Chances are you may not even be able to rent this movie as it is very hard to come by.
So you may ask yourself, “how do you get this movie?” I have seen a few VHS to DVD transfers available on E-bay, but this is rare as it is considered a bootleg. I have gotten myself a decent copy of this movie, thanks to many torrents floating around out there, but would love to purchase a copy of it. I don’t condone using torrents for movies, but when you can’t even find it at the local movie rental store, what can you do?
I found this interesting little tidbit while reading about this movie on Wikipedia:
Earth Star Voyager fans seem to find available copies of the show either by torrent programs or private sellers. However, many agree they do not wish to have a pirated copy of the show.
While significant numbers of notes from fans since 2002 (and many more showing up as early as 1996) show up constantly asking why this show has not been released, Disney does not seem to offer any desire or effort to make this available as a release at any point in the future.
There have even been cases (while Disney denies such conversations) where Disney Movie Sales Associates have said the only place fans should even consider hope in obtaining the show, is on bootlegged media.
Of the bootleg versions available, the lesser quality media has seemed to disappear over the years, while they do occasionally pop up from time to time. Of the higher quality versions, there still seems to be two different versions available. While both contain the entire broadcast movie, one version boasts a complete movie minus the commercials and introductions -starring the former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner.
So in conclusion, I recommend watching this movie if you ever get the chance. And to Disney, please release this movie on DVD or even VHS for that matter!! I WILL buy it!
Hi, what I do is check secondhand stores & the internet for ex-rental vhs copies. The rental version is cut short but until Disney open their eyes to the demand for this classic film the ex-rental is the legit copy available. Thank You & Have An Amazing Day.
I use to work at Walt Disney World, and later Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida (WDFAFL). I remember this movie quite well, on TV when it came out. The main ship in the movie was called the “Vanguard Challenger”, under command of the infamous Admiral Beasley. He was patroling the Earth/Moon area and needed the young recruits’ ship to complete his weapons system and plan. He had his own hidden agenda to wipe off old humanity from the Earth, and wanted to start over with a new, purer civilization. But the young recruits rebelled, and took back their ship and stopped the renegade Admiral.
Disney wanted to do more sci-fi, after “The Black Hole” movie, and “Tron” (1982), but it was getting expensive at the time. Disney Studios spent $20 million dollars on “The Black Hole”, and that was considered big money for a Disney movie production, in those years.
I think you’re a bit confused. The Vanguard Explorer was Captain Brown’s ship and it was damaged when Vance tried to take over the ship. Admiral Beasley’s ship was the Triton Corsair. The main ship that the action took place on was the Earth Star Voyager, hence the name of the mini series.
This was one of my favorite films as a kid. And yes I also would love to see it on DVD. I used to have an old VHS copy that I recorded of of ABC back when it first aired, but that tape has long since worn out from extended use.
What’s sad is that with today’s technology, such as Blu-ray, Disney could digitally remaster it and put the whole thing on one disc. And add bonus material like the intro bits with Michael Eisner and Jason Michas.
Disney, if you’re reading this by chance, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Earth Star Voyager. Now would be the perfect time to release it on DVD/Blu-ray.