Space Sweepers

"2092, the space sweep begins!"

2021 2h 16m KO

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 1,191

DramaFantasyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When the crew of a space junk collector ship called The Victory discovers a humanoid robot named Dorothy that's known to be a weapon of mass destruction, they get involved in a risky business deal which puts their lives at stake.

“2092, the space sweep begins!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Song Joong-ki
Tae-ho
Kim Tae-ri
Captain Jang
Yoo Hai-jin
Bubs (voice)
Jin Sun-kyu
Tiger Park
Richard Armitage
James Sullivan / The CEO of UTS
Kim Moo-yul
Kang Hyun-woo
Park Ye-rin
Dorothy / Kang Kot-nim
Oh Ji-yul
Kim Su-ni

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jo Sung-hee
Writers: Jo Sung-hee, Yoon Seung-min, Yoo-kang Seo-ae
Languages: Danish, Russian, Tagalog, French, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean
Countries: South Korea

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 0% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 9 languages: Danish, Russian, Tagalog, French, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jo Sung-hee, shot by Byun Bong-sun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kim Tae-seong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nam Na-young shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri and Yoo Hai-jin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "2092, the space sweep begins!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jo Sung-hee directs. Byun Bong-sun behind the camera. Kim Tae-seong scores. Nam Na-young cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in South Korea. Dialogue in Danish, Russian, Tagalog, French, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 0% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 5 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 9 languages: Danish, Russian, Tagalog, French, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Arabic, Korean.
4Directed by Jo Sung-hee, shot by Byun Bong-sun. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Kim Tae-seong. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nam Na-young shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri and Yoo Hai-jin carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "2092, the space sweep begins!".
9IMDB entry: tt12838766 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "android", "space colony", "space opera", "space adventure".
11Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Byun Bong-sun
Original score: Kim Tae-seong
Editing: Nam Na-young
Production design: Jang Geun-yeong
Costume design: Kwak Jung-ae
Makeup / hair: Kim Do-hee
VFX supervisor: Jung Sung-jin
Sound: Gang Hye-yeong
Runtime: 136 min · 2h 16m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $21,000,000
Box office: $24,571
Return: 0% of budget
Original language: KO
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Space Sweepers (2021)

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Jo Sung-hee

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What people are saying

Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한2021-02-06
★ 9/10
"Space Sweepers" is South Korea's first-ever space science fiction show. For their first venture into space, they did not disappoint and made sure audiences were awed by the show's deep story and unforgettable space adventure. Space Sweepers is lightyears better from recent Western space scifi shows. Story The story started out as a typical Western space scifi. Humanity encountered a life threatening situation and the only way out was up, out there in outer space. Slowly and perfectly the Korean signature in storytelling and plots surfaced up and it started to get very interesting. There was a grand or overarching story guiding Space Sweepers but they instead zoomed-in and told the story from a human perspective. This approach allowed them to tackle the questions from the vantage point of ordinary humans, attaching the audiences to the characters in ways not possible from a "bigger picture" method. A story about a crew of "Space Sweepers" but at the same time it was not about them. It is rare to see this type of story and storytelling in live-action movies considering the limited time available and yet they were able to flesh out the characters, presented a family relationship plots, questioned human moralities and ethics, and explored the notion about "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Acting/Cast The casting was excellent. Song Joong Ki, playing as "Tae Ho", and Kim Tae Ri, playing as "Captain Jang", are two popular and veteran Korean actors. They were joined in by Jin Seon Kyu as "Tiger Park", Yoo Hae Jin as the Robot, and the child actress Park Ye Rin as "Dorothy". Five actors who complimented each others' acting style enabled them to bring the story closer to the audience. Kim Tae Ri is best known from her 2016 movie "The Handmaiden" and the Netflix TV series "Mr. Sunshine" in 2018. Despite the huge jump from historical romance genre to a space scifi action and adventure, Kim Tae Ri has proven once again her talent in acting. She showed her character's strength and fierceness and yet behind it all she was caring and loving. Song Joong Ki is well known from his major role in the hugely popular 2016 TV series "Descendants of the Sun". He masterfully played his character, a man who lost his daughter in a tragedy and ended up as a sweeper of space debris to make his living. Throughout the movie, he showed perfectly the thoughts and goals of his character despite of what was in front of him. His emotions and expressions were in check, thus completing the aura of his character while at the same time letting the audience feel his sadness and difficult choices. Special mention is the child actress Park Ye Rin. She is technically a newbie in the industry, having only appeared as a guest in a 2020 TV series. Having thrown in a blockbuster film this early would have a huge challenge for her and yet she amazingly showed that she was born an actress. She played as "Dorothy", one of the key characters in this film. This being a space scifi, which means they had a lot of filming in front of green screens, Park Ye Rin was not distracted and was able to deliver her dialogues and interacted with her co-stars naturally. Oh, did I not say that she's only 7 years old? Production They did not shy away from giving this a budget. The superb visual effects, cgi, and editing, definitely placed this movie equal in rank with Western shows like "Star Trek" and "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" to name two. It was also a brilliant idea to bring in actors from different nationalities and to use their native languages. This is rarely done and is simply explained as some magic or technology like a "universal translator". But that's not where it ends … even though they have a "universal translator", they did not resorted to "English" or "Korean" as a "universal language". They showed all directors in the world how to properly portray different languages even if there is a "universal translator" available. That deserves a huge mention especially for a show which concerns multiple nationalities, languages, and cultures--the planet Earth. The flow of the story was not broken even though the characters were speaking different languages. Everything was flowing smoothly, this is how it actually will be like if "universal translators" become a reality. Well done! Conclusion While this is a space science fiction film, the story was about you and me, being a human, and the relationships we build in each of our adventures. This is what "Space Sweepers" was about. It is about you and me. Our humanity. Our frailties. The challenges we face every single day and how to ultimately triumph (or not). Can you guess how many languages were spoken and nationalities represented in "Space Sweepers"? ------- Originally posted on my blog under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 International License.

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