Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

thebestceleb Yes! It was a low budget film and it was my very first. Although I did not know who "Sun Ra" was at the time - I did enjoy working with him. I will always remember his very words to me during the filming of the nightclub scene (in which I had a small speaking role). We were taking a lunch break and I had decided to sit at the piano and hit some piano keys, just for fun. Ra came walking by and glancing over to me he said, "Don't play what you know - Play what you don't know"! I am not a professional musician, but always remember these words when playing an instrument. I was very happy to see that this film made it to DVD a few years ago.

Matthew Jaworski 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 such 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...

firewatr I was credited as 2nd unit director on this film. Ra was a calm, sort of surreal Buddha through the whole thing, even one time when the script called for him to be tied-up in a chair and menaced by gangsters. During the many hours it took to get this scene on film, Ra just quietly sat tied-up in that chair, so quietly that a couple of times I went over to make sure he was still breathing. He said he was fine, just relaxing on "another plain". Near the end of the shoot, we had a nightclub scene with about 70 extras and a chorus of girls on stage. They were supposed to dance to a tune that Ra insisted on playing live on camera with his band. I had been bugging him unsuccessfully for days as to what he was going to play so that the girls could rehearse.On the day scheduled to shoot this scene, I nervously reminded Ra again about the music. Ra smiled, casually produced some old vinyl albums done by other bands and a portable record player, and suggested that I play them for the chorus to see what they liked. I did, and they caught fire with one of the tunes. Ra said "Fine. You got any music manuscript paper?" I was ready for him. I did.And so, during lunch break, Ra listened to the record, transposed the instrumental lead sheets to paper for his band with a few of his own alterations, and we choreographed and shot it after lunch.For my money, Ra was a fine musician...extremely cool and really "there".

Joe Castleman (Gyrofrog) I can't help but think that Vxf111 is either joking, or (unfortunately) did not know who Sun Ra was before viewing the film. Yes, the film was certainly produced with a low budget, and it might not be of much interest to those who aren't fans of, or at least interested in, Sun Ra.Sun Ra maintained that he was from Saturn, although historical documents note that he was born Herman Blount (or Poole) in Birmingham, AL. Sun Ra was a first-rate pianist, arranger, and composer, and worked with Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. He formed his own big band, the Arkestra, during the 1950s in Chicago. This ensemble was completely unlike any other big band, as it incorporated elements of Egyptian mythology, science fiction, and other exotica and esoterica (those familiar with Earth, Wind, and Fire and Parliament-Funkadelic should take note). Sun Ra was also an early proponent of electronic instruments in jazz.The film "Space Is The Place" is part science fiction and part musical documentary. A comparison could also be made to the "blaxploitation" films of the 1970s. The story centers around Sun Ra's return to Earth after an extended absence, and focuses on his concern for the fate of humanity and African-Americans in particular. All of this is infused with his mythological outlook. This certainly makes Sun Ra an "interesting character" but he was very serious about what he did and what he said. If any of this makes you the least bit curious about Sun Ra then I would recommend the film, which is available on videocassette.