Space Cop


Space Cop is a 2016 American science-fiction action comedy film directed, produced, and edited by Jay Bauman and Mike Stoklasa, and written by Stoklasa. The film stars Rich Evans, Stoklasa, Jocelyn Ridgely, and Bauman. Produced and distributed by Red Letter Media, the film had been in production for at least seven years dating back to 2008.
The film was released on Blu-ray on January 12, 2016 and on digital download on January 30, 2016.

Premise

Space Cop, a highly disgruntled, impulsive and destructive police officer from the future of 2058, accidentally travels back in time to 2007 after a pursuit through space causes him to travel through a time rift. He then spends 8 years as a member of the Milwaukee police force.
After encountering two alien criminals he comes across during a heist at a cryonic storage facility, he is teamed up with a comparatively more methodical and by-the-book police officer from the past who is accidentally unfrozen in the present. They are tasked with apprehending a criminal known as the Gold Digger known for stealing exclusively gold-based items.
However, when they discover that the Gold Digger is in fact a part of a much bigger plan effected by alien lifeforms, they must defeat the evil aliens who threaten the present and the future.

Cast

A documentary-style video released on the RedLetterMedia channel on YouTube in 2020 sheds light on many aspects of the production that had heretofore been largely unknown, featuring extensive behind the scenes material and going into detail on the building and execution of various sets and scenes. As a general rule, only one larger set could be built at any time due to the physical restrictions of the facilities available to production. Additionally, while some digital effects usually related to simple green screens were used, decidedly practical movie tricks also came into play on several occasions. For example, in one scene featuring a pot of boiling water on a stove, the boiling effect had in fact been generated by Rich Evans blowing air through tubes attached to the pot's bottom due to the stove being broken.

Release

The film was released straight to Blu-ray on January 12, 2016 and on digital download on January 30, 2016.

Critical reception

Mark Varley of Moviepilot wrote that, despite the filmmakers wanting "to make a film that was tongue in cheek...Space Cop was boring and unfunny". Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed wrote that the film is "a neat, if flawed, mash up of genres reserved for select movie fans that appreciate this kind of comedy, or have been loyal followers of the Red Letter Media team for years".