Two alternative food researchers (Farrah Fawcett and Kirk Douglas) stationed in the rings off Saturn work in romantic and professional bliss until their perfect lives are disrupted by the intrusion of Benson (Harvey Keitel), sent to speed up the scientists' work. But Fawcett's looks and charm ensnare the captain, creating a tense threesome. Or is it foursome' Keitel's homicidal and lusty robot, Hector, also falls for Fawcett, and when Fawcett spurns both Keitel and his robot, the two scientists find themselves running for their lives.

Filmed in the years after George Lucas's STAR WARS captured audience's imaginations with its gutsy adventure, SATURN 3 doesn't have the subtlety or nerve-ripping horror of Ridley Scott's ALIEN but does use devices from ALIEN and other noteworthy films to create an outer-space thriller for sci-fi fans. Readers of Martin Amis will be interested to see the novelist's skills displayed in his first screenplay.