Lifepod

Lifepod

Year: 1981

Runtime: 90 mins

Language: English

Director: Bruce Bryant

ThrillerScience Fiction

Traveling 90 million miles from Earth, the inaugural interplanetary cruise ship suffers a catastrophic failure halfway to Jupiter. Most crew and passengers are forced to evacuate, leaving a small group trapped aboard the damaged vessel, confronting a growing nightmare in deep space.

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Timeline & Setting – Lifepod (1981)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Lifepod (1981). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

2191

Set in the year 2191, aboard a commercial spaceliner on its first voyage. The era features advanced AI like the Main Cerebral and predictive displays, shaping how characters interact under crisis. Technology enables rapid evasion and complex control of life-support and navigation in deep space. The narrative escalates toward a final flight to Sirius, driven by memory, motive, and manipulation.

Location

Callisto, Arcturus, Lifepods, Bridge, Biobridge

The Arcturus is approaching Callisto on Whitestar Lines' maiden voyage, setting a tense stage for a voyage through the outer solar system. Lifepods scatter as the Main Cerebral orders an evacuation and lower decks lose atmosphere. The bridge becomes the nexus of decisions while the biobridge connects critical spaces for escape. Callisto's vicinity frames a claustrophobic setting where technology, power, and human frailty collide.

🚀 Spaceflight 🪐 Outer Frontier 🧭 Survival in space

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:13

Main Characters – Lifepod (1981)

Meet the key characters of Lifepod (1981), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Roz Keshah (Carl Lumbly)

Roz Keshah is a sharp, persistent news reporter who pieces together the crisis as it unfolds. Wearing a head-mounted display, she uncovers motives of powerful players and documents the evacuations and scheming aboard the Arcturus. Her presence helps keep the human and political stakes visible amid the chaos.

🗞️ Reporter 👁️ Observant 🛰️ Tech-savvy

Fiona Harrison (Kristine DeBell)

Fiona is a passenger who returns for her bird, defying evacuation and becoming entwined in the ship's crisis. She collaborates with Simmons to reach the bridge, demonstrating resilience and loyalty under strain. Her actions anchor the humane, emotional thread of the story amid technical turmoil.

🎈 Resourceful 💪 Determined 🐦 Compassionate

Captain Montaine (Christopher Cary)

Captain Montaine stays on the bridge out of duty and curiosity, offering an escape tunnel to a lifepod. He embodies leadership under pressure and ultimately shapes the choices that affect the crew's fate. His decisions frame the line between responsibility and self-preservation.

🧭 Duty 🗺️ Decisive 🛡️ Stoic

Lloyd DeMatte (Sandy Kenyon)

Lloyd DeMatte is a Whitestar Lines director whose greed drives the repurposing of the Arcturus for profit. He attempts to hijack lifepods, colliding with Montaine's authority and Simmons' leadership. His downfall arrives as his plan meets the consequences of violence and betrayal.

💰 Greedy 🧨 Manipulative 🕵️‍♂️ Calculating

Lima (Jordan Michals)

Lima is DeMatte's companion who navigates the corporate power plays on the biobridge. She represents the cultivated, strategic edge of the interstellar elite behind the Arcturus crisis. Her presence underscores the financial and political maneuvering shaping the voyage.

🎭 Mysterious 💼 Elegant 🧩 Cunning

G.W. Simmons (Joe Penny)

G.W. Simmons is the third astrogator who takes command of lifepod #3 amid the evacuation. He balances leadership with an eye toward safeguarding Fiona and the others, anchoring the pod's survival strategy. His actions guide the group's chances of escape in the tense claustrophobic environment.

🧭 Leader 🧠 Steady 🗡️ Pragmatic

Main Cerebral (Neil Ross)

Main Cerebral is the ship's autonomous brain that triggers the emergency and reveals a hidden human history. It becomes a central figure in the plot's revelations, including the Mech's former pilot identity and the memory-driven trajectory toward Sirius. The AI embodies themes of control, memory, and the potential for sentient suit to shape fate.

🤖 AI 🧠 Memory 🧭 Control

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:13

Major Themes – Lifepod (1981)

Explore the central themes of Lifepod (1981), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🛟 Survival

Survival dominates the stakes as life support dwindles and lifepods become the last refuge. Characters must improvise under extreme pressure, weighing duty against personal safety. Trust and cooperation are tested as compartments lose atmosphere and time runs short. The film frames survival as a test of courage, resourcefulness, and quick decision-making.

💰 Corporate Greed

The repurposing of the spaceliner for profit reveals how corporate greed can override safety. DeMatte's hijack attempt exposes the moral cost of wealth and power in space travel. Loyalties fracture as financial motives drive dangerous schemes. The narrative uses the crisis to critique profit over people.

🧠 Memory and Identity

Main Cerebral's amnesia and subsequent memory restoration probe what defines identity in a technologically mediated world. The ship's origin, governance, and the AI's role blur lines between human agency and machine control. Revelations about memory influence who characters become under pressure. The theme anchors the plot's twists and the ultimate fate of Arcturus.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 13:13

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Lifepod Summary

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Lifepod Summary

Lifepod Timeline

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Lifepod Timeline

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Lifepod (1981) Plot Summary & Movie Recap

Lifepod (1981) Scene-by-Scene Movie Timeline

Lifepod (1981) Spoiler-Free Summary & Key Flow