Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe is a 1991 Canadian science fiction film written and directed by Damian Lee, starring Jesse Ventura, Sven-Ole Thorsen and Marjorie Bransfield.
Ventura plays an extraterrestrial cop seeking to protect a child prodigy from his father, a fellow alien who has virginally conceived him with a human woman to solve the advanced equation that will grant him absolute powers.
While en route to meet Maxie, a friend of Sonia's, Abraxas disables his Answer Box in disgust when the Finders order him to kill Tommy.
At Maxie's, Abraxas and Sonia grow closer due to their shared goal of protecting Tommy, developing romantic feelings for each other.
Although Finder Command are willing for Abraxas to return to Sargacia for his next assignment, he decides to stay behind on Earth with Sonia and Tommy in case anyone attempts to exploit the Culmator again.
[7] Jerry Levitan, a lawyer who was trying to break into the film industry, was cast on short notice in Los Angeles, where he was visiting companies to pitch a legal comedy he had written as a vehicle for himself.
[3] The voice of Secundus' computer is performed by Moses Znaimer, a Toronto TV owner who helped finance Rose & Ruby's move into feature films a few years prior.
[5] The town of Thornbury and its surroundings, where both Lee and Mitchell had homes, provided the main locations, as its scenic views came at a much lower price tag than Toronto.
[4] Additional scenes were shot two hours away in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, at places such a bar called The Network and a former factory on Victoria Street.
[3] Due to the filming dates, much of the shoot took place in strong winds, with temperatures dipping as low as minus 30 and nights lasting about 14 hours, requiring holes to be cut into solid ice to stage some sequences.
[11] The leading actors were lodged in upscale apartments surrounding the picturesque Georgian Bay, which went a long way towards compensating for the harsh climate.
Despite Thornbury being a conservative Presbyterian town that did not much care for the agitation brought by a film crew, wrestling's large popularity in Canada guaranteed Ventura a warm welcome.
[16] On August 11, 2011, the comedy team from Mystery Science Theater 3000, RiffTrax, released a version of Abraxas with an overlaid track of jokes making fun of the movie.
[9] The BBC's RadioTimes Guide to Science-Fiction decreed that "[a]side from a lot of grunting, fighting and laser-gun shoot-outs in snowy landscapes, there's little on offer to either engage or entertain in this Canadian-made time-waster".
[17] VideoHound's Sci-Fi Experience assessed that although "a few camp touches (like James Belushi's cameo) indicate nobody should take it too seriously", the film is "mainly two burly, gravel-voiced bruisers pummeling each other.
[19] James O'Neill, author of the book Sci-Fi on Tape, dismissed the film as a "[p]itiful, would-be actioner Ventura desperately tries to save".
[20] The film has earned notice for its saxophone-heavy smooth jazz score by Carlo Lopes, which has been deemed highly inappropriate for a work falling into the action genre.