I was born in 84 and I remember an old movie, it might have been a series, that was about a group of kids who woke up on a spaceship and I think the parents didn’t make it so it’s just the kids. They have adventures including going to a planet (or another ship?) where people would fight in an arena with wristbands that would glow and shoot out when they put their arm out. I remember they find an adult (I remember he had black hair) who tries to help them out and he fights for his life in the arena against the armband person… That’s really all I remember.
Ender’s Game (2013)
It’s probably not “Space Cases” but I’ll put it out there anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Cases
@GG lol Did you just mention a totally random movie that is only related because it’s set in space? Ender’s Game doesn’t match almost at all.
@jennagain Thank but don’t think that’s it.
no, your description of the arena definitely brings EG to mind. but i was answering as i was running out the door, so i did miss your mention of the 80’s-90’s time frame.
I remembered they had gravity and the wristbands are definitely a big part of the fight. No floating around or guns.
This sounds really like Earth Star Voyager (1988) which was a 2 part movie (it was sort of a pilot, b. There was an older guy they found (originally with dark long hair and a beard but gets a major hair cut) who was stranded in the “junk belt”. The armband actually become a minor plot point since it was the dark haired man that either invented it or taught how it worked.
Here is the scene in question with the dark haired man fighting for the kids. Go to 1:30 and let the fight unfold. It gets used during the fight. Let it go on for a few minutes, it cuts away to other scenes during the fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDFF9sIT6jE
Another scene in the same video at 1:21:55 with another fight with the armband.
The only part in your whole post that doesn’t quite fit is that in Earth Star Voyager, the kids are selected straight from the academy for their intelligence, etc., since the ultimate aim is to colonize a planet 26 years away. So most are kids.
More info here.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095077/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Star_Voyager
I really hope this helps.
Solved. Thanks Alen! You hit the nail on the head! I remembered the title the moment I read it. I have this memory of them waking up from cryotubes in the beginning and realizing the adults are dead so I thought they were stranded but I guess that must be memories from another movie. Thanks so much!
Thanks Alen, and congrats on your first Solve!