STARRING:
Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon,
Darlene Fleugel, Sybil Danning
1980, 104 Minutes, Directed by: Jimmy T Murakami
Description:Roger Corman's belated entry into the '70s sci-fi craze
with a script by John Sayles (his third for Corman, including 1978's Piranha).
The story, lifted wholesale from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954), finds
the dictator Sador (John Saxon) threatening the planet of Akira. Its pacifist
inhabitants are no match for Sador's devastating weapon, the Stellar Converter,
but young Shad (Richard Thomas) decides to fight back. Borrowing the ship of
notorious mercenary Zed the Corsair, he recruits a band of mercenaries, each of
whom has a personal reason to join the fight. Among them are a lizard-like
humanoid (Morgan Woodward), an improbable space cowboy (George Peppard), a
zaftig female warrior (Sybil Danning), and brooding killer-for-hire Gelt (Robert
Vaughn, reprising his Magnificent Seven role).
Oh, and those spaceships? Designed by Titanic director James Cameron.-
Amazon.com
B-grade movie producer legend Roger Corman brings us ... well, a
B-movie.
Wedding the Seven Samurai with
Star Wars and
giving us a movie with television actors long-forgotten (anybody
remember the guy who played John Boy Walton?), a pin-up girl who
plays a Valkyrie with enormous breasts and a costume to match
(truly a joy to behold!) and alien invaders bleeding green ooze. Surprisingly the special
effects aren't all that cheap or bad - must have been one of his more expensive
productions.
Fun in only the way a
B-grade movie cashing in on the then sci-fi craze can be . . .
Sci-Fi Movie Page Pick:Can you say hormonal
imbalance?
Pure B-movie material
as has-been television stars battle it out with invading aliens with green blood.
One of exploitation producer Roger Corman's most expensive efforts, Battle
Beyond the Stars is worth the price of a rental only to see the incredible outfit
worn by busty Sybil Danning . . .
Description: Roger Corman's belated entry into the '70s sci-fi craze
with a script by John Sayles (his third for Corman, including 1978's Piranha).
The story, lifted wholesale from Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954), finds
the dictator Sador (John Saxon) threatening the planet of Akira. Its pacifist
inhabitants are no match for Sador's devastating weapon, the Stellar Converter,
but young Shad (Richard Thomas) decides to fight back. Borrowing the ship of
notorious mercenary Zed the Corsair, he recruits a band of mercenaries, each of
whom has a personal reason to join the fight. Among them are a lizard-like
humanoid (Morgan Woodward), an improbable space cowboy (George Peppard), a
zaftig female warrior (Sybil Danning), and brooding killer-for-hire Gelt (Robert
Vaughn, reprising his Magnificent Seven role).