Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

Director:

Jimmy T. Murakami

Writers:

John Sayles (story) &
Anne Dyer (story) ...

Release Date:

13 November 1980 (West Germany)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A battle beyond time, beyond space.

Plot:

Seven futuristic mercenaries are assembled to defend a helpless farm colony from an evil overlord.

Plot Keywords:

Outer Space | Mercenary | Mad Scientist | Spacecraft | Psychotronic

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Richard Thomas	...	Shad
Robert Vaughn	...	Gelt
John Saxon	...	Sador
George Peppard	...	Cowboy
Darlanne Fluegel	...	Nanelia
Sybil Danning	...	Saint-Exmin
Sam Jaffe	...	Dr. Hephaestus
Jeff Corey	...	Zed
Morgan Woodward	...	Cayman
Marta Kristen	...	Lux
Earl Boen	...	Nestor 1
John D. Gowans	...	Nestor 2 (as John Gowens)
Steve Davis	...	Quopeg
Lawrence Steven Meyers	...	Kelvin 1 (as Larry Meyers)
Lara Cody	...	Kelvin 2

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (2005, DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Norway:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 (1989) (uncut version) | Finland:K-12 (1980) (cut version)

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

Not only are the effects re-used in Space Raiders (1983), but the entire James Horner score is used as well.

Quotes:

[Saint-Exmin has bested Shad and Nell in a dogfight]
Saint-Exmin: The Valkyrie are great warriors. In our youth we must leave home, and fight in as many battles as possible, until we have proven ourselves.
Shad: Well, you've proven yourself to be a pain in the neck. So why don't you just...
Saint-Exmin: Because, all the same, I wish to join your war against the Malmori.
Shad: [exasperated] My PLANET is in danger, and you're playing TAG with me! Your ship is like a toy; you have no firepower.
Saint-Exmin: It is one of the fastest in the universe.
Shad: Still, the Varda teach us that "swift rain is little rain."
[He breaks it off with her]
Nell: Pretty harsh, weren't you?
Shad: You saw her. She was PLAYING with me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Superior Firepower: The Making of 'Aliens' (2003) (V)

Lotta bang for little bucks

Now this is interesting. The movie is another producer's spin on Star Wars; Star Wars obviously being made by George Lucas. The name 'George Lucas' being synonymous with 'epic-scale effects budget.' Battle Beyond the Stars was produced by Roger Corman. The name 'Roger Corman' being synonymous with 'shoe-string budget.'

Let me break from my usual critique style to go over some of the plot - Sador (John Saxon) feels the need to conquer, and he's so powerful that he decides to conquer an essentially helpless (not to mention useless) civilization. But instead of conquering, he courteously shows up to conveniently schedule his conquest a week from now in case they want to mount some sort of defense. (Where's Arnold when you need him? 'I'll be back!')

In response, Shad takes a road trip (space trip?) in Nell the only ship on the planet to round up some misfits (mercenaries--same thing) who happen to be in the neighborhood. Everyone is interestingly (clichély) unique and has their own reasons for wanting to fight, not to mention the actors have a wide range of performances ranging from sliced ham to frighteningly Shakespearian seriousness. And, ah to hell with it, you get the idea. Point is, I have every reason to really hate the plot, hate the characters (Good God, I've hated characters for much much less), hate this movie . . . but I dunno, I don't really mind it.

Through all its narrative faults, Battle Beyond the Stars happens to hit the right goofball mixture of elements from a surprisingly good score by young 'Jamie Horner' to notably weird spaceships and decent effects (for an early 80s low-budget flick) to wacky and tame characters that somehow summons a funky B-movie charm. For the life of me, I can't hate this movie despite the plot that begs me to bash it to oblivion with the Stellar Converter.

The spaceship, Nell, proved to be the highpoint of the film . . . not because of the ship's design, rather because of its personality (no really.)

I've always wanted to see a spaceship with an attitude (the Star Trek equivalent of Kit from Knight Rider?) A perfect counterpoint to the naivety of Shad, flawlessly delivered by Richard Thomas. If I weren't constantly laughing at the characters cluelessness, I'd want to slap that kid around, and I'd sure as hell wouldn't want to charge him with saving my planet. I'd like to die with my dignity, thank you.

Battle Beyond the Stars has a number of positive attributes (especially considering the budget and experience of most people involved on the film at the time), it has a number of reasons to be proud, and it most definitely has a number of charms that surpass its truckload of flaws. I consider Battle Beyond the Stars the spending benchmark for all sci-fi flicks. I mean, if Corman can entertain me with Hollywood pocket change, Lucas, the Wachowskis, and the other heavy spenders better blow my socks off with their ungodly sized budgets . . .