If Alien (1980) is my "ten stars" and Doomsday Machine (1972) is my "zero stars," then Cosmos: War of the Planets -- as result of it being ever-so-slightly more competently made than Doomsday Machine -- should be "one star," but I pushed it to "two stars" for the nostalgia value. However, regardless of my youthful, UHF-TV softspot, make no mistake: Cosmos -- produced and released quickly in 1977 to cash in on Star Wars -- is an absolute mess across the disciplines of directing, cinematography, editing, costuming, and effects. Thus, as for the next four films in the series (? !), all are one-star efforts: and this one is NOT a retitle of Cosmos: War of the Planets, as oft-critically opined.
Oh, yes. After Cosmos: War of the Planets, Alfonzo Brescia returned with his "Empire Strikes Back" (aka, Part II) in the form of Battaglie negli spazi stellar (aka Battle in Interstellar Space), but it was given a new, stateside title because it sounds suspiciously like "Battlestar Galactica." And since that was Glen Larson's cheap-jack Lucas rip, that makes this a Star Wars rip twice removed.
You never heard of or seen this second film (out of the five, total) because Al's "Star Wars II" suffered from poor theatrical distribution and a weak reissue via home video and TV syndication (unlike the debut film, Cosmos: War of the Planets, which streams on Smart TV platforms in 2023!). Then, with all the alternate titling that plagues European films as they're distributed to the international markets, spacesploitation buffs believed the almost-impossible-to-find Battle of the Stars was Cosmos -- with a new title. It's not helping when the main cast of familiar Italian actors of John Richardson (he's "Capt. Fred Hamilton" in Cosmos; "Capt. Mike Leyton," here), Gianno Garko, Malisa Longo, Antonio Sabato, West Buchanan, and Yanti Somer -- with most of their supporting cast -- appear in the subsequent films of the "series" as different characters (well, they're the same character-types, but with different names), adding to the continuity confusion.
Regardless, it's not the same film.
Battle of the Stars is an entirely "new" film that cannibalizes Cosmos for stock footage -- and all the costumes and sets return. As is the case with most "sequels" (Alien vs. Aliens and Mad Max vs. The Road Warrior being the exceptions to the rule), Battle is a just remake/reimage of Cosmos -- with a little script tweak: Instead of Earthlings traveling to the planet-home of the evil computer, this time: the rogue planet (or was it an asteroid; don't care) without-an-orbit-and-upset-sentient-being running it comes to Earth (from the orbit of Ganymed, Jupiter's moon) -- which was the plot of Margheriti's Battle of the Planets from his '60s "Gamma One" series. Hey, er, uh, what happened to the ship with its computer, "The Wiz," possessed by the alien computer in Cosmos '77? Is that cleared up in Part III? Nope, that plotline is done and gone.
Look, as someone who has seen Cosmos: War of the Planets a few times (oh, the nostalgia of stupid youth): there is no "sport fishing on Earth" scene and there's no androgynous, platinum blonde 12-year-old alien decked out in a silver chain mail spacesuit helping the Earthlings with an ersatz Marksman-H training remote Jedi-ball. But there is in Battle of the Stars.
So, yeah, it's the same effect shots, same sets, same actors, even the same situations (that 2001-inspired space station repair, again, and that sentient alien computer set, again). But it's a different film. It's not up for debate: it's two different film, space ace.
Other inept, Italian-made "Star Wars" films to enjoy are The Humanoid, Star Crash, and the even-more inept than Cosmos: Escape from Galaxy III, aka Star Crash II. So, when it comes to Italian space epics, go to the master: Mario Bava and his late '60s delight (that Alien borrowed a LOT from), Planet of the Vampires -- that rates "ten stars" (in 1960s years; in 2023-years, it nets "eight stars"). If you look under "Critic Reviews" and search for "B&S About Movies," I offer a deeper examination of all five films in Alfonzo Brescia "Star Wars" series -- but opted to post a special "User Review" to call out this film that, again, many junk sci-fi fans didn't know existed, because they thought it was a repack-retitle of Cosmos.
