Battle Beyond the Stars

Let's pretend we've never heard of Roger Corman nor The Magnificent Seven etc.

As a kid, that was me. I heard about this movie through my friends, when I was about 9 or 10. To us, this was another great space epic, along the lines of Star Wars. It had good effects, plenty of laser blasts and bad guy with a massive ship that could destroy planets. Awesome!

Many years later, I bought this on DVD and, to my pleasant surprise, found that it hadn't aged too badly. The low budget is very apparent but the movie is slickly edited such that it perhaps feels richer that it should. This is however it's biggest drawback because the character development is poor in places and the stars play second-fiddle to the ships and the costumes they inhabit. Gelt and Space Cowboy are perhaps the most fleshed-out of the pack, the remainder either being weak or there to make up the numbers.

The true star of the show is James Horner. It's a great score and all the best moments of Star Trek 2 are audible here first.

It's an inventive film, even if the invention is mainly facsimile, and an entertaining one. In the archives of sci-fi, there's no contest between this and its obvious "raison d'être" influence, as to which film is the better, but it's a noteworthy addition from the same era, what I consider to be the golden-age of special effects.

The evil tyrant Sador (John Saxon) and his army of the mutants Malmori threatens the peaceful Akira farmers of the planet Akir with his Stellar Converter weapon and tells that he will return to collect their harvest. The former Akira warrior Zed (Jeff Corey) advises that they should hire mercenaries to protect them from Sador and offers his spaceship to seek them out. However, the Akira can only pay with food and lodging. The young Shad (Richard Thomas) offers to pilot the ship with the computer Nell to look for mercenaries. He meets Dr. Hephaestus (Sam Jaffe) and his beautiful daughter Nanelia (Darlanne Fluegel) in a space station where he unsuccessfully tries to find weapon. Nanelia comes with Shad and he teams up with the earthling Cowboy (George Peppard), who was going to deliver weapons to a planet that was destroyed by Sador and offers to give them to Shad. Then he meets five clones that share the mind of one entity called Nestor that join him. Shad also recruits the lonely and wealthy assassin Gelt (Robert Vaughn) that accepts the proposed payment. Then the sexy and annoying Valkyrie warrior St. Exmin (Sybil Danning) joins the group since she wants to battle. Shad also recruits Cayman (Morgan Woodward) that wants to kill Sador and does not require any payment. They return to Akir and Sador also returns to attack the planet. Who will win the battle?

"Battle Beyond the Stars" is an enjoyable cult movie with a story based on "Seven Samurai" and its remake "The Magnificent Seven" but in space. Inclusive the Akira is a tribute to Akira Kurosawa. "Battle Beyond the Stars" reuses material from other films ("Space Raiders", "Starquest II", "Dead Space" and "Bachelor Party"); the acting is only reasonable; and the special effects, sets and costumes are poor. But who cares? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mercenários das Galáxias" ("Mercenaries of the Galaxies")

Roger Corman was executive producer for this enjoyable and wonderfully campy sci-fi version of `The Magnificent Seven'. It even features Robert Vaughn as the same lost-his-nerve gunslinger he played in the original! John Sayle's script is loaded with fine humor. Director Jimmy T. Murakami obviously knew his film history, since the planet being attacked is called `Kira' -- a tribute to director Akira Kurasowa of `Seven Samurai', the inspiration for the original of this interesting trio of films.

Richard Thomas, star of TV's rustic melodrama `The Waltons', plays the brave young man who leaves his besieged home world to find mercenaries to fight against planet-conquering John Saxon. George Peppard plays `Cowboy', a space-going gunrunner with a Western fixation (another tribute to `Mag 7'). Sybil Danning is a feisty female warrior with a costume that defies description.

The special effects look a bit dated now, but that isn't the film's fault. Sam Jaffe (`The Day the Earth Stood Still') has a great part. Darlene Flugel is the attractive romantic interest for Thomas. James Horner's rousing score is a golden plus. When the movie was first released, sci-fi fans considered it a rip-off because it was released between `Star Wars - A New Hope' and `The Empire Strikes Back' -- tough competition.

Watch this movie as a double feature with `The Magnificent Seven' and you're guaranteed a good time. I've done, and it works just fine . ..

Let me know if it works for you, okay?

Of all the post "Star Wars" films, this one is decidedly the best of its ilk. The dependable storyline, stalwart acting and sometimes humorous special effects (LOVE the female-designed spaceship!) all make for an entertaining film. For all the flak it has received (even getting a "Dog of the Week" label from Siskel and Ebert upon its initial release), it has for all intents and purposes kept itself in the memories of all who have seen it and is most definitely a fantasy that is worthy of seeing again and again.

I really enjoy these types of films. When they work it's because of their sheer flamboyance. They aren't afraid to steal from any source, EVERYTHING goes into the pot as long as it's got sparkle, splash, and action. This particular film works real well and I absolutely fell for it when I heard a phrase of music lifted directly from "Alexander Nevsky". It's pure, simple (repeat, simple) fun. The producers of "Battlefield Earth" could have learned something about making entertaining SF movies from repeated viewings of "Battle Beyond the Stars."