Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

In the caverns of Mineworld a slave named Orin (Joe Colligan) toils mining crystals for their God Zygon (Anthony De Longis) to feed the Furnace of Life in exchange for food. While mining Orin comes across a mysterious sword which contains the image of an old man who tells that there is world above them and to find the blade after it disappears leaving only the hilt. With the exception of Orin's girlfriend Elan (Noelle North) the others dismiss the message as heresy as the one commandment is "never dig up, up is Hell". Orin and Elan escape the mines which reveals a technologically advanced processing facility and Zygon is in fact not a god before killing Elan. Orin Narrowly escapes to the surface and meets a crystal smuggler Dagg (Carmen Argenziano) and with his help he goes to look for the blade and free his people from Zygon.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is a 1985 South Korean animated space opera inspired by both the success of Star Wars as well as the early 80s revived interest in 3D. TV animator Steven Hahn owned a animation studio in Korea which had a hand in animated several U. S. produced films and TV shows and during the off season wanted to give his crew something to work on deciding a movie would be the best way to go. Contacting Jeffrey Scott who had written for many of Hahn's TV productions, Scott produced the screenplay Escape to the Stars which would eventually become Starchaser. Initially started in 1982 with its eye on a 1983 release date, the film ended up being delayed by two years from its intended 6 month production cycle due to issues involving the 3D process which took even longer due to the lengthy amount of time needed to coordinate between Hahn's American offices and the Korean animation studio. The film was eventually ready for release in 1985 where it was screened for many executives including Roy Disney of Walt Disney Animation who voiced his admiration for the project, but due to problems with distributor Atlantic Releasing who was going through financial struggles as well as the decreased interest in 3D to the point many theaters didn't have proper conditions for the format, Starchaser failed to gain much of a foothold and underperformed making $3 million against a $14 million budget. What critical reception the film did garner wasn't positive including from Siskel and Ebert who made negative comparisons to Star Wars and lamented the violence in the film (but you know, it was okay when Star Wars did it). Starchaser: The Legend of Orin certainly falls in line with many Star Wars clones of the time, but at the same time it's much better made than many of them still has enough to justify its existence.

From a purely visual standpoint Starchaser looks great, the fact that certain critics of the time said it barely looks above the level of a Saturday morning cartoon is one of the most brazen falsehoods I've ever heard because no Saturday morning cartoon ever looked this good. The movie was one of the first to mix 2D animation with 3D models with Bill Kroyer of Tron and eventual director of Ferngully responsible for handling the model work on many of the 3D assets such as Dagg's ship. The initial setup of Mineworld and its rule by theocratic dictatorship is one of the interesting points that helps differentiate it from Star Wars and while as it goes on we do see it drift closer and closer to Star Wars inspired tropes it's still well done enough that it's never boring and the beautiful animation and effective voice direction makes this a stronger example than many I've seen.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin owes much of its existence to Star Wars in that it wouldn't exist if not for George Lucas' groundbreaking film but while it borrows generously from Star Wars it's not without ideas or passion of its own. From an artistic and technical standpoint Starchaser not only looks great for its time but still holds up decades later. The plot does fall into pretty standard hero's journey/fantasy tropes but they're at least entertainingly done.

One question: why does the potential overlord of the entire universe walk around dressed like a Chippendale dancer?

This is one of the those movies you can't take too seriously. I happened to check it out from my local library on a whim, practically wore out their copy. I found my own copy a few years ago, and every once in a while I re-visit it. It's one of those guilty pleasures, sort of a "Star Wars Lite."

A final note. I read someone's review of this film where they said Dagg Dibrimi looked like a cross between Burt Reynolds and Han Solo. It's pretty common knowledge in Star Wars circles that George Lucas considered Reynolds to play Han Solo before deciding on Harrison Ford. If you ever wondered what it would have been like if the decision went the other way... well, now you won't have to ponder that anymore.

This film along with Wizards, Lord of the Rings, Fire and Ice, Heavy Metal & Heavy Metal 2000, Rock and Rule, Transformers the Movie and G.I. Joe The Movie are some of the finest non anime examples that were ever produced in the 1970's and '80's (and 2000 for Heavy Metal 2000). They simply don't make films like this anymore as I stated in my comments on Fire & Ice. This is the stuff I grew up with. I am a huge fan of animation in general and this is something that has captured my imagination for years on end, ever since I saw it. The movie does a lot of borrowing from Star Wars but has an excellent story to compliment the excellent animation. Originally, from what I've heard and seen on the posters, it was supposed to be in 3-D but, I never did get to see it in theatres. Too bad the video isn't actually in 3-D...that might have been cool..maybe if they ever put this baby out on DVD someday they'll have the 3-D presentation of the film. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing and this movie brings back a lot of good memories. It's nice to see that so many others hold the same memories for the film as I do.

-Daguon

I'll just echo the comments of the other reviewers; this one's a keeper. I first saw the previews for this film at a drive-in, but could never track it down until Showtime aired it a few years later.

People could call it a Star Wars knock off, and in some sense it is. But as far as knock offs go it's one of the best. But that's perhaps a little too unfair, because despite borrowing some minor themes from Star Wars it's largely an original film told via good animation.

Despite it being an animated film I wouldn't call it a children's film. Some sexuality is touched on, one of the characters swears every so often, and there is a fair amount of violence (though not too graphic) in the film.

I've heard that this film was originally supposed to be a 3-D experience (schedualed to ride the coat tails of an attempt to revitalize the 3-D genre in the early 80's), but it stands well on its own as a regular film.

There's nothing deep about this movie, but it's a good ride all the same. It's very hard to find nowadays. Myself I was able to get a rare VHS copy of it, but the transfer, though good, really doesn't do justice to this film. One can only hope that it'll see a DVD rerelease. And by that I mean a good DVD release, not one of those fly by night companies that transfers old used projector films onto DVD format. I mean a DVD transfer with all the works; remastered film and soundtrack. :-)

If you can find Starchaser, then go get it. It's worth the effort.

July 6th, 2005 update; DVD review;

Wow! After many years I finally own a crisp remastered copy of one of my favorite animated sci-fi films. Presented in widescreen format, the viewer is no longer denied the other third of the camera's frame, and can see the full image as it was meant to be seen. It is a vast improvement over the old KVC Home Video VHS release.

Additionally the film is presented in full Stereo Surround sound. Having said that the audio does hit a little hard , but it's mostly the sound effects that peak into the red, and not the dialogue nor music track.

"Starchaser; The Legend of Orin" should have shown to the major studios in the 80's what sci-fi animation was capable of had they given it a chance. The industry's only recently played catchup in the late 90's, and even then they're a day late and a dollar short.

"Starchaser" isn't the best film ever made, and "pays homage" to other sci-fi films, but is still a fun experience all the same. I hope all sci-fi and animation fans enjoy it as much as I.

I first saw Starchaser in 3D back in 1985 and for someone who grew up on the Star Wars trilogy I was hooked for life. A beautiful, heady mix of science-fiction, fantasy and all out action laced with humour, a little violence and excellent set-pieces Starchaser is lovingly assembled from the finest sources and has more love for it's source than the three prequels helmed by Lucas have shown. The story is straightforward: thousands of slaves mine crystals for robot overseers believing this to be the will of their God, Zygon. A young slave named Orin (superbly voiced by Joe Colligan) finds a glowing sword hilt buried in the mines that tells him of the forbidden world above and in an attempt to break free is taken under wing of surly smuggler Dagg Dibrimi.

Taking it's influence from Star Wars, whispering it's name with reverent pride, layering it with images and influences as diverse as Moebius, the cartoons of René Laloux and Ralph Bakshi's Wizards it's hard not to like this movie. It's well-animated, beautifully shot and surprisingly well written which is all the more remarkable given that it's an animated feature.

In almost any combination this would have been a lacklustre, disappointing affair along the lines of Titan A.E but under the direction of Steven Hahn it's becomes something much more special. Look at the credits and you'll see cast and crew steeped in sci-fi: Stargate: SG1's Carmen Argenziano as Dagg Dibrimi, Han Solo with the attitude of J.Jonah Jameson; Masters of the Universe star Anthony DeLongis' providing the silver-tongued menace of Zygon in the vein of an early Vincent Price are the two voice highlights among a near perfect cast. More sci-fi stars are found in the background, ranging from the voice stars of Transformers and DS9 to story-boarder Boyd Kirkland, who would later go onto direct Batman: The Animated Series' greatest episode 'The Grey Ghost'. Even after 20 years Belling's music holds up remarkably well, as much an integral character of the film as Les Tremayne's marvellously cowardly ship's computer. It kicks in at all the right places, has good strong recognisable themes for the main stars and above all doesn't overpower the movie or sound like one of John William's increasingly derivative scores. And unlike many animated features it doesn't feel the need to bolster the score with some contemporary rock or pop tracks, preferring a well-crafted mix of orchestral and synthesized soundtrack.

Watched 20 years on it's still as enjoyable. It doesn't run on for too long, still has that pleasing if eccentric aesthetic style prevalent throughout the film and above all is fun. It has a story to tell, does it with style and above all manages to make you care for the characters which is a rare enough thing in a live-action movie, and for an 80's animated feature something very much to be proud of.

Starchaser hasn't been commercially available for years aside from a VHS release some 15 or 16 years back but it has a strong and loyal fan base who'll welcome the fact it's finally been released my MGM on DVD. As an animated feature it still has a certain charm two decades on even without the 3D but where it really holds it's own is it's love for Star Wars. Anybody who felt disappointed by the three prequels and prefers the honest, simple storytelling style of the original will enjoy Starchaser.