Battle Beyond the Stars

*** out of ****

I wrote in a previous review, “I’m not so stingy that I cannot appreciate a good, schlock-filled B-movie on its own terms.” A favorable review for Battle Beyond the Stars, Roger Corman’s cheapo attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars, will prove my generous nature. It’s good for all the wrong reasons—silly set designs, inane dialogue, a predictable plotline, and by-the-numbers characters—but nevertheless, it is good, and its got enough heart to compensate for its lack of budget.

I always found it odd how George Lucas so viciously attacked the “Battlestar Galactica” TV show for being a shameless rip-off, yet he remained silent about this film. On just about every level, Battle Beyond the Stars reeks of rip-off: From the various planet-hopping, the hero’s ancient code of ethics that sound mysteriously like Jedi philosophy, the sweeping shots of the villain’s gigantic spaceship, space dogfights, a planet-destroying laser beam, and characters that include an evil overlord, a freshly-scrubbed hero, a princess, and a good-natured smuggler. Even the title is an obvious cash-in. Heck, I’m surprised that the line, “Based on Star Wars by George Lucas, with a special thanks to George for not getting mad” didn’t factor in somewhere in the opening credits. I guess by 1980, Lucas was used to rip-offs and he had mellowed out a bit.

Plus, Lucas also could have finally come to grips with the fact that he’d better be able to take in what he was willing to dish out. He makes no bones that Star Wars was heavily inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s samurai/adventure epic The Hidden Fortress, so Battle Beyond the Stars is just ensuring that the circle won’t be broken. Besides, plot-wise, Battle Beyond the Stars is officially a remake of Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai, so perhaps a justification can be made that if the two space-operas are similar, it is only because their inspiration comes from the same brilliant origins. But I doubt it.

Whatever the case, I make no apologies or excuses in admitting that Battle Beyond the Stars gave me a good time. On the level of tongue-in-cheek entertainment, it absolutely delivers. It is, of course, practically incomparable to Star Wars, a film much more stirring for the cinematic senses. That film created a visual universe of aliens, new planets, and machines that are so lifelike and well imagined that you have to remind yourself that you’re watching a movie filmed on earth and made with costumes and special effects. On the other hand, the moment we are introduced to the planet Akir (how’s that for a subtle homage?) in Battle, we know that it’s a cheap set design, albeit a well-made one (created by James Cameron, who would later become a household name for films like The Terminator and Titanic). By the time we see John Saxon as the evil alien overlord Sador (rhymes with Vader?) and behold his pasty white face, we know he’s just a human in makeup, albeit an effectively evil one.

Then-unknown writer John Sayles keeps the story close to its Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven traditions. After Lord Sador vows to overthrow a small, defenseless planet of farmers, the square-jawed, noble hero Shad (Richard Thomas, whose wide eyes and wooden acting successfully channel Flash Gordon and even Luke Skywalker) sneaks away in a spaceship and ventures off to find a group of mercenaries who will be willing to work for nothing to defend them from the evil overlord. The pickings will be slim, as Darth Vader—er—Lord Sador is the most dreaded overlord in the galaxy; nevertheless, Shad hopes to round up as many warriors as possible, counting on the fact that there are, after all, thousands of alien species with various bones to pick with the pasty-faced dictator.

With the help of his talking spaceship and strict honor code, Shad hops from planet to planet, picking up diverse characters and aliens that include Space Cowboy (George Peppard), a beer-swigging, tobacco-spitting smuggler from (gasp!) Earth, Nanelia (Darlanne Fluegel), a virginal heroine who lives on a planet of robots with her mad (and bodiless) father, Saint-Axmin (Sybil Danning), an exotic, warrior princess dressed in a metal bikini that would make Jabba the Hutt give pause, and Gelt (Robert Vaughn), a former dictator himself who sees the chance to kill Sador as an opportunity to find redemption from his dark past. Non-humanoid aid includes a Klingon-esque lizard with half-naked musclemen servants who look left over from Conan the Barbarian, and a Borg-like group of white-robed aliens that share a collective mind. Altogether, that makes up (excuse me while I use my fingers) seven mercenaries against one overlord, if you count the lizard and musclemen separately and consider the collective-minds as one.

Of course, The Seven Samurai had such a compelling story that a film sticking to its formula can’t go completely wrong. Sayles keeps Battle Beyond the Stars as close as possible; after assembling together the team, the film becomes a series of battles between the mercenaries and Sador’s forces that are low budget but big spirited. Along the way, there are plenty of goofy moments, mainly in the nearly incoherent space battles, but there are some surprisingly clever and moving moments as well: The film effectively uses the collective-minded aliens for some interesting attacks against Sador, and conversations between Shad and Gelt, the noble youth and the war-scarred former dictator, are genuine and well-written. Still, those beefcake-musclemen and the kinky warrior-princess remain jarring reminders of the era that this film was produced, though even the outdatedness of the picture works to create a certain, nostalgic charm.

For its obviously fake set-designs, some of the planets that Shad discovers are also imaginative. The robot-planet is pretty nifty, in terms of both the set design and the chillingly-human robots themselves, and places like Gelt’s lonely planet, a cross between an Old West canteen and Las Vegas casinos, occasionally allow us to suspend our disbelief and go with the movie’s flow without our tongues planted completely in our cheeks.

Sans the topic of who ripped off whom, Star Wars and Battle Beyond the Stars do have one thing in common: They respect their audience and love their source material. In addition to Kurosawa, both films delightfully channel the low-budget Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials from decades past and try to pick up where such cheapo auctioneers left off, creating exciting adventures specifically designed for every boy under fourteen (and hopefully, their ticket counter-paying parent). As someone who was once a boy under fourteen, I can attest that both films do their jobs well, but whereas Star Wars’ writer/director George Lucas aimed to transcend his B-grade inspiration with top-quality filmmaking, Battle Beyond the Stars’ producer Roger Corman aims to keep things pretty much on the same level. If the latter approach is done well and does not patronize its audience with promises of something more (as Van Helsing did), then such homage will work. Battle Beyond the Stars works—it’s a fun, inoffensive time at the movies.

Cast:
Richard Thomas: Shad
Darlanne Fleugel: Nanelia
John Saxon: Sador
George Peppard: Space Cowboy
Robert Vaughn: Gelt

Orion Pictures presents a New World Pictures release. Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami. Written by John Sayles and Anne Dyer, from a script by Akira Kurosawa. Produced by Roger Corman. Rated PG, for cartoon violence and war, brief language, an occasional innuendo, and a metal bikini. Running time: 104 minutes. Original United States theatrical release date: April 11, 1980.