| | | | Battle Beyond the Stars
(1980) |
fter the massive success of "Star Wars" and it's sequel, sci-fi b-movies were a dime a dozen in the 80s but a few have withstood the test of time.
This is one of them.
Battle Beyond the Stars is a big sci-fi space epic which contains all the things you could ask for in a space orientated sci-fi film; many strange alien beings, an evil overlord with a massive spaceship, other worldly planets, implausable space fight scenes, androids, a talking space ship, well known actors in roles you may not expect them to be in, the underdog overcoming the evil force in the galaxy, and not forgetting a romance involving the lead characters.
When the evil overlord Sador (John Saxon, well known for his baddie roles) spies the planet Akir and decides he wants it for himself, Shad (Richard Thomas, played 'John Boy' in The Waltons) of the Akirians volunteers to take the only space ship on the planet, Nell (voiced by Lynn Carlin) and go out to find help to defend his planet against Sador.
He finds seven mercenaries willing to help, the deadly assasin Gelt (Robert Vaughn, who had previously been in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) who has amassed a large fortune from his assasinations yet is hunted throughout the galaxy so lives alone on an empty planet, sleeps with his back to the wall, when he can sleep, and the only thing that can tempt him into joining the fight is food and a place to hide because he eats sea serpant seven times a week.
A carefree space merchant called Cowboy (George Peppard, who later played the role of Hannibal in The A-Team) somehow gets roped into helping for free, a sexy Valkiri called Saine-Exmin (Sybil Danning) who joins the fight for the thrill of the chase as her race's motto is "Live fast, die young and have a beautiful ending".
Nestor, who is a actually 5 highly evolved beings in white sharing one conciousness so when one facet is hurt they all feel the pain, a green reptilian called Cayman who joins the fight to avenge the virtual extinction of his species by Sador, and The Kelvin who are two mute aliens who have no voice or ears and communicate through heat.
Together they use their combined force and individual talents to defend Shad's homeworld, Akir.
If you think things sound a little familiar it's because the writer borrowed the basic plot from Akira Kurasowa's famous film The Seven Samurai.
I know it's bad form to do this but the text on the back of the original 1981 release video I have actually reads very well and tells the beginning of the film well:
"The peace loving inhabitants of the planet Akir are threatened with extinction unless they submit to a ruthless conqueror, Sadow, who posses the most awesome weapon in the universe - a stellar converter. While Sador is engaged in eliminating another planet which refuses to submit, the Akira have a brief spell in which to organise a defensive campaign.
Shad, a young emissary sent by the Akirian council to seek aid from inter-galactic soldiers of fortune, is directed to secure robot reinforcements. The doctor is only concerned with keepins Shad captive in order to mate with his beautiful daughter Nanelia. Escape is achieved with the aid of sympahetic Nanelia who follows Shad as he continues his quest and encounters and inter-galactic adventurer named Cowboy, who agrees to join his mission.
An alien mercenary named Cayman, a huge lizard-like creature, also agrees to joing the Akirian defence, intent on revenge - his own planet was destroyed by th eevil Sador.
Further volunteers are enlisted including the Nestors - five clones who think and react as one being, St. Exmin, a voluptuous warrior from the planet Valkiri, and Gelt, a criminal wanted throughout the universe.
The seven ships return to Akir just as the colossal war is about to begin with Sador."
The plot is more complex than one person going out to find help then coming back and winning the battle against the evil overlord, we learn about the characters involved, what makes them tick, why they act as they do.
Not all the characters survive the battle which helps make the film, if all the good guys live happily ever after when the evil is extinguished it doesn't make for interesting and entertaining watching, thankfully Battle Beyond the Stars doesn't take that stance.
 Don't forget that Battle Beyond the Stars is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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This has to be one of the best b-movie sci-fi space films produced, the special effects are great, the characters have depth and the actors play their parts to their best ability, and it doesn't try to take itself too seriously or go for a comedic stance to keep people watching.
The sets look great, you can really imagine you're inside an alien space ship or on a strange world, the use of colour and lighting makes the scenes as the film was done on such a low budget the crew used what they had to the maximum.
This is true Friday/Saturday night matinee material, get the DVD (forget the VHS), get some friends round, get out the popcorn and/or beer and sit yourself down for an hour and forty minutes of an 'old school' cinema experience.
And remember, "Live fast, die young and have a beautiful ending"
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Shad's love interest in the movie, Nanelia, is played by Darlanne Fluegel who first appeared in "The eyes of Laura Mars" starring Faye Dunaway, in 1978, as a model.  -Thanks to Greg
Robert Vaughn plays the same character he played in "The Magnificent Seven", which also was a film using the same basic plot as "The Seven Samurai".
Look out for venerable character actor Earl Boen, who played doubting psychiatrist Dr. Silberman in "The Terminator" as the Nestor who does all the talking. His excellent work despite the difficult makeup led directly to getting the role in Cameron's later film.
The planet Shad comes from is called Akir, the race being known as Akirians, this is apparently a tribute to Akira Kurasowa who originally wrote & directed The Seven Samurai.
The spaceship fight scenes created for "Battle Beyond the Stars" were used in more than a couple of other later films (I've personally seen some of the spaceship fight scenes used in "Battle Beyond the Stars" in the film Prison Ship Star Slammer). But I think "Battle Beyond the Stars" is also guilty of stealing from other sources because some of the lazer shot sounds are an almost perfect match to those used in "Battlestar Galactica".
All the spaceship/combat scenes in Space Raiders are merely lifted from this movie! -Thanks to Aaron Kerr
If you're after more trivia then get the DVD, it has not one but two commentary soundtracks to it, one with John Sayles (screenplay and story) and Roger Corman (co producer) who instead of commenting on each scene, they talk more about the background of creating "Battle Beyond the Stars" and other films back in the early 80s which is quite fascinating, and another soundtrack with Gale Anne Hurd (assistant production manager, went on to be the producer of several famous groundbreaking James Cameron 80s films; "The Terminator", "Aliens" & "The Abyss") who talks about her involvement with the film and the people who made it, not as fascinating as the John/Roger commentary but still worth a listen as she talks more about the making of the film than of film making in general. The DVD also contains a large amount of detailed biography text on Roger Corman, Gale Anne Hurd, John Sayles, James Cameron, James Horner, Robert Vaughn etc.
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Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Battle Beyond the Stars or 80's Sci-Fi / Fantasy classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Empire Strikes Back ..... Night of the Comet ..... Aliens ..... Back To The Future ..... Last Starfighter ..... Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ..... Circuitry Man ..... Brazil ..... Blade Runner ..... Thing ..... Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan ..... Return to Oz ..... Starman ..... Somewhere In Time ..... Strange Invaders ..... Short Circuit .....[More]
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Roger Corman is well known for creating b-movies, although this space epic is a good exception. The script and movie was written and filmed in an incredibly short time, filming was only 5 weeks, on a budget of just $2 million to jump in on the "Star Wars" bandwagon that had started a few years before.
James Cameron was originally hired to join the in-house special effects team but proved himself so quickly that he was promoted to art director, and also functioned as effects cameraman and model builder. Many of the team from this movie would stay with him on later projects.
They built their own studio in Venice from a disused lumber company building. The whole studio, including the walls and ceiling, was used to create the large interior of Sador's spaceship, and the camera even went outside of the studio to capture of the vastness of the set.
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|  |  |  | | Battle Beyond the Stars
Locations |
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The entire film was shot in the studio that Corman built in the former Hammond Lumber buildings that he bought in Venice, CA. Even the movie's "exteriors" were shot in studio.[Thanks to Chris Keavy]
Can you help? Do you know any of the filming locations used for Battle Beyond the Stars? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Commentary, Notes |
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Comments: There's even a trivia game. |
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The soundtrack is composed by James Horner, it is one of his first films he did the soundtrack to, it's a well done dramatic orchestral score which is tailored to the movie, right down to the individual 'themes' used for each of the individual spacecraft which inter-weave when the space fight scenes happen.
1. Main Title (1:58)
2. The Malmori Rear Guard (4:03)
3. The Battle Begins (4:31)
4. Nanelia And Shad (1:26)
5. Cowboys And The Jackers (3:33)
6. Nanelia's Capture (1:28)
7. The Maze Battle (3:09)
8. Shad's Pursuit (3:22)
9. Cowboy's Attack (1:45)
10. Love Theme (3:53)
11. The Hunter (1:38)
12. Gelt's Death (1:28)
13. Nanelia (1:31)
14. Heading For Sador (:58)
15. Destruction Of Hammerhead (2:34)
16. Epilogue And End Title (5:07)
17-31. Humanoids From The Deep
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Soundtrack Available:
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