An outlaw smuggler and her alien companion are recruited by the Emperor of the Galaxy to rescue his son and destroy a secret weapon by the evil Count Zarth Arn. Outlaw smugglers Stella Star and Akton manage to pick up a castaway while running from the authorities, who turns out to be the only survivor from a secret mission to destroy a mysterious superweapon designed by the evil Count Zarth Arn. The smugglers are soon recruited by the Emperor of the Galaxy to complete the mission, as well as to rescue the Emperor's son, who has gone missing. In the same vein as Jason of Star Command and Flesh Gordon, Starcrash is a campy, fun throwback to the old serials of the 30s and 40s. It looks, feels, and tastes like an old serial, minus the chapters. Yep, it is a cheesey attempt to cash in on the great sci-fi craze of the late 70s, fueled by the likes of Logan's Run, Close Encounters, Space: 1999, and ESPECIALLY Star Wars, of course. It is guilty as charged. That said, it is an absoloute low-budget blast. For detractors, here's your first clue that this film is not to be taken seriously: A robot with a long, southern drawl. L the cowardly robot is a riot!<br/><br/>Starcrash shamelessly pilfers elements from Invaders from Mars (1953) (a brief appearance by an alien judicial judge), Ray Harryhausen films (a couple of model animated aliens & robots), and Star Wars (a lightsaber duel), not to mention the old serials.<br/><br/>The whole thing never stops to catch its breath, and neither does the viewer, overwhelmed by alternately cheesey and surprisingly good special fx and generally porn-level acting and dialogue. One minute Stella and L are battling Amazons, the next L is gunning it out with troglodytes, and the next Akton is having a lightsaber duel with those model-animated robots. There are psychadelic images and scenes, almost worthy of the equally bizarre Barbarella. And along the way are allusions to classic sf authors Edmond Hamilton, Murray Leinster, and Ray Bradbury.<br/><br/>For the b-movie or old time serial lover, or someone who doesn't mind some campy lightweight space opera, Starcrash really can't be topped. This is the guilty secret on Christopher Plummer's resume. If he looks distracted throughout most of the film, I am convinced it is because his agent is just off-camera, waving the paycheck at him to remind him why is doing this tripe. This film is one of those films that's so bad that it becomes hugely amusing. Who couldn't laugh at lines like: "The Temperaure drops thousands of degrees at night!" (So how hot must it be during the day???), or "Imperial Dreadnaught - stop time!" (how's that for a literal deus ex machina ending?). Thrill as windows in spaceships are broken with no inconvenient depressurisation, and the bad guys are 'sneaked' up on by a flying oil refinery. All this plus a godlike alien surfer-boy and Caroline Munro, the pneumatic and surprisingly talented star of a thousand dodgy horror and sci-fi films from the late 70s and early 80s.<br/><br/>They really don't make zero-budget SF films like this any more, more's the pity. As a student I enjoyed it with friends and a great deal of beer. It's great that I can now do so again.
Ucellabdu replied
365 weeks ago