This was a fun movie to watch as a kid, and a very guilty pleasure as an adult. Thank you for this essay. I remember even as a kid, when I would watch St. Exmin, I would look at her buoyantly beautiful bosom and think: "Pop out! Pop out!!!" (Of course, I thought the same thing of Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman :) ) Battle Beyond the Stars also used a lot of sound effects from 1978's Battlestar Galactica and 1979's Buck Rogers In the 25th Century. They even used the laser pistols that were featured in Buck Rogers. I remember hearing someone from the production team of Star Trek The Next Generation, or perhaps Deep Space Nine saying something like: "The secret to making a movie or show look really big is to make it seem like you have more of a budget than you actually have on hand." James Cameron definitely helped in that regard. Sadly the repeated use of the film's own stock footage for its space battles made it seem more like the small screen Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers rather than the big screen epic clone of Star Wars that it should've been. (But, what do you expect from a film with only a $2M budget? :) ) Still, for the most part, the production team under Cameron did a good job with the tools and assets they had. Keep up the good work, Jonny.
Heh....do you remember the very B-rate (more like C-rate) space movie "StarCrash"? I've been watching that in bits and pieces (and really...that is the only way that anyone who wants to retain some semblance of their sanity can watch it...LOL!) From the horrid acting to the special effects that made Battle Beyond the Stars look like a modern day blockbuster.... StarCrash is truly an exercise in masochism. :D
No one seems to want to give Roger Corman his due credit. His films (low-budget and cheesy they may be) have endured- and inspired fans & filmmakers alike. He also is helped launch the careers of a great many people in cinema (both behind and in front of the camera) at a time when outdated movie studio thinking still dominated Hollywood. Thanks for the insight, Jon- great video, as always!
Yep...James Cameron and Gale Anne-Hurd (future ex-spouses at the time) got their start with this movie. Sadly, I've recently lost all respect for Cameron with his comments about the Wonder Woman movie with Gal Gadot.
Man, I get so sick of idiots accusing ANYTHING involving spaceships, robots, lasers, aliens, etcetera of being a "clone" or "rip off" of firgging Star Wars!
Well, in this case, it is a pretty fair comparison. Star Wars did indeed create an interest and rise in science fiction films in general. Some films like BBTS defiantly fall into the rip-off category. Unlike films like Alien - which took advantage of the interest in the genre, and did use the 'worn out look' but also had a story that was no where near that of Star Wars. Star Trek of course was a pre-existing property, but Star Wars shifted its course from a revived television show to again be aired on TV, to that of a feature film with a much bigger budget. But never fear, Star Wars itself borrowed heavily from Space Battleship Yamato.
@@clubtepes2046 Well, I'm not denying that SW was an INSPIRATION, but I think it's un called for to call BBTS an out richt RIP OFF or CLONE of THAT movie, since I don't think it's without some clever and unique elements of it's own.
It's always the way. A film that no one is making at the moment is a surprise hit and suddenly everyone is making them. Look at how hard people cashed in on Bruce Lee
@@DrJReefer I duno, it's not like NO ONE else was already making sci fi flicks during THAT time period. Like there were already other movies from around that time like Logans Run, Silent Running, and Future World, .. . but THOSE weren't quite the mega blockbusters that SW was.
@@ianfindly3257 >>> The fact is, quite a few scifi films DID come out post-STAR WARS. The explanation is simple: Movie studio execs saw the *$$$* STAR WARS made, and *_jumped on the bandwagon._* Some movies that were made were good. Others...not so much.
Aaaahhhh nostalgia!! 😊 I remember seeing this movie twice in my big bulky TV. I always got sad with the scene when the cowboy plays his harmonica as his ship goes down and crashes.
It was a great(and a little chessey)time for sci-fi..Being in my 40's now I was knocked out as a kid when these movies would come out in the late 70's early 80's..There was BS Galactica,Buck Rogers,Battle Beyond the Stars,Black hole,Star Trek,and of course Empire.All over the course of 3 years.And I'm probably even missing a few as well..Great time to be a kid!.Kickin it with my Starlog and Famous Monsters magazines..
Gelt's ship's sound design is memorable, very distinctive. I happen to think the USS Vengeance from Star Trek sounds just as distinctive. Love the sound of the Explosions in this film.
Cheesy, but fun, likeable and endearing. This is what this movie is. Special shout-out to the creative Production Design and the utterly fantastic Score.
Seen this in the theater. Also still have the soundtrack on vinyl. A really great score. It's been years since I've watched BBTS. Think I'm going to have to rectify that.
@@mikesilva3868 I remember seeing "Starcrash" in the theater when it came out. I just saw it again a year or two ago courtesy of Amazon Prime... or maybe Netflix.
The best line of any movie ever is in this movie. What do you want us to do with his meal? Bury it with him. That was the deal. A hot meal and a place to hide. Dude, i get chills every time.
It was cheesy and campy and IT DIDN'T CARE. You weren't going to the theater to see a cinematic masterpiece, you were going to watch a silly sci-fi romp and be amused for a couple of hours. The movie has a lot, in spirit, with the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon movie serials of old. This film, along with Star Crash, would make the ultimate 'late night science fiction double feature picture show' celebrated in the introductory song of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Very nice, lot's of info here that I didn't know. Horners score was splendit! Jim Cameron worked again with Roger Corman on Galaxy of Terror which is also a very good looking film despite it's low budged. You just notice the heart in soul went into these movies. It's still a lot of fun to watch it even today :-)
hey Jonathan! I recently discovered your channel! great stuff and thank you for these mini reviews! you bring back a lot of my youth! any chance you will do one on STAR CLASH or Gorilla at large?
Calvin Harris - I've been thinking that a BBtS prequel movie trilogy or series might actually be a great idea and have a better chance of succeeding with sci-fi fans than the Star Wars prequel trilogy ended up as. It just takes the right scripts to come together and be directed by someone that hasn't gone senile yet.
Thanks for this interesting and informative overview. I am a big sci-fi fan. I really remember this film. I actually saw it in a theater in Los Angeles in August 1980 when my family was visiting my aunt. I was a Star Trek & Star Wars fan, and remember really liking this film too. It made an impression on me because it kind of looked like Star Wars, but the story was different and starred "John Boy" Walton, which at the time I thought was a bit bizarre. Anyway, I had no idea that so many talented filmmakers and artist got their start on this film, but it makes sense because this was a well made, fun, and very entertaining movie.
@@ewellfordThe gloriously gratuitous ass-shot just a moment before ....and the.body language and expression on her face immediately after she says that.... 'nuff said. 😁 I just wish she'd stayed in her first outfit.
By far one of my most favorite movies ever. All the characters are great but for some reason I just loved Gelt. This is a movie i would like to see a remake done of, if done well. I would like Viggo Mortensen as Space Cowboy. The scene I can see is him talking to what you thank Shad, but is really himself, as he walks across the fields towards the parked ships. He''s going on about how dangers and foolish this is. How he's too old for this kind of stupidity. Then he stops and knocks on the hatch of a ship. St. Exmin appears, looks down at him (Gwendoline Cristie) tilts her head and then smiled. "Exactly what I had in mind." and yanks him in through the hatch. The next day when he walks up next to Shad he's limping. Shad: "Are you alright?" Space Cowboy: "Oh, just a hitch in my get-a-long." Shad :"That sounds terrible. Should I get you a doctor?" Space Cowboy: "Oh ... maybe later."
The scene on the storm planet where Gelt offers to help Shad and the Akira... best dialogue in the whole film. It actually gives a seriousness to the movie. Another of my favorite scenes is during the ground assault on Akir. Seeing a couple of the Akir just holding their heads, bloodied and bereaved from their first taste of war.
I remember this. I recall my dad being quite impressed by the Valkyrie woman... What film's next; The Last Starfighter? Enemy Mine? Or back in time a bit, for Soylent Green, Dark Star, or Silent Running?
Yea I saw it at the drive in too - with my wife. I remember, when seeing that ship, I shouted - "It's TITTY-FIED!"...and proceeded to squeeze the wife's orbs.
I saw this way before Star wars . My family did not go to the cinema in the 70's and early 80's and this movie made its way to tv earlier than Star wars.
So remember this film as a kid and think back to t playing on television late night i.e. in the prime time hours 8.00pm to 10pm etc's. Although dated one can remember a time when movies like this were MUST SEE EVENTS because the sci-fi genre exploded like crazy because of Star Wars from the late 70's into the 1980's and so on. Thanks for reviewing this old cult classic. And also thanks for name dropping Corman's film; Humanoids from the Deep and Galaxina.
Wow amazing info. Loved this movie as a kid. still catch it and Space raiders from time to time. for $2mill dollars, very good. back when all the SFX were practical effects. LOTS of work. One thing, i accidentally discovered how they made Sador's fighter's weapons sounds... A guitar and Wah pedal sounded really close!
Because of your video, here, I'm going to try to see this movie soon. I always thought it was a slightly higher quality "b" movie. Now you have my interest and curiosity up.
Well now I HAVE to watch this; huge fan of Wrath of Khan and every Horner score I've ever heard (his score for "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" was the best thing about that movie). I love John Sayles too and have followed his work for a long time. So much talent involved in this film-- Sayles, Cameron, Horner, Corman, and Vaughan and Peppard are always good. I recently watched 'Superman III' for the first time since 1985, and I was surprised at how good Vaughan was as the bad guy with Richard Pryor as his digital henchman.
I remember the interview on Thames Television with the actress, Sybil Danning the studio is gone building is literally up the road from Portland Street hospital.
I remember seeing this as a kid in 1981. It was decent at the time. Another star wars type film. First time seeing john saxon as the main bad guy. Funny to know it was made my the producer of Death Race 2000 & Death Race 2050 thats awesome !
The only Roger Corman produced film I'm a fan of to this day, and a great testament to what can be achieved through perseverance (and James Cameron) with little money.
I saw this one on T.V. In the early 80’s. I used to own it on VHS but lost it or someone borrowed it and never returned it. It was a cheesy ripoff of Star Wars but they did a good job with what they had and we’re still talking about after all of these years. And a lot of the people went on to film or score movies like James Cameron, Gale Ann Hurd and James Horner.
I remember seeing this movie on TV on like The Late Late Show. It was kind of good in a bad kind of way or kind of bed in a good kind of way. I thought that one spaceship was just so weird looking you know the one that John Boy from the Waltons piloted. I didn't realize that Judy Robinson from Lost in Space was in it I always liked her she wasn't just pretty she was like really cool
This is a great movie. James Horners magnificent soundtrack. Yes George and Robert act everybody off the screen. But they never take over. I’d love to see a remake.
Roger Corman got a lot on the screen for the littlest amount of money possible. I can't help but wonder if the budget was two or three times bigger what he could have come up with.
This is available on blu ray in America but for some annoying reason not in the UK, however there is a Spanish version retitled ‘Los 7 Magnificos en Espacio’ (literally the magnificent 7 in space) available, all you have to do is turn off the Spanish subtitles, which you can do by just pressing your subtitles button (rather than negotiating the Spanish menu screen). Enjoy.
I can safely say that when I saw this movie it did not make me think about star wars after watching it as a child on VHS in 1982-3 as there were a lot of films trying to do that but this film felt very different from other films set in space at this time. I might have to watch it again now and see how it makes me feel but as a child it struck me as very different to star wars apart from it being set in space, very strange and not just a fantasy sci-fi movie like star wars.
I love Battle Beyond the Stars ever since I seen it on TV in the late 90s. I currantly own it on both VHS and DVD. The picture quality on the DVD is pretty good, however, I don't like the cropped picture. Instead of releasing the movie on DVD in actual widescreen, they just took the full screen version and cropped the picture. So on the DVD, you're getting less of a picture instead of more.
Saw this when it came out,...................................smoked some great pot! Made for a great Movie in the theatre........the sound of all those ships zipping by,............cool! A sci-fi copy of the magnificent 7, a well told story! And to see “John Boy” in this movie,meant he was a simple farm boy. Great casting! Robert Vagne in his own role......made it authentic!
To be fair to everyone involved, it's budget was only a fifth of what Star Wars budget was. It's script was also tongue in cheek and it was quite a fun film to watch. It may not have been original but Corman did a solid job with limited resources and the film isn't an embarrassment to his team. I've seen more expensive movies that are nowhere near as fun to watch. I thought it was a Warner Bros release though not Orion.
