Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Directed by: Jimmy T. Murakami
Written by: John Sayles & Anne Dyer
Starring: Richard Thomas, Darlanne Fluegel, John Saxon, Robert Vaughan
IMDB Rating (as of publication): 5.4/10
For those who don't already know - there's a little thing called the Corman Film School.
Actually, let me back up a little bit. Before we talk about the Corman Film School, the obvious place to start is with Roger Corman. If you're a fan of B-movies, creature features, or sleazy 'skinemax'-style action films - or if you've watched your share of MST3K - then you're probably familiar with Roger Corman's movies. They're not exactly known for their quality, though Corman's filmmaking generally produces better, more entertaining offerings than most of the 'so bad, it's good' variety. If you're a fan of films for this reason, then you also know that it's very easy for a 'so bad, it's good' film to turn into a 'so bad, it's boring' film for long stretches of running time. This is part of why MST3K is so beloved, by the way, if you're not in the know about that either. Try watching Manos: The Hands of Fate with Joel, Tom & Crow for company, and see if you don't blow your brains out. Corman films, for the most part, tend to avoid boring you to death, so they have that going for them.
But I digress - because the real reason why Roger Corman is set apart from most other B-list producers has to do with the prestigious company with whom he makes his films. You see, for decades Roger Corman provided one of the few 'ins' that prospective actors, directors and others in the film industry had available to them. Before they were acting in major motion pictures, Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Robert De Niro, Sandra Bullock and David Carradine appeared in Corman films. When they were learning the ropes of the industry, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola were directing movies produced by Corman.
In the case of Battle Beyond the Stars, the up and coming director's name was James Cameron, although, he didn't work on the film as its director. Cameron was in charge of visual effects on Battle Beyond the Stars - a skill for which he is known, even when it comes to the films he directs. And so, despite the fact that this campy, thoroughly-drenched-in-cheesiness outing that was, down to the core, a Roger Corman B-picture, it was also one that was made with impressive special effects and memorable visuals. Corman was clearly trying to ride on the space opera craze that ensued following Star Wars, and Cameron, accordingly, mimicked Industrial Light & Magic's prowess and style, backed by a score clearly 'inspired' by John Williams. There's quite a bit here that is visually reminiscent of Star Wars. In fact - and I mean this both as a compliment to Cameron and as a shot at Lucas - a lot of it looks better and more 'like Star Wars' than the Star Wars prequels.
And this is a lot of what makes Battle Beyond the Stars so fun to watch. You get to see Cameron cutting his teeth, early in his career, making visual effects for a B-movie - and yet, he has his own style that he brings to the film, giving the movie it's own distinctive look. It's like listening to the first record of a band you like, before they got famous. Raw, showing their influences, but with a style that bleeds through and gives a glimpse of the promise to come. But beyond this, Battle Beyond the Stars stands as a relic of one of the many 'reverberations' felt through Hollywood following the massive success of Star Wars. It's been argued that the renewed interest in sci-fi spawned Star Trek's return, in the form of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Cubby Broccoli, producer of the Bond films, is on record saying that Moonraker was adapted as it was because of the popularity of Star Wars. There were other B-movies trying to get in on the action as well - Krull is one of my favorites on that front.
Really - the plot doesn't go much farther than this. What will hold your attention in this film isn't the nuances of a really deep story, but the novelty of this film's place in history, the campiness and cheesy acting set against great effects and memorable setpieces, and some genuinely original sci-fi ideas. But mostly, the enjoyment to be found in Battle Beyond the Stars is the colorful cast of characters that Shad collects to join him. There's a character named 'Space Cowboy' - a literal cowboy from the planet Earth who drinks whiskey and was going to sell lazer guns to another planet before it was destroyed by Sador, so Shad convinces him to give them to Akir. There's the pouty-lipped, lonely assassin named Gelt (played by Robert Vaughan) who has all the gems and riches he could need but nowhere to spend it. There's Saint Exmin, a 'Vakyrie warrior' who is scantily clad, fierce in battle, and propositions other women to sexually experiment with her.
And this doesn't even get into the race of clones who share a single consciousness and thus experiences the cosmos by sending its many copies of itself out into various directions, the sentient ship, or the lizard-man slaver with a score to settle with Sador, the aliens that communicate through heat, or the daughter of the mad scientist who is now a Futurama-esque head, fitted into the control center of a space station. Meanwhile, the actors range from acting their hearts out to bouts of scenery-chewing, at times.
As you can see, this film has no shortage of novelty to be found. But the plot and the tropes therein are all pretty standard fare, in keeping with the stripped-down, fairly black and white adventure tale that Star Wars was. It's just fine, though, if you're watching this movie for the camp value. The simplicity of the plot arc, the fairy-tale-esque 'gathering up' of all the heroes, each with their own backstory, and the sincerity conveyed in the filmmaking all equal a product which has real charm. Battle Beyond the Stars isn't going to shake your world to the foundations or redefine what a sci-fi film could be - far from it. But it's a good story that is well-made with some fun characters. And maybe that's the key word: above all, this movie is just good, old-fashioned fun. Especially if you're a fan of pre-CGI visual effects.
Personally, I have a preference for simple, well-told stories with plot elements that are set up and paid off and characters with arcs, however conventional, as well as tonal consistency and at least some attention paid to continuity. This isn't a very demanding list of things from a movie, but it seems like most 'epic' summer blockbusters can't even achieve this. Sometimes I find myself defending movies with incredibly campy premises - such as Cowboys & Aliens or John Carter - because they actually satisfy this most basic criteria of filmmaking. As such, I'd even go so far as to say that Battle Beyond the Stars makes more sense and has a better narrative than a lot of overly-complicated, plothole-ridden major studio releases of today. Putting together a film that makes sense is difficult when your writing staff consists of 27 people, you have a dozen producers all trying to cram things into the movie to put butts in seats based on the latest market research, and directors who are trying to push the envelope in the wrong direction.
Which brings things back to James Cameron - I don't much care for what Cameron has done recently, but the man has a knack for making simple, effective movies. Maybe his time working with Corman had something to do with it.
Call me a curmudgeon or a contrarian - but as things stand today, I can safely say that I find more enjoyment watching a focused, simple B-movie like Battle Beyond the Stars than most of the major studio releases in sci-fi for the past 5-10 years. Because Corman hired filmmakers and actors who were young, hungry and eager to work their asses off to make a name for themselves, there's a certain vitality to a lot of his films. And because Corman was primarily concerned with turning a profit on low-budget productions, his movies generally don't overthink themselves. Sometimes, out of that mix of factors, you get a film like Battle Beyond the Stars, which is still enjoyable today.
Should I see it?
Yes. This is the kind of movie that, with a generous supply of popcorn and beer, you can have a small gathering of friends over and turn it into a party. It's not quite 'MST3K bad', but there will be plenty of things to laugh at and plenty of jokes to interject.
Arbitrary numeric score?
8.2/10
On a technical level, this film doesn't deserve that rating. On the other hand, it's not really fair to rate films like this according to that metric. What rating would a film like Troll 2 deserve if it was rated according to how competently it was made, rather than how enjoyable it is? Accordingly, this rating is based on enjoyability alone.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to support The Nerd Grimoire, please do us the kindness of recommending this article on google. Just hit the little 'g +1' button. Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope!
Actually, let me back up a little bit. Before we talk about the Corman Film School, the obvious place to start is with Roger Corman. If you're a fan of B-movies, creature features, or sleazy 'skinemax'-style action films - or if you've watched your share of MST3K - then you're probably familiar with Roger Corman's movies. They're not exactly known for their quality, though Corman's filmmaking generally produces better, more entertaining offerings than most of the 'so bad, it's good' variety. If you're a fan of films for this reason, then you also know that it's very easy for a 'so bad, it's good' film to turn into a 'so bad, it's boring' film for long stretches of running time. This is part of why MST3K is so beloved, by the way, if you're not in the know about that either. Try watching Manos: The Hands of Fate with Joel, Tom & Crow for company, and see if you don't blow your brains out. Corman films, for the most part, tend to avoid boring you to death, so they have that going for them.
 |
| A sentient starship with busty features. |
And this is a lot of what makes Battle Beyond the Stars so fun to watch. You get to see Cameron cutting his teeth, early in his career, making visual effects for a B-movie - and yet, he has his own style that he brings to the film, giving the movie it's own distinctive look. It's like listening to the first record of a band you like, before they got famous. Raw, showing their influences, but with a style that bleeds through and gives a glimpse of the promise to come. But beyond this, Battle Beyond the Stars stands as a relic of one of the many 'reverberations' felt through Hollywood following the massive success of Star Wars. It's been argued that the renewed interest in sci-fi spawned Star Trek's return, in the form of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Cubby Broccoli, producer of the Bond films, is on record saying that Moonraker was adapted as it was because of the popularity of Star Wars. There were other B-movies trying to get in on the action as well - Krull is one of my favorites on that front.
 |
| Sador - an alien with a disfiguring splotch of make-up on his face. |
As far as the plot goes - Battle Beyond the Stars adopts a fairly simple, tried and true shell for its narrative structure. Most of us are familiar with The Magnificent Seven, but even if you aren't, you're probably familiar with A Bug's Life. It's the trope of a small village who faces extortion (or extinction!) from an evil force that they can't possibly cope with, and turns to a group of (usually seven) mercenaries to defend them. In Battle Beyond the Stars, the evil force is Sador, a conqueror who is served by hideous mutants and possesses a weapon - the 'Stellar Converter' - which can turn planets into small stars, obviously killing everyone on the surface. When he comes to the peaceful world of Akir - who have a religion of non-violence, and whose warriors of their old ways are all now old or dead themselves - the people send a young man named Shad on a quest to find warriors that could challenge Sador and preserve Akir from annihilation.
Really - the plot doesn't go much farther than this. What will hold your attention in this film isn't the nuances of a really deep story, but the novelty of this film's place in history, the campiness and cheesy acting set against great effects and memorable setpieces, and some genuinely original sci-fi ideas. But mostly, the enjoyment to be found in Battle Beyond the Stars is the colorful cast of characters that Shad collects to join him. There's a character named 'Space Cowboy' - a literal cowboy from the planet Earth who drinks whiskey and was going to sell lazer guns to another planet before it was destroyed by Sador, so Shad convinces him to give them to Akir. There's the pouty-lipped, lonely assassin named Gelt (played by Robert Vaughan) who has all the gems and riches he could need but nowhere to spend it. There's Saint Exmin, a 'Vakyrie warrior' who is scantily clad, fierce in battle, and propositions other women to sexually experiment with her.
 |
| "From now on, I shall be 'The Artist Formerly known as Space Cowboy'." |
As you can see, this film has no shortage of novelty to be found. But the plot and the tropes therein are all pretty standard fare, in keeping with the stripped-down, fairly black and white adventure tale that Star Wars was. It's just fine, though, if you're watching this movie for the camp value. The simplicity of the plot arc, the fairy-tale-esque 'gathering up' of all the heroes, each with their own backstory, and the sincerity conveyed in the filmmaking all equal a product which has real charm. Battle Beyond the Stars isn't going to shake your world to the foundations or redefine what a sci-fi film could be - far from it. But it's a good story that is well-made with some fun characters. And maybe that's the key word: above all, this movie is just good, old-fashioned fun. Especially if you're a fan of pre-CGI visual effects.
 |
| Everyone stands around the heat-radiating aliens like they're a bonfire. Not joking. |
Which brings things back to James Cameron - I don't much care for what Cameron has done recently, but the man has a knack for making simple, effective movies. Maybe his time working with Corman had something to do with it.
Call me a curmudgeon or a contrarian - but as things stand today, I can safely say that I find more enjoyment watching a focused, simple B-movie like Battle Beyond the Stars than most of the major studio releases in sci-fi for the past 5-10 years. Because Corman hired filmmakers and actors who were young, hungry and eager to work their asses off to make a name for themselves, there's a certain vitality to a lot of his films. And because Corman was primarily concerned with turning a profit on low-budget productions, his movies generally don't overthink themselves. Sometimes, out of that mix of factors, you get a film like Battle Beyond the Stars, which is still enjoyable today.
Yes. This is the kind of movie that, with a generous supply of popcorn and beer, you can have a small gathering of friends over and turn it into a party. It's not quite 'MST3K bad', but there will be plenty of things to laugh at and plenty of jokes to interject.
Arbitrary numeric score?
8.2/10
On a technical level, this film doesn't deserve that rating. On the other hand, it's not really fair to rate films like this according to that metric. What rating would a film like Troll 2 deserve if it was rated according to how competently it was made, rather than how enjoyable it is? Accordingly, this rating is based on enjoyability alone.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to support The Nerd Grimoire, please do us the kindness of recommending this article on google. Just hit the little 'g +1' button. Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope!
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