Lousy Lottery 28: Battle Beyond the Stars!
Welcome, friends, to the Lousy Lottery! Here’s how it works. First, I post four movies to a poll on Twitter. Fans vote to pick which movie to make me watch that week. I watch it, review it and spread the word about an amazingly awful, terribly terrific b-horror flick.
This is week 28! This week we fight for the survival of the planet with 1980’s Battle Beyond the Stars! But first, let’s talk plot.
A tyrannical warlord named Sador has some sort of malady that’s causing his body parts to fall off. Since he’s an evil mega-villain, his response is to spend his days tracking down replacement parts to take from common-folk. Given the planet is largely farmers and Sador has a dreadnought, he’s been able to do this with impunity. This time, though, he picks on the wrong planet in the system. A hotshot young pilot named Shad hatches a plan to scour the star system for misfits and mercenaries to fight back. He gathers weapons and fighters in every form. He finds doctors, cowboys, assassins and more.
Things really take a turn for the better when Shad saves the life of a legendary outlaw named Cowboy played by the incomparable George Peppard. Cowboy knows all the meanest bastards in the system and soon they recruit assassin Gelt to the team, played by none other than Robert Vaughn. They form a plan to take the fight to Sador and put together an assassination attempt. They know killing the man will be easier than taking the dreadnought on. Unfortunately, the attempt doesn’t work and now Sador and his dreaded dreadnought are on their way to Shad’s planet. Can the farmers and Shad’s ragtag team of roughnecks defeat Shad and his mega-weapon? Well, I’m not going to give everything away, am I?
I can’t talk about this movie without talking about Roger Corman. Any respectable b-movie fan knows of Corman and knows he’s a load bearing wall of the genre and has been for seemingly forever. I saw him receive a lifetime achievement award at the Overlook Film Festival a few years ago. He spoke and said that he had two things to offer the film-making world. First, he had an enthusiasm for films and film-making. Secondly, he knew how to raise money fast. He talked about how the trick to his accomplishments is realizing that this is what he had to offer and sticking to that. Such a sentiment doesn’t sound profound, but, trust me, it is.
Here’s why; by focusing on an enthusiasm for film and fundraising, he didn’t do a number of things other producers are guilty of. He doesn’t micro-manage. He doesn’t only work with a single group of ‘yes men.’ He doesn’t demand cuts based on budget and marketing. He finds someone pumped to make a movie, helps them fund it and gets the hell out of the way. This created an independent spirit and a fertile training ground for up and coming filmmakers with vision. To that end, he helped launch the careers and build the reel of an astounding array of filmmakers. This includes iconic directors like Scorsese, Dante and Coppola, editors, actors, effects artists, production designers and even composers. Basically, nearly all modern filmmakers in front of or behind the camera benefited from his approach and many a career got its start on his productions.
I felt the need to mention this because there is perhaps no better example of this fact than Battle Beyond the Stars. Who did the score for this film? An unknown composer named James Horner, who would go on to make some of the most recognizable scores in history and to win multiple Academy Awards. Who wrote this script? Independent film icon and Academy Award nominated screenwriter John Sayles. The special effects? Well, this is perhaps the most special of all. You see a young guy named James Cameron begged to help with the special effects. Why? Because he was planning to make a sci-fi film as well and wanted to know how. In other words, he had that enthusiasm but no means to make it happen. On set he met other producers and ended up getting to pitch his movie to one of them. That movie was The Terminator and the rest is film history. So, imagine how many careers and legendary Hollywood developments have happened just because of this one single Corman film. It’s truly remarkable.
As a film fan, how can you not love this movie? It includes classic performances from some truly legendary actors like Robert Vaughn and George Peppard. The music is incredible and the dialogue much smarter than you’d think. The director was an animator by trade and brought an animators eye to the visuals of this film. Tons of colours, outlandish costumes and, hell, even a spaceship shaped like boobs. This movie is so much fun and such an odd and important piece of film history. Find it streaming now on Tubi and Prime.
Also, don’t forget to see what’s coming next in the Lousy Lottery. Make sure you tune into Twitter later today and vote for Lousy Lottery 29! My handle is @MrJosh79, look for it and don’t forget to vote!
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