Battle Beyond the Stars: 30th Anniversary Special Edition

Roger Corman produced this low-budget 1980 space opera—an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Star Wars with a plot lifted from The Seven Samurai. Richard Thomas stars as Shad (Luke Skywalker by way of John-Boy Walton), who embarks on a search for mercenaries to protect his peaceful planet from Sador (John Saxon), a vicious warlord with a Death Star–like weapon. The cast of warriors includes George Peppard as Space Cowboy (think Han Solo) and Robert Vaughn as jaded bounty hunter Gelt (Vaughn essentially reprises his role from The Magnificent Seven). Battle Beyond the Stars boasts an early screenplay from acclaimed writer and future Oscar-nominee John Sayles, who works some offbeat sci-fi ideas and tongue-in-cheek humor into the otherwise derivative plot. The direction by Jimmy T. Murakami and Corman (the latter uncredited) is rather plodding, but there's plenty of color and imagination in the low-budget model work and production design, thanks to an ambitious young set designer named James Cameron (working on his first feature), and a magnificent score by then-fledgling composer James Horner. While hardly a good film, it did serve as a launch pad for some impressive careers and has achieved a minor cult status. Newly remastered for DVD and debuting on Blu-ray, extras include two audio commentaries (one by Corman and Sayles; the other by production manager Gale Anne Hurd), a “making-of” featurette, and an interview with Thomas. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)