Battle Beyond the Stars - Definition and Overview

Battle Beyond the Stars is a Roger Corman produced science fiction film directed by Jimi Muramaki released in 1980 to exploit the popularity of the Star Wars series. The film is notable in that the screenplay was partly written by John Sayles and the special effects are directed by James Cameron.

The story is a pastiche of The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. A peaceful planet of farmers are threatened by a space tyrant Sador played by Corman regular John Saxon. Richard Thomas (at the time attempting to fashion a film career based on the popularity of his character in The Waltons) plays Shad who sets out to recruit a band of mercenaries to fight Sador. This band includes Gelt, played by Robert Vaughn in a part that is essentially a reprise of his role in The Magnificent Seven with many of the same lines of dialogue, George Peppard as a space cowboy, and probably the most memorable character, Saint-Exmin, a "Valkyrie" played by Sybil Danning.

The film dialogue contains a high level of wit reflecting Sayles' influence. It is also a compedium of the cliches that came to dominate sci-fi films following Star Wars including giant spaceships, "cute" robots, exotic aliens and the finale of a suicidal assault on a space fortress.

At the time Battle Beyond the Stars was the most expensive film produced by Roger Corman. The effects shots were re-used in other Corman productions.