Review of Starcrash (1978) by Glen H — 13 Jul 2007

An awesome Star Wars imitator which goes its own interesting direction. I liked the rainbow spectrum of stars in space, it looks all Christmassy. There are some great sequences of creature and robot stop motion animation.

Marjoe Gortner is a freakin' great wizard/warrior/pilot with magical powers and laser sword fighting skills. He looks hilarious with his big afro hair, big wide blue eyes, gleaming teeth and red leather jumpsuit.

His voice is marvelous. His co-pilot is Stella-Star, played by Caroline Munroe. She is a sexy italian actress with big black boots and a leather harness. Their adventures cover the cosmos, with many different planets.

There's an ocean beach planet with warrior women on horses and a giant monster, a sub-zero ice planet, the haunted planet, a post-apocalyptic junkyard, a radioactive prison, and a space station which looks like a giant metal hand.

The baddie is Count Zarth Arn (Joe Spinell of "Maniac" fame) and over-the-top villain with a nasty moustache and big red cape. There's a great appearance by Mr. David Hasselhoff (of Knight Rider fame) as Prince Simon.

There are also the space police characters: a robot named "L" with a cowboy accent, and his sidekick "Thor" who looks like the bald Mr. Clean. Christopher Plummer appears as the sedate and serene good Emperor of the Galaxy; with a laughable performance.

This movie is a joy to watch every time. I think the Italians were trying to put forth a serious space movie and ended up with something different. I like!