Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
By Drew Dietsch
| Published
Star Wars is arguably the most influential film ever made. The space fantasy epic became the biggest film in the history of cinema and changed the entire landscape of the movie business.
Naturally, this led to many attempts to capitalize on George Lucas' sci-fi fantasy success. While some of those movies are better left in the past, there are actually a number of movies that manage to stand the test of time and provide more than their fair share of entertainment.
I'm Drew Dietsch and these are Star Wars ripoffs that are actually worth watching.
Starcrash (1978)
Leave it to the biggest film ripoff culture in the world, the Italians, to get theirs Star Wars cash-in out in theaters less than a year later Star Wars premiere. I love Italians very, very much. And this spaghetti spaghetti from the beautiful boot is a B-movie explosion.
Directed and co-written by the infamous Italian genre legend Luigi Cozzi, Starcrash is a whirlwind of low-budget joys, from the flamboyant costumes to the cheesy but charming effects, Starcrash revels in its theatrical joke in such a good-hearted way that you can't help but laugh.
And if you want some extra laughs out Starcrashyou can watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode from the reboot series, not bad, but worth watching Starcrashthe willful stupidity of oneself.
The Black Hole (1979)
Although we know now Disney as the lord of all entertainment, the Mouse House was actually in some dire financial straits in the 70's and 80's. So much so that even Mickey needed to step into the Star Wars ripoff game, but the movie Disney made ended up being more like the Event horizon of adventure films in the family space.
The Black Hole sees the crew of an exploratory spaceship go through the predicted black hole and discover a famous lost ship with only one survivor, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, a brilliant scientist who has built an army of terrifying robots. Reinhardt, played with perfect talent by Maximilian Schell, intends to steer the ship into the black hole and when the film delivers on this promise, you are treated to a psychedelic nightmare unlike anything you have ever expected from the studio that brought you . The house on the range.
You'll find some tonal whiplash between the googly-eyed robot friends and Anthony Perkins' cold-blooded death, but The Black Hole it's such an oddity that everyone should give it a chance.
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Roger Corman has gained a lot of mileage from ripping off blockbuster hits like Alien and Star Wars it was no different. Battle Beyond the Stars takes Akira Kurosawa's classic story concept Seven Samurai and leads to the stars. I'm sorry, beyond the stars.
What to put Battle Beyond the Stars apart from others Star Wars ripoffs is the assembled talent both in front of the camera, but especially behind. The cast includes many of the favorite character actors – choose your favorite! Mine's John Saxon – but the screenplay is by acclaimed screenwriter John Sayles, the score is by sci-fi icon James Horner, and James Cameron worked on production design and special effects. This is truly a cavalcade of young and creative talent being unleashed.
It's rare that a picture produced by Roger Corman isn't entertaining on some level, but Battle Beyond the Stars is easily one of his must-see films.
The Man Who Saved the World (1982)
Known for years as a Turk Star Wars in fan circles, The man who saved the world is known to be a literal ripoff of Star Wars as it features actual footage from the original 1977 film! What a bonkers factoid would do The man who saved the world a decent bit of movie trivia, but the actual movie is even nuttier.
Two space fighter pilots crash on a desert planet and have to do battle with an evil wizard and his minions while Star Wars music and. Indiana Jones play! How they got away with it is one of the pleasures of international cinema history.
The man who saved the world it's better seen than discussed, and if you thought Starcrash was low budget, this is underground budget, but it's so cheap that it ends up being more fun than most megabudget movies.
Krull (1983)
Now here is a fascinating one. However Krull it is not using the trappings of science fiction Star Wars like all our previous films, it still uses the heroic fantasy model that George Lucas made so popular, and it certainly tries to be an effects showcase.
But, the truth Star Wars comparison for Krull come up with the idea of the iconic weapon. Star Wars he had the lightsaber and Krull he had the Glaive. If nothing else, Krull has managed to manifest a memorable fantasy weapon.
Although it was a box office and critical flop, Krull has built a healthy cult following over the decades. I'm telling you, it's that Glaive.
Yor, the hunter from the future (1983)
Okay, I promise this is our last true B movie, but it's possibly my favorite of them all. Based on an Argentinian comic series that was actually predated Star Wars, Yor, hunter of the future it's another Italian schlockfest that looks like another cheapie caveman throwback – and really fun! – but reveals a sci-fi an apocalyptic twist and things only get worse from there.
The big one Star Wars ripoff element Yor It really takes off for the villain, The Overlord. He and his android army definitely have that Italian knockoff style that we saw in Starcrash. The fact that both Yorthe Overlord is Return of the JediThe emperor was in the theaters the same year he had to say exactly what they were doing.
In all seriousness, Yor it has plenty of dunderheaded fun for someone with what Joe Bob Briggs would call the spirit of the drive-in. If I can't enjoy the scene where Yor uses a dead flying dinosaur as a hang glider, I know I'm done with this world.
And that song “Yor's World”? He is the man.
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Star Wars He took a classic idea – a young hero finds himself in a fantasy world in the middle of war – and gave it a genre twist with special effects that audiences had never seen before. The last Starfighter he took the same simple structure and brought it to the then-present.
Imagine playing a video game so well that it was revealed to be a recruiting tool for space pilots in an intergalactic conflict. Here's the idea behind it The last Starfighterand it really sells the excitement of that juvenile fantasy being brought to life. And the movie is worth it just for Dan O'Herlihy as the Navigator Grig. Gotta love Grig.
It may not be the most cerebral movie, but The ultimate Starfighter it's still an adventure worth discovering.
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Ten years later Star Wars hit the big screen, legendary '80s exploitation studio Cannon Films has done its best to spawn its own sci-fi/fantasy pop culture with an adaptation of Masters of the Universea line of toys and a series of cartoons that were very successful in the mid-80s.
Look, I'm going to be right with you: Masters of the Universe It's not a great movie, it may not even be a good one, but it has another great Emperor Palpatine riff with Frank Langella's bonkers but committed take on the evil Skeletor. Frankly (see what I did there?), it's worth the entire price of admission.
Even bad movies have their bright spots, and Masters of the Universe it is not without a brilliant stupidity.
Flash Gordon (1980)
The latest entry in our list of Star Wars ripoffs brings the whole concept full circle as Star Wars was directly inspired by the original Flash Gordon film series of the 1930s and 40s. So, when Star Wars it was a smash, we had a new one Flash Gordon major film production.
Unfortunately, the tone and style of cartoon more retro Flash Gordon appeared as trite and campy to critics at the time. Compared to Star Warsit felt too old. Fortunately, time has been extremely kind to the film's gorgeous production and pulpy joy. In many ways, Flash Gordon it may have started as a ripoff, but it has cemented itself as its own colorful sci-fi delight for fans of many generations.
And you know we love that Queen song.
There are others Star Wars What do you think we need to see? Leave your tips in the comments! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get more compilations like this.
