The initial cut, using all the usable footage, was only 58 minutes long. The editors took footage from other Roger Corman sword-and-sorcery films to create a 20-minute prologue that has nothing to do with the rest of the film. A dream sequence and the gnome's "magic scrying" sequence are also from other movies.
Apparently while rifling through Corman's other films for footage to extend the running time, footage was taken from Deathstalker. The hero's evil enemy in that film, a wizard with a snake on his head, is seen quite clearly in the beginning of this film. This is a common thing with Corman's films of the 1980's. Footage from Battle Beyond the Stars winds up in several of his other science fiction films.
Virtually all of the opening credits play over other movies, notably the original "Deathstalker". Augusto Larreta, who briefly plays King Tylor in this movie, not only appeared in the older film as the character Salmaron, but also appears in the Deathstalker footage shown over this movie's opening credits.
The poster and video cover art, for the film, features a skeksi from 'The Dark Crystal' (1982) and a dragonne, winged lion, from 'Dungeons and Dragons' board game box art. Neither of these appear in the film.