While the budget of this Roger Corman production is greater than his usual, it it still far less than a big-time sci-fi production of the era. For example, if you watch any of the three original "Star Wars" films, they are light years ahead of "Battle Beyond the Stars" when it comes to special effects. Clearly, it cannot keep up with these top-notch movies. But, if you accept that its effects are a bit cheesy and this doesn't bother you, the film is surprisingly enjoyable.
Richard Thomas stars as an alien living on a very peaceful planet. They are so peaceful when an intergalactic baddie threatens to destroy them, his people don't have the first idea about how to fight back and protect themselves. So, he goes on a mission to hire fighters who will protect them....and he comes up with a rag-tag group of heroes. Can these assorted heroes somehow fight back against this baddie and ignore, at least temporarily, Sybil Danning and her ever-present and very noticeable cleavage?!
The film offers quite a few B-list actors--a surprising number. In fact, apparently that is where they spent most of the money for the film hiring the likes of George Peppard, Robert Vaughn and the like. Overall, this is probably a film more for kids and die-hard sci-fi fans but it's reasonably entertaining and offers a few interesting characters.
Richard Thomas stars as an alien living on a very peaceful planet. They are so peaceful when an intergalactic baddie threatens to destroy them, his people don't have the first idea about how to fight back and protect themselves. So, he goes on a mission to hire fighters who will protect them....and he comes up with a rag-tag group of heroes. Can these assorted heroes somehow fight back against this baddie and ignore, at least temporarily, Sybil Danning and her ever-present and very noticeable cleavage?!
The film offers quite a few B-list actors--a surprising number. In fact, apparently that is where they spent most of the money for the film hiring the likes of George Peppard, Robert Vaughn and the like. Overall, this is probably a film more for kids and die-hard sci-fi fans but it's reasonably entertaining and offers a few interesting characters.