BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980)

BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Inspired by the Americanized edit under Corman's lead; Battle Beyond the Sun (1962) of Soviet film Nebo Zovyot (1959), it was intended as a futuristic "Magnificent Seven (itself a western version of Seven Samurai) in outer space", the screenplay was written by John Sayles with the score by James Horner and special effects designed by filmmaker James Cameron. The film was theatrically released by Corman's New World Pictures and was a moderate box office success, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.

PLOT:
Farm world Akir is threatened by the tyrannical warlord Sador, ruler of the Malmori Empire. Sador's body parts are deteriorating and he lives only by stealing organs from others. Sador demands that the peaceful Akira submit to him when he returns in "seven risings". Zed, last of the famous Akira Corsairs, suggests they hire mercenaries to protect them. Since Akir lacks valuable resources, its people can offer only food and shelter in payment. Unable to go in person, Zed offers his ship. Shad, a young man who has piloted the ship and is well known to its AI Nell, volunteers.

Shad goes to the space station of Doctor Hephaestus, an old friend of Zed. The station is populated mostly by androids, except for two humans: Hephaestus, whose numerous life support-systems have turned him into a cyborg, and his beautiful daughter Nanelia, who looks after him and the androids. The doctor wants Shad to mate with his daughter, by force if necessary. Shad persuades Nanelia to help him escape. She follows in her own ship; although it has no weapons, her highly advanced computer systems might be useful. The two split up to look for more mercenaries.

Shad encounters Cowboy, a freighter-pilot from Earth who is ambushed by Space Jackers while delivering a shipment of laser-handguns to the planet Umateal. Shad saves Cowboy from the Jackers. They arrive at Umateal too late to stop the destruction of the planet by Sador's flagship, the Hammerhead, which is equipped with a Stellar Converter. Lacking the fuel to carry his weapons back home, Cowboy offers them to Akir instead. Shad talks Cowboy into sharing his gunslinging experience with the Akira as well.

Shad meets a set of five alien clones who share a group consciousness named Nestor. They admit their life is incredibly dull, since their whole race shares one mind. In order to be entertained, they have sent five members to join Shad's cause. Nestor does not require payment, saying they are completely self-sufficient. Next, Shad recruits Gelt, a wealthy assassin who cannot show himself on any civilized planet for fear of retribution. Gelt offers his services in return for being allowed to live peacefully among the Akira. On his way back to Akir, Shad is approached by Saint-Exmin of the Valkyrie. She is a headstrong woman looking to prove herself in battle. She pilots the Dart, a small but extremely fast ship with enhanced firepower. Shad finds her annoying and wishes she would go away, but she tags along.

While passing through the Lambda Zone, Nanelia's ship is attacked by a light creature called a "zyme" which is killed by the powerful Gator ship of Cayman of the Lazuli. Cayman and his eclectic crew of aliens are "zymers," who hunt zyme as whalers hunt whales. After Cayman implies he could cook her down for protein or sell her, Nanelia accuses Cayman of being as heartless as Sador. Startled and enraged by the mention of the man who destroyed his homeworld long ago, Cayman joins their cause for the promise of Sador's head.[14] Back on Akir, Shad's sister Mol is captured by Malmori pilots Kalo and Tembo, with the intent to rape her. As Shad and Company return, their approach frightens the Malmori into attempting to escape. Mol interferes with their controls, allowing Gelt the opportunity to destroy their ship, killing all three. On the planet's surface, the heroes are greeted with caution by the natives, who are wary of violent species. When Sador returns, his Malmori forces are intercepted by Shad's hired warriors. Gelt dogfights his way to the Hammerhead, which shoots him down. Shad insists that Gelt be buried with a fresh-cooked meal, as that was their arrangement: a meal and a place to hide. Cowboy and the laser-toting Akira ward off a Malmori ground force backed by a Sonic Tank. Many of Sador's troops are killed, and their Sonic Tank is destroyed; however, many Akira die as well, including Zed.

After surviving an assassination attempt by Nestor, Sador launches the remainder of his fleet in a retaliatory strike against Akir. Saint-Exmin makes an attack run on Hammerhead, then blows herself up, achieving the glorious death that she sought. Although Sador's aerospace forces are wiped out, Hammerhead picks off all the remaining mercenaries with laser battery-fire and nuclear missiles. Only Nell, piloted by Shad and Nanelia, survives the Malmori onslaught. Crippled and unable to fight, Nell is captured by Hammerhead's tractor beam. Nanelia and Shad activate Nell's self-destruct program, then flee in an escape pod. When Sador commands Nell to surrender, she detonates, causing his Stellar Converter to backfire and disintegrate Hammerhead. As Shad and Nanelia return to Akir, Nanelia despairs over their friends' deaths. Shad shares with her the teachings of Akir's "Varda": nobody is truly dead when they have been loved and are celebrated by the living. The Akira will always remember the sacrifices made by the mercenaries, who will forever be honored in the legends of Akir.

CAST:
Richard Thomas as Shad, a young Akira farmer who looks for mercenaries to save his people. Over the course of the story, he evolves into the next Akira Corsair, brother of the ill-fated Mol.
Robert Vaughn as Gelt, a notorious assassin with an intergalactic bounty on his head. Despite his vast riches, all he wants now is "a meal and a place to hide". Vaughn played Lee in The Magnificent Seven, essentially the same character as Gelt.
John Saxon as Sador, leader of the evil Malmori raiders, is very old and keeps himself alive using transplants to renew his body. His role is analogous to the character of Calvera from The Magnificent Seven.
George Peppard as Space Cowboy, the only character from Earth, who is defined by his many one-liners and who becomes Shad's good friend.
Darlanne Fluegel as Nanelia, Dr. Hephaestus' beautiful daughter and Shad's love interest.
Sybil Danning as Saint-Exmin, a Valkyrie warrior looking to prove herself in battle.
Sam Jaffe as Dr. Hephaestus, an old man on life support, who wants grandchildren to inhabit his space station.
Jeff Corey as Zed the Corsair, once a famed Akira warrior and now almost blind. He is the former pilot of Shad's starship, whose system computer he affectionately calls "Old Girl".
Morgan Woodward as Cayman of the Lambda Zone, a Lazuli who works as a Zymer and has a score to settle with Sador for destroying his species.
Marta Kristen as Lux, an Akira who works the early warning system and starts a relationship with Space Cowboy.
Earl Boen as Nestor 1 the voice, usually, for the five clones.
John Gowens as Nestor 2.
Lynn Carlin as the voice of Nell, the computer which controls Zed's (now Shad's) starship. "She" is highly protective of Shad, whom she calls "wet behind the ears". The computer does not like it when anybody other than Zed addresses her as "Old Girl".
Lawrence Steven Meyers as Thunin/Kelvin 1, one of Cayman's crew, communicates by radiating body heat.
Lara Cody as Urim/Kelvin 2.
Steve Davis as Quepeg, the tattooed, harpoon throwing member of Cayman's crew.
Julia Duffy as Mol, Shad's sister.
Production
Development
Battle Beyond the Stars was budgeted at an estimated $2,000,000. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced by Roger Corman. Much of the budget allegedly went toward paying the salaries of George Peppard and Robert Vaughn, since both of screenwriter Sayles' previous films were low-budget productions.

PRODUCTION:
To save on costs, the film was produced in Corman's own studio, his "renowned lumberyard facility" in Venice, California. Initially, the film came out of producer Roger Corman's desire to make a space opera-style film in the wake of the massive worldwide success of Star Wars. Up-and-coming screenwriter John Sayles had already written the Corman-produced The Lady in Red and Piranha, the latter of which was both a financial and critical success. At one point, Australian director Richard Franklin (Patrick, Psycho II) was attached to direct. However, he was replaced by Jimmy T. Murakami, a veteran animator who had previously been an uncredited co-director on Corman's Humanoids from the Deep.

The film was co-financed by Orion Pictures who distributed the film in Europe. (Corman had a relationship with those executives when they worked at United Artists and had done a similar thing with them on Piranha.)

The planet Akir and its inhabitants, the Akira, a peaceful alien race at the center of the conflict, were named in honor of director Akira Kurosawa, whose film Seven Samurai provided the framework for the plot.

Corman initially hired James Cameron as a model maker for his studio after being impressed with his short film Xenogenesis. When the original art director for the film was fired, Cameron became responsible for the majority of the film's special effects, or, as Cameron later put it, "production design and art direction". This was Cameron's first "big break" in the entertainment industry, and it helped to propel his career. He was recommended by long-time working partner and future wife Gale Anne Hurd, who was at the time working for Corman.

While Cameron initially worked on camera rigging, he soon started working on special effects and production design of interior sets. The low-budget led to Cameron's designing the spaceship's corridors out of spray-painted McDonald's containers. Cameron paid great attention to detail, and hardly slept for weeks while working on the film. His hard work paid off, as the special effects were one aspect of the film highly received by both fans and critics, opening the door for his later successes.

According to Hurd, actor Bill Paxton was employed on the set as a carpenter, which is where she first met him, before working with him and Cameron on Aliens: "So my first memory of Bill was him pounding nails and cracking everybody up. I mean, we’d be working at three or four in the morning and he would be the one who kept all our spirits up. He was that person on and off set".