BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological, sociological*


As derivative as BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS is, at least one has to give producer Roger Corman and his co-workers props for ringing in a few changes on the "Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven" set of tropes, in marked contrast to a deadly-dull flick like THE SEVEN MAGNIFICENT GLADIATORS, made just three years later. Since I think John Sturges' MAGNIFICENT SEVEN was the primary influence on BATTLE, I'll eschew further references to the Kurosawa film.

Though Jimmy Murikami's direction is workmanlike, John Sayles' script gets some simple fun out of crossbreeding SEVEN with STAR WARS. For unexplained reasons, space-warlord Sador (John Saxon) decides that he wants to plunder a humble farming-world, where the inhabitants, rather than being downtrodden by poverty, believe in non-violence. Sador very considerately gives the farmers time to consider their options, and so young Lu-- I mean, Shad (Richard Thomas)-- has the chance to race off looking for mercenaries to battle Sador.

Though Sayles has clearly worked in some STAR WARS motifs, it's arguable that BATTLE uses more tropes of scientific space-opera than does George Lucas's space-fantasy. Lucas's original trilogy shows very little interest in how aliens and creatures operate in a biological sense. Sayles uses the "seven mercenaries" trope, at least on a couple of occasions, to explore odd biological forms, such as the Nestor, five clones who share a telepathic consciousness, and the Kelvins, who communicate through radiant heat. (I notice that IMDB does not use the character-names applied to them, "Umin" and "Thummin," which is a cute though meaningless reference to two ceremonial objects mentioned in the Old Testament.)

Shad's method of picking up his allies is also pleasingly un-programmatic. He finds his "Leia" in spunky Nannella (Darlanne Fleugel), who shows a little more interest in sex than one generally finds in George Lucas (this is probably the influence of Corman more than Sayles' personal choice). George Peppard as "Cowboy" and Robert Vaughn as "Gelt" give only fair performances, but Morgan Woodward, heavily made up as the reptilian "Cayman," conveys considerable intensity, while Sybil Danning's Amazonian "St. Exmin" proved to be the role that made the actress famous in the annals of genre-films.

Effects are limited, both in terms of budget and talent, and so the battle-scenes are never more than tolerable. But it's one flick where being derivative isn't entirely a bad thing. At least Sayles knows what worked in the original, and strives to give his own touches to the reprise.