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Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

| Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi | 13 November 1980 (West Germany)
Battle Beyond the Stars Poster
A young farmer sets out to recruit mercenaries to defend his peaceful planet, which is under threat of invasion by the evil tyrant Sador and his armada of aggressors.

Directors:

, (uncredited)

Writers:

(screenplay), (story) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

, , | See full cast & crew »
Reviews
1 win & 4 nominations. See more awards »

Photos

10 photos | 106 news articles »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Cowboy
...
Nanelia
...
St. Exmin
...
...
Cayman
...
Nestor 1
...
Nestor 2 (as John Gowens)
Steve Davis ...
Quopeg
Lawrence Steven Meyers ...
Kelvin (as Larry Meyers)
Lara Cody ...
Kelvin
Lynn Carlin ...
Nell (voice)
...
Zed
See full cast »
Edit

Storyline

Shad, a young farmer, assembles a band of diverse mercenaries in outer space to defend his peaceful planet from the evil tyrant Sador and his armada of aggressors. Among the mercenaries are Space Cowboy, a spacegoing truck driver from Earth; Gelt, a wealthy but experienced assassin looking for a place to hide; and Saint-Exmin, a Valkyrie warrior looking to prove herself in battle. Written by Keith Loh <[email protected]>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

mercenary | planet | space cowboy | cowboy | outer space | See All (52) »

Taglines:

Ruthless invaders. A defenseless planet. And a daring band of space adventurers fighting to save it. See more »

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

13 November 1980 (West Germany)  »

Also Known As:

Batalla más allá de las estrellas  »

Filming Locations:

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Gelt is modeled closely after the character Lee from The Magnificent Seven (1960), on which this film was based (Robert Vaughn played both). Some of Gelt's dialogue is lifted almost verbatim from The Magnificent Seven (1960). See more »

Goofs

During Saint Exmin's final battle against Sador a crewmember can be seen on the left-side of the screen (over Sybil Danning's right shoulder). The crewman is visible during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cut to her during the battle. The crew person appears to be sitting just behind the wall immediately behind Sybil. See more »

Quotes

Akira Governor: No-no, listen to me. We don't know how. We live by the Varda; the Varda is not to fight. The Akira haven't fought for centuries!
Zed: I have fought... and I am a scion of Akir!
Akira Governor: And you are on old man.
Zed: I have lasted this long by fighting!
Akira Governor: We are all going to be killed. We are defenseless!
Zed: To fight creatures of violence, you must use creatures of violence.
See more »

Connections

Featured in Sneak Previews: Fade to Black/The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith/The Idolmaker/Every Man for Himself (1980) See more »

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User Reviews

Cult classic with one of James Horner's best ever scores....
29 June 2003 | by – See all my reviews

I first saw this in the summer of 1981, just before I was due to go back to school for my second year in senior school (around the age of 12-13)

Nowadays, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS is more familar to audiences as the film which helped launch the careers of James Cameron and James Horner, but the success of the film is more down to John Sayles excellent screenplay, one of the earliest he did along with PIRANHA for Roger Corman's New World Pictures.

Sayles does some very creative things with the dialogue and Sybil Danning is the standout performance as the Valkyrie warrior St. Exmin. Darlanne Fluegel as Nanelia and Morgan Woodward as Cayman of the Lambda Zone provide adequate support to Richard Thomas and Robert Vaughn.

As with Howard Shore and his LOTR scores, Horner's early works were to be found in low-budget film. The limited-edition soundtrack recently released also has the soundtrack to HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP. I have followed Horner's career from BATTLE, through to his music for 48 HRS, BRAINSTORM and GORKY PARK, but BATTLE is undoubtedly one of the best scores he has ever done. As with John Williams' music for STAR WARS, it added a dimension to the film and gave me goosebumps when I first saw it.

The FX and design of the film do heighten the experience of watching this low-budget offering in a similar way to how ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 knew the limits of its setting.

Worth catching at any time!
23 of 27 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?
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