Product Details

• Actors: David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer, Caroline Munro, Marjoe Gortner
• Directors: Luigi Cozzi
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: September 14, 2010
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003NHMYHO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,281 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Starcrash (Roger Corman Cult Classics)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Is there anything Starcrash doesn't have? Robots, hyperspace, troglodytes, Caroline Munro in a space bikini, "reality" star Marjoe Gortner as an alien, a pre-everything David Hasselhoff, and--most incredible of all, under the circumstances--a terrific score by the great John Barry. This jaw-dropping 1979 Star Wars knock-off is something of a cult item, prized in equal measure for its anything-goes visual attack (the universe glitters with Christmas-tree lights) and its ludicrous dialogue and acting. Munro plays Stella Star, a space smuggler traveling the stars with sidekick Gortner (the former child evangelist who had a run of roles after the success of the 1972 documentary Marjoe). There is a plot of sorts, but mostly Munro stands around trying to channel Raquel Welch while director Luigi Cozzi kicks the story from one outlandish set to the next. Hasselhoff shows up halfway through, looking as though he's auditioning to be a dancer at Studio 54--but everybody else in the picture looks that way too, even veteran villain Joe Spinell, as the universe's cape-clad personification of evil. Cozzi tosses in a little Ray Harryhausen-style stop-motion animation, multiple references to other sci-fi classics, and lofty Christopher Plummer as a space Emperor demanding his forces to "Halt the flow of time!" Barry's music (this is the same year he did The Black Hole) is truly enjoyable, and one theme suspiciously resembles a key melody in his subsequent Out of Africa score. The dialogue, meanwhile, sounds as though it's been translated into English from Japanese, and is delivered in styles that range from the incompetent (Munro) to the deranged (Gortner). Clearly, this is a prime candidate for Bad Movie Night, something that becomes clear even before the "Amazons on horseback" come galloping into view. Shout! Factory's two-disc Special Edition has lots of goodies, including a long interview with Cozzi that explains a lot. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Prepare yourself for a vintage science fiction adventure film you will never forget, as the sultry Stella Star (Caroline Munro) and her alien sidekick Akton (Marjoe Gortner) team up with robot lawman Elle (Judd Hamilton) on a high adventure to save the universe. It is a cosmic mash-up of daring escapes, wild special effects, beautiful women in sexy space bikinis and nonstop action on a dozen alien worlds. Roger Corman presents the ultimate European space opera, a colorful and dazzling chase through the galaxy that will blast you through the blackness of a hundred million nights!

Kicked into hyperspace by a maelstrom of ingenious low-budget special effects and the talents of Academy Award winning composer John Barry, the film was a smash hit in 1979 when the wild and humorous sci-fi adventure hit theatres. For over 30 years the film has gained a massive cult following, inspiring devoted legions of Crashers fan clubs and more. Now, for the first time on DVD, the film is presented in a deluxe two-disc special edition.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Entertainment September 8, 2010

By Christopher Mills

Format:Blu-ray

Luigi Cozzi's Star Crash (a/k/a The Adventures of Stella Star) is one of my all-time favorite movies. Usually dismissed as a cheap Italian Star Wars knock-off, it's actually much, much more than that: it's a cheap Italian knock-off of all three Flash Gordon serials, Barbarella, hundreds of pulp space operas and comic books, and a half-dozen Ray Harryhausen movies.

It literally has everything: a scantily clad heroine, a comic relief robot, stop-motion monsters, lightsabre duels, space amazons, space troglodytes, a galactic villain with a beer belly, ray guns, ludicrous spaceship miniatures, beach ball planets, blinking Christmas tree light stars, an eclectic international cast that includes Joe Spinell, David Hasselhoff, Marjoe Gortner, Robert Tessier, and an apparently stoned-out-of-his-mind Christopher Plummer... and a marvelous musical score by Academy Award-winning composer John Barry!

I've long lamented that there wasn't a quality, authorized DVD edition of this personal favorite available, and the thought that in a few days I'll have a high-definition, widescreen copy on Blu-Ray is exciting. Ever since I read director Cozzi's article about the origins of and the making of the film in Future magazine (anyone remember that companion mag to Starlog, later known as Future Life?) back in '77, I've been fascinated with the film, and when I finally saw it on VHS with some friends around 1990, I couldn't believe just how much giddy, shameless, stupid fun it was.

There isn't much I don't love about the movie, to be honest. Caroline Munro is gorgeous, the special effects are psychedelic, the characters so ridiculous and earnest... it's pure, rainy Saturday afternoon bliss, and vastly more entertaining than ANY of the Star Wars prequels or the mind-numbingly boring and overrated Avatar.

29 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Starcash June 13, 2010

By Bartok Kinski

Format:DVD

This film simply lacked "true" space opera common sense and seemed from the outset to be nothing but an awful Star Wars (1977) copy. I was hesitant to go as high as 5 stars but I suppose the basic premise of the film is acceptable enough, it is an enjoyably awful, cheese space film.

I find Starcrash (1978) very stirring and exciting. At its heart, it is a close relative of the klutzy Italian giallo films, a swashbuckling Star epic full of political space color, ridiculous special effects, dumb intrigue, and moral danger in space. Christopher Plummer emerges as a memorable villain, and David Hasselhoff's presence is enough to further increase the mystique of the Hasselhoff cheese legacy. I sense some unbalance in this movie. The script is so bad that it makes Marjoe Gortner and Joe Spinell look lame but Caroline Munro wearing a bikini is hot.

Starcrash (1978) is underrated cheese and more imaginative than most cheese space films ever shot.

Not only does this movie entertain kids of all ages but it holds up well to repeat viewings and earns the right to be called a "cheese space classic".

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most entertaining Star Wars ripoff I've ever seen! March 21, 2011

By P. Black

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

A piddly 3 stars as average rating? C'mon Basic Instinct 2 has the same rating (at least as I'm writing this), and it's nowhere near as fun (or any fun at all, actually)! I don't know that I have anything to really add to the reviews that tout this as extremely entertaining camp; I can tell you that I only became aware of this film in September 2010 when it came out on DVD and Blu-ray. I read the reviews from the DVD reviewing sites and decided that, being a lover of science fiction and of campy movies, I would love it. So I bought it sight unseen and have become completely obsessed by it. A framed poster is now in my living room, I check ebay periodically for other Starcrash merchandise, and have seen it numerous times. Now, I'm not saying that everyone will love it in the (possibly maniacal) way I do, but I will say there's a very good chance those who enjoy science fiction and cheesy movies will at least like it. And there are numerous positives to a film that I may be making sound completely disposable: the score by John Barry is frequently beautiful, the often colorful cinematography looks great (especially on the Blu-ray) and it has David Hasselhoff! You can't lose...