Classic Horrors Club

Science fiction is something I enjoy; however, I’m glad I’m not as “into” it as horror because that would mean I’d have to watch more movies like Star Odyssey (1979.) I can watch almost any horror movie, no matter how bad, and exit the experience with some amount of appreciation. I can’t say the same for sci-fi. t’s cheaper and easier to depict murder and mayhem in a slasher, but budget deficits are clearer with “epic” space operas.

I needn’t explain what Star Wars did to its genre (although I’d argue it’s more adventure than sci-fi), nor remind you how it usurped horror at the time (for evidence, just look at sequential covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland.) However, to explain the existence of Star Odyssey, I should remind you of the number of “rip-offs” in the wake of Star Wars, and that it was a worldwide phenomenon not limited to the country of its origin.

This particular delight is from Italy and was the fourth in a series of movies from director Alfonso Brescia. Preceded by War of the Planets (1977), Battle of the Stars (1978), and The War of the Robots (1978), the films aren’t connected by plot, but if IMDb ratings count for anything, they’re connected by quality. Average ratings for each are below three stars. I toyed with giving Star Odyssey zero; however, there are moments of humor (intentional or not) that ultimately caused me to bump up my rating by one star.

For example, we meet one of the heroes, whose name I don’t recall, but by process of elimination might (or might not) be Shawn (Chris Avram), in the boxing ring as he’s fighting an android. Man is able to triumph over machine by utilizing gymnastics, which seem to be Shawn’s superpower. He’s like Tigger, bouncing and tumbling in nearly every scene in which he appears, even if the action doesn’t require him to do so. If I’m not having a good time with Star Odyssey, at least he is.

I always get a kick out of how movies like this create their own characters that are blatant variations of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, etc. The best are usually the robots. Here, there’s a “trashcan”-bot that’s a taller, skinnier R2-D2, and not one, but two, prissy C3PO robots. Their bickering is somewhat humorous, yet a little twisted. They are revived from a suicide pact they made because they were built sexually… incompatible. 

As far as a story goes, an evil alien “lord,” Kress, purchases Earth at auction for $100 million “credits” and offers to accept orders from other bad guys for slaves, of which the planet has millions. On Earth, Prof. Mauri (Ennio Balbo) and his niece, Irene (Yanti Somer), collect a band of ragtag warriors to fight back. Their focus is on recreating the metal that protects Kress’s spaceship, so they can destroy it. (Which, by the way, they never do, but they still win the battle.)

I can’t decide which is my favorite Star Wars homage/rip-off. Is it the wooden swords covered in fluorescent paint that resemble lightsabers and the fact that they cause no visual harm, yet send bodies flying? Or, is it the bargain basement interiors of fighters that resemble X-Wings? The pilot looks like he’s sitting stationary in a black hole, witnessing dangerous exterior aerodynamics that we never see. To be fair, there are fleeting moments of space aerodynamics, albeit motionless.

I should be more generous. While my effort at 14-years old to re-make Star Wars in my back yard with a Super 8 camera never came to fruition, it did for the creators of Star Odyssey and, I assume, at least three other movies. I wish it were out of love of the original film and the genre instead of the love of the almighty buck. Or, how about combining the effort and, instead of making four bad movies, try to make one good one? I can’t imagine the return on investment would be much less.