By Drew Dietsch
| Published
Star Wars is arguably the most influential movie ever made. The space fantasy epic became the biggest film in cinema history and changed the entire landscape of the movie business.
Naturally, this led to plenty of attempts to capitalize on George Lucas’s sci-fi fantasy success. While some of those movies are better left in the past, there are actually a number of flicks that manage to stand the test of time and provide more than their fair share of entertainment.
I’m Drew Dietsch and these are the Star Wars ripoffs that are actually worth watching.
Starcrash (1978)
Leave it to the greatest movie ripoff culture in the world, the Italians, to get their Star Wars cash-in out in theaters less than a year after Star Wars premiered. I love the Italians so very, very much. And this spaghetti space lark from the beautiful boot is a B-movie blast.
Directed and co-written by infamous Italian genre stalwart Luigi Cozzi, Starcrash is a whirlwind of low budget joys, from the flamboyant costumes to the cheesy but charming effects, Starcrash revels in its theatrical goofiness in such a good-hearted way that you can’t help but get a laugh out of it.
And if you want some extra laughs out of Starcrash, you can watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode from the reboot series, it’s not bad, but it’s worth seeing Starcrash’s intentional silliness on its own.
The Black Hole (1979)
Though we now know Disney as the overlord of all entertainment, the Mouse House was actually in some dire financial straits in the ‘70s and ‘80s. So much so that even Mickey needed to get in on the Star Wars ripoff game, but the movie Disney made ended up being more like the Event Horizon of family space adventure films.
The Black Hole sees an exploratory spaceship’s crew come across the expected black hole and discover a renowned lost ship with a single survivor, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, a brilliant scientist who has built an army of terrifying robots. Reinhardt, played with perfect flair by Maximilian Schell, plans to pilot the ship into the black hole and when the movie delivers on that promise, you’re treated to a psychedelic nightmare unlike anything you’d ever expect from the studio that brought you Home on the Range.
You’ll get some tonal whiplash between the googly-eyed robot buddies and the cold-blooded death of Anthony Perkins, but The Black Hole is such an oddity that everyone should give it a chance.
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Roger Corman got plenty of mileage out of ripping off blockbuster successes like Alien and Star Wars was no different. Battle Beyond the Stars takes the classic story concept of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and takes it to the stars. I’m sorry, beyond the stars.
What sets Battle Beyond the Stars apart from other Star Wars ripoffs is the talent assembled both in front of the camera but especially behind it. The cast includes plenty of character actor favorites – pick your favorite! Mine’s John Saxon – but the script is from acclaimed screenwriter John Sayles, the score is by sci-fi icon James Horner, and James Cameron worked on the production design and special effects. This really is a cavalcade of young and creative talent getting to cut loose.
It’s rare that a Roger Corman produced picture doesn’t entertain on some level, but Battle Beyond the Stars is easily one of his must-see movies.
The Man Who Saved the World (1982)
Known for years as Turkish Star Wars in fan circles, The Man Who Saved the World is notable for being a literal ripoff of Star Wars as it features actual footage from the 1977 original movie! That bonkers factoid would make The Man Who Saved the World a decent bit of movie trivia, but the actual movie is even nuttier.
Two space fighter pilots crash on a desert planet and they have to do battle with an evil spiky wizard and his minions while music from Star Wars AND Indiana Jones plays! How they got away with this is one of the delights of international cinema history.
The Man Who Saved the World is better seen than discussed, and if you thought Starcrash was low budget, this is subterranean budget but it’s so cheap that it ends up being more entertaining than most mega-budget movies.
Krull (1983)
Now here is a fascinating one. Though Krull is not using the science fiction trappings of Star Wars like all our previous movies, it’s still using the heroic fantasy template that George Lucas made so popular, and it’s certainly attempting to be an effects showcase.
But, the real Star Wars comparison for Krull comes with the idea of the iconic weapon. Star Wars had the lightsaber and Krull had the Glaive. If nothing else, Krull succeeded in manifesting a memorable fantasy weapon.
Though it was a box office and critical flop, Krull has built a healthy cult following over the decades. I’m telling you, it’s that Glaive.
Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983)
Okay, I promise this is our last true B-movie but it’s possibly my favorite of them all. Based on an Argentine comic series that actually predated Star Wars, Yor, Hunter from the Future is another Italian schlockfest that appears to be another throwback caveman cheapie – and a really fun one! – but it reveals a sci-fi apocalyptic twist and things only get goofier from there.
The big Star Wars ripoff element Yor really takes is the for the villain, The Overlord. He and his android army certainly have that Italian knockoff style we saw in Starcrash. The fact that both Yor’s Overlord and Return of the Jedi’s Emperor were in theaters the same year should tell you exactly what they were doing.
In all seriousness, Yor has loads of dunderheaded amusements for anyone with what Joe Bob Briggs would call the spirit of the drive-in. If I can’t enjoy the scene where Yor uses a dead flying dinosaur as a hang glider, I know I’m done with this world.
And that “Yor’s World” song? He IS the man.
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Star Wars took a classical idea – a young hero sets out into a fantastic world in the midst of war – and gave it a genre spin with special effects flair that audiences had never seen before. The Last Starfighter took the same simple structure and brought it to the then-present.
Imagine playing a video game so well that it was revealed to be a recruiting tool for space pilots in an intergalactic conflict. That’s the idea behind The Last Starfighter, and it really does sell the excitement of that juvenile fantasy being brought to life. And the movie is worth it just for Dan O’Herlihy as the Navigator Grig. You gotta love Grig.
It might not be the most cerebral movie but The Last Starfighter is still an adventure worth discovering.
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Ten years after Star Wars hit the big screen, legendary ‘80s exploitation studio Cannon Films tried their best to generate their own sci-fi/fantasy pop culture hit with an adaptation of Masters of the Universe, a toy line and cartoon series that had been a major success in the mid-’80s.
Look, I’m just going to be straight with you: Masters of the Universe is not a great movie, it may not even be a good one but it’s got another great Emperor Palpatine riff with Frank Langella’s bonkers but committed take on the evil Skeletor. Frankly (see what I did there?), he’s worth the entire price of admission.
Even bad movies have their bright points, and Masters of the Universe isn’t without some shiny stupidity.
Flash Gordon (1980)
The last entry in our list of Star Wars ripoffs brings the whole concept full circle as Star Wars was directly inspired by the original Flash Gordon film serials of the 1930s and ‘40s. So, when Star Wars was a smash, we got a new Flash Gordon major movie production.
Unfortunately, the more retro cartoon tone and style of Flash Gordon came across as corny and campy to critics at the time. Compared to Star Wars, it felt too old-fashioned. Thankfully, time has been extremely kind to the film’s gorgeous production and pulpy glee. In many ways, Flash Gordon may have started as a ripoff but has cemented itself as its own colorful sci-fi delight for fans of multiple generations.
And you know we love that Queen song.
Are there other Star Wars ripoffs you think we need to see? Drop your recommendations in the comments! Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get more compilations just like this.
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