Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

[Mass Riffer Mafia]

I can see Peppard blasted with A Team humour as well as more Helsinki Formula jokes at Vaughn.

[Compound]

Okay, I don't lobby for many riffs, but I will for this one.

Back in 1980, Roger Corman, trying to capitalize on the sci-fi movie trend, did a big budget (well, big budget for him, at least) sci-fi epic called Battle Beyond the Stars.



The plot's pretty simple. Farmboy must recruit mercenaries to help save his planet from a marauding alien invader. But they have little money so, they can only offer food and shelter. They end up recruiting seven merc... huh. That seems rather familiar. Well, Corman borrows from the best.

Anyway, the film stars Richard "John Boy from the Waltons" Thomas as the hero, John Saxon as the bad guy, George Peppard as a space trucker (no, really), Sybil Danning as an excuse for some titillation and Robert Vaughn playing the exact same character as he did in The Magnificent Seven.

The film falls into the "bad but really enjoyable to watch" category of films with a decent plot (It kinda has to be given the source) and a number of good actors slumming it. But this gives the guys an excuse to riff Corman, again, and indirectly riff Kurasowa. And, best of all, it's being re-released by our friends at Shout! on July 12th. (The same day that Damnation Alley gets a DVD release as well, but that's for another topic.)

Spoiler

Come on, guys. I know you've seen this film. You know it'd be a hoot. Do it.

[sardeans1138]

I saw the DVD in an aisle in Hollywood video, didn't know it went out of print

judging from the trailer Corman spent most of the money on that breast-shaped spaceship

[Scrivener]

I saw the DVD in an aisle in Hollywood video, didn't know it went out of print

judging from the trailer Corman spent most of the money on that phalic-shaped spaceship

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Say it with me, people:  the spaceship has breasts.  That has to be worth at least half a dozen riffs alone.

[Zeether]

Corman = instant riff fodder.

[Watchman]

Corman = instant riff fodder.

Not all of the time. You can't riff Death Race 2000, it's already a hilarious black comedy; same with Piranha IMO. However, most of these other new Shout Factory titles... god, I recently watched Galaxy of Terror, a total Alien ripoff whose only claim to fame is a young James Cameron's production design & a giant maggot rape scene. What a stupid movie with one of the worst "music" scores I've ever heard. Galaxy of Terror would be perfect for Rifftrax, but they probably wouldn't do it because of the violence & sleaze. Unless Kevin & Bill teamed up for a new Rifftrax Presents.

What about the Vincent Price "Poe films" that Roger Corman directed in the 60's? I'm not sure how well those would work either.

[Darth Geek]

What about the Vincent Price "Poe films" that Roger Corman directed in the 60's? I'm not sure how well those would work either.

The only one of those I've seen was The Raven, which not only has absolutely NOTHING tho do with the poem, but doesn't really take itself seriously. It's actually fun as hell, something Corman doesn't get right very often.
I think I've heard that the other Poe adaptations are more serious in tone, so they may work.

[Watchman]

What about the Vincent Price "Poe films" that Roger Corman directed in the 60's? I'm not sure how well those would work either.

The only one of those I've seen was The Raven, which not only has absolutely NOTHING tho do with the poem, but doesn't really take itself seriously. It's actually fun as hell, something Corman doesn't get right very often.
I think I've heard that the other Poe adaptations are more serious in tone, so they may work.

I've seen The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of Red Death, and The Haunted Palace (which is really an adaptation of Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"), and I really don't think they'd work for Rifftrax. I don't think classic gothic horror has the right dynamic for riffing. Vincent Price is a master of monologues, so some of these films leave very few pauses to put jokes in.

MKB have said that the best Rifftrax films (like The Happening) have the perfect balance of action, dialogue & lulls.

Now here's some really silly shit:

[Mass Riffer Mafia]

I saw the DVD in an aisle in Hollywood video, didn't know it went out of print

judging from the trailer Corman spent most of the money on that phalic-shaped spaceship

It's back on DVD and blu ray.

[Watchman]

I saw the DVD in an aisle in Hollywood video, didn't know it went out of print

judging from the trailer Corman spent most of the money on that phalic-shaped spaceship

It's back on DVD and blu ray.

Also, "phallic" doesn't mean what you think it does.

"Phallic" has become quite the overused word. There seems to be a neo-Freudian movement amongst film commentators. Everything's phallic & vaginal (except porn). God, I get sick of hearing how movies with caves are "vaginal". So I guess when a spaceship goes into a cave...

[Henry88]

http://www.badmovies.org/movies/battlebeyond/

John Boy must fight off an evil warlord to save his planet. Luckily he has seven samu...ah, some aliens helping him.

[Anynobody]

Trailer: https://youtu.be/2t7z_44nGio
Whole movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnvhVZOHDX8

Noticed this one has been recommended in passing a few times, so wanted to explain a bit about why this movie is perfect RiffTrax fodder. First, it's a Roger Corman blunt with a 1970s/1980s mostly star cast. George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, Sybil Danning, and John Saxon to name most.

This is the hero's ship, Nell. It, and the films special effects were made by James Cameron¹. (Aliens, Titanic, Avatar and Strange Days) To me it looks like a pair of testicles below and connected to, a pair of ovaries:


The hero is truly lame. Watch him in combat:
https://youtu.be/bnvhVZOHDX8?t=615 Weapons locked on. Enemy ship firing at him. He... doesn't want to tip his hand by destroying the bad guy?

¹ Rather than just link the IMDB page, I'm giving you Wikipedia because it has a better plot summary and it's surprising how many actors with Wikipedia pages are in this film. Also the IMDB is linked there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Beyond_the_Stars