Battle Beyond the Stars

"A battle beyond time, beyond space."

1980 1h 43m EN

😐

5.4

MID

★5.4TMDB · 235

Science FictionActionAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A young farmer assembles a band of diverse mercenaries to defend his peaceful planet from an evil tyrant.

“A battle beyond time, beyond space.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Richard Thomas
Shad
Robert Vaughn
Gelt
John Saxon
Sador
George Peppard
Cowboy
Darlanne Fluegel
Nanelia
Sybil Danning
St. Exmin
Sam Jaffe
Dr. Hephaestus
Jeff Corey
Zed

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jimmy T. Murakami
Writers: John Sayles, Anne Dyer, John Sayles
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, shot by Daniel Lacambre. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Allan Holzman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Thomas and Robert Vaughn and John Saxon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A battle beyond time, beyond space.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jimmy T. Murakami directs. Daniel Lacambre behind the camera. James Horner scores. Allan Holzman cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Made its money back 5.5× over at the box office.
346 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, shot by Daniel Lacambre. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Allan Holzman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Richard Thomas and Robert Vaughn and John Saxon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A battle beyond time, beyond space.".
9IMDB entry: tt0080421 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "hitman", "clone", "space battle", "mercenary".

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniel Lacambre
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Allan Holzman
Costume design: Durinda Wood
Makeup / hair: Steve Neill
Sound: Gary C. Bourgeois
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,000,000
Box office: $11,000,000
Return: 550% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

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Jimmy T. Murakami

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-06-07
★ 6/10
This looks every inch the low budget affair it actually was - but it almost comes off as a fairly engaging sci-fi rip off of the "Magnificent Seven" - complete, even, with Robert Vaughn! "John-Boy" himself, Richard Thomas ("Shad") lives on one of those simple, peaceful, planets threatened by a megalomanic with a big laser cannon (John Saxon) who demands their harvest. "Shad" decides to try and rustle together some mercenaries to defend their home from this evil conqueror and so recruits a disparate band including George Peppard ("Cowboy") and a collection of inter-galactic misfits to help with their cause. Probably most notable for James Horner's score, this is an enjoyable enough sci-fi action adventure with plenty going on and not too much tedious philosophising; the special effects do their job fine, too.
Wuchak2024-08-26
★ 7/10
Star Trek and Star Wars are met together (on a lower Corman budget) When the planet Akir is threatened by a galactic tyrant (John Saxon), a young man with no experience in warfare (Richard Thomas) ventures into space to enlist the aid of several mercenaries (George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, Morgan Woodward, etc.). "Battle Beyond the Stars" (1980) meshes the space-oriented science-fiction of Star Trek (the Original Series and the 1979 movie) with the space fantasy of Star Wars for a colorful interplanetary adventure on a Roger Corman budget. The protagonist’s planet is called Akir and the denizens Akira because the basic plot was taken from Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” (which, of course, was also the basis for “The Magnificent Seven”). On the female front, Darlanne Fluegel is noteworthy as Nanelia, the potential mate of our young hero (Thomas). Meanwhile stunning Sybil Danning works well as Saint-Exmin of the Valkyrie warriors, albeit hammy. Julia Duffy can be observed as one of the Akira. This was one of the first fairly big theatrical films to be scored by James Horner (although he previously did “Humanoids from the Deep” the same year), which paved the way for his notable career (think “Wolfen,” “Star Trek II,” “Star Trek III,” “Cocoon,” “Aliens,” “Field of Dreams,” “Glory” and so on). Corman’s $2 million budget was mostly spent on the salaries of Peppard and Vaughn, but he had to up his game with the special effects to compete with the new standards set by “Star Wars” (which cost $11 million), “Alien” ($11 million) and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” ($35 million). Sure, the F/X aren’t as good as those movies, technically speaking, but they’re quite effective (and fun) all things considered, not to mention superior to “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (the theatrical movie that was also the pilot for the TV series), which had $3.5 million to work with. It was very profitable at the box office and deservedly so since it’s all-around entertaining. You could say that it was the low-budget precursor to the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy flicks of modern times. It runs 1 hour, 43 minutes and was shot at Corman's own studio in Venice, California, his "renowned lumberyard facility.” GRADE: B
Sierbahnn2026-06-16
★ 6/10
Rebel Moon - but good Obviously Rebel Moon I & II are pretty much exactly this story, but this movie has characters, actual drama, and some excitement. It is just a superior movie. Yes, obviously it has aged, as it was made in 1980, but it does more than enough with what it has to be exciting. It was made to copy Star Wars (again, obviously), and the opening shot is just A New Hope with another ship, but that sort of homage is to be expected. I enjoyed this movie, and with its star-studded cast portraying interesting characters it is a fun ride. I wholly recommend this movie to sci-fi fans everywhere, and if you found Rebel Moon a bit sad then this is the pick-me-up you need!