Review by Gary Tooze

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***

A pair of smugglers manage to pick up a castaway while running from the authorities, who turns out to be the only survivor from a secret mission to destroy a mysterious superweapon designed by the evil Count Zartham. The smugglers are soon recruited by the Emperor to complete the mission, as well as to rescue the Emperor's son, who has gone missing.

 

 

The Film:

A trash-addict sci-fi spectacular from AIP in which Stella Star (Munro) and sundry buddies leap millions of light years around the universe, with enviable nonchalance and a distinct lack of consideration for the laws of nature. Their mission: to save Imperialism from Something Far Worse, and along the way to provide for Stella's future by convincing Plummer's heir apparent that, despite her bizarre style of dress, she'd make a neat Empress one day. .

Labelling Luigi Cozzi’s Starcrash simply a bad film does it a disservice. This film is a landmark in the history of bad science fiction, so gloriously ignorant of just how horrible it truly is on every level that it becomes transcendent. Put it this way: it is so fully in keeping with the general nature of the film that I am tempted to believe that the mis-spelling of David Hasselhoff’s name on the front cover of the recent French DVD release as David Asselhoff is entirely intentional. Or, to put it another way, simply keep in mind that Hasselhoff’s performance in a key supporting role is easily the film’s highest point.

Excerpt from Todd Brown at Twitch located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

Another release that fits in snuggly with the Corman Shout! Factory Blu-ray features (under the 'Cult Classic' label) that we've previously covered - Piranha, Humanoids From the Deep, Death Race 2000 and Galaxy of Terror - however, it is not especially grainy but must be true to source - as the poor effects become very transparent in the higher resolution. Technically it is not strong being about double the bitrate of a well rendered, dual-layered DVD but while this doesn't disturb the presentation, predictably, detail never really rises to the status of modern films rendered to the new medium. Close-ups though - can be surprisingly sharp. Many will appreciate the lack of digital manipulation. This is most likely a faithful representation of the original film as the screen captures below should indicate. It is in in 1.78 aspect ratio and nothing rises to an overly impressive level but that is right in-line with comments from folks who departing the original theatrical presentation. The Blu-ray appears to do its job as well as necessary for the hokey visuals - just keep your expectations modest.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shout Factory offer two lossless tracks - a 5.1 DTS-Master at 2429 kbps and a stereo 2.0 channel at 1702 kbps. It won't rattle your floorboards - separations in the surround aren't aggressive. John Barry's score seems to benefit the most sounding quite good at times. Dialogue is occasionally drowned out by the loud effect noises. We have to remember though this was a Corman production - meaning low budget. There are no subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

There is also a 2nd disc dual-layered DVD that has 17 deleted scenes (from the 5-minute longer 'director's cut' - shown in Europe) - last about 35-minutes in total plus a lengthy new interview with still cute, personable actress Caroline Munro discussing her time as 'Stella Star' as well as a look at her career. There is a look at the film’s special effects with special effects director Armando Valcauda for 23-minutes, 20-minutes of behind the scenes footage with Romano commentary and for those keen enough (who are you?) - the screenplay is available in PDF format.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Forget the multiple Star Wars riffs what about Flash Gordon - gee, that guy must be channeling Ming the Merciless and Stella Star (Caroline Munro) surely must shop at the same intergalactic mall as some of the incarnations of sexy Princess Aura, and how can we forget the gal robot in Metropolis that walks like Harryhausen's bronzed Talos from Jason and the Argonauts ? Okay, okay - past all the hokum - it is not that baaad (3 'a's) for a juvenile adventure but Starcrash's strongest suit is still in its kitsch appeal.  

Corman fans should indulge in this Blu-ray. If not for eye-popping visuals but for a clean, 'valid' a/v representation of another anti-classic with solid extras. It's hard not to recommend this package for under $20 - you can stick it in at any time and immediately be immersed in true exploitive, campy entertainment. It's funny how that works.