Sci Fi September # 26 – Battle Beyond The Stars
A peaceful farming colony is threatened by the evil Sador, so the farmers send one of their own looking for help. Who he finds are seven mercenaries. Sounds familiar?
Yes, this is a rip off of The Magnificent Seven but in space. Made in 1980, BBTS was a cheap movie, made quickly to jump on the Star Wars waggon. The only problem with that is that it looks cheap.
Richard Thomas plays the young farmer who goes out looking for help, and he finds Robert Vaughn & George Peppard, among others, to help him. Which is good because the evil Sador is played by the evil John Saxon. In the last 25 or so years, if you wanted a bad man, someone despicable, there are two names that are interchangeable because of their evilness. They are John Saxon and Michael Ironside. Both put in appearance in early 80s sci fi movies as the bad guys.
This is not a terrible movie, but with a little better money, they probably could have had a more original script, much better special effects, and a better name. The actors are good enough.
