I remembered seeing "Battle" as a youngish fellow when it first came out, but I didn't remember anything about it except the odd ship designs and that it was basically OK for cheaply made escapist space opera with Star Wars "inspired" themes. I couldn't even remember the exact title for many years - "Oh, yeah, that Roger Corman space opera that was better than it deserved to be, what was the title, I remember kind of liking it."
I finally confirmed the title a while back and found I could watch it for free on YouTube, so I did,just to see how it held up.
Well...
Way more derivative than I remember. Lots of lines that fall flat and lots of scenes that don't work or go anywhere. The Corman "get it finished and get it out the door" feel is all over it. On the plus side, the special effects were, um, enjoyably cheesy, and the music aped John Williams successfully without seeming too much of a rip- off. (Not criticizing James Horner here - he went on to do some great things.)
However the sound design for the space battles was really stupid. Laser blasts should not remind me of quacking ducks, that's all I'm saying.
I'd also forgotten that there was some talent lined up for this movie, almost enough to elevate it a notch. But Peppard and Vaughn walked through their parts on autopilot, Saxon had no idea how to play a super-villain, and John Thomas as the Luke Skywalker stand- in, was hopelessly bland. At least they never had him pull out a light-saber analogue or "use the Force", although they did have him dress all in white, just like what's-his-name.
For all its Corman-derived 2nd-rate shenanigans, though, it was decent, managing to wrap itself in the good-will generated by Star Wars - A New Hope. I got the sub-text,"Man, we LOVED Star Wars, and we wanted to play it ourselves." Well, who doesn't?
I finally confirmed the title a while back and found I could watch it for free on YouTube, so I did,just to see how it held up.
Well...
Way more derivative than I remember. Lots of lines that fall flat and lots of scenes that don't work or go anywhere. The Corman "get it finished and get it out the door" feel is all over it. On the plus side, the special effects were, um, enjoyably cheesy, and the music aped John Williams successfully without seeming too much of a rip- off. (Not criticizing James Horner here - he went on to do some great things.)
However the sound design for the space battles was really stupid. Laser blasts should not remind me of quacking ducks, that's all I'm saying.
I'd also forgotten that there was some talent lined up for this movie, almost enough to elevate it a notch. But Peppard and Vaughn walked through their parts on autopilot, Saxon had no idea how to play a super-villain, and John Thomas as the Luke Skywalker stand- in, was hopelessly bland. At least they never had him pull out a light-saber analogue or "use the Force", although they did have him dress all in white, just like what's-his-name.
For all its Corman-derived 2nd-rate shenanigans, though, it was decent, managing to wrap itself in the good-will generated by Star Wars - A New Hope. I got the sub-text,"Man, we LOVED Star Wars, and we wanted to play it ourselves." Well, who doesn't?