WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Battle Beyond the Stars 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production of I 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:15.360 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.759 Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick. It's time once 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.880 more to venture into the realm of Star Wars knockoffs, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:27.520 films that, regardless of their creative integrity, were clearly getting funded, made, 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.560 and or released in an attempt to cash in on 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.920 the juggernaut that was nineventy seven Star Wars. I think 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.200 this will be our third blatant Star Wars roboff movie. Yeah. Yeah, 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.720 last year we watched n The Humanoid and you also 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:46.960 brought up that, Yeah, that Message from Space was also 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:50.840 technically in this, uh this Wheelhouse as well. I would 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:54.680 say that I'm going to rank today's film second among 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.120 our Star Wars knockoffs. I think Message from Space is 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.320 probably my favorite. I'd go with Battle Beyond the Starrs 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.399 and then The Humanoid, though I enjoyed all three. Yeah, yeah, 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.080 I don't know. I might have to give Battle Beyond 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:11.520 the Stars uh the top honors of these three. But uh, 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.000 but but but all three, all three of them, I 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.800 would say, had things going for them that, like I say, 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:20.280 stand apart from the whole Star Wars craze. So it's 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.440 not it's not like they were just entirely you know, 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:28.199 Star Wars ripoffs. Uh, they were creative folks involved. But 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.200 certainly when you start looking at like the funding and 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.479 the production, like these things came to these these films 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.679 came to the surface because somebody was chasing that Star 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.040 Wars money. Oh and in this case, you don't even 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.080 have to wonder because this movie was produced by Roger Corman, 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.960 And you can watch interviews with the people who worked 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.200 on the special effects and and other behind the scenes 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.840 jobs on this movie who said, yeah, Corman went to 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.160 us and said, I want to make a Star Wars movie. 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:58.160 So yeah. But one other big difference I would say 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:01.320 is that while the Humanoids certainly had definitely had its, 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:04.080 Vader knockoff definitely had its. You know, we have Darth 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:08.400 Vader at home moment um, this film does not. And 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.320 I think that alone makes it feel a little more authentic. 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:13.720 But but we'll get into all that. That's actually a 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.800 major distinction of this as a Star Wars among Star 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:18.799 Wars knockoffs. And yeah, we we We'll have to get 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:21.320 into more detail on that later. But the movie today 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.960 is Battle Beyond the Stars. And uh, you know, we 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:26.560 had a listener right in and said, hey, you guys 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:28.560 should tell us where to get the movie early in 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.800 the episode in case we want to watch it before 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.480 you get into all the details. So I don't know, 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:37.400 I guess we can try that. So, hey, we watched 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.440 this movie on an excellent Shout Factory Blu ray that 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:42.800 came out. Um, this is one that comes in a 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:46.920 limited edition steel book for you know, some reason. We 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.680 rented it from Video Drume here in Atlanta for protection protection. 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:52.680 He has to protect it from the elements or from 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:58.320 bandits and um space faring warlords. But anyway, beautiful picture quality, 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.880 some fun extras. You can all so rent or by 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.040 this movie from most of your digital sources. Yes, and 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.800 Battle Beyond the Stars is a good one to watch 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.520 in high definition, even if not every frame of the 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:12.840 movie is necessarily worth it. The movie as a whole 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.360 is because it's really a mixed bag on art design, 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:20.000 on art design, costumes and sets. Uh, some stuff in 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.320 this movie is kind of phoned in, kind of Z 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.680 grade cheese. I would single out maybe some of the 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.560 spaceship interiors but not others. And so forth. And then 0:03:29.600 --> 0:03:32.160 on the other hand, there are some sets and costumes 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.360 and things that are I popping lee weird or just 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.960 absolutely gorgeous. It varies wildly from scene to scene. Yeah, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:43.520 and I think that has I've seen people comment on 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:45.680 the film where they're like, yeah, each ship has it. 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.200 It feels like it's truly from another planet, from another 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.960 culture entirely. But yes, sometimes it feels like maybe the 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:56.080 people who designed the ship interiors were also from other planets, 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:59.640 from different effects studios and other planets. Yeah. Now we 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.560 mentioned the Star Wars connected. I also should point out 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.400 that I think there are some of those ship interiores 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:10.040 that also draw some inspiration from Alien as well. Um, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.320 you know, certainly not from this film doesn't have much 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.200 to do with Aliens from a plotting or character point 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.479 of view, but as a as a as far as 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:20.599 some like lived in space environments go, and maybe one 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:23.440 of the planetary surfaces that we see it made me 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:27.279 think of Alien. And it's kind of noteworthy, right, because 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.920 this film involves the talents of a particular Alien fan 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:36.080 and future Alien franchise director James Cameron. Yes, and I 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.279 think you can really see the James Cameron influence in 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:43.599 things like, uh, the beautiful set of the planet where 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:47.320 Shad finds Robert Vaughan. Will get into the plot details 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:52.000 about that later. Um, but also the design of the 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:56.080 main character's ship, Nell, which looks very weird on the 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.680 outside and very alien esque on the inside, despite the 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.400 fact to that this is a back talking, two D 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.440 grandma kind of ship. Yeah, we have a character in 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.280 this film called Cowboy. He is, yes, his space Cowboy. 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.160 He's the only character from Earth and as goofy as 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.640 his characters, and we'll get into him. The interior of 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.800 his spaceship I thought felt very alien esque. It it 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.440 felt lived in in a way that reminded me of 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.479 of then Nostromo. Yeah, it's got crushed beer cans and 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.240 magazine cutouts pinned on the walls and stuff like that, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.200 and it's dirty. Now I have to share just a 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.280 little bit from Michael Weldon's ride up on this film 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.000 from the book The Psychotronic Encyclopedia Film. I just found 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.800 this amusing. Uh So, if you've listened to Weird Oubt Cineman, 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:46.599 you know I love well then I'm always interested in 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:50.120 his take on movies, exploring and finding new movies through 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:54.400 his writings. But I think I'm gonna have to agree 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.640 to disagree with him on this one, because in his 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.479 review of Battle Beyond the Stars, he writes, some of 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:01.800 the gags were cut out and the editing could have 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.440 been better, but it's a lot more memorable and more 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:10.000 fun than the Empire strikes Back, And I don't know 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.800 about that. The funny thing is at least in the 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.360 reviews in this book. Uh, and in the follow up book. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.400 It's not like he says anything bad about Star Wars 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.680 or Empire or or even um Return of the Jedi ultimately, 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.400 but he, uh, yeah, he's just like, well, Batt'll Beyond 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.200 the Stars it's just more fun. So I guess fair enough, 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.680 I can't tell you what to have fun with, but yeah, 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.840 I don't think I would agree there. I'm sorry, but 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:38.760 Batt'll Beyond the Stars is great fun. It is. It is, 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.599 absolutely So let's get into the elevator pitch here. Uh, 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.280 it's The Seven Samurai as a space opera, which is 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.520 a pretty smart move. It's a great structure to thrust 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.359 under a different setting or genre. The locals are facing 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.320 a bandit threat, so what do they do? They hire 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:57.160 up some lawyers to defend them. Yes, And I just 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:01.359 want to note an interesting double input of Kurasawa on 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.800 this movie. So Battle Beyond the Stars was clearly and 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.280 if you listen to the interviews with the filmmakers from 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:11.600 Corman's perspective, it was explicitly supposed to be a combination 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:15.760 of two influences, the Magnificent Seven from nineteen sixty and 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:20.240 Star Wars. Both of these movies could be considered Western 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:24.520 adaptations of different movies by a Kirakura Sawa. So the 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.480 connection with The Magnificent Seven is overt. It's just a 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.400 remake of Seven Samurai with cowboy gun slingers instead of 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:35.480 mercenary swordsman. And I haven't seen Magnificent Seven and probably 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.360 ten years or so that I recall it being pretty fun. 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:41.440 Of course, it's hard to compete with the source material, right, 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:43.960 this is a case of a an okay remake of 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:47.560 an original masterpiece. It's certainly a famous film, but I've 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.360 actually never seen the Magnificent Seven. I've seen the Seven Samurai, 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.160 but not Magnificent Seven. Great cast though, oh yeah, including 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.400 Robert Vaughan who's in this movie. So he was in 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.960 Battle Beyond the Stars and the movie that it's based on. 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.120 Um so yeah, so that's that's a that's a two 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.680 step there, Seven Samurai adapted into a Western as Magnificent 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.560 seven and then adapted into a space opera by Battle 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.880 Beyond the Stars. Now, the other half of this, of course, 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.720 is Star Wars, and Star Wars itself has elements that 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:19.440 are loosely based on a nineteen fifty eight Corsolwa film 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.640 called The Hidden Fortress. Rob Have you seen this one? 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:25.360 I never have, but I've I've I've often been tempted 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.200 to just to check it out because of this connection. 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:32.200 I think it's fantastic. It's about two peasants and a 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:36.240 princess and a general played by Toshiro Mufune who are 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.280 trying to survive in the middle of a war between 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.560 two provinces. And if you watch Star Wars and Hidden 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.640 Fortress together, a lot of similarities really pop out. And 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.280 the most obvious, I think are the parallels between the 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.600 two peasants in The Hidden Fortress, who are sort of 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:56.560 traditional rustic clowns, like the the gaggle that runs along 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.120 with Bottom in Midsummer Night's Dream, you know, uh, the 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.439 their their rustic comedic relief, and uh, that's in the 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:05.720 Hidden Fortress, and then you've got the droids are two 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:07.959 D two and C three p O in Star Wars. 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:13.280 They're a very similar duo. In both movies, the action 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.079 begins with the sort of lowly bumbling down on their 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.600 luck characters who are mostly there for comic relief, trying 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.160 to escape the crossfire of two armies, and then they 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:27.720 become wrapped up in a in a lofty plot involving 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:30.920 an older general trying to save a princess. In both 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.760 cases interesting. So I thought it was notable that Battle 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.440 Beyond the Stars is not just a Star Wars rip off. 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:41.920 It is a mash up of two popular Western movies 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:46.240 that are both downstream from Kurosawa. So exactly how does 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:49.040 the mashup come together? Well, I would phrase it like this. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.960 I would say the plot broadly is Magnificent seven slash 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.640 seven Samurai, and the details and the texture are from 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.320 Star Wars. That sounds fair. So I think you could 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.480 in a way look at this movie as like the 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.720 original Magnificent Seven, which was seven Samurai but as a Western, 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.000 and Battle beyond the Stars is seven Samurai but as 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.160 a Star Wars knockoff. Now there's another thing I'm always 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.440 on the lookout for when I watch Star Wars knockoffs. 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:16.320 I think we may have talked about this in our 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:20.400 episode on on the Humanoid Um, but I'm always curious 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:25.280 which elements from Star Wars get lifted and which do not, right, 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.720 because you know, you're not just making an exact copy 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.600 of the movie. You pick some things about it to 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.160 copy and you leave you leave out others. And for 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.240 some reason, it's interesting to me, like, what are the 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:41.000 features that people find salient or worth copying about Star Wars? 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:45.880 And also what what line designates going too far? Like 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:49.800 it seems it seems as if most filmmakers would agree 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.840 that you cannot have a lightsaber in your film if 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:56.559 you're not a Star Wars property. There are some glaring exceptions. 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.280 Star Crash does. Yeah, and when you when you break 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.160 that that rule, when you cross that line, I think 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.880 everybody kind of um, you know, has to sort of 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.600 look away. There's a there's a deep shame falls upon 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.199 everyone viewing and participating in the film. Totally agree. Um. 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.080 So a couple of things along these lines. I wanted 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:17.600 to mention right at the top, but maybe we can 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:21.160 mention some more um uh details that were copied or 0:11:21.200 --> 0:11:23.640 not as we go along. But first thing I wanted 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.800 to draw attention to is Darth Vader design. I believe 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.080 one of the most universal features to be carried over 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.959 into a Star Wars copycat is the Darth Vader design. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.640 Almost all of these movies have a menacing space lord 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.800 villain who wears a shiny black suit with some kind 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:46.480 of robotic entanglements and a Samurai inspired helmet, and this 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.720 movie is an exception. It clearly has a Darth Vader 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:54.880 inspired character whose name even rhymes with Vader, but this 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:58.360 character does not wear a Darth Vader type suit. And 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.840 I think there's a reason for this. Throb. We can 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:02.280 get to it when we talk about the actor, but 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.640 I wonder if you'll agree with me about the reasoning. Alright. 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:08.640 Second thing that is very often copied from a Star 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.240 Wars movie and is clearly and is present in this 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.400 one a planet killer weapon. This movie does not have 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.600 a death star, but it does have a space ship 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:21.320 that can shoot a beam that can destroy an entire planet. 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:28.800 All right, Well, let's go ahead and listen to the trailer. 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:43.160 Ruthless Invaders were a defenseless planet. Battle Beyond the Stars, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:53.560 a bone youth escapes on a last ditch mission that 0:12:53.679 --> 0:13:01.280 begins at the edge of the universe. The story of 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:10.120 a boy who finds more than he expected and all 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:14.840 he can handle. Does your species have kissing? Oh? Yes, 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:21.679 we have that. Try one. That's a hot dog. It 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:26.160 comes to Earth. Do you like it? There's no dog 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:34.439 in this soybean meal, nyasin dextros and sodium nitrate flavoring. 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:39.360 That's what we call meat back home. Battle Beyond the Stars, 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.760 All right, sounds like a lot of fun, right sure, 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.920 All right? Let's let's talk about the people who brought 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:54.199 this together. First of all, the director Jimmy T. Murakami, 0:13:54.240 --> 0:14:00.800 who lived three American Irish animator of Japanese Americ and heritage. 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:05.160 He was also a director Ones Heavy Metal, helming the 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:10.079 soft Landing sequence alongside John Bruno, and this segment was 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.480 based on a comic pinned by Dan O'Bannon of Alien fame, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:19.239 and was adapted for the film by Dan O'Bannon. Murrakami's 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:24.400 other directorial credits include um uncredited directorial work on nineteen 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:28.840 eighties Humanoids from the Deep, another Corman production, and various 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:33.520 animated credits, including directing the Twittsie pop how Many Licks 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.880 short commercial from nineteen sixty nine. Is this the one 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:39.840 with the owl? Yeah, this is the one of the 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:45.960 owl our our producer Seth will also he probably already 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:50.000 knows this, but uh. Murrakami also produced six episodes of 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.400 the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Uh. He also 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.960 directed When the Wind Blows from six about an elderly 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:00.240 British couple who survived a nuclear war. And and he 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.080 was the co founder of Mora Commie Wolf Productions later 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:06.760 known as just fred Wolf Films. Who did that original 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:10.400 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle show? Well, Folk, Seth just filled 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.880 us in with all kinds of animation connections. I don't 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.280 think he was recording what he said so unfortunately, but 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.440 suffice to say, apparently fred Wolf is important in a 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:24.640 whole seventies animation scene. Now, Joe, you you dived into 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.200 the making of stuff on this one a little more 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.440 than I did. I noticed that on Internet movie database 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:33.280 Roger Corman is listed as not only a producer but 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.600 an uncredited He has an uncredited director's credit. I am 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:39.840 to believe he would he would at least show up 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.600 and fire people and so forth. I think that's a 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.720 common uh dynamic with Corman, that he is he directing 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.000 this movie, not really but sort of. I think this 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:52.640 wouldn't even be the first Corman produced movie that was 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.920 like this. Oh. I think it was the case with um, 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.520 what was it the Brain Eaters that was sort of 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.640 half directed by Corman or at least produced by Corman 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.680 without a credit. Uh so, So yeah, I think that 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.840 kind of thing happened a lot. There are a lot 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.720 of great stories about Corman. So I watched part of 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.160 a making of documentary that comes on the Blu ray 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.160 if if you pick this, pick up the new Blu 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:20.480 ray of this one, which mostly featured interviews with the 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.400 visual effects crew, and so they had a lot of 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:27.800 great stories about about working with James Cameron and what 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.320 that was like on set. But one of the things 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.520 that stuck out to me was well, first of all, 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:34.920 a lot of talk about Corman ended up having to 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:36.600 do with the budget, of course, like how can we 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.200 get costs down? Because they pitched this as you know, 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.240 this was going to be like the biggest budget Corman 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:45.080 movie of all time. It was gonna be a lot 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.600 Corman's finally making a movie with like a mainstream level budget. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.080 But I think in actual fact that the budget just 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:54.360 kept shrinking during production until this really was kind of 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.520 done on a shoestring compared to how it looks in 0:16:56.560 --> 0:17:00.640 the end. But one of the stories, for example, is 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.000 that I think major parts of this were shot on 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:08.639 a studio that Corman had purchased that was formerly a 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.119 lumber yard, And they said that Corman didn't change the 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:15.200 signs on the on the studio lot, it's still said 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:19.560 lumberyard because he reasoned that the sets were less likely 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.800 to get burglarized if it was labeled the lumber yard 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.159 instead of a movie studio. And then they ended up 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.359 hiring people for the production because carpenters would show up 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.840 looking to buy lumber, not realizing it wasn't a lumber 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:32.440 yard anymore, and they'd be like, Hey, you want to 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:37.280 work on a movie. Oh that's good. Yeah, all right, 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.480 Well let's get into the writing credits on this. So, 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.080 uh there is, uh, there's a writer by the name 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.399 of Ann Dyer who has a story credit, one of 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:49.840 only two writing credits alongside nine up from the Depths. 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:54.399 That's a Charles B. Griffith Jaws knockoff starring Sam Bottoms 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:58.200 and also one of our Lee Ermi's first screen roles. 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.280 It's supposedly about a giant sturgeon looking fish attacking what's 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.000 supposed to be Hawaii, but it is a Roger Corman 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.840 production filmed in the Philippines. How have I never seen 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:12.160 this one? I thought I'd seen every Jaws knockoff one. 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.320 Cannot I don't think there's enough time in the life 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.119 in a single lifetime to do that, not yet, not 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:22.720 until science catches up with us. Um. But the main 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.800 screen writing credit on this one is is pretty noteworthy 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:30.280 because it is John Sailis Um born nineteen fifty. Uh. 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.080 This was only the fourth screen credit for Sailists, who 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:36.840 would go on to be an award winning screenwriter and director, 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:40.400 noted for such films as nineteen six is Lone Star, 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:44.879 which earned him an Academy Award nomination, is Passion Fish, 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.640 which which also earned him in a nomination. UH. Eight 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.280 Men Out four Is The Brother from Another Planet, ninety 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.600 seven Men with Guns and eighty seven's May Twin, which 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.119 I remember watching in film class. That's a solid and 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:02.000 serious film about union f It's in nineteen twenties West 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:06.600 Virginia starring Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, and David Strathan. 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:09.560 Oh that's interesting because I know Chris Cooper was also 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:11.679 in The Lone Star, which I haven't seen but I 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.359 was looking at. Yeah. Yeah, um yeah, that's that's a 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.360 good one. Very serious. Uh. These are, you know, serious 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.680 and prestigious films. But before he did any of that, 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:27.600 he also wrote the screenplays for Piranha, directed by Joe Dante. Uh, 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:32.880 nineteen eighties Alligator that that starred Robert Forrester and Ones, 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.439 The Howling, which was also directed by Joe Dante. So 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.840 he definitely has horror roots. Uh. He also wrote the 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.240 screenplay for nineteen eight six is the Clan of the 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.840 Cave Bear. And he directed not one, not two, but 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.520 three Bruce Springsteen videos Born in the USA, I'm on 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:51.120 Fire and Glory Days. Wow. I don't think I knew 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.560 there were music videos for any of those three songs. Yeah. Well, 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.600 in some form or another, he directed at least something 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.720 like a music video for for them. Huh. I gotta 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.200 look that up. I haven't seen Alligator in many years, 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.640 but if I'm remembering the right movie, I think that's 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:10.560 the one where they cast Richard Lynch in the in 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.960 the quint role. Oh I don't remember. Um, I think 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.320 I saw Alligator when I was a kid. I think 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:20.480 this is a sewer Gator movie. Wait, maybe thinking of 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:25.520 Alligator to the mutation. Yeah, but yes, yes, yes, it 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:37.760 is a sewer Gator movie. All right, let's get into 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.000 the cast on on this one, and we're gonna We're 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.000 gonna take the cast in the order that they're build, 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.399 which is I think I think is quite telling because 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.960 the top two names also apparently absorbed a great deal 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:51.560 of the budget for the movie. Oh really, this next 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:53.520 guy did? I feel like he kind of phoned it 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.960 in if you took all that much money. Well, it's 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:59.960 George Bopard, who plays our space cowboy, the only character 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.320 from Earth who goes by the name Cowboy. He is 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.399 called Cowboy, and he is a cowboy. Or actually I 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:10.600 think he sort of larks as a cowboy, because he 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.240 talks about how he spends all of his time watching 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.840 old Western movies, and so I think he may maybe 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:20.400 he is actually just a space trucker who puts on 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.480 the persona of a cowboy. He's a space trucker. Who's 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:28.359 gone insane in deep space all by himself, with only 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:31.359 West TV Westerns to keep him company, and has thus 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:35.320 taken on this this insane persona. He basically dresses like 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.840 a late seventies Texan trucker and he just drinks and 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.359 smokes constantly and frankly does little else in the film. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.879 Yeah now. Georgia ba bard Here was born in n 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:52.760 died in probably best remembered for playing the struggling writer 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:56.960 Paul var Jack in the one film Breakfast at Tiffany's 0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.159 and also for playing Hannibal on TVs the A Team. 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:02.639 They made a movie out of it, uh remake, but 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:05.880 I don't recall who is in the Hannibal role. Oh 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:08.679 now I'm reminded. It's It's it's Nisan's, it's Liam's and 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:12.080 Islam Okay, oh this guy is the I love it 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:15.520 when a plan comes together guy. Yes, so yeah, he's 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:17.840 our he's our space cowboy and he has he has 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:21.960 top billings. So um the uh he's kind of it's 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:24.720 it's kind of one of the many Han Solo esque 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:28.280 characters in this without being quite as cool as Han Solo, 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:31.359 not even close. This movie has several Han solos. This 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:35.199 guy is. I think they think that he works as 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:39.280 Han Solo because he's a scoundrel. But just scoundrel nous 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:41.359 does does not a Han Solo make you gotta have 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:44.359 that charm as well? Well, we have another shot at 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:47.320 pulling off that charm because the next actor of note here, 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:51.159 who also I think was was paid pretty heavily compared 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:55.720 to the rest of the cast, is Robert Vaughan playing Guilt. Um. 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:59.080 Everyone I think has seen Robert Vaughan in something, Oh yeah, 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:04.560 he n sixteen and um. In this he plays an 0:23:04.560 --> 0:23:08.879 emotionless assassin with a thousand enemies, um, which is essentially 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:10.960 this is basically the same role he played in The 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:14.680 Magnificent Seven, right, yes, and so he's in the Magnificent seven, 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:16.520 is one of the mercenaries. And I would say that 0:23:16.560 --> 0:23:19.480 he even kind of dresses in this movie like his 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:23.000 character in Magnificent Seven. Yeah, yeah, he's He's a fun 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:25.520 character in this film, unlike Cowboy, who's just kind of 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:28.439 a one note gag that hangs out a little bit 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:32.080 too long. Guilt feels so you know, authentic. I buy 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:34.439 into the idea that here's this guy that has that 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.000