Starcrash: Special Edition – Shout! Factory (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1979
Director: Luigi Cozzi
Writers: Luigi Cozzi, Nat Wachsberger, R.A. Dillon
Cast: Marjoe Gortner, Caroline Munro, Christopher Plummer, David Hasselhoff, Joe Spinell

Release Date: September 14th, 2010
Approximate Running Time: 91 Minutes 38 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: N/A
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $26.97

"Prepare yourself for a vintage science fiction adventure film you will never forget, as the sultry Stella Star (Caroline Munro) and her alien sidekick Akton (Marjoe Gortner) team up with robot lawman Elle (Judd Hamilton) on a high adventure to save the universe. It's a cosmic mash-up of daring escapes, wild special effects, beautiful women in sexy space bikinis and nonstop action on a dozen alien worlds. Roger Corman presents the ultimate European space opera, a colorful and dazzling chase through the galaxy that will blast you through the blackness of a hundred million nights!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "NEW Anamorphic Widescreen Transfer."

Starcrash comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.2 GB

Feature: 13.6 GB

Colors look very good, black levels are strong, and details generally look crisp. That said, the special effects shots do not look as sharp as the majority of this transfer does. This transfer looked good 14 years ago; unfortunately, by today's standards, it looks dated, and it would greatly benefit from a fresh new scan.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a DTS-HD Stereo mix in English. You can’t go wrong with either of these audio tracks; both sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, both tracks sound very good, especially when it comes to the score and special effects.

Extras:

Extras on the Blu-ray include 2 radio spots (1 minute 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a TV spot (32 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), French theatrical trailer (2 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French, no subtitles), U.S. theatrical trailer (2 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles),  U.S. theatrical trailer with audio commentary by filmmaker Joe Dante who edited the trailer (2 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Trailers from Hell with Eli Roth (2 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), photo galleries: design (11 images), storyboards (10 images), behind-the-scenes (69 images), promotional artwork (57 images) and fan artwork (12 images), an interview with director Luigi Cozzi (41 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio interview with composer Mars of Deadhouse music tilted The Music of John Barry (12 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a scene by scene production trivia, anecdotes and critical analysis track, and an audio commentary with author and Star Crash expert Stephen Romano.

Extras on a DVD include a career spanning interview with actress Caroline Munro (72 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), Making of the Special Effects by Armando Valcauda (23 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with text in English, no subtitles), Behind-The-Scenes footage with audio commentary by Stephen Romano (19 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), 17 deleted and alternate scene with text information about these scenes (36 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and the original screenplay illustrated with story-board and concept art (DVD-Rom Content).

Other extras include reversible cover art and a 12-page booklet  with an essay titled All the Stars in the Universe written by Stephen Romano.

Summary:

The Emperor hires Stella Star and her sidekick Akton to find his missing son, Simon. Their search leads them to Count Zarth Arn, who has created a secret weapon that he plans to use in his takeover of the galaxy. Stella Star and Akton quickly need to find out where Count Zarth Arn is hiding this weapon of mass destruction and stop him before he can use it.

Directed by Luigi Cozzi, who is also responsible for such sci-fi classics as Contamination and the revival of the Hercules character, this is a pair of movies starring Lou Ferrigno. Luigi Cozzi is obviously a man who loves the sci-fi genre, and his enthusiasm for this genre is evident in every one of his films that he has directed in this genre. Despite his love of the sci-fi genre, his films often tend to suffer from insufficient financing, and nowhere is this more evident than in the special effects.

Starcrash, like many Italian films made during the 1970s and even more so in the 1980s, are carbon copy clones of successful Hollywood blockbusters. With little or no budget, filmmakers rushed to produce these films, aiming to capitalize on the success of another movie. Starcrash has Star Wars written all over it, with many of its characters and parts of its plot being an almost direct lift from the Star Wars film. Despite being yet another Italian cash-in clone film, to Starcrash’s credit, it has elements that would ironically show up in later films in the Star Wars saga. That said, these similarities are most likely a pure coincidence.

Starcrash has an impressive set of actors for a film that is essentially nothing more than a B film. Caroline Munro (The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) is cast in the role of Stella Star, a smuggler who travels through the galaxy with her loyal sidekick Akton. Her character has an absurd amount of costume changes, with many of her outfits showcasing her ample assets. 

Distinguished actor Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music) has a limited role as the Emperor. The role is nothing more than filler, and just about any actor could have played it, but Plummer adds something to it that a lesser actor might not have. Then there is character actor Joe Spinell (Maniac), who portrays the main villain, Count Zarth Arn. He made a career of portraying menacing characters, and in Stracrash, he steals every scene he’s in. David Hasselhoff’s (Knight Rider) character is not introduced until the last 40 minutes, despite being prominently billed.

Too many sci-fi films have bumbling robots that tend to be the butt of every joke. In Starcrash, the robot’s name is L, and to top things off, he has the most hideous southern accent you have ever heard. Ultimately, Starcrash may not be the most technically advanced sci-fi epic to ever grace the silver screen, but in the end, it is one hell of an adventure that offers plenty of laughs and nonstop action.

Starcrash comes with a ridiculous amount of extras that cover every aspect of this film, and unfortunately, the transfer leaves plenty of room for improvement.

Written by Michael Den Boer