Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

“Battle Beyond the Stars“ is a 1980 science fiction film directed by Jimmy T. Murakami and Roger Corman, based on a screenplay by John Sayles and Anne Dyer.

A farm boy recruits a band of outlaws to save the planet Akir from dark forces that threaten to wipe them out from the face of the universe. A battle stretching beyond the stars begins here.
The evil tyrant Sador and his army of the Malmori mutants threatens the peaceful Akira farmers of the planet Akir with his Stellar Converter weapon and tells that he will return to collect their harvest. The former Akira warrior Zed advises that they should hire mercenaries to protect them from Sador and offers his spaceship to seek them out. However, the Akira can only pay with food and lodging. The young Shad offers to pilot the ship with the computer Nell to look for mercenaries. He meets Dr. Hephaestus and his beautiful daughter Nanelia in a space station where he unsuccessfully tries to find weapons. Nanelia comes with Shad and he teams up with the earthling Space Cowboy, who was going to deliver weapons to a planet that was destroyed by Sador and offers to give them to Shad. Then he meets five clones that share the mind of one entity called Nestor that join him. Shad also recruits the lonely and wealthy assassin Gelt that accepts the proposed payment. Then the sexy and annoying Valkyrie warrior Saint-Exmin joins the group since she wants to prove herself in battle. Shad also recruits Cayman that wants to kill Sador and does not require any payment. They return to Akir and Sador also returns to attack the planet. Who will win the battle?

Cast:

• Richard Thomas – Shad, a young Akira farmer who looks for mercenaries to save his people. Over the course of the story, he evolves into the next Akira Corsair, brother of the ill-fated Mol.
• Robert Vaughn – Gelt, a notorious assassin with an intergalactic bounty on his head. Despite his vast riches, all he wants now is “a meal and a place to hide” Vaughn played Lee in The Magnificent Seven, essentially the same character – Gelt.
• John Saxon – Sador, leader of the evil Malmori raiders, is very old and keeps himself alive using transplants to renew his body. His role is analogous to the character of Calvera from The Magnificent Seven.
• George Peppard – Space Cowboy, the only character from Earth, who is defined by his many one-liners and who becomes Shad’s good friend.
• Darlanne Fluegel – Nanelia, Dr. Hephaestus’ beautiful daughter and Shad’s love interest.
• Sybil Danning – Saint-Exmin, a Valkyrie warrior looking to prove herself in battle.
• Sam Jaffe – Dr. Hephaestus, an old man on life support, who wants grandchildren to inhabit his space station.
• Jeff Corey – Zed The Corsair, once a famed Akira warrior and now almost blind. He is the former pilot of Shad’s starship, whose system computer he affectionately calls “Old Girl”.
• Morgan Woodward – Cayman of The Lambda Zone, a Lazuli who works – a Zymer and has a score to settle with Sador for destroying his species.
• Marta Kristen – Lux, an Akira who works the early warning system and starts a relationship with Space Cowboy.
• Earl Boen – Nestor 1 The Voice, usually, for the five clones.
• John Gowens – Nestor 2
• Lynn Carlin – the voice of Nell, the computer which controls Zed’s (now Shad’s) starship. “She” is highly protective of Shad, whom she calls “wet behind the ears”. The computer does not like it when anybody other than Zed addresses her – “Old Girl”.
• Lawrence Steven Meyers – Thunin/Kelvin 1, one of Cayman’s crew, communicates by radiating body heat.
• Lara Cody – Urim/Kelvin 2
• Steve Davis – Quepeg, the tattooed, harpoon throwing member of Cayman’s crew.
• Julia Duffy – Mol, Shad’s sister.

„Sador – Herrscher im Weltraum“ (Battle Beyond the Stars) ist ein Science-Fiction-Film aus dem Jahr 1980 von Jimmy T. Murakami und Roger Corman nach einem Drehbuch von John Sayles und Anne Dyer.

Ein Bauernjunge rekrutiert eine Bande von Gesetzlosen, um den Planeten Akir vor dunklen Mächten zu retten, die ihn aus dem Universum zu vernichten drohen. Hier beginnt ein Kampf, der über die Sterne hinausgeht.
Der böse Tyrann Sador und seine Armee der Malmori-Mutanten bedrohen die friedlichen Akira-Bauern des Planeten Akir mit seiner Stellar-Converter-Waffe und verkünden, dass er zurückkehren werde, um ihre Ernte einzuholen. Der ehemalige Akira-Krieger Zed rät ihnen, Söldner anzuheuern, um sich vor Sador zu schützen, und bietet ihnen sein Raumschiff an, um diese zu suchen. Die Akira können jedoch nur mit Unterkunft und Verpflegung bezahlen. Der junge Shad bietet an, das Schiff mit dem Computer Nell zu steuern, um nach Söldnern zu suchen. In einer Raumstation, in der er erfolglos nach Waffen sucht, trifft er Dr. Hephaestus und dessen schöne Tochter Nanelia. Nanelia begleitet Shad, und er tut sich mit dem Erdling Space Cowboy zusammen, der Waffen zu einem von Sador zerstörten Planeten liefern wollte und Shad anbietet, sie ihm zu geben. Dann trifft er fünf Klone, die sich den Geist einer einzigen Wesenheit namens Nestor teilen und sich ihm anschließen. Shad rekrutiert auch den einsamen und wohlhabenden Attentäter Gelt, der die angebotene Bezahlung akzeptiert. Dann schließt sich die sexy und nervige Walküre-Kriegerin Saint-Exmin der Gruppe an, da sie sich im Kampf beweisen will. Shad rekrutiert auch Cayman, der Sador töten will und keine Bezahlung verlangt. Sie kehren nach Akir zurück, und auch Sador kehrt zurück, um den Planeten anzugreifen. Wer wird den Kampf gewinnen?