Before finding fame on 'Knight Rider' and in between his regular gig at 'The Young and the Restless,' David Hasselhoff flew to the stars in hopes of making his feature-film breakthrough with the outer space adventure dreck 'Starcrash.' Although he doesn't make his appearance known until the second half of the movie, it's not difficult to quickly spot him among the bizarre troupe of characters — what, with all the heavy make-up and sporting a bitchin' feathered perm. Frankly, it's amazing he ever landed another acting job after this portrayal as the brave, lost son of the benevolent Emperor of the Galaxy. Then again, I doubt many casting directors — or anyone else for that matter — have had the pleasure of seing this unintentionally hysterical mess of sci-fi schlock.
Hasselhoff stars alongside Caroline Munro ('The Spy Who Loved Me,' 'Maniac,' 'Captain Kronos') as the sassy and, ahem, highly sensual space smuggler Stella Star. Actually, the very lovely Ms. Munro is the main attraction of this flick. Apologies to Das Hoff, but Stella Star's scanty wardrobe, which at times is next to nothing, tends to draw the eyes of male viewers. In fact, the only other female characters seen throughout the entire feature are on a remote planet inhabited by Amazonian women in skimpy uniforms. There's even a really funny catfight sequence that's worth the price of admission alone. For most of the movie, I don't think I even bothered to pay much attention to Munro's acting skills. I was too preoccupied with Stella's prison outfit of black rubber bands to care at all.
And wouldn't you know it. Right when I'm digging the prison garb, the filmmakers suddenly decide to mix things up with what's supposed to resemble a plot. Stella Star and her first-mate Akton (Marjoe Gortner), who's some really weird psychic competing with Hasselhoff for best man perm, are pardoned of their crimes as long as they agree to help find the Emperor's son and locate the secret weapon of the evil Count Zarth Arn (Joe Spinelli). Now, here's the real shocker in this whole silly fiasco. The Emperor is played by none other than the award-winning, highly-respected actor Christopher Plummer. That's right! Captain von Trapp of 'The Sound of Music,' who decades-later portrayed the celebrated author Leo Tolstoy in 'The Last Station,' is seen here mucking it up in this horribly hilarious script about inner galactic battles with space stations.
Probably even more shocking is the award-winning composer John Barry ('From Russia with Love,' 'Goldfinger,' 'Dances with Wolves,' 'Out of Africa,' 'Midnight Cowboy,' 'Zulu') agreeing to write the score for this movie. And surprisingly, it's not bad given the limited resources, but it does add another layer of unintended humor to this low-budget camp. Every time we see the staggering, shaky movements of the miniature spaceships with strings and the black sticks attached to them clearly visible, you laugh harder because the music is obviously in a whole other dimension. Added to that, viewers are forced to watch some wannabe Ray Harryhausen stop-motion fight sequences which are oddly the best special effects in the entire picture.
'Starcrash' is an Italian-made production from director Luigi Cozzi ('Hercules (1983),' 'Contamination') and considered by many as a 'Star Wars' rip off, which is not entirely accurate. Sure, certain plot elements are apparent, like a lightsaber fight, a cool space pirate turned accidental hero and a superweapon disguised as a planet-sized space station, but the flick is really more than that, trying to capitalize on the sudden popularity of sci-fi adventure tales. It's a strange hodgepodge of the George Lucas movie, 'Flash Gordon' and 'Forbidden Planet' with a storyline comparable to 'Jason and the Argonauts,' including two action scenes that seem to have been taken directly from that 1963 fantasy classic. The Z-grade debacle is simply a special effects extravaganza with all the "extra" but none of the "vaganza." It's fun for some cheap laughs, but not much else.
The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats
Shout! Factory brings 'Starcrash' to Blu-ray as a two-disc Special Edition under the Roger Corman's Cult Classics label. The first disc is a Region Free BD25 disc with the main feature and some of the extras while the second is a DVD-9, containing the rest of the extras. They're housed on opposing panels in an eco-lite vortex keepcase with reversible cover art showing two modern takes of the original posters. Inside, owners will find an 11-page booklet featuring a lengthy and interesting essay by author Stephen Romano entitled "All the Stars in the Universe." At startup, the disc goes straight to the distributor's standard menu selection with music and full-motion clips playing in the background.
The Italian sci-fi disaster crash lands onto Blu-ray with a decent picture that has its moments as well as various drawbacks related to the quality of the source. At its best, the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode (1.78:1) shows terrific detailing in the miniatures, the cheesy costumes and the interiors of spaceships. Wrinkles and trivial blemishes on the faces of actors are often apparent, especially in close-up, while individual hairs atop their heads are distinct, visible, and quite often feathered (but that's beside the point!). Colors are fairly bright and accurate with good variation in the secondary hues. Contrast is in good standing order for the most part, but it does tend to dull and drab from time to time. Black levels are more consistent and surprisingly strong throughout.
At its worst, the transfer shows many moments of weak resolution and softness with several instances of dirt and scratches in the video. Granted, a great deal of these moments are in conjunction with the numerous optical and visual effects. But they're bad enough to draw away from the picture's better aspects. Grain understandably spikes during these sequences, and the image flattens with poor contrast. Still, considering its low-budget origins and the antiquated special effects, 'Starcrash' makes a worthy and respectable appearance on Blu-ray.
The real shocker here — other than the flick, of course — is the unexpectedly good DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This isn't exactly the next greatest thing in high-resolution audio or anything of the sort, but for a low-budget schlockfest originally recorded in stereo, this is a somewhat impressive audio presentation that shockingly adds entertainment value to the silliness.
Imaging is expansive and spacious, with fairly attractive directionality and fine balance in the soundstage. The mid-range is stable and consistent, with nice clarity during the many action sequences involving lasers. Bass isn't very extensive, but it's amazingly deep and effective when certain scenes require it. Conversations and voices are well-prioritized in the mix and intelligible throughout, and the several instances of ADR are made more apparent. On occasion, discrete effects are heard in the surround speakers, except they're not very convincing but enough to create an amusing soundscape. John Barry's musical score fares much better at enhancing the soundfield and engaging the listener. All things considered, the lossless track for 'Starcrash' is generally pleasing and unexpectedly good.
For this new Blu-ray release, Shout! Factory has gathered an impressive and exhaustive collection of supplements, most of which are offered for the first time on the home video market. The second disc is filled with a great assortment of new and never-before-seen material that should make fans very happy.
Disc One
Disc Two
'Starcrash' is unintentionally hilarious sci-fi fantasy schlock, one of the first attempts at capitalizing on the 'Star Wars' fad. The Z-grade drive-in feature stars Caroline Munro, David Hasselhoff, and Christopher Plummer. The Blu-ray arrives with a decent picture transfer, surprisingly good audio, and best of all, a wealth of supplements that will have many wishing all releases were treated as graciously. Ultimately, the package is for fans of the movie only or cult enthusiasts who can truly appreciate the guilty pleasure and spectacle of really bad movies.
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