Star Wars, George Lucas’ 1977 space epic, shattered every box office record and spawned a massive amount of hype that fans couldn’t comprehend at the time. People began referring to the eras before and after Star Wars with the release of additional films in the franchise. Every game-changing movie series, however, is followed by a slew of knockoffs.
As a result, it’s no wonder that Star Wars has seen its fair share of rip-offs. These films are so corny that they offer a unique form of amusement. This video will provide you with a list of such films that every Star Wars fan should watch with a beer in hand and enjoy.
Starcrash (1978)
While fleeing the authorities, outlaw smugglers Stella and Akton pick up a castaway. This castaway is the solitary survivor of a covert mission to destroy a super weapon created by the villainous Count Zarth Arn. The galaxy’s emperor quickly enlists the help of the two smugglers to execute the task and find his missing son.
Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi directed this space opera starring Caroline Munro, Marjoe Gortner, Christopher Plummer, and David Hasselhoff. An interesting tactic used by the first wave of filmmakers creating Star Wars rip-offs, was that they incorporated just enough tropes from the movie to portray the resemblance, but not breach copyright.
With an unusual narrative, this film contains a few clichéd action moments. It has vibrant and eye-catching special effects. The set designer has a unique vision for a psychedelic, cocaine-flashing, disco-themed setting that completely engulfs the audience.
The actors give good performances, and the illogical banter makes the audience chuckle. Despite this, the film’s bright costumes, jerky stop motion monsters, and psychedelic light blobs make for good low-budget entertainment. Although viewers are aware of the short-comings of this hilarious Star Wars rip-off, if watched with an open mind, it makes for a fun evening with friends.
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)
Three women are forced to make an emergency landing on a planet infected with a deadly sickness. Unfortunately, they are kidnapped by Overdog, the villainous tyrant. Wolff, a bounty hunter, comes to their aid, and along the journey, they meet Niki, the last earthling from a medical mission.
They work together to free the women from Overdog’s clutches. Although the vast majority of Star Wars rip-offs at the time contained the filmmakers’ unique twists, some of them actually did a great job. Lamont Johnson’s movie starring Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald portrays great performances by the duo.
Johnson redefines campy in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi film with cheesy 3D animation. He creates a cast of real-life individuals with extraordinary complexity. The picture is chock-full of Star Wars references, including R2-D2’s sound effects.
Rubbery critters surround it, and there’s a thunderstorm-like atmosphere. It has decent special effects and good makeup. Despite the absurdity of the dialogues, the characters that give them are memorable.
The film elicits an overall sense of action and adventure that low-budget sci-fi flicks from the 1980s lacked. This brainless yet endearing low-budget space opera film’s rapid pace is complemented by the gloomy and bleak environment.
The Man Who Saves the World (1982) a.k.a. Turkish Star Wars
Murat and Ali, two space cadets, crash land on a barren planet. They are confronted with a number of life-altering experiences here. They are quickly apprehended by an evil 1000-year-old magician who claims to be from Earth and craves ultimate power to rule the globe.
Zombies, skeletons, wizards, and a tad romance; this movie directed by Cetin Inanc has it all. It portrays an unusual blend of martial arts, fantasy, and sci-fi that make it a highly entertaining watch.
Due to its unauthorised use of Star Wars and other sci-fi films’ footage, music, and sound effects, it was given the label Turkish Star Wars. Viewers appreciate this film because, despite its cheesiness, it is self-aware of its hysterical camerawork and is one of the most uninhibited, delightfully silly Star Wars rip-offs ever made.
It employs its own special effects, including jerky stop motion and competent, eccentric performances. Despite its limitations, it is apparent that the director and actors do a respectable job on a shoestring budget. Needless to say, the picture has a wonderful music, a cohesive plot, and fantastic comic components. If viewers watch this movie with an open mind and a rich imagination, they are sure to enjoy it.
The Humanoid (1979)
The villainous Graal enlists the services of the deranged Dr. Kraspin in order to depose his brother as king of the planet Metropolis. They put his chemicals to the test on Golob, a pilot, to see if they can make an average person into an ideal soldier.
Golob is transformed into a mindless, indestructible automaton with superhuman strength as a result of this. Metropolis’ citizens are in peril, and they must outsmart Graal before he raises an army of them and destroys the world.
This movie, directed by Aldo Lado, cuts it pretty close with its resemblances of making it a Stars Wars rip-off. It incorporates a similar opening sequence with rolling text portraying detailed current events.
Additionally, the main antagonist’s costume resembles Darth Vader’s who commands a triangle-shaped spaceship resembling a Star Destroyer. The film’s production value comes from the fact that it’s bad and plain lame. It’s put together by a number of big names in Italian cult cinema.
Its tacky visual effects were designed by Antonio Margheriti, and its so-called music score was composed by Ennio Morricone. Because of its sights, pictures, sequences, and textures, die-hard Star Wars fans immediately recognise this film as a schlocky rip-off.
These have been strewn around haphazardly with little care for their amusing presentation. Nonetheless, despite its flaws, this film has good camerawork and is a lot of fun to watch. So grab your friends and a few drinks and let this film sink right in.
Galaxina (1980)
After a long journey in deep space, the crew of the Infinity police cruiser is finally returning home. A fresh mission is dumped onto them just as they are ready to receive some much-needed rest.
To find the Blue Star, they must go to the alien world Altar One. Their trek to this universe brings them to an extraterrestrial brothel and a band of Harley-Davidson worshippers in deep space. Will Galaxina and her crew be able to locate the Blue Star and save the world?
Director William Sachs uses a half-hearted plot and turns it into a well-crafted story by merely starring an attractive, semi-famous woman as the lead. This sci-fi comedy is a parody of high-end movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Alien.
It contains ridiculous dialogue that consists of jokes, puns, and gags that make viewers roll on the floor laughing. Even with its low budget, decent acting, and average writing, viewers can’t help but appreciate this film for being an exceptional rendition of the space opera franchise.
The plot is loaded with subtle catastrophes and nuances that extract mostly bad elements. Despite its cheap jokes, Galaxina was a beautiful woman, and Dorothy Stratten showcases a decent performance.
The unusual soundtrack is what draws viewers to this flick. They’re also blown away by the film’s widescreen presentation, despite its campy special effects and photography. Overall, it’s a fun and entertaining film to see with friends and family on a Saturday night.
Star Odyssey (1979)
A group of aliens auctions off insignificant planets in the year 2312, and Earth is won by an evil ruler named Kress. After landing on Earth, he begins gathering humanoid slaves to sell to his evil counterparts with the help of his robot army. Professor Maury and his companions embark on a mission to recover the world from Kress and his cyborg army.
This film, directed by Alfonso Brescia, contains mawkish dialogue, corny special effects, and a decent setting. Its background music is dingy, which complements its atmosphere. It has cartoon-like sound effects that contribute to making this rip-off every B-movie lover’s dream come true.
The plot is something straight out of the 1920s pulp with strutting heroes combined with mentally superior scientists. It has memorable characters that add to its entertainment value by providing a comedic impact. The alien overlord’s superiority over humans is displayed via a creative black and white montage.
Despite the film’s campy tone, the absurd aspects make it entertaining to watch. The actors do, in fact, give good performances. Overall, this outlandish space epic is fascinating due of its humour, its unusual plot, and its passable Star Wars rip-off attempt.
Message from Space (1978)
The peaceful planet of Jillucia has been captured by the Gavanas Empire. Kido, the Jillucia tribes’ leader, sends eight Liabe seeds to be accepted by selected individuals in order to defend the world from the steel-skinned Gavanas soldiers. Each recipient, from the hardened General Garuda to the juvenile Meia, has a unique reaction to being selected for the mission.
A funny robot, a guy in a sparkly jacket, two guys in disco space suits, and a brave girl are among the characters in this Japanese branded Star Wars rip-off directed by Kinji Fukasaku.
The plot of the film is given a comical yet unique twist as a result of this. The attempt to portray a ruthless villain, on the other hand, is rendered moot the instant he appears onscreen. The film depicts crazy yet inventive attempts to recreate George Lucas’ masterpiece, which is known for its unique, endearing quirkiness.
It features fantastic action sequences, including sword fights, as well as amazing, campy visual effects. Vic Morrow gives a good performance, while the makeup artists do a good job with the spaceship creatures.
Its dialogue is ridiculous but shows creativity from the crew’s side to borrow from Star Wars but not copy it exactly. Finally, there is an abundance of Star Wars oriented jokes in this corny but entertaining rip-off, which is a good movie to watch with friends on a drunken evening.
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Shad, a young farmer, gathers a group of mercenaries from all over the galaxy to protect his planet from the terrible ruler Sador. A space cowboy, an Earth truck driver, a wealthy, skilled assassin, and Saint Exmin, a Valkyrie warrior are among the mercenaries.
This space opera, produced by Roger Corman and directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, serves as the latter’s debut. It is widely recognized by a large cult following. A remarkable array of future industry personalities participated in creating this low budget flick.
This includes John Sayles with his decent screenplay, James Cameron as the art director, and James Horner providing the movie with Star Wars quality music. It’s a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film Seventh Samurai that tries to stay as true to the source material as possible.
Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, and John Saxon star in the film and give outstanding performances. With its excellent production quality, this is one of the best Star Wars rip-offs. Although the special effects are a little wobbly, the film compensates by establishing an atmosphere that hits viewers on deep emotional levels.
Despite its goofy speech, it brilliantly captures the human condition in a science fiction story, and it’s the perfect movie to watch with some popcorn, beverages, and fantastic friends over a sleepover.
Space Raiders (1983)
Hawk, a former Space Service Colonel, is leading a crew on a mission to steal a vessel from The Company, an interplanetary business. Peter, a 10-year-old boy, sneaks onboard the cargo during the robbery, and the pirates steal it without realising he’s there.
This space Western film directed by Howard R. Cohen is a touching B-movie with a plot filled with inconsistencies. It is the ultimate second-hand movie that uses music, props, and cheesy special effects from Roger Corman’s world.
They are assembled to create a campy coming of age tale. The film contains a few moments and action sequences that prove the characters aren’t all hopeless. It has entertaining fight scenes that provide viewers with good comedy elements, and the actors portray decent performances.
The crew devoted close attention to detail with makeup for a low-budget film, and some of the aliens and lavish animals had an out-of-the-ordinary comic book feel to them. Regardless of the film’s flaws, audiences should remember that this is the substance that most great classics are made of. As a result, if seen with an open mind and heart, Space Raiders is a film that may be thoroughly loved.
Hawk the Slayer (1980)
Hawk has been traumatised by the deaths of his fiancée and father at the hands of his brother Voltan. He embarks on a quest to find companions to aid him in his struggle against his brother’s wicked tyranny.
Not every Star Wars rip-off was a sci-fi film. Terry Marcel’s Hawk the Slayer was a sword and sorcery adventure movie that bears a close resemblance to George Lucas’ space opera. While wicked lords, the chosen one, and magical swords aren’t exclusive to the Star Wars property, the way Terry Marcel depicts them in this film may surprise Star Wars aficionados.
With its ludicrous visual effects and blatant campy language, the picture borders on parody. The nicest thing about B-movies is that most actors are aware that they are in one, and it shows in their performance. The effort at serious acting just serves to heighten the hilarious value.
Nonetheless, the film’s entire schlocky tone is self-aware, which adds to its entertainment value and leaves 80s B-movie and Star Wars fans wanting more. Overall, this film is entertaining to see, but only if you are inebriated.