6 Trailers For May 4th


Star Wars not only launched an entire expanded universe.  It also launched a few thousand rip-offs.  For this weeks edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers, we’ve got six trailers that might seem just a little familiar….

  1. Battle Beyond The Stars (1980)

From Roger Corman comes this film, which is as much a rip-off of The Magnificent Seven as it is of Star WarsBattle Beyond The Stars was a surprise box office success when it was first released.

2. Space Raiders (1983)

Also from executive producer Roger Corman, Space Raiders tells the story of what happens when a quirky band of intergalactic outlaws pick up an annoying (and frankly, rather stupid) kid.

3. The Humanoid (1979)

From director Aldo Lado, The Humanoid features the great Richard Kiel as the title character.  There’s also a cute robot, an older mystic, and an evil Empire.

4. Message From Space (1978)

Do you remember another film that had a message from space?

5. Flash Gordon (1980)

Interestingly enough, Star Wars was as inspired by the original Flash Gordon as the Flash Gordon reboot was inspired by Star Wars.

6. Starcrash (1978)

And finally, we have Starcrash, the Star Wars rip-off that is actually better than Star Wars!