late 70s star wars rip offs

[RapscallionJones]

I'm actively trying to track these two down:

Spacehunter
Metalstorm

I remember my dad renting them for me back when I was a kid and I loved them both.  Haven't seen them since.

I think METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED SYN will disappoint after all of these years.  I saw it in the drive-in (it was in 3d, wasn't it?) and remember it as inciting peals of laughter ... In any case, used VHS copies can be found easily thru Amazon, and tho' I think of Amazon as the "enemy of the people" I use them every week to buy movies and CDs... hope the link works:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/630018319X/ref=dp_olp_3/102-8935206-2998565?ie=UTF8&qid=1186507973&sr=1-2

That's usually how it works out when it comes to childhood memories.  They're often best left as fuzzy nostalgia.  Thing is, I've grown to love all things Charles Band over the years.  I checked out Trancers a while back and while the future, according to Band, is pretty cheap looking and crappy, I still loved it because, hey!  Tim Thomerson.

Thomerson is in Metalstorm, too, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

[Him]

You can't forget Ice Pirates and Galaxina.

[RCMerchant]

 Mel Brooks SPACE BALLS.

[Allhallowsday]

Mel Brooks SPACE BALLS.

Yeh, thought of that one but figured it's not a "rip off" but a spoof!   

[AnubisVonMojo]

You can't forget Ice Pirates and Galaxina.

Ain't that the truth... the horrible, horrible truth... actually, I kinda hold a place in my heart for Ice Pirates, heh heh. 

[AnubisVonMojo]

Oh god no! Do not misslead this nieve young lad! STAR ODYSSEY is the path to the DARK SIDE!!! I own it! It has brought nothing but hatred and unneeded sleep!

(Besides, didnt this come out a few years BEFORE star wars?)

I just said it was a Star Wars rip-off, I never said it was a good Star Wars rip-off. Heh. And according to imdb is was released in '79, KY. It just looks older than it is because, well, it sucks horribly and the film was probably very cheap stock.

[Torgo]

This isn't a Star Wars ripoff, but rather an Alien one. But I got to see Roger Corman's "Galaxy of Terror" this past weekend.

Absolutely hysterical.   

[Shadow]

What about Starship Invasions, one of the films Christopher Lee no doubt wants to forget?

[KYGOTC]

And according to imdb is was released in '79, KY. It just looks older than it is because, well, it sucks horribly and the film was probably very cheap stock.

Ah. Makes sense.

[Dr. Whom]

In a sense the Star Trek movie is one too. I understand they were wondering at Paramount how to cash in on the Star Wars craze, and then somebody remembered they used to have a show with 'star' in the title. They tracked down the original cast, and the rest is history.

[Him]

In a sense the Star Trek movie is one too. I understand they were wondering at Paramount how to cash in on the Star Wars craze, and then somebody remembered they used to have a show with 'star' in the title. They tracked down the original cast, and the rest is history.

Almost. Yes they were looking to cash in on the Star Wars craze, but even before Star Wars was released, Paramount was working on a new Trek tv series to launch their new tv network. When Star Wars was released and became a big hit, they decided to make a movie instead of a tv show. But alot of the set pieces were already built.

But I don't know if that's a good comparison. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a completely different type of movie than Star Wars.

[Dr. Whom]

I agree Star Trek is a different movie altogether, but the movie series probably wouldn't have been made, if Star Wars hadn't come along.

[D-Man]

There was a 1985 movie called "Starship", which was reviewed on this site actually.  That looks like a Star Wars ripoff to me too, albeit one from the 80's.

[Raffine]

Disney's THE BLACK HOLE (1979), along with TV's  original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century, were all certainly accused at the time of being "Blatant Star Wars Ripoffs". All were supposedly developed without STAR WARS in mind, but I doubt if any of them would have been green-lighted without the popularity of STAR WARS.

Universal was even sued by FOX over suspected copyright infringement:

From Wikipedia - Glen A. Larson, the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, has stated in many interviews that he originally conceived of the Galactica premise in the late 1960s, which he originally called Adam's Ark. However, he was unable to get the project greenlit for many years.

Battlestar Galactica was finally produced in the wake of the success of the 1977 film Star Wars. In fact, 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (the studio behind Battlestar Galactica) for copyright infringement, claiming that it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars. Universal promptly countersued, claiming Star Wars had stolen ideas from the 1972 film Silent Running (notably the robot "drones") and the Buck Rogers serials of the 1940s. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed in 1980.


Does The Star Wars Holiday Special count?

[Him]

The Black Hole was another sci-fi movie that was supposedly in development before Star Wars was released, for the purpose of capitilizing on the success of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course after Star Wars was released, they made some changes to the script and the concept.