In the mysterious ancient land of Lemuria, Sinbad and his crew encounter magical and mystical creatures. A statue of Nirvana comes to life and engages in a sword fight with Sinbad. He later meets up with a one-eyed centaur and a griffin. Ray Harryhausen can once again claim credit for the unusual and wonderful mythical creatures springing to life.

The Flick:

If your a fan of Star Wars, yet you still love cheesy late night science fiction flicks, then Starcrash is the flick for you. Lewis Coates (Luigi Cozzi’s American alias) created a masterpiece of si-fi goodness that rips off Star Wars with only the best intentions. Starcrash is one of my favorite Corman produced films and this two disc set is a release worthy of the fan-base the flick has garnered.

The flick follows the adventures of Stella Star (Caroline Munro) as she bounces (literally) around the universe in skimpy space-wear alongside her companion Akton (Marjoe Gortner) and a robot named Elle (Judd Hamilton) that sports a southern accent. This band of space crusaders get wind that the evil Count Zarth (Joe Spinell) is going to attempt to take over the universe, and of course they are the only ones that can stop him. Along the way they meet up with Simon (David Hasselhoff), a space stud with eyes for Stella and together they work to defeat the Zarth.

I enjoyed every minute of this surrealistic space adventure. Under normal circumstances the thought of the Hoff kicking ass in this type of flick would excite my cheese libido, but he really isn’t all that integral to the enjoyment of this flick. Caroline Munro with her sexy outfits and smoking bod and Marjoe Gortner and his awesome light sword are the real stars.

The set design is wonderful and the visual effects are a sci-fi fan’s wet dream. Each and every shot is rich with beautiful scenery and wardrobe. The score is pretty sweet as well and adds to the flick’s surreal feel. If you haven’t already, then yourself a favor and pick this title up ASAP, because it is absolutely a killer film.

The DVDs:

Audio/Video

The audio sounds great and truly does justice to john Barry’s beautiful score, and the video was crisp and clear with warm colors.

Special Features

Disc 1

Commentary Tracks: There are two tracks on this set, both are presented by Stephen Romano and both are pretty extensive. I’m not a huge fan of commentary tracks, but these are worth a listen. There is also a commentary track done on the music of John Barry’s score that is pretty interesting as well.

Interview: Director Luigi Cozzi talks about the making of the flick. Cool in depth feature/interview.

Photo Galleries: Standard issue photo galleries, but with shots this beautiful it’s totally worth a look.

There are also a bunch of trailers, a radio spot, and a book (12 pages) as well.

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes: This set of deleted scenes and extended scenes paints a picture of what the film could have been. Worth check out.

Interview: Caroline Munro talks about her experiences on the flick (she’s still pretty hot).

A Look at the Special Effects of Starcrash: armando Valcauda provides a look at the special effects magic that went into the flick.

A bit of behind the scenes shots are also on the disc, as well as the original script.

The Flick: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The DVDs: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Maniac: A schizoid serial killer randomly stalks and kills various young women in New York, which he sees as revenge for the mistreatment he got while being raised by his own abusive mother.

Maniac Cop: Innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York City by a uniformed police officer. As the death toll rises, Detective Frank McCrae heads the investigation. Jack Forrest, a young cop, finds himself under arrest as the chief suspect. He and his girlfriend Theresa, along with McCrae then set out to solve the mystery before the Maniac Cop strikes again.