It’s got David Hasselhoff! It’s got Christopher Plummer! Starcrash (1979) is the movie for this Sunday’s “monsterdon” watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

  • Just start watching that movie this Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
  • and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
  • I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.

How to watch the movie:

Widely regarded as a “cash-in” on the unprecedented success of Star Wars,[9] the film was an international co-production between Italy and the United States.
…
In a contemporary review, Variety noted that the film had a “weak screenplay” and that Cozzi’s direction “seemed to have no apparent plan”.[7] Variety commented that “what is surprising for a picture of this genre, however, is the lacklustre photography by Paul Beeson and Roberto D’Ettorre and special effects by Armando Valcauda and German Natali”, and that the “photography almost never convinces that this is actually taking place anywhere but on the movie screen and special effects seem little more than poor imitations of what’s been done before”.[7] The Monthly Film Bulletin noted the “mediocre special effects and a clumsily protracted finale”, but stated that Starcrash “intermittently achieves a kind of lunatic appeal as it lurches pell-mell from one casually fabricated climax to the next”.[8]

A retrospective review by Kurt Dahlke of DVD Talk said, “Starcrash is a masterpiece of unintentionally bad filmmaking. Pounded out in about 18 months seemingly as an answer to Star Wars, Luigi Cozzi’s knock-off buzzes around with giddy brio, mixing ridiculous characters with questionably broad acting, an incredibly simple yet still nonsensical plot derivative to Star Wars, and budget special effects that transcend into the realm of real art. It’s a completely ridiculous movie, that’s great to watch with a few friends and a beer or two. And it still manages to make my jaw drop.”[17] R. L. Shaffer of IGN gave the film a rating of 10 out of 10, declaring it the “single greatest sci-fi camp fest ever put on celluloid” and put it in a league with cult classics like Troll 2, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and The Room.[18] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 29% based on 2 positive and 5 negative critic reviews.[19]

In 2015, Starcrash was chosen by Rolling Stone as one of the 50 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 1970s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starcrash

  • klu9@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    20 hours ago

    I spent New Year’s Eve 1989/90 in bed in recovery… because I spent New Year’s Eve Eve doing more dancing and drinking with Nadia Cassini than I had ever done in my life. Worth it!

    Been meaning to see this for decades, never realized she was in it. (Although only for like 5 lines, which somehow got her fourth billing right after the Hoff.)

  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    3 days ago

    I LOVE this movie.

    “single greatest sci-fi camp fest ever put on celluloid”

    Possibly the best way to put it without spoiling anything. The key here is that this movie isn’t dull. There’s shit going on all over the place all the time. But yes, crack open a cold one, sit back, and take it all in.

    It’s also a great example of what a movie would look like if it had high-functioning ADHD. It can’t make up it’s mind if it’s a western, skin flick, sci-fi re-telling of Ulysses, low-budget-special-effects tech demo, and “we have Star Wars at home.”

  • Pencilnoob@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    This is one of my comfort movies from a six month hike. I’d crash in a hotel every so often and use a Chromecast to stream the MTS3K version. I love the southern robot

  • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    Been a few years since I saw this last. Definitely a classic though lol. If I remember correctly the whole thing is ADRed. Super low budget. And yeah baby prince Hoff.

    This and Ice Pirates came up a lot on HBO in the 80s. Ice Pirates you get a young Ron Pearlman.

    • ohulancutash@feddit.ukEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Not ADRed, but like all Italian films of the time the dialogue was recorded in post-production.

      • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        It’s more or less the same thing. But you aren’t wrong. It is all over Italian film. From “spaghetti” westerns to this.

        It even got a fun homage/send up from David Ashby and friends with Italian Spiderman.

  • RagingHungryPanda@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    I thought this was not a real movie! 😂
    …or something else

    That’s a cool way to do chats though, I never thought about live updates on the tag.