A smuggler and her alien companion—played by Caroline Munro and Marjoe Gortner—are recruited by a powerful space Emperor (Christopher Plummer) to locate a missing person (David Hasselhoff) and destroy the secret weapon of his evil enemy (Joe Spinell). "Starcrash," released in 1978, is an Italian film featuring American performers. It’s clearly drawing from the popularity of “Star Wars” the year before, but also shows influences from earlier films like "Forbidden Planet,” “Planet of the Vampires,” “Barbarella,” and “Jason and the Argonauts.” The movie shares similarities with “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” which arrived shortly afterward, and it paved the way for movies such as “Guardians of the Galaxy,” where Robert Tessier’s portrayal of Chief Thor echoes Drax (Dave Bautista). I didn't mention "Star Trek" because that's serious science-fiction dealing with space exploration, unlike most of these films—with the exception of “Forbidden Planet” and “Planet of the Vampires,” which are closer to “Star Trek.” Caroline was 28 during filming and stands out for her attractive costumes, but there’s more than just that to enjoy. Gortner is surprisingly good in a role where he's almost like Spock. The colors are bright; the space backgrounds look like a Christmas tree if it were black. It’s certainly not as polished as “Star Wars,” and some of the fight scenes are silly, but the sets and costumes are extravagant and the production demonstrates considerable creativity. It’s something to watch without thinking too much about it—a "good" bad movie. The film is 1 hour and 32 minutes long and was filmed at Cinecittà studios in Rome, as well as various locations in Italy (Mount Etna), Morocco, Tunisia, and Hollywood. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB