Galaxina (1980)

One of the most influential films of all time was Star Wars. The George Lucas helmed space flick changed the way people saw movies. It was originally released in only a few theaters, but word of mouth quickly caused it to expand and explode in popularity. It became the biggest film of 1977, and kick-started one of the largest multimedia franchises in the world. It also changed the way movies were made and released, with focus being placed on action set-pieces that would entertain audiences in the same way that Star Wars did.

The popularity of Star Wars also led to a slew of knock-offs that tried to capture the same audience and fervor, frequently without the same studio backing. Battle Beyond the Stars was a Roger Corman production that was pretty much Star Wars and Seven Samurai put together. Starcrash was an Italian knock-off of Star Wars that came out before The Empire Strikes Back but felt like it was influenced by The Empire Strikes Back. Turkish Star Wars took actual footage from Star Wars and repurposed it into a new film. These weren’t the only movies playing into the wake of one of the most popular films of all time.

Galaxina was released in 1980. It was more of a Star Trek knock-off than a Star Wars knock-off, but both films helped bring this one to life. The crew of the Intergalactic Space Police cruiser Infinity was reaching the end of their mission when they were tasked with going on another, 27-year long, mission. Captain Cornelius Butt (Avery Schreiber), Sgt. Thor (Stephen Macht), Pvt. Buzz Henry (J.D. Hinton), Maurice (Lionel Mark Smith), and Sam (Tad Horino) set out on their new mission to find the Blue Star, accompanied by their android servant, Galaxina (Dorothy Stratten). Along the way, they encountered a robot overlord who also wanted the Blue Star, a brothel of alien-folk, and even a Harley-Davidson worshipping gang.

The Star Wars influence came immediately when the movie began with a setup text crawl. As soon as the movie began, words began to crawl through a space-scape, setting up the world and story of Galaxina. It was much more comedic than the movie that it took inspiration from, but the intention was the same. The text crawl was used to bring people into the world that writer/director William Sachs built. It was immediately followed by a ship flying over the lens of the camera, in the same way that Star Wars began.

Another Star Wars bit that came into play early during Galaxina was a spaceflight tactic used by many of the pilots in the Star Wars cinematic universe. When police cars wait for speeding people to drive by, they frequently hide behind a bush, tree, or sign. They try to keep out of sight so that the speeding people don’t spot them and hammer on the brakes. The crew of The Infinity took a similar tactic. The only difference was that there weren’t bushes, trees, or signs in space. They pulled the ultimate Star Wars move and hid their ship behind an asteroid. This eventually led to a space battle between The Infinity and a bird-shaped ship, captained by Odric (Ronald J. Knight and Percy Rodrigues).

The Star Wars elements continued throughout Galaxina. There was a sequence where Galaxina travelled down to a planet to obtain the Blue Star. On her journey, she came across a saloon that was much like the cantina in Star Wars. The biggest difference was that the saloon had a Wild West style that the cantina didn’t. The similarities were there, though. Aliens of various species inhabiting the place. Music in the background. A meeting between Galaxina and Odric that ended up in a shootout, much like the meeting between Han Solo and Greedo.

Most of Galaxina was a Star Trek rip-off, rather than a Star Wars rip-off, however. The main plot of the film felt like it could have been a Star Trek story. It was a crew who had been on a long mission in space being sent on another long mission in space to retrieve an artefact that could easily fall into the wrong hands. Captain Butt recorded his own version of star logs, just as Captain Kirk did. They traveled to a distant planet and interacted with the inhabitants, namely a gang that worshipped a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It very much had the tropes of a Star Trek story, done in a tongue-in-cheek, comedic way.

The other major influence for Galaxina was Alien, another space movie from the late 1970s. One of the most famous scenes from Alien was the scene where the crew of the ship were eating dinner. After having their meal, a crew member got sick, lay back on the table, and had an alien creature burst forth from his chest. Galaxina had its own version of this scene. Captain Butt, Sgt. Thor, and Pvt. Buzz were eating a dinner of pills given to them by Galaxina. That did not satiate the hunger that Captain Butt had, so he asked to try an egg that they obtained from a rock-eating alien they captured. That egg didn’t sit well with Captain Butt. He got sick and threw up a small alien creature. It scurried off, only to return near the climax of the film to come to the crew’s aid.

Galaxina was a movie riffing on many of the major science fiction movies of the time. It took notes from Alien and Star Trek, while also fitting right into the trend of Star Wars knock-offs that came out around that time. It was a movie that knew exactly what aspects it wanted to take from what movies to tell its own story. It was a movie that infused that combination of other movies with a healthy dose of comedy. Galaxina was a loving ode to those movies while also feeling like a product of someone attempting to cash in on their popularity.

Star Trek, Star Wars, and Alien have become staples in the movies set in space section of cinema. They helped shape the landscape of the space-faring science fiction that followed, as well as cinema in general. People paid tribute to the movies and television series through their own writing. Star Wars led to a bunch of knock-offs in the years that followed its release. People wanted a piece of the popularity. They wanted a piece of the profits. Their cheap movies would hopefully get some of that money by playing close to what people liked about Star Wars, only without the care for the material.

Few of them managed to shape the filmic landscape in the same way as Star Wars, though. It was a movie that changed how the theatrical system worked. It led to bigger, flashier movies that would become the summer tentpole blockbusters. Franchise filmmaking became a much bigger part of Hollywood filmmaking following the success of the Star Wars sequels. Event films became a thing. All of this was the result of a little movie by George Lucas that nobody thought would go far, before the release proved otherwise.

Now for a few notes:

• Tad Horino, who played Sam in Galaxina, made his fourth Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance this week. His other movies were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (week 184), Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (week 234), and Remote Control (week 246).
• Galaxina featured Rhonda Shear, who was also in Return to Frogtown (week 334).
• Have you seen Galaxina? What did you think of it? What are some other Star Wars, Star Trek, or Alien knock-offs that you’ve seen? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter or in the comments.
• You can also use Twitter or the comments to fill me in on some of the movies I should be checking out for Sunday “Bad” Movies. I’m always open to suggestions and will likely include them in the schedule at some point in the future.
• Head on over to Instagram to see the Sunday “Bad” Movies account, which is always being updated with fun little things that have to do with the movies being covered.
• And now for a look forward at what’s coming up in Sunday “Bad” Movies. I went a little bigger with the budget. A little more mainstream. It’s a little bit newer, too. I will be checking out Abduction, the 2011 action flick starring Taylor Lautner, for next week’s post. I hope to see you then.