News: SPACE RAIDERS (1983) DVD & Blu-Ray Details

Well, it's official. The 1983 Roger Corman-produced interstellar adventure film, Space Raiders, directed by Howard R. Cohen, and starring Vince Edwards, David Mendenhall and Thom Christopher (Buck Rogers), is coming in September from Scorpion Releasing, in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.

This outer space take on Treasure Island will be presented in its original theatrical widescreen aspect ratio, and special features will include on camera interviews with star David Mendenhall, producer Roger Corman, and production supervisor Clark Henderson.

The low-budget effort from the tail end of the Space: 1970 era (as I loosely define it) recycles copious effects footage from the legendary B-movie producer's earlier space operas, Battle Beyond The Stars and (I believe) Android (which I'll be writing about here soon). The SRP for the DVD will be $19.95 and $29.95 for the Blu-ray.

News: SPACE RAIDERS (1983) Coming To DVD?

I don't have any product details or a release date - hell, I don't even have "official" confirmation - but it looks like the low-budget 1983 Roger Corman-produced interstellar opus, Space Raiders, will be coming to DVD soon, courtesy of niche DVD label Scorpion Releasing.

My evidence of this is the presence of the Space Raiders trailer on recent Scorpion DVD titles (specifically, the kung fu caper Force: Five, which I purchased not long ago). Scorpion also posted the artwork above (without comment) on their Facebook page last Fall, along with the posters of a few other Corman titles.

This flick from the tail end of the Space: 1970 era (as I loosely define it) stars Vince Edwards and Thom Christopher (Buck Rogers' "Hawk") and recycles copious effects footage from the legendary B-movie producer's earlier space operas, Battle Beyond The Stars and Android (Hmmm. Wonder if Scorpion might pick up that one?).

As more information about this release becomes available, I'll post it here.

#1 Movie In America!

Thirty years ago, anyway. That's right - Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone (in 3-D), starring Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald and Michael Ironside, ruled the boxoffice on this weekend in 1983! Just thought that was worth noting. Hope you're all having a great weekend!

V (1983) or Not To V?

I've been on the fence about whether or not to include the two V television miniseries and subsequent weekly series here at Space: 1970. The original V mini ran in late 1983, which is pretty much my cut-off point here at the site, with the follow-up miniseries and weekly show airing the following year. I know it's my site, and realistically, I can write about anything I want - but man, the e-mails/comments I get when I step outside my self-imposed boundaries! It's amazing how quick people will jump on any opportunity to try and knock others down.

The show certainly feels like a 70s sci-fi show, with its ham-fisted social commentary, dystopian themes, Old School miniature effects, and broadly-drawn but appealing characters, and, frankly, I honestly enjoy most of the run in a way much like that of the shows I do cover here - unlike most 80s-90s genre efforts. A lot of this is probably attributable to the early creative influence of Kenneth Johnson, who originated the property and produced the first mini. Johnson was one of the most genre-savvy television producers of the era, with credits like The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk - and, later, Alien Nation - to his name. He was always pretty canny about making outlandish sci-fi ideas work for mainstream television audiences (and networks/sponsors).

Of course, it also has that humungous 80s hair. 

Anyway, I will continue to ponder whether V can be squeezed into my already-elongated timeframe... what do you folks think?

Coming Attractions: REVENGE OF THE JEDI Teaser Trailer

I'm sure everyone else has seen this video millions of times, but until today, I hadn't seen this Revenge Of the Jedi trailer since I caught the first re-release of The Empire Strikes Back in the theater. I remember being really, really excited for the third film...

Now, I just get a kick out of the "Wilhelm scream" sound effect used when the guy falls into the sarlacc (sarlaac?) pit.

STAR WARS Atari Arcade Game (1983) Advertising Art

I can't even guess how many quarters I pumped into this game back in the Summer of '83. I had a full-time job at a paper mill that Summer, but pretty much every evening I would hang out with my friends at a now-long-gone, second-rate pizza parlor in Waterville, Maine, where we would divvy up mediocre peperoni pies and take turns at the Star Wars stand-up in the corner.

I really dig this artwork - because it's undeniably gorgeous, and because it reminds me of those long, pizza-filled evenings hanging out with my friends during what was pretty much our last Summer together before college, jobs and all the other things that go with adulthood caused us to drift apart....

Coming Attractions: SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE in 3-D (1983) TV Spot

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy Spacehunter. To me, it's among the last of 70s-styled space opera, and along with Return Of The Jedi, it marks the end of the Space: 1970 era in my mind. Here's a terrific 60 second television spot for the film, trumpeting the 3-D aspect of the presentation. "The first movie that puts you in outer space!"

RETURN To The Beach With Slave Girl Leia!

Really... what needs to be said?

STAR TREK (1983) Arcade Game Flyer

Here's the flyer for Sega's cockpit model of their Star Trek "Strategic Operations Simulator" game, which appeared in arcades and bowling alleys a few months after Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan surprised everyone by becoming a huge box office hit and demonstrated that the Trek franchise still had plenty of exploitation potential left in it.

I honestly don't remember playing this game; does anyone know if it was the first authorized Star Trek electronic video game? I know there had been a couple of pinball machines, but I'm wondering whether there was a Trek video game before this one?

STAR WARS Atari Arcade Game (1983) Flyer

Click for Readable View

"Gold Leader, this is Red 5. I'm going in!" In the Summer of 1983, I fed probably $300 in change into this Atari arcade game (the upright model) at a Waterville, Maine pizza parlor. That was the Summer after my last year of High School, and I was working at a paper mill to make money for Art School. In the evenings, I would meet up with a few of my friends for pizza and Star Wars. If I recall correctly, this same restaurant also had the Astron Belt laserdisc game (with the Message from Space movie footage) for a while, but that one was infuriatingly difficult to play.  

Star Wars, on the other hand, was so damned much fun, with its colorful vector graphics, John Williams themes and soundbites from the movie. If I recall correctly, we all got pretty good at it (the owner must have had it set on "easy" mode!), and spent hours at that joint eating mediocre pie and pumping quarters into the game. Considering how few other customers I can recall ever seeing in there, I suspect we were keeping the place in business all by ourselves....

SPACEHUNTER (1983) Publicity Stills

Today, I present a handful of B&W press stills I've collected online from the 1983 interstellar Western,  Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone. As I've written before, I'm a big fan of Spacehunter, and would have loved to see a few more adventures of Wolff (Peter Strauss) and Niki (Molly Ringwald). Alas, it was not meant to be....
 

Behind-The-Scenes Pix #3: RETURN OF THE JEDI

It's as hot as Tatooine in most of the U.S. this week, including here in Maine. So let's all enjoy it the best we can, following the example of Carrie Fisher and her stunt double on the set of Blue Harvest back in 1982.

SPACEHUNTER (1983) Lobby Cards

Here are a handful of press stills/lobby cards from my favorite galactic Western of 1983, Spacehunter: Adventures In the Forbidden Zone (in 3-D)! We've got a nice shot of our heroes Wolff (Peter Strauss) and Niki (Molly Ringwald), a look at a scavenger on his motorcycle, and - last, but not least - the sadistic lord Overdog (Michael Ironside).

It's an insane longshot, but I'd love to see Columbia revisit this catalog title with a new HD Blu-ray. Never happen, but one can dream, I suppose....

News: STAR WARS Blu-ray Details

The wait is over, and all has been revealed... and it doesn't appear that Lucasfilm will be including the theatrical editions of the original Star Wars trilogy in the upcoming Blu-ray releases. Big surprise. Guess I'm hanging onto my old laserdisc set. Here's the official press release:

 Bring home the adventure and share Star Wars™ with your whole family – when STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA comes to Blu-ray Disc from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment! To be released beginning on September 12 internationally and on September 16 in North America, the nine-disc collection brings the wonder of the entire Saga direct to your living room, where you can revisit all of your favorite Star Wars moments – in gorgeous high definition and with pristine, 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Dive deeper into the universe with an unprecedented 40+ hours of special features, highlighted by never-before-seen content sourced from the Lucasfilm archives.

    Special Features:

    STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:

    DISC ONE – STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC TWO – STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC THREE – STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC FOUR – STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC FIVE – STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC SIX – STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

    Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren

    Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

    DISC SEVEN – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III

    Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more

    DISC EIGHT – NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI

    Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more

    DISC NINE – THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES

    NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.

    NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.

    NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more – and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!

    The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

    The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!

    Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes – and into the costumes – as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.

    Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.

    Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

Pre-orders are open now. There are three different options – original trilogy, prequels, or all six films. Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray will be available for $139.99 US, discounted to $89.99 on Amazon right now. The Original Trilogy is RRP $69.99 but currently$44.99 US. Same for the Prequel Trilogy.

•   Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]

•  Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (Episodes IV - VI) [Blu-ray]

•  Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I - III) [Blu-ray]

The UK Complete Saga is to be £89.99, currently £69.99 via Amazon. The Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy are to be £44.99 RRP, currently £33.99.

Coming Attractions: YOR: THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983)

'Nuff said.

YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) Theatrical Posters

Yor, The Hunter From the Future began life as a television miniseries in Italy directed by Antonio Margheretti (often credited as "Anthony Dawson"), that chronicled the adventures of a buff blond caveman named - of course - Yor (American actor Reb Brown) as he struggled to survive a savage world full of dinosaurs and other monstrous creatures - and strange, laser-wielding warriors from a mysterious, technologically-advanced island society. This 4-hour epic was then cut down to feature length and released internationally as a movie - Columbia Pictures unleashed in in the U.S. in the summer of 1983.

I actually went to see this in the theater in '83, lured in by Columbia's ad campaign, which promised everything that a teenage geek guy could possibly want to see in a movie: cavewomen, dinosaurs and laser guns & flying saucers! Unfortunately, what I got was a low-budget, badly-dubbed, disjointed disappointment. I saw it again just a few years ago on cable, and was then able to appreciate it a bit more for its camp value - but, then, I'm more open-minded about movies now than I was at age 17-18.

Margheretti was no stranger to sci-fi. Back in the Sixties, he had directed a number of popular space operas - Space Men, Wild Wild Planet, War Between the Planets, et al - but, like pretty much all of his many exploitation movies, Yor is a somewhat slapdash, sloppy - but energetic - mess. It's entertaining, but you feel guilty enjoying it.

I don't feel guilty about enjoying these posters, though; the U.S. one-sheet at the top is kinda bland - and previews the sort of static, Photoshop crap we see these days - but I really like the "underground comix" look of the second, and that third one resembles the covers of many of the fantasy paperbacks on my shelves. Interestingly, the artist of this piece has actually swiped Frank Frazetta's interpretation of the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raiders (as seen in THIS painting) for the spaceships!

Considering how prevalent this flick was on 80s cable television, I'm surprised some cult video label hasn't released it on U.S. DVD. It can be watched/bought via Amazon Instant... but that's not really the same.

SPACE RAIDERS (1983)

I wonder if Shout! Factory has any plans to bring the 1983 Space Raiders out on DVD as part of the "Roger Corman Cult Classics" line? This sci-fi variation on Treasure Island recycles all of its special effects footage (and most of James Horner's music) from Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars and Android, but I remember it being kinda fun. Not good, of course, but kinda fun - in that low-budget, Sunday afternoon and I'm single and bored VHS rental sorta way.

As I recall - and mind you, I haven't seen the film since the mid-80s - the plot, such as it might be, revolves around an annoying little kid who falls in with a bunch of space pirates, led by the imaginatively named Captain Hawk, played by Vince Edwards (best known as Dr. Ben Casey on the 60s' TV series of the same name). Interestingly (at least to a trivia-minded Star Kid like me) one of his crew is an alien played by Thom Christopher, who played an alien named Hawk on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century a couple years earlier.

The crew of Hawk's ship (Nell, from Battle Beyond the Stars, with a new and vastly less-imaginatively designed interior) are the usual motley assortment of basically good-hearted rogues, whose criminal activities are forced upon them by the inherent inequities of the galactic economy, which is dominated by an evil corporation known only as The Company. (Looking at these stills, they sorta remind me of the cast of Firefly, actually... hmmmm...)  I remember that for what was ostensibly a "kid's film," a lot of characters died... and it was almost always because of some stupid thing the kid did.

Anyway, I'm sure it's a pretty bad movie, but it would make a good candidate for the Shout! line. Hell, I'd buy it. It was released through Corman's short-lived "Millennium" company, though, and I don't know if any of those titles are included in the film package that Shout! has the rights to.

Hungarian STAR WARS Trilogy Posters

Star Wars

The Empire Strikes Back

The Return Of The Jedi

Brilliant. Bizarre. These amazing, awesome, Hungarian Star Wars Trilogy posters were painted by artist Tibor Helényi.  I don't know if they accompanied the original theatrical releases or later cinematic or video re-issues, but they are just delightfully insane.

I discovered them over on Michael May's Adventureblog Annex - and he discovered them on the Monster Brains blog (a couple of cool sites that I highly recommend visiting, by the way). In any case, once I saw them, I had to raid those guys and share the scans here at Space: 1970.  How friggin' wild are these?!

News: STAR WARS on Blu-Ray in September

It was announced yesterday by 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm that the original three Star Wars films (and the three fake Star Wars films) will be released in high-definition on the Blu-Ray format in the U.S. in September.

George Lucas's sci-fi adventures will be released in three different box sets and are available to pre-order now. The 9-disc Star Wars: The Complete Saga includes all six films, Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy contains Episodes I-III on 3 discs and Star Wars: Original Blu-ray Trilogy has Episodes IV-VI across 3 discs.

The Complete Saga features 30 hours of extensive extras, including deleted and alternate scenes and a look into the Star Wars archive.

Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn said: "The Star Wars saga is the most anticipated Blu-ray collection since the launch of the high-def format.

"The epic franchise pioneered sound and visual presentation in theatres and is perfectly suited to do it again in the home, with a viewing experience only possible with Blu-ray."

Lucasfilm vice president of marketing, online, distribution Doug Yates added: "With all six episodes available for the first time in one collection, this is a great way for families and home audiences to experience the complete saga from start to finish."

 Presumably, these are the re-worked "Special Editions" of the original trilogy, and not the theatrical editions, which means that Greedo will shoot first in HD...

Pre-Order: Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) [Blu-ray]

•  Been busy with some deadline-tight comics work this week; sorry for the lack of posts. Have a number of articles in draft form (including a couple more End of the World posts), and will polish them up and get them online as soon as I can squeeze in the time. Stay tuned!

November's Space Babe: Carrie Fisher

November's Space Babe is none other than Carrie Fisher as Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa, the damsel in distress and rebel leader of the original Star Wars trilogy. It has taken great restraint not to feature the infamous "Slave Leia" metal bikini on this blog before now, but I decided a while back that only Miss Fisher's iconic princess could be Space: 1970's first anniversary Space Babe.

The daughter of Hollywood "royalty" - Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher's portrayal of the tough-yet-vulnerable rebel leader secured her own place in cinematic history. She also became a perhaps unlikely sex symbol, and the first celebrity crush for millions of boys during the 1970s, myself among them. Probably didn't hurt that George Lucas apparently felt that women in his universe didn't wear brassieres - unless they were made of metal....