Battle Beyond The Stars (1980)

A young man (Richard Thomas) scours the cosmos to recruit mercenaries from different planets and cultures in order to save his peaceful home planet from the threat of an evil tyrant (John Saxon). Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami (WHEN THE WIND BLOWS). If the plot sounds familiar, it's because it's an uncredited version of Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI (1954) which was previously remade as a western THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960). It's low budget science fiction that was spawned in the wake of the massive success of STAR WARS (1977). On its own derivative terms, it's an amiable Saturday matinee action/adventure movie. Just don't expect any originality or style. The film was a beginning for many talents that would go on to bigger things: James Cameron (AVATAR) did the art direction, John Sayles (LONE STAR) did the script and James Horner (TITANIC) did the faux John Williams score. The large cast includes George Peppard, Robert Vaughn, Sam Jaffe, Lynn Carlin, Jeff Corey, Sybil Danning, Darlanne Fluegel, Marta Kristen and Richard Davalos.