In 1977, a little indie film called “Star Wars” was released, ushering in a new era for science-fiction films. Its budget? Eleven million dollars. To which Roger “Be Like the Cor-Man” Corman replied “hold my beer” and a mere three years later presented the world with the sci-fi epic “Battle Beyond the Stars” for a much more reasonable two million dollars. Clearly, the Cor-Man knew where to trim the fat and what useless fripperies weren’t needed to tell a powerful and original story (ok, maybe not that original; the plot is clearly an homage to “The Magnificent Seven” and, via some elegantly subtle clues, to it’s antecedent “The Seven Samurai”. Trust Corman to steal only from the best. He even got one of the actors who was in “The Magnificent Seven” to appear in his movie, and another who almost stole the part of Vin away from Steve McQueen! This movie not only demonstrates Roger Corman’s ability as a producer but also his modesty, as despite the many Corman-esque directorial touches in this movie, Corman refused to be listed as director, turning that honor over the man who helped answer the question: “How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?” Confused? Give a listen, and much will be revealed.
Poll question: “Star Wars” forever changed the science fiction genre. what movie was a genre game-changer for you?
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In sci-fi 2001 changed how I viewed the genre and saw how amazing and serious it could be. I have to say Snow White really changed how we experienced animation in a similar way, it was one of the first feature length animations and showed that cartoons were also art and could appeal to all ages. Christopher Reeves in Superman also showed comic book material was not as niche as many thought and opened up comic book characters to cinema never done before, it hasn’t aged well in some ways but those effects were amazing at the time and made way for much of the films we see now.
Uhh….. we can still use you as a reference, right….?
All superb examples, Penguin Protector! I’m right there with you on the Christopher Reeves “Superman”!