Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

I've been searching just for confirmation that this film existed for five years! For a while, I thought I'd just imagined seeing it, that no one had ever actually made it. Like many other people who have commented on this film, I too remember seeing it when I was maybe nine or ten. It haunted me ever since, because I couldn't remember the title or the names of the characters, only the well-crafted images. As I haven't seen it since then, and copies are indeed impossible to find, I will refrain from describing those images, for my memory may be faulty. Totally ripped off from Star Wars, yes, and horribly violent for a children's cartoon, but I loved it...

One of my favorite STAR WARS rip-offs ever is an italian movie called STARCRASH, (see my review), but sometimes i can never choose between it and this amazing animated movie STARCHASER.

Don´t let the animation aspect of the whole thing put you away, because this is a magnificent Space-Opera. Twenty minutes after the beginning of STARCHASER, i already had forgotten that i was watching an animated feature.

True, the initial images are very disappointing, i swear i thought this was going to be one of those saturday morning cartoon shows for kids. But then something in this story started to grab me. First i noticed that the way that the story was being developed, didn´t exactly followed that cartoon for kids formula. Then a few minutes later an unexpected death of one of the characters ocurred and in a very crude way. From then on, i knew that this was watching something very different.

Then the battle sequences with the spaceship fighters appeared and i was totaly blowned away, by the animation, and by the direction. There are some fantastic flying action sequences in this movie, and they are planned and "filmed" in a incredible way. Every time i watch this even know i feel like i want to cheer for the characters who are flying the ships.

The animation of the spaceships is amazingly smooth, in fact they were done using computer graphics, but we only notice it because of the quality of the sequences, because there is trditional drawing covering the wireframes. In fact, although this is a very old movie, it still is one of the best integrations between traditional and computer animation i ever saw.

Then there is another good thing in the animation. Although technically very rough, we can see there was an effort to capture very human and elaborated gestures and motion, and the best thing is that it works very well indeed.

In the story aspect, obviously we find in STARCHASER a young hero, a rogue mercenary, a space princess, a cyborg villain, a pair of robots and all the Star Wars clichés you can think off. This might have been a terrible thing, but in this case all the stolen bits and pieces are perfectly blended resulting in a very good and interesting story, and in many ways much more imaginative than the classical formula followed by George Lucas. Anyway George got everything from the E.E.DOC.SMITH books from the 30´s, to "create" his saga, so it would be unffair now to call STARCHASER a STAR WARS rip-off for doing exactly the same. The characters are great specialy the two robots who have great dialogue, the action sequences are perfect and are a thrill to watch, specialy the flying scenes with the spaceships, the story is very,very good and imaginative altough it steals from everywhere, even from BLADE RUNNER, the animation is good and the soundtrack is perfect and stays in our mind forever. Maybe the only downside in this movie are the backgrounds wich altough very detailed, are always a bit blurred. But who cares !

This is a magnificent movie. And one of the best sci-fi of the 80´s. Don´t be discouraged by the animation aspect, because this is not a kids movie. Any person who likes si-fi has to like this for sure. Brilliant, brilliant and forgotten movie.

If you can find it. Don´t miss it!

I first saw Starchaser in 3D back in 1985 and for someone who grew up on the Star Wars trilogy I was hooked for life. A beautiful, heady mix of science-fiction, fantasy and all out action laced with humour, a little violence and excellent set-pieces Starchaser is lovingly assembled from the finest sources and has more love for it's source than the three prequels helmed by Lucas have shown. The story is straightforward: thousands of slaves mine crystals for robot overseers believing this to be the will of their God, Zygon. A young slave named Orin (superbly voiced by Joe Colligan) finds a glowing sword hilt buried in the mines that tells him of the forbidden world above and in an attempt to break free is taken under wing of surly smuggler Dagg Dibrimi.

Taking it's influence from Star Wars, whispering it's name with reverent pride, layering it with images and influences as diverse as Moebius, the cartoons of René Laloux and Ralph Bakshi's Wizards it's hard not to like this movie. It's well-animated, beautifully shot and surprisingly well written which is all the more remarkable given that it's an animated feature.

In almost any combination this would have been a lacklustre, disappointing affair along the lines of Titan A.E but under the direction of Steven Hahn it's becomes something much more special. Look at the credits and you'll see cast and crew steeped in sci-fi: Stargate: SG1's Carmen Argenziano as Dagg Dibrimi, Han Solo with the attitude of J.Jonah Jameson; Masters of the Universe star Anthony DeLongis' providing the silver-tongued menace of Zygon in the vein of an early Vincent Price are the two voice highlights among a near perfect cast. More sci-fi stars are found in the background, ranging from the voice stars of Transformers and DS9 to story-boarder Boyd Kirkland, who would later go onto direct Batman: The Animated Series' greatest episode 'The Grey Ghost'. Even after 20 years Belling's music holds up remarkably well, as much an integral character of the film as Les Tremayne's marvellously cowardly ship's computer. It kicks in at all the right places, has good strong recognisable themes for the main stars and above all doesn't overpower the movie or sound like one of John William's increasingly derivative scores. And unlike many animated features it doesn't feel the need to bolster the score with some contemporary rock or pop tracks, preferring a well-crafted mix of orchestral and synthesized soundtrack.

Watched 20 years on it's still as enjoyable. It doesn't run on for too long, still has that pleasing if eccentric aesthetic style prevalent throughout the film and above all is fun. It has a story to tell, does it with style and above all manages to make you care for the characters which is a rare enough thing in a live-action movie, and for an 80's animated feature something very much to be proud of.

Starchaser hasn't been commercially available for years aside from a VHS release some 15 or 16 years back but it has a strong and loyal fan base who'll welcome the fact it's finally been released my MGM on DVD. As an animated feature it still has a certain charm two decades on even without the 3D but where it really holds it's own is it's love for Star Wars. Anybody who felt disappointed by the three prequels and prefers the honest, simple storytelling style of the original will enjoy Starchaser.

I'll just echo the comments of the other reviewers; this one's a keeper. I first saw the previews for this film at a drive-in, but could never track it down until Showtime aired it a few years later.

People could call it a Star Wars knock off, and in some sense it is. But as far as knock offs go it's one of the best. But that's perhaps a little too unfair, because despite borrowing some minor themes from Star Wars it's largely an original film told via good animation.

Despite it being an animated film I wouldn't call it a children's film. Some sexuality is touched on, one of the characters swears every so often, and there is a fair amount of violence (though not too graphic) in the film.

I've heard that this film was originally supposed to be a 3-D experience (schedualed to ride the coat tails of an attempt to revitalize the 3-D genre in the early 80's), but it stands well on its own as a regular film.

There's nothing deep about this movie, but it's a good ride all the same. It's very hard to find nowadays. Myself I was able to get a rare VHS copy of it, but the transfer, though good, really doesn't do justice to this film. One can only hope that it'll see a DVD rerelease. And by that I mean a good DVD release, not one of those fly by night companies that transfers old used projector films onto DVD format. I mean a DVD transfer with all the works; remastered film and soundtrack. :-)

If you can find Starchaser, then go get it. It's worth the effort.

July 6th, 2005 update; DVD review;

Wow! After many years I finally own a crisp remastered copy of one of my favorite animated sci-fi films. Presented in widescreen format, the viewer is no longer denied the other third of the camera's frame, and can see the full image as it was meant to be seen. It is a vast improvement over the old KVC Home Video VHS release.

Additionally the film is presented in full Stereo Surround sound. Having said that the audio does hit a little hard , but it's mostly the sound effects that peak into the red, and not the dialogue nor music track.

"Starchaser; The Legend of Orin" should have shown to the major studios in the 80's what sci-fi animation was capable of had they given it a chance. The industry's only recently played catchup in the late 90's, and even then they're a day late and a dollar short.

"Starchaser" isn't the best film ever made, and "pays homage" to other sci-fi films, but is still a fun experience all the same. I hope all sci-fi and animation fans enjoy it as much as I.

One question: why does the potential overlord of the entire universe walk around dressed like a Chippendale dancer?

This is one of the those movies you can't take too seriously. I happened to check it out from my local library on a whim, practically wore out their copy. I found my own copy a few years ago, and every once in a while I re-visit it. It's one of those guilty pleasures, sort of a "Star Wars Lite."

A final note. I read someone's review of this film where they said Dagg Dibrimi looked like a cross between Burt Reynolds and Han Solo. It's pretty common knowledge in Star Wars circles that George Lucas considered Reynolds to play Han Solo before deciding on Harrison Ford. If you ever wondered what it would have been like if the decision went the other way... well, now you won't have to ponder that anymore.