MovieChat Forums > Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985) Discussion > star wars

star wars

posted 12 years ago by karakul09
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this is star wars... just star wars. the nostalgia critic did a review and pointed it out, and it's impossible to ignore once you notice it. the planets are the same, the characters are the same, the plot is nearly identical, and nothing about it makes me think it's worth watching instead of any of the original star wars movies. if this had come out before or around the same time as star wars, it would be different; as is, though, it's a low-budget remake of one of the most successful franchises of all time. i just don't understand the value in watching starchaser when a better version of the same thing came out a decade earlier (and is easier to find).

[–] ttaskmaster 12 years ago

Most post-1977 sci-fi is comparable to and/or heavily influenced by Star Wars. SW used many of the classic elements to a simple, good story and set them in space (snogging one's sister notwithstanding!). There are arguments that SW is a rip-off of many other previous films too, so it's probably an endless cycle.

Thus, any similarities are unavoidable. Starchaser is just a little more care-free about it.

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[–] karakul09 12 years ago

Star wars does use a lot of common plot elements, and it's not uncommon for them to show up in many other films. But when you start ripping off characters and even shots, in some cases, it's too much. Orrin is Luke, a young boy living a dreary life, who finds a magic sword and is sent on a journey by an old man (or Obi-Wan). Later, Orrin meets a morally ambiguous smuggler who teams up with him (aka Han Solo). I don't want to go through everything, but there are a few more examples: the underworld figure that Dagg meets resembles Jabba the Hutt down to the way he sits and his guards stand around him, Aviana is very similar to Leia, Dagg's ship's computer has the exact same role as C-3P0 and R2D2 (comic relief and an almost prissy attitude, a stark contrast to the other characters in the film), and Zygon has many similarities to Darth Vader (although, as Darth Vader is a sterotypical bad guy, that may be coincidental). There are just far too many similarities to Star Wars to write them off as the movies' influence; Star Chaser seems to be more of a rip-off than anything else

[–] ttaskmaster 12 years ago

Perhaps then, it was a Star Wars intended for audiences too young for the films, or something. Someone else has suggested that this was intended to be a series.
Who knows. But so what if it is a rip-off. You should see how many books are even greater rip-offs of each other!

To those of us who saw it at the time, it still holds memories. All we can do is judge it on it's own merits and ignore whatever else has gone before. I don't think it's an amazing film/cartoon by any means, but it still appeals in some aspects.

If you want to break down the elements:

Slave rebellion - Spartacus
Special weapon - Perseus
Journey - The Hobbit
Ambiguous rogue - Treasure Island
Comic relief - Half of Shakespeare's works

"We all rearrange the same old story. We all sing the same old song"
Gary Numan.

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[–] petekrug17 12 years ago

Though I can't deny this film owes alot to STAR WARS, it's still lots of fun in it's own right if you give it a chance. What matters is how well the film itself is made. (Look at Avatar; it's basically DANCES WITH WOLVES meets FERNGULLY, but lots of people really loved it.)

Don't forget, STAR WARS drew alot of inspiration from past works as well:

DUNE
Old samurai films like THE HIDDEN FORTRESS and THE SEVEN SAMURAI
Old Saturday Matinee Adventure Serials, particularly FLASH GORDON and westerns
Classic fairy tales