Battle Beyond the Stars

Roger Corman’s 1980 space opera Battle Beyond the Stars reimagines Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai with a distinctly B-movie flair. Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami from a John Sayles screenplay, this low-budget response to Star Wars features Richard Thomas as a young hero gathering warriors to defend his peaceful farming planet from an intergalactic warlord. With early work from James Cameron as art director and James Horner composing, the film showcases talent that would later define 1980s science fiction. Join us—Pete Wright and Andy Nelson—as we continue the Seven Samurai Family series with a conversation about Battle Beyond the Stars.

Pete and Andy explore the film’s impressive ensemble, including George Peppard as Space Cowboy, Robert Vaughn essentially reprising his—Hold on there! This is currently only available for members. It’ll be available to everyone else soon, but why not become a member so you can listen to it now? We’d love it if you became a member to support our show, but you’d love it because of everything you get. We have monthly member bonus episodes that only members can access. You also get access to members-only Discord channels, and early ad-free releases for every episode. Plus, you get to vote on the movies we discuss in our members only episodes! What can we say? It pays to be a member. Learn more about supporting The Next Reel film podcast through your own membership — visit TruStory FM.