Ever hear of Battle Beyond the Stars?
Two months after the May 1980 release of The Empire Strikes Back in US cinemas, came a Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven in Space knock-off that was out to capitalise on Empire's pull and which is most notable for the up-and-coming talents off-camera. It had a script by future Oscar nominee John Sayles, a score by Titanic Oscar winner James Horner, and special effects by a certain James Cameron. From little cosmic acorns grow...
Battle Beyond the Stars doesn't loom large in anorak lore, but it does come to mind watching Netflix's Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire as 300 and Justice League director Zack Snyder repackages the Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven narrative for a two-part space opera. The second instalment, The Scargiver, is due next April.
This scene-setter sees a farming community on the planet Veldt terrorised by the army of the Mother World, who need the crops to feed the troops. Figuring it's better to die on your feet than live on your knees, mysterious villager Kora (Sofia Boutella) packs her bags and heads off to put together a bunch of hired guns/swords that can lead the farmers in fighting back.
There's loads of melodrama here and Rebel Moon takes itself very seriously, but it will be no hardship for anyone with a thing for sci-fi action. Boutella is good in the set pieces, there's a decent supporting cast (Anthony Hopkins voices a robot, Charlie Hunnam's smuggler has, wait for it, a Belfast accent), and the nostalgia synapses will be firing goodo. Keep the movie reference bingo card handy.
With a cliffhanger ending, Snyder has nicely set up part two, describing it as "a war movie". Chances are, you'll be pitching up on Veldt again next April.
Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire is on Netflix now.
