Battle Beyond the Stars

A peaceful farming colony on the planet Akir is threatened by the space tyrant Sador, who commands an army of mutants and a ship capable of turning worlds into small suns. Unable to fight back on their own, the Akirians send the young farmer Shad to find mercenaries willing to defend them, offering food and shelter as payment. Shad gathers a small group of fighters and outcasts, and together they set out to face Sador.

The film is a science fiction take on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, moving that story's setting into space. It was directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, whose other credits include Humanoids from the Deep, Heavy Metal and When the Wind Blows. John Sayles wrote the screenplay, Ed Carlin produced, and the cast includes Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, John Saxon, George Peppard, Darlanne Fluegel and Sybil Danning.

Produced by New World Pictures for about 2 million dollars, the film took around 11 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from roughly 11,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.4 out of 10 from 233 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 out of 10 from 14 reviews sits close to those audience scores.