Clash of Stars ( Starcrash , also known as Star Disaster ) is a 1979 Italian-American science fiction film directed by Luigi Cozzi . Luigi Cozzi also spoke as the screenwriter of the picture (under the pseudonym Lewis Coats) [1] . The music for the film was written by Oscar-winning John Barry ( Goldfinger , Dancing with the Wolves ). According to the director of the film, the film was the first Italian film of "modern science fiction" [2] .
| Collision of stars | |
|---|---|
| Starcrash | |
| Genre | science fiction |
| Producer | Luigi Cozzi |
| Producer | Nat Wachsberger Patrick ouchsberger |
| Author script | Luigi Cozzi Nathan Wahsberger R.A. Dillon |
| In the main cast | Marjo gortner Caroline Munroe Christopher Plummer David Hasselhoff |
| Operator | Paul Bison Roberto D'Ettore Piazzoli |
| Composer | John Barry |
| Duration | 94 min |
| A country |  Italy  USA |
| Tongue | |
| Year | 1979 |
| IMDb | ID 0079946 |
Content
Story
Space smugglers Stella Star and Acton, exiled to hard labor, manage to free themselves, after which they begin to fight against the evil space invader Count Zart An, who has a deadly space station capable of destroying entire planets. Heroes also need to find Simon - the son of the emperor of the galaxy.
Cast
- Marjo Gortner - Acton
- Caroline Munroe - Stella Star
- Christopher Plummer - Emperor
- David Hasselhoff - Simon
- Robert Tessier - Thor
- Joe Spinell - Earl of Sarth Ahn
- Hamilton Camp - Elle (voice)
- Judd Hamilton - Elle
Production
It took the creators two years to complete the film: in 1977, all the filming with the participation of the actors was completed, the next year was devoted exclusively to the implementation of special effects and only in 1979 the film was released on the screen, where it was a huge success [2] . At the same time, the original idea of the picture was completely different than the one that subsequently appeared on the screens. Originally, Luigi Cozzi, inspired by the movie “ Cassandra 's Pass ”, planned to shoot a picture of a giant spaceship and even wrote the corresponding script for 30 or 40 pages [3] . The plot of this version narrated, as already noted, about a giant space passenger ship that first transported people to Saturn. During its flight, the ship once bumps into a massive cosmic body, as a result of which it crashes on Titan - the satellite of Saturn. Only a few people survive, who are now awaiting a rescue expedition (this part of the artistic narrative took a significantly short time throughout the story) [3] .
This plot did not interest any of the producers and therefore this idea was not implemented on the screens. As Kozzi himself notes, when he offered this story to Nathan Wachsberger, the latter showed no interest. But when Star Wars rolled out, Wachsberger turned to Cozzi and offered to make a story in the spirit of this film, not the director’s idea. However, Cozzi was not able to see the American film with his own eyes, since in Italy it was officially released in November 1977, and its original release took place on May 25. At the same time, the director knew from newspapers that this would be a sci-fi galactic adventure film. Before that, Kozzi in one of the Italian bookstores acquired a novelization of the picture and actually knew what the essence of the film was. When Nathan Wahsberger arrived in Italy and wanted to look at the plot in the spirit of Star Wars, Kozzi offered him a ready-made thematic script [3] . As Cozzi noted, this script was written in a very short time, since Wachsberger flew in from America and said that he should return there in 10 days. The director was supposed to show him three or four pages, but writing the story so fascinated him that he wrote 40 or 50 pages [3] .
Luigi Cozzi understood that he would not succeed in making an analogue of Star Wars without the necessary preparation (before the start of filming, it was only three to four weeks). Thus, the only way to make this film good, according to the director, was to shoot it in the fantasy genre. For example, not to use the realism of spaceships, but to make them fantastic [3] .
Cast
Initially, it was planned to choose Raquel Welch for the role of Stella Star, but later she was replaced by Caroline Munroe . The casting of the actors was done by the producer Nathan Wahsberger in Los Angeles, and the director of the film Luigi Cozzi was not actually involved in this process. Even when he asked not to take Raquel Welch, Wachseberg refused him [3] . Actor Marjo Gortner was imposed on the creators of the distribution company American International Pictures . The thing was that a little earlier Gortner played in one of the large-scale films, which went well at the box office. Therefore, distributors wanted to see him in this film [3] . At the same time, according to the idea of Kotstsi Gortner was to play a character who had an alien appearance. Gortner did not agree with this, because he wanted to see his face on the screen. As a result, Gortner played one of the leading characters in the picture - Acton. However, according to the director, the application of the capabilities of this actor in the specified image would be the best solution [3] .
The use of actor Judd Hamilton in the image of Ella's robot was dictated by the director’s desire to silence him , as the actor was constantly distracted and talked about something with his wife Caroline Munroe (played the role of Stella).
Criticism and artistic features
Many note that the picture has a lot in common with the Star Wars blockbuster, which is a big merit of the producers who wanted to see just such a rich story. At the same time, as some journalists (for example, Christophe Lemonnier), and Luigi Cozzi himself, note that the picture is influenced by cinema of the 50s [3] . Lemonnier, in which Kozzi supports him, notes the influence of the films of Ray Harrihausen, elements of Jason and the Argonauts, the Golden Journey of Sinbad and the Forbidden Planet:
That was what I wanted to do. But people did not understand this. They did not know anything about the Forbidden Planet, nor about the films of Ray Harrihausen ... The only thing they knew, and about which they constantly told me: "Star Wars ... Star Wars ... Star Wars ...". So I still had to do something like Star Wars. So I gave up, and said: “Okay! Let's do it, ”- Luigi Cozzi [3] .
The resulting result was noted by the director as more or less desired initially. In addition to the above, Cozzi introduced Barbarella into the script, used the novels of Alfred Van Vogt as a model for specific scenes:
Each scene begins with a situation. With a big situation. Each scene should not occupy more than three pages. And at the end of the second or third page, the situation should completely change. You see in the film that this change is continuing. The guy disappears, then reappears. ... And so it goes on [3] .
As the basis for the whole story, the director picked up a science fiction book called The Secret of Sinharata, authored by Lee Brackett .
Editions of the film and its name
The original name of the painting is Scontri stellari oltre la terza densione . In the United States, the film was released under the name The Adventures of Stella Star . On the French DVD, the picture came out in a prolonged version. According to Luigi Cozzi, this option was specially created by him for a series of television science fiction shows and subsequently used as one of the parts of the program [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Ryfle, Steve. Japan's favorite mon-star: the unauthorized biography of "The Big G". - ECW Press, 1999 .-- P. 207. - ISBN 1550223488 .
- ↑ 1 2 Director Interview with Witchstory Magazine
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Interview with Luigi Cozzi to French journalist Christophe Lemonnier