Blog

Sep 16, 2023

The 8 Best Star Wars Rip

Star Wars reinvented the science fiction genre and inspired some well-meaning

Star Wars reinvented the science fiction genre and inspired some well-meaning yet mediocre rip-offs.

Star Wars is one of the biggest and most successful science fiction franchises ever created. Beginning in 1977, the original film became one of many episodic movies now dubbed the Skywalker Saga, told in a trilogy of trilogies.

Recounting the galactic civil war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, Star Wars shares the sociopolitical consequences of space exploration and planetary conquest. On the surface, the franchise is a fairy tale told in space. Its formula and genre became so popular, it led to copycats in a galaxy not so far away.

The Man Who Saved the World, better known as Turkish Star Wars, is a low-budget, hodgepodge mess of sounds and scenes. Space travelers crash-land on a desert planet (Tatooine) and engage in a martial arts fight.

They are later met by a millennium-old wizard who wants to conquer Earth (destroy the Death Star) but can only be destroyed by using the brain of an Earthling. Footage and music from Star Wars and Indiana Jones are interspaced at familiar moments as well, making this ripoff an oddly entertaining mixed bag.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is an animated 3D rip-off and the first of its kind to use both CGI and traditional animation. The human Orin slaves away in a mining underworld for the ruler Zygon and his robot minions.

He discovers a hilt of an invisible sword that projects an old man sharing a message: there is a universe above them, one that is blatantly stolen for the rest of the film. Orin is joined by a human smuggler, a princess, and two helpful robots, only to learn that the sword wasn't invisible but a vessel for a Force-like power he always had.

Krull is a science fiction and fantasy adventure film about a royal family who will rule the galaxy as foretold in a prophecy. Playing off the fairy-tale-in-space trope, the film didn't know what to be as it tried cashing in on two genres for the price of one. The rip-off was also released the same year as Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, leading to an early death by comparison. However, it has survived being a box-office bomb and panned by critics with its own cult following.

Related: Star Wars Movies Have the Wrong Titles, and Here's the Video to Prove It

The Last Starfighter follows teenager Alex, who is chosen to be a gunner in an interstellar war based on his high score in an arcade game of the same, a secret recruitment tool of the Rylan Star League. Alex is forced to save the dying alien squadron and destroy the enemy fleet, the Ko-Dan Armada.

He later stays to rebuild the league's depleted forces, knowing their overlord survived the destruction of his mothership. Compared to Luke Skywalker, the film takes the glory out of the hero's journey for Alex, who must protect a planet now facing near-extinction.

Related: Star Wars: The 10 Most Powerful Jedi Masters, Ranked

Battle Beyond the Stars was produced by the famous B-movie director Roger Corman. His rip-off follows a farming world being threatened by warlord Sador (Darth Vader) who needs body parts to salvage his own deteriorating body. He possesses a Stellar Converter that turns planets into stars unless their inhabitants comply. By proxy, volunteers (Rebels) band together to thwart the doomsday machine. The film is comically derivative and was intended to be a Magnificent Seven in space.

Battlestar Galactica began with the television pilot "Saga of a Star World" and was released theatrically as a standalone film. A thousand-year-old war in a distant star system between humanity and a robot race known as the Cyclons. A peace treaty is reached but ends in deception after the promise of sparing the Cyclon race was broken.

They use the battlestar Galactica to protect them from the impending robotic fleet. The film and short-lived series led to a copyright infringement lawsuit; the planet Carillon, for example, has a gambler's den similar to the Mos Eisley cantina.

Flash Gordon is a space opera superhero film based on the comic strip of the titular character. Its story follows an unlikely hero who receives aid to stop a ruthless alien tyrant from destroying the Earth. George Lucas attempted to secure the rights to make his own adaptation of the space faring hero, but when denied, he made Star Wars instead. The film has since reached cult status for its campy, exaggerated costumes, set design, and special effects.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Spaceballs is the funniest love letter to Star Wars in the entire galaxy. The parody created by comedian and filmmaker Mel Brooks follows mercenary Lone Starr (Han Solo), his half-man, half-dog sidekick Barf (Chewbacca), Princess Vespa (Princess Leia), and the wise, old alien Yogurt (Yoda), who teaches them the power of the Schwartz (the Force).

Together, the ragtag team stop the planet Spaceball from stealing the air from Vespa's home planet. The comedy also makes jabs at other franchises, including Alien, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek.

Brent is an author, educator, and freelancer from Lake Mary, FL. He was born in his local Blockbuster, teething on action, horror, and science fiction VHS tapes. Today, he runs his business, Wiggins' Words, as an editor, tutor, and poet on demand.