History YMMV / Starcrash

* {{Padding}}: The loooong, sloooow shots of spaceships flying through space. Especially during the climax, which consists of many more loooong, sloooow shots of spaceships launching from the Emperor's Space City, which is even more ludicrous considering how quickly they get their butts kicked.

* CommonKnowledge: The film's colloquially referred to as "Italian Star Wars" and perceived as a cheap, Italian-made cash-in on ''Franchise/StarWars''. However, it was actually an independent American production by Film Enterprises Productions, albeit one with an Italian director, parts of it were shot in UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} and its director actually conceived it as closer to "Sinbad on Mars" and a love-letter to all things sci-fi.

* CommonKnowledge: The film's colloquially referred to as "Italian Star Wars" and perceived as a cheap, Italian-made cash-in on ''Franchise/StarWars''. However, it was actually an independent American production by Film Enterprises Productions, albeit one with an Italian director, and parts of it were shot in UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

* CommonKnowledge: The film's colloquially referred to as "Italian Star Wars" and perceived as a cheap, Italian-made cash-in on ''Franchise/StarWars''. However, it was actually an independent American production by Film Enterprises Productions, albeit one with an Italian director shot (partially) in Rome.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Elle the robot. He's a super-competent badass who saves the day several times, and has a likeable personality and a fun (if completely out of place) Texas accent. It also helps that he has the [[Creator/HamiltonCamp voice of]] [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales Gizmoduck]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/HamiltonCamp voices Elle, over a decade before he'd voice [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales robotic fowl Gizmoduck]].

** During the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MSTing]], one of the riffers quips that this movie is the "Community Theater version of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''." A few months later, ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' would come out, and would feature Creator/DavidHasselhoff in [[OneSceneWonder a memorable cameo]] as well as singing the ending credits theme. Not only that, Thor bears a notable resemblance to Drax.

* CriticalResearchFailure:
** Thor and Elle follow Stella and Akton's "friction trail" through space.
** The soldier torpedoes, which work by crashing through the windows of the Count's space station so a couple of soldiers can hop out. This has no effect on the atmosphere inside the space station.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Like ''Franchise/StarWars'', the first minute or so of the film consists of shots of a giant spaceship. Unlike ''Franchise/StarWars'', the spaceship looks like it's made of Lego (you can actually see they used model-car runners pasted '''intact''' on the ship sides) and space looks like it's full of Christmas lights. Later, during the space battles, you can see the strings the ships are moving on (and don't worry if you miss them the first time: the scenes are reused). Also, halting the flow of time (for three minutes) is accomplished by bathing things in green jello.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Count Zarth Arn]] of the League of Dark Worlds is a GalacticConqueror with ambitions of [[EvilOverlord taking over the entire universe]]. Armed with a weapon capable of inducing horrible MindRape in its targets, Zarth Arn introduces the weapon's capabilities by mentally torturing a spaceship full of people to death once they try to destroy the weapon. Zarth Arn plots to oust the Emperor from power with his weapon and eventually opts to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the planet]] his weapon is located in by luring the Emperor there with the prospect of finding his own lost son. Once thinking the Emperor dead, Zarth Arn proceeds to try and obliterate the Emperor's own home planet and the billions on it to secure his reign on the universe and slaughters all the fleets that comes between him and victory in the process.

* HamAndCheese: Christopher Plummer is deliciously hammy. He proudly said he only did the film for the chance to vacation in Rome, even noting that he'd do porn if a trip to Rome was involved.

** Swords made of lasers? That is so obviously ripped off from Star Wars. But, then a character shows up with a laser beam coming out of, what appears to be, a ring on his finger, which seems like anticipating Mel Brooks' ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''.

* InvincibleHero: Akton's intended to be an awe-inspiring champion, and instead comes off as a knowitall with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. What makes it especially odd is that Stella Star is the DesignatedHero, and Akton upstages her.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Caroline Munro and Elle the robot are likely the main reasons why people would sit through this.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Watch Stella when she has no lines. It is clear the actress had no direction from the director beyond "pout and look like you are paying attention."

* SpecialEffectFailure: Like ''Franchise/StarWars'', the first minute or so of the film consists of shots of a giant spaceship. Unlike ''Franchise/StarWars'', the spaceship looks like it's made of Lego (you can actually see they used model-car runners pasted '''intact''' on the ship sides) and space looks like it's full of Christmas lights. Later, during the space battles, you can see the strings the ships are moving on (and don't worry if you miss them the first time: the scenes are reused). Also, halting the flow of time (for three minutes) is accomplished by bathing things in green jello.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Caroline Munroe and Elle the robot are likely the main reasons why people would sit through this.

* BoringInvincibleHero: Akton's intended to be an awe-inspiring champion, and instead comes off as a knowitall with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands. What makes it especially odd is that Stella Star is the DesignatedHero, and Akton upstages her.

* SoBadItsGood: You really have to admire the amount of HamAndCheese this whole movie contains. It's glorious. It's even better with the botched English dub. There are scenes that are literally just the audience watching the characters do nothing. Several more are just scenes of the characters walking, and not nearly as exciting as ''Film/LordOfTheRings''.

** Visual Novel ''VisualNovel/VA11HALLA'' released almost 40 years after this movie and features a character named Stella Hoshii. What does it translate to? Stella Star!

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Elle the robot. He's a super-competent badass who saves the day several times, and has a likeable personality and a fun (if completely out of place) Texas accent. It also helps that he has the [[HamiltonCamp voice of]] [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales Gizmoduck]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Elle the robot. He's a super-competent badass who saves the day several times, and has a likeable personality and a fun (if completely out of place) Texas accent.

* HilariousInHindsight: Swords made of lasers? That is so obviously ripped off from Star Wars. But, then a character shows up with a laser beam coming out of, what appears to be, a ring on his finger, which seems like anticipating Mel Brooks' ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''.

** During the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MSTing]], one of the riffers quips that this movie is the "Community Theater version of ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''." A few months later, ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' would come out, and would feature Creator/DavidHasselhoff in [[OneSceneWonder a memorable cameo]] as well as singing the ending credits theme.

** "Imperial battleship! Halt... the flow of time!" Never brought up before the planet is about to blow up in 35 seconds, the explanation about the time stop takes longer than 35 seconds, and is never mentioned again.

** Elle the robot turning up whole and unharmed after being smashed to pieces by cavemen. Putting a robot back together isn't normally an asspull, but it is when his pieces were left behind on an exploding planet, and the only way the other characters escaped was by breaking time.

** "Imperial battleship! Halt... the flow of time!"