Deep within a subterranean Mine-World, a tribe of humans forced into a grim life of servitude by malevolent overlord Zygon knows nothing of the surface world or of hope… until a brave young boy named Orin discovers a sword with mysterious powers that only he can unlock! After escaping the Mine-World with his weapon, Orin teams with rogue smuggler Dagg, a beautiful princess and some trusty robots on an intergalactic mission to free his enslaved people and defeat the evil Zygon.

Jamie’s Take  (3 / 5)

Am I the only one who remembers when Starchaser: The Legend of Orin went to theaters? I remember seeing the trailer, being blown away by the fact that it was a PG rated cartoon that looked like Star Wars in 3-D. A 3-D animated feature length film and it’s a sci-fi movie? Oh I was so in! Unfortunately my parents were not and since I couldn’t drive myself to the theater at the age of nine, I never got to see this forgotten film.

Viewing the new blu ray for the first time ever, I think my nine year old mind would have exploded in the theater. This doesn’t just borrow from Star Wars. Pretty much every single space opera film from the early to mid 1980’s influenced this movie ranging from Heavy Metal to Space Raiders to Ice Pirates to even Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

A young man named Orin and his blind younger brother work in the Mine-World, a mining colony where humans are slaves and the evil Zygon rules over everyone. Keeping the humans in check, Zygon’s army is made up of robots with electric whips which keeps the humans in line and from trying to escape.

While mining, Orin finds a mysterious sword that projects an image of some old man speaking about the world above the colony. Using this sword to escape, Orin is able to make it to the above world while his girlfriend and grandfather are murdered by Zygon and his army of robots.

After he meets gruff, cigar chewing pilot Dagg Dibrimi (who looks like Powers Boothe) and a few other odd characters (a female robot slave, a C3PO-esque complaining robot, a princess, and various monsters and creatures) Orin and Dagg eventually fight Zygon in order to free not only his brother, but all his people from the Mine-World.

Starchaser, while not very original and pretty hokey, is fun and entertaining. There is actually quite a lot of action which I think will still appease younger viewers today. While there is no blood spilled, some characters actually die and a few even…gasp…swear! The PG rating is definitely earned as younger viewers could even be frightened over some of the creatures (Orin on a Dagobah-type planet about to be eaten by half robot/ half creature may scare the shit out of the young ones).

While the plot is pretty ridiculous, the film has so much action that after awhile I forgot what the central storyline was even about, nor did I even care. I got a kick out of watching old animation, making me long for the days of movies and TV shows like Heavy Metal and G.I. Joe. Blast my parents for not taking me to see this back in the day!

When Starchaser was released on VHS, the 3-D gimmick was unavailable. I had also outgrown animated films and was more focused on horror film or any movie with big giant tits. Like a faded memory, Starchaser was forgotten until now and I am happy to say the film was enjoyable even for this grumpy, middle age man.

Now, over 30 years later, Starchaser has been released on blu ray in glorious HD. And with the technology and growth of 3-D television, this surely had to be released in 3-D right?

Wrong.

Yeah they fucked this one up. Apparently there was a 2005 DVD by MGM that was released that had stereo sound. This blu ray doesn’t just have sound in only mono, it doesn’t have any special features and worst off, the film isn’t presented in 3-D. Film Fries really missed a golden opportunity to release this somewhat forgotten / cult film the way it was meant to be seen.

Even the film’s framing is jacked up as characters lose head room at the top of the screen. Now according to imdb, the film was meant to be shown in 1:85:1 but the single-strip 3-D projection system required a 2:35:1 ratio so this could be a reason why the image looks the way it does. Regardless, the fucking movie should have been put on blu ray in 3-D! This was known as the first 3-D animated feature film…why not show a little respect and release it the way it was meant?

I am glad I finally saw Starchaser: The Legend of Orin. While silly, the film is never boring and makes for great nostalgia for 1980’s fantasy and science fiction. Even with the awful blu ray release, I do feel the film is certainly a hidden treasure and worth seeking out.

Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?

Jamie's Take:	(3 / 5)
Blu-ray Extras:	(1 / 5)
Average:	(2 / 5)

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