Before all the air was sucked out of the galaxy, there was indeed some sort of breathable atmosphere up there beyond the clouds. You still needed a silver donut or winged phallus to fly about the place in, but it must have been really something to be able to swing open a window and let the evening breezes of space waft in.
Part Superman, part saloon bar shoot-em-up, where the bad guys are Westerners, the good guys are from the East, and the bad alien guys wear SS uniforms, and have recently relieved Captain Stubing of all his, "I'm the Captain" hats.
Originally a TV series, the Earth becomes the target of nuclear destruction by the Superion race. Earth's only hope of survival is Starman, a tights wearing superhero with a body of steel; which is then insulated by a layer of fat, then rammed into tights. It was decided, by way of much arm waving by the High Council of the Emerald Planet, that Starman should be sent in to sort things out.
Starman: He'd like to come and meet us, but I'm not sure he'd blow our minds.Meanwhile, a scientist and his daughter are kidnapped and put into the "Thought Irradicator" to make them into Superion slaves - "for all time" according to the script, but in reality, the machine has an effective use of about 20 minutes - and to design and build weapons to destroy the Earth with.
Without giving to much away, their plans are foiled by the daughter and her two friends running interference, and Starman waving his arms about and disabling a seemingly endless supply of space goons with his bingo-wings.
With English dubbed voices, a replacement soundtrack, and regular narration to fast explain various chains of events, the whole thing runs like a radio play, and could easily be experienced without the picture. Although, you would miss out on the not-completely-shabby fight choreography - especially during the final showdown.
The film uses a lot of reverse film to illustrate Starman's abilities. Jumping from the floor up to a ledge, for example, or kicking a baddie up a flight of stairs. There's also loads of flying sequences showing Starman, hurtling through space on his way to kick alien butts, while dangling from a cable around his waist and his suit giving him a terrific wedgie.
Gadgetry: Apart from the "Thought Irradicator" (left), there's the "Globe Meter" (right). Worn on the wrist like a watch, it can not only tell the time, but allow you to speak and understand any Earth language, fly through space and detect radiation. It's no wonder that its referred to as, "The most ingenious mechanism the universe has ever seen."
There's also mention of a Death Star, but as it turns out, is actually a firey asteroid used to try and melt Starman's lard-insulated steel body.
Favorite quote: "Creatures listening on Earth..." The opening line spoken by the Superion leader, while informing Earth of it's impending battering.
Favorite bit: Hmmm, a tough one to answer. Starman is pretty cool, but I think it would have to be the part where the scientist's daughter and her friend club a guard, drag him to the edge of the spaceship - all done out on the hull - and dump him over the side.
Bottom line: Quite liked it. It's has some laugh out loud moments and screams of minimal budget, but the straight-forward script, the cutting edge camera trickery and simplicity of overthrowing an alien spacecraft, is enough to see you through all of it's 75 minutes.
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