Galaxy Of Terror (Roger Corman's Cult Classics) | 
| Director: Bruce D. Clark
Actors: Edward Albert, Ray Walston, Robert Englund, Erin Moran
Studio: Shout! Factory
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.93
Buy New: $13.23
as of 9/10/2010 18:41 CDT details
You Save: $6.70 (34%)
New (31) Used (5) from $11.98
Seller: -importcds
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 3,015
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 826663116434
UPC: 826663116434
EAN: 0826663116434
ASIN: B003CNQPOC
Theatrical Release Date: 1981
Release Date: July 20, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 07/20/2010 Rating: R
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
 My Memory Failed Me On This One September 6, 2010
YJM (Somewhere In The South)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was 13 years old when this movie came out and already at that point a hardcore sci-fi/horror movie lover. I remember thinking the posters which were plastered all over the place in Manhattan were so cool (of course the scene/creatures depicted in the poster is nowhere in the actual movie), and I begged my father to take me. Begrudgingly he agreed, and I could hardly contain my excitement. I "remember" the movie being incredible. Now "remember" is the operative word here, and as the title of this review alludes to, my memory was not accurate for this movie. Well, let me just say I guess it was as accurate as could be expected for a 13 year old kid not concerned with acting ability, logic, good writing, or anything resembling a coherent plot, nope, I just wanted creatures, special effects, and blood/guts/gore, and this movie delivered, or so I thought...
While perusing the sci-fi movie aisle at my local Fry's Electronics I stumbled upon this movie and thought to myself, "no freaking way, I remember this one from my youth, I remember loving it, I have to buy it!" Bought it, rushed home, turned off the lights, turned on the TV/entertainment system, and away I went down memory lane. I was so happy my girlfriend was not home yet, as she works retail and the weekends are her late nights. She hates these kinds of movies so I didn't have to worry about fighting with her over watching it either. Nope, a cool sci-fi flick from my youth, and an apartment all to myself, I was in heaven! Of course then I started watching the thing and heaven quickly turned into hell, as per the movie tag line, I think hell was relocated to my living room that evening. What an absolutely horrible movie on so many levels. The script had to written on a bunch of bar napkins after a night of drinking. Nothing the characters say makes sense or means anything, just aimless rambling. I don't remember seeing a movie like this ever, where the words coming from the actors lips has no, or little connection to the plot. Of course the plot is as threadbare as it gets, and as everyone else has said is a direct rip-off of Alien. Other reviewers have covered the "finer" points the plot in detail, thus no sense repeating it here.
The acting, oh boy the acting. The "acting" (and I use that term lightly) is uniformly horrible throughout, even with a few recognizable faces like Erin Moran and Ray Walston. Sid Haig and Robert Englund were not known actors at that time, with the former having a resume of tv show appearances and various odd movie appearances. Englund is damn lucky he got the Freddy Kruger role a few years later, as a thespian he is not! Ray Walston pretty much sleep walks through his role and delivers much of the nonsensical dialog I was talking about. Of course he is also part of the big "surprise" ending, which by the way is incredibly anti-climatic. Erin Moran surprises as being especially bad, obviously she was much better suited to her Happy Days gig. Her ability to emote is laughable. The rest of the "actors" were nobody's and this movie sure didn't help to get them noticed. I don't think a one of them went anywhere after this stinker.
The effects and gore I so fondly remembered are equally bad and cheesy. The movie had a limited budget and it looks that way! I was laughing pretty good at the worm rape scene, which is over pretty quickly, but watching that giant grub worm thrust away into the helpless blond was hysterical. I don't think laughs are what the director was going for, probably shock, disgust, and terror, and maybe back in 1981 it delivered, but now it's comical. The only scene funnier is the very end, where the hero battles with the various creatures and characters seen throughout the movie. Watching this guy flip, tumble, somersault and chop suey his way through that scene also had me busting a gut. It wasn't enough that Corman had to steal from Alien, but I guess the other hot movie franchise at the time, martial arts movies (fueled by the late, great Bruce Lee, RIP) needed to be incorporated too somehow. Mission accomplished Mr. Corman!
I know this review will get blasted, and as so many people do on Amazon when they don't agree with a review (has nothing to do with how well written the review is) will vote it down, but I can't let that stop me from being truthful. I'm sure some of you will say, "Well it was a Roger Corman movie, didn't you know what you were getting yourself into when you bought it?" or "How could you be so harsh with such a sentimental B-movie classic, sacrilege!" Sorry, a bad movie is a bad movie, I don't care how fondly anyone remembers it, or how "classic" the movie is. This thing is perfect fodder for Mystery Science Theater 3000, although I don't believe they ever spoofed it. A shame, it would have been one of the funnier episodes for sure. I'm not a sentimental person, and I would never give something from my youth a pass just because of it's cheesy, sentimental charm, it was bad then, and it's worse now. Unlike Alien, or the Bruce Lee movies, this one has aged horribly. The transfer to DVD is fair, probably the best they could do. The effects are overpowering in volume at times, and the movie is grainy and fuzzy in many scenes, but we're talking about about an almost 30 year old movie, so it's to be expected. However it's not the image or sound quality that makes Galaxy of Terror unwatchable, no, what makes it unwatchable is how freaking bad it is!
A Pity, This Really Has Dated Badly August 27, 2010
A. Jones (Australia)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I once liked this movie back in the 80's and was excited about it finally on DVD, but after seeing it now I'm sorry I purchased it, it has dated something awful.
Don't waste you money. It's bad all the way, in all departments.
 DVD Version is, indeed, widescreen! August 21, 2010
Fred E. Ray (Bakersfield, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Contrary to my earlier comment about this film and its companion Forbidden World being pan and scan in the DVD version, this is not true. Both are widescreen editions and the problem that I was having viewing this was with my DVD player's set-up. Once the viewing mode was switched from "original" to "fit width" I did indeed receive a widescreen image. My apologies to Shout Factory, and I've upped my rating of this fun movie to 4 stars.
Please Pass Me the Cheeze August 20, 2010
Eric Sanberg (Berwyn, IL United States)
Roger Corman was nothing if not an opportunist. In this case he was trying to cash in on the success of Ridley Scott's Alien. Here you have a similar set up, but with a few twists and turns to not call it a total rip-off.
A ship and crew are dispatched to a planet by "The Master" in order to find out what happened to the previous ship and crew. They get to the planet and, in true Alien fashion, start getting picked off one by one. One of the catches here is that the aliens use a person's fears or obsessions to do them in.
The sets are faux H.R. Giger. The costumes are sci-fi military chic and the soundtrack is predominantly synthesizer. This is a veritable epic by Corman's usual production standards. The sets are numerous and quite large. The costuming looks fairly expensive, and there are quite a few special effects, but the whole thing still is kind of cheezy.
On the plus side is the cast. I didn't know most of these actors before this film, but I know them now and it's nifty seeing how their various careers have progressed (or not) since this movie. Sid Haig, Erin Moran, Robert Englund, Edward Albert and Ray Walston are probably the most expensive cast Corman has ever hired. The problem is they don't have much to do. These are some of the worst drawn characters I've ever come across. In Alien, a large portion of the first act is the viewer's introduction to the crew. Here, they get things going pretty much right off the bat and you are supposed to get to know them as things progress, but they're all just a bunch of cardboard cutouts.
This is mildly entertaining if only to see the ensemble cast and to see Corman spend a few bucks. But other than that, if you're not a big fan of the genre, you may want to take a pass.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away.......Corman's Galaxy! August 7, 2010
Stanley Runk (Camp North Pines)
It's about time I finally got to see this film clearly. I used to have a VHS tape of this that I had purchased from a video rental store that had gone under(courtesy of the evil Blockbuster Video). As you can imagine, the quality of this tape left alot to be desired, but at least I got to see that "hard to find" film cult fans had spoken of.
Honestly, I love this movie to death, I really do, and I'm not afraid to admit it. What I love so much about watching low budget Sci-Fi goofiness like this is A). The schlock value is just too much fun to resist, and B). I'm very interested in seeing how a low budget film maker(Corman especially) can stretch a dollar. Ironically, the average Avatar goer will hate this for those very same reasons(schlocky and cheap), but there's so much more to a movie than it's special effects, believe it or not. While there is definitely alot of hokiness and cheapness here, I marvel at just how well it does look considering it was only made for around a million dollars!! Unfortunately most folks don't view it in those terms. Besides, Avatar didn't have a chick raped to death by a giant maggot(and they would just CGI it if it did).
Though totally Sci-Fi in it's imagery and concept, Galaxy Of Horror is indeed a horror film in the way it plays out.
A astronaut rescue team is sent to a distant planet to investigate the fate of a ship on a previous expedition. Once there, our astronauts(a fun cast for B movie lovers) discover the other crew had all been killed, and decide to go exploring. The surface of the planet is similar to the planet in Alien-windy, foggy, dark, and looking like a junkyard. Our team finds a large pyramid, but there's no Dick Clark to be found. Instead, once trapped in the pyramid, each crew members' fears come to life and attack them. These "subconscious fears" all seem to be slimy monsters or tentacles of some sort. None of them are seen for very long, and all look rather cheap(in a fun way), and all try to dispatch the astronauts in fairly gruesome fashion. It's not an all out Fulci gorefest or anything, but Mac and Me it's not. There's an explanation to all this madness, but you're just gonna have to see the movie to find out what it is. It's kinda cool actually.
Now this is the kind of film you should be watching at 3 in the morning with your favorite food on hand(Cornuts and Guinness for me, thank you). It's got everything that Star Wars doesn't-boobs, maggots, gruesome deaths, Ray Walston, bloodsucking tentacles, and crystal throwing stars to name a few.
The DVD comes with a retrospective Making Of... documentary, and this is a highlight of the disc. I highly recommend watching it even if you don't like the film, you may just get a deeper appreciation for it. Like I said before, it's amazing to see how well this film turned out because of the tight schedule and even tighter budget. And Robert Englund's closing anecdote is absolutely hilarious!
Boy am I glad I purchased this one, now I can toss that awful VHS tape.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 22
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