Battle Beyond the Stars is the subject of this Sunday’s “monsterdon” viewing over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

• Just start watching that movie this Sunday, Jan 12, 2025 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT, which is 2am Monday UTC
• and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
• I usually open two web browser windows on a laptop side-by-side. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching it on TV or something…

How to watch:

• youtube (upscaled): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD0tIQMwtmk
• archive: https://archive.org/details/battle-beyond-the-stars-1980
• someone usually streams it on https://miru.miyaku.media/ at that time so maybe check there
• if you want to pay or watch ads, look here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/battle-beyond-the-stars

it was intended as a futuristic “Magnificent Seven (itself a western version of Seven Samurai) in outer space”,[13] … The film was theatrically released by Corman’s New World Pictures and was a moderate box office success, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.

…

Battle Beyond the Stars received mixed reviews from critics due to its similar space opera styling, capitalizing upon the success of Star Wars. Cameron’s special effects were praised as being impressive, considering the film’s low budget, and helped to open the door for his future success.

In Creature Feature, John Stanley gave the movie three and a half stars, recommending the film for its fun script, special effects and its spirit of fun.[35] Filmink called it one of George Peppard’s “best ever films” in which his performance was “warm, funny, touching… this sort of performance was why Peppard remained employed, for all his issues.”[36]

Christopher John reviewed Battle Beyond the Stars in Ares Magazine #5:

There is a lot to be pointed up in this picture. There is the fact that every different technology shows different lines of development. Every ship and the way it is operated is distinctly unique.[37]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Beyond_the_Stars

Also see previous discussion of this film in this community!