''Star Odyssey'' (Italian: ''Sette uomini d'oro nello spazio'' / ''Seven Gold Men in Space'') is a 1979 Italian film directed by

Alfonso Brescia Alfonso Brescia (6 January 1930 – 6 June 2001) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He began working in film against his father's wishes, and eventually directed his first film '' Revolt of the Praetorians'' in 1964. Brescia worked i ...

. The film is also known as ''Space Odyssey'', ''Metallica'' and ''Captive Planet'' in other video markets.

Plot summary

In the year 2312, a group of aliens auction off insignificant planets and the winner of the auction for Sol 3 (Earth) is evil despot named Kress. He soon flies to "Sol 3" in what is the first contact with beings from another planet for those living there. Kress starts gathering humanoid slaves using his robot army to sell them to his evil counterparts. Defending "Sol 3" against the new owner is the kindly Professor Maury and his ragtag band of human, one of which wears a

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

t-shirt, and robot friends. Maury and his defenders set out to reclaim the planet from Kress and his cyborg army. Their plan is to destroy the metal of the alien ship, called Iridium (or etherium) after discovering its weakness. After being defeated and retreating from the planet, Kress resells the planet at the space auction for a profit.

Production

''Star Odyssey'' is one of the four low-budget Italian

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

movies produced in the wake of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' by Italian director

(under the pseudonym Al Bradley). This is the fourth and final film in

's sci-fi series, with the others being '' Cosmos: War of the Planets'' (a.k.a. ''Year Zero War in Space''), ''Battle of the Stars'' (a.k.a. ''Battle in Interstellar Space''), and '' War of the Robots'' (a.k.a. ''Reactor''). The film re-uses many of the effects and costumes from ''War of the Robots''. "Popular Mechanics" noted the "light-sabers" were cardboard swords painted with fluorescent paint. "Worst Movies Ever Made" found the effects to be laughable and the story confused at best.

Cast

* Yanti Somer as Irene *

Gianni Garko Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935) is a retired Croats of Italy, Croatian-Italian actor. He found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, where he was often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson. He is per ...

as Dirk Laramie *

Malisa Longo Malisa Longo (born Maria Luisa Longo; 13 July 1950) is an Italian actress, model and writer. Life and career Born Maria Luisa Longo in Venice, Italy, she moved to Rome at a young age where she started a career as a model. She entered the Miss ...

as Bridget *

Chris Avram Chris Avram (born Cristea Avram; 31 August 1931 – 10 January 1989) was a Romanian-Italian film actor. Early life and career Avram was born in Bucharest, into a family of active communists (his father being a member of the Romanian Communist Par ...

as Shawn *

Ennio Balbo Ennio Balbo (18 April 1922 – 18 June 1989) was an Italian film, television and voice actor. Biography Born in Naples, Balbo made his debut on stage immediately after the Second World War alongside Paola Borboni and Lamberto Picasso in Lui ...

*Roberto Dell'Acqua as Norman *Aldo Amoroso Pioso *

Nino Castelnuovo Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo (28 October 1936 – 6 September 2021) was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (1964). Castelnu ...

*Gianfranca Dionisi * Pino Ferrara *Aldo Funari * Cesare Gelli *

Claudio Undari Claudio Undari (12 January 1935 – 12 May 2008), known professionally as Robert Hundar, was an Italian film actor and stage actor, best known for his roles of "Bad Guy" in Spaghetti Western and "Poliziottesco" movies. He starred in about 40 movie ...

*Filippo Perrone *

Franco Ressel Franco Ressel (8 February 1925 – 30 April 1985) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1961 and 1985. Selected filmography * ''La cento chilometri'' (1959) – The Gay Race Walker (uncredited) * '' The Assa ...

as Commander Barr *Massimo Righi *

Silvano Tranquilli Silvano Tranquilli (23 August 1925 – 10 May 1997) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Silvano Tranquilli attended theatre lessons at the Sharoff Academy, and started his stage activity with the th ...

*Claudio Zucchet

Reception

"Creature Feature" found the movie to be an example of sci-fi so bad it has to be seen to be believed, giving the movie two out of five stars. "

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

" noted the movie was a dreadful trashpile. Techradar found the movie either insufferable or hilariously bad, depending on your mood.Lambrects, Stephen (2015) 8 Star Wars Rioffs https://www.techradar.com/news/home-cinema/the-8-most-entertaining-star-wars-rip-offs-1310972

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Star Odyssey 1979 films Films directed by Alfonso Brescia Space opera films 1970s Italian-language films Films set in the 24th century Films about robots Italian science fiction films Films scored by Marcello Giombini 1970s Italian films Films about slavery Films about telepathy Films about alien invasions 1979 science fiction films