Starchaser: the Legend of Orin [VHS]

Being a child in the mid eighties was fabulous if you loved cartoons, whether toy-based or not. I especially remember films like this one, which were neither toy-based nor from Disney (other examples are 'Time Masters' and 'A Flight of Dragons').

It's your straightforward story: young boy (Orin) starts as slave then rises up to save the universe... meets girl, meets mercenary, meets robo-girl (SO many Star Wars rips, but if you're gonna rip, do it right!), meets nasty megalomaniac bad guy who gets a great comeuppance. Plus the essential 'metaphysical' power Orin has to master. It's just LOADS OF FUN!

People were trying new things in this period and apparently this was in 3D with those funny specs. However, I saw this on video in England and I never knew about the 3D stuff; I just enjoyed it because it was a great cartoon, lots of action (bit nasty sometimes so PG certificate was justified), and the first cartoon I'd seen with swearing other than 'Watership Down'!! (for some reason this was very important to me at the time!)

Get it, Enjoy it. Not life-changing, just really good nostalgic fun from when people were trying new things out with animation...

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin has the honour of being the first film I ever went to see at the cinema and has held a particular place in my heart ever since. 1985 is a pretty long time ago in my book so my memory of the film before buying it was pretty patchy, though I did recall it being both fun and loaded with swearing; the second of these is probably the memory playing its usual tricks as the DVD doesn't contain anywhere near the amount I remember.

There's no denying that Starchaser is a bit of a Star Wars rip-off, the whole thing being a mix of camp robots, evil tyrants, young heroes with funky swords and space mercenaries piloting ships that sound eerily similar to the Millennium Falcon. Whilst this might seem to make a good basis for any film, I found it difficult when watching Starchaser to see it as anything other than a Star Wars on the cheap. It could be argued that this isn't necessarily a bad thing; the plot differs sufficiently to help it stand on its own whilst at the same time retaining enough references from SW to give it a familiar, comfortable feeling. I guess in the end the choice is up to the individual viewer.

The animation is of pretty average quality, but for a film over 20 years old this is more than excusable. The sound effects are well-chosen and the dialogue good if not exceptional, though there are the odd adult jokes thrown in here and there that seem a little out of place in a kids' film. It seems that the makers wanted to cast their nets pretty wide and made a film that they thought would appeal to both younger and more mature audiences. On the whole I think they succeeded, but I also think that someone older would get more out of it than someone younger.

Overall, this is a solid and entertaining diversion and a good alternative to some of the tat that kids are subjected to these days. Every part of the film is good, if not great, and it is worth looking up if you're a fan of the genre - the fact that it looks and sounds like a certain George Lucas epic may well get you hooked completely or leave you a little cold.

Very much a product of it's time, and similar in plot/character to Star Wars with a displaced hero, a roguish smuggler, haughty princess, etc, this film also stands up on its own merits with nice pacing and unpatronising dialogue.

The quality of the animation is strangely patchy, but it actually suits the storyline and action well and is mostly good quality anyway. I saw this twice in 3D in the 80s and its a shame you cant get it as a 3D DVD, as it is probably the best 3D film ever made. The animators made an effort to give a nice depth of field for the 3D, but the also makes this 2D vid far better for it.

There are a few quirks in the animation (and some of the framing is rather creative) but its all gravy(!).