Star Child

I know that hordes of people have disparaged Space Raiders for its ceaseless borrowing of material from Battle Beyond the Stars (e.g., space-battle scenes, music clips, etc.). Maybe it's because I haven't seen that other film, but ever since I first saw Space Raiders in May 1990, it has stayed in my consciousness to this very day. After 14 years, I played the old video again yesterday, and still this movie moves me deeply. To those who base their criticism on technical effects, I quote what George Lucas once said, "Special effects without a story is a pretty boring thing." And that's precisely what we have in Space Raiders, first and foremost-a STORY! Not just a tale, but a highly original one. The premise is even radical, for a Hollywood movie. (I'll get to the premise in a moment.)

Trying to escape an escalating shooting match, Peter Tracton (David Mendenhall) boards a space shuttle, only to find a group of pirates in the process of stealing it. The 10-year-old is whisked to the pirates' space hideaway, where he meets Zariatin (Ray Stewart), the grotesque ruler of the renegade space station. When C.W. "Hawk" (Vince Edwards) tries to return Peter to Procyon III, Zariatin has the boy recaptured for ransom, as the lad's parents are members of a wealthy interplanetary "corporation." The guerilla station under attack from the "corporation," Hawk and the boy escape in their vessel, and at last, Hawk drops the boy off at his home planet.

A simple story, and yet, a transforming one. Everybody in this movie is either evil (Zariatin), weary (Hawk), petulant (Amanda), indifferent (Janeris), or just world corrupted in one way or another-except the boy. It is this 10-year-old who slowly brings out the better elements of those closest to him. Having killed Ace-and Zariatin's lackeys Amanda and Flightplan-Zariatin asks an approaching Hawk, "Why are you all so willing to die for him?" That sums up the premise of this film. With straight, shoulder-long hair; soft, clear skin; a high-pitched voice; and a pint-sized body, Peter symbolizes tenderness, femininity, innocence, and defenselessness-elements which everybody in this film lost eons ago. This is what Hawk's crew tries to protect, four dying in the process. Furthermore, for all those spaceships that tried to destroy the corporation's mammoth robot ship, all perished to dust. Only Peter manages to "blow that thing out of the galaxy." The premise: Surrounded by darkness, even corrupt, trained guerillas are capable of responding with humanity to that which is good, and only the most intractable of individuals (Zariatin) will not be moved by love and innocence. What is so radical about this movie vis-à-vis the standard Hollywood variety is that so many "bad" individuals perished trying to protect Peter. Furthermore, as one reviewer stated here, what a memory that boy must have had of this man, who died trying to keep his promise to return him home. Maybe it's just me, but I have NEVER seen a movie about adults who take kids this seriously. In the typical Hollywood film, adults who break promises give the kid a hundred different excuses-a tradition from which this film breaks away.

The end of the film is the saddest of Hollywood moments, and I'm not joking. With everyone dead (e.g., Zariatin's station blown away, his fighters destroyed, Hawk's crew gone, etc.), Hawk must part with the boy because to remain on Peter's "corporation" dominated planet would have meant his death. Throughout the film, there's an apocalyptic air to everything-highlighted by the exceptional score-but the ending takes this feeling to the edge of despair. The engulfing loneliness during those last few seconds of film have stayed with me all these years. If a movie can move the viewer in this manner, then it is a damn-good film.

Space Raiders (also called Star Child) may have borrowed the technical pyrotechniques from another film (Battle Beyond the Stars, which Howard Cohen also directed), but Hollywood movies are expensive to make-something 90% of viewers seem to forget. If the only option is to borrow some footage from another film (that the same director made) or to have no movie at all, borrowing then becomes the lesser of two evils. I would rather have that than not to have ever seen this kind of story on film.

For those who insist on criticizing, I recommend trying to make a B-film yourself.

If you have ever read one of the fairy tales of Oscar Wilde, then you already know that there is something special about them, a poignancy and purpose that raises them above even the works of Anderson or the Brothers Grimm. My favorite line in this one is when the Woodcutter tells his wife, "Into a house where a heart is hard cometh there not always a bitter wind?" Certainly that theme is explored in the story, and even if the twists and turns are foreseeable, they are still meaningful. This Claymation adaptation by Will Vinton does a nice job of dealing with the formal, almost stilted language of Wilde's original story. If you enjoy "The Star Child," then be sure to check out Wilde's other stories in this vein in his collections "A House of Pomegranates" and "The Happy Prince."