Starship Invasions

Plot synopsis:
The plot concerns the black-clad Legion of the Winged Serpent, a rogue group of human-like telepathic aliens led by Captain Rameses (Christopher Lee). The Legion's home planet Alpha in the Orion constellation is about to be destroyed in the imminent supernova of its star, and Rameses is leading a small force of flying saucers to Earth to examine its suitability for their race. Performing several alien abductions, they discover they are descendants of transplanted humans, and thus the Earth is perfect for them. They cover their tracks using a device that causes the abductees to commit suicide after a short time. They plan to take over after using a larger version of the device so that everyone on Earth will kill themselves.
Opposing any attempt to interfere with less-developed planets is the Intergalactic League of Races, a highly-advanced group of bald, big-headed aliens from Zeta Reticuli. The League operates an observation base on Earth in the form of a pyramid hidden beneath the ocean. Rameses lands at the base, pretending to be a friendly researcher, and the League reminds him that under the Galactic Treaty he is to have no contact with humans. While taking a tour of the base, he is disturbed to see a television broadcast featuring human UFO expert and astronomer Professor Allan Duncan (Robert Vaughn) discussing Rameses' abductions. He laughs it off and indulges in the local entertainment.
Rameses' crew sabotages one of the League's three saucers, which is later shot down when approaching a US Army base. The League sends its remaining ships to investigate, and Rameses and his crew kill everyone left in the base. One of the League saucers manages to return to the base but its crew is killed in a shootout. Rameses' ship fights the remaining League ship, but loses the battle and is destroyed. Rameses then calls in his fleet, hiding behind the Moon, to hunt down the surviving League ship. Rameses also deploys the "extermination device," the orbiting, global-scale version of the suicide device. The US armed forces discover it in orbit, but are powerless to prevent the ensuing suicide epidemic.
The surviving League ship has suffered minor computer damage, and contacts Duncan for assistance. He enlists the help of his friend Malcolm (Henry Ramer), a computer expert, who repairs the ship using parts picked up in downtown Toronto. They are discovered shortly after taking off and are intercepted by one of Rameses' ships, but they shoot it down and it crashes into First Canadian Place. Duncan and Malcolm's "abduction" makes the front page of the Toronto Star. After repairs and refueling, they leave Earth in an attempt to enlist the help of other League ships. Malcolm's improvised repairs burn out shortly past the Moon, so Duncan's knowledge of the masses of the planets is put to use by Malcolm's pocket calculator to plot their course to the outer solar system.
The ship successfully reaches a League squadron, and they set out to attack the Legion. Rameses uses the computer in the League base to calculate superior strategies and begins to destroy the League ships. One of the robots in the base is only damaged, not destroyed, and re-takes command. He causes the extermination unit to destroy itself, and then directs Rameses' ships to collide with each other. His fleet destroyed, the super-weapon eliminated, the League pleads with Rameses to surrender. When Rameses discovers his sun has gone supernova during the battle, he crashes his ship into the Moon.
During the action the extermination unit had passed over Toronto, causing Duncan's wife (Helen Shaver) to slash her wrists. The League races to Duncan's home and easily revives her.

Tags: good versus evil, cult, violence

Review:
I have to agree with the people who say this movie's bad, but disagree with the ones who say it isn't so bad it's good.
In this movie a guy uses a 70s style pocket calculator to compute flightpaths for a flying saucer.
For god's sake DON'T MAKE THEM ANGRY!!" And the robots who look like trash cans...And the sadistic kid who squashes the tomato...Believe it or not I remember seeing this thing 29 years ago when it came out.
it's got goofy flying saucers, lots and lots of cheesecake, christopher lee losing every scrap of his dignity, tons of mind-controlled people acting really zombified and stupid, space battles that look like they were lifted straight out of "mars attacks!", possibly the most ridiculous costumes of all time, and the real coup de grace -- one actually extraordinarily talented actress (Helen Shaver, the wife of the UFO researcher guy) caught in the middle of it all, trying valiantly to salvage this whole mess.
For years I had hoped to run across this film again as I find that certain images of the flying saucers have stuck in my imagination throughout my adult life.
Actual recollections of storyline are nil as it seemed to be crude in its storytelling but my impression is that for whatever reason I believe this to be an important film in terms of its longterm effect on the impressionable minds (like mine at the time) who watched it on its release.
Robert Vaughn who so memorably appeared in other low budget films (notably Teenage Caveman, a Corman classic), adds to the overall impression that here was something to be enjoyed throughout ones life.
Mixing UFO nonsense with ludicrous 'Star Wars' mythology and some demented ideas, I will never forget sitting in a cinema full of teens and pre-teens, and watching in horror as the main actress has her mind controlled, and she proceeds to slash her wrists!
In another version i thought I read CHRISTOPHER LEE says his lines.
STARSHIP INVASIONS came out as a "b" movie yet garnered a cult following on tv.
It also was one of those post star wars films that capitalized off ufo myths tied in with ancient astronaughts like HANGAR 18.
HI,Practically every thing in the movie was taken from UFO encounters of some sort reported through the previous years.Whether it was the type of uniform, the insignia, the concept of guardians, the type and location (somewhat) of the base, etc.
you get the idea, was made to resemble UFO contact reported information.For me the most catching part of the movie was when one of the robots said "I think I can." when responding to a request for assistance from a guardian vessel under attack.It came out shortly after one of the star wars movies and was labeled in the press as a "star wars" ripoff wannabe..
Some trivia: Parts of Starship Invasions was filmed on the campus of the University of Toronto, in particular some of the UFO scenes were shot on the grounds of the then-new Robarts Library, facing the also very new Innis College (where Marshall McLuhan was teaching) In this film, Robert Vaughn basically plays the part of Dr. Ernie Seaquist, dean of Astrophysics at the U of T, and who, at that time, had pinned to the cork board outside his office a double page spread from the National Enquirer with an article quoting Prof.
One interesting thing to note, reading the plot summary offered at IMDb, I've seen some of the same elements in UFO abduction lore & accounts.
I'd like to see some talented writer/director do for modern abduction accounts what Spielberg did in Close Encounters with Project Bluebook reports.
A rich vein for creative exploration and sadly this little low budget film is about as close as it gets at the moment..
"Starship Invasions" is an incredibly slow and underacted sci-fi film from Canada.
While it stars Robert Vaughn and Christopher Lee, the rest of the cast are mostly unknowns.
This is because although the film is supposed to be a life or death tale about the invasion of the Earth, it's all so low energy and the acting is just too subdued....to the point where you start to wonder if it's a sci-fi zombie film!So is there anything I really liked about this film?
Well, there isn't much but I did like the makeup job on the huge-domed aliens-- they looked quite good considering the low budget.
Christopher Lee as a RamaTut Alien, bad F/X saucers, stuff right outta those goofy 'The Outer Space Connection/Chariots of the Gods' '70s UFO crap flix, etc.
The film, STARSHIP INVASIONS drew inspirations off of the wave of space warfare films coming out at that time.
The film tells the tale of a ufo menace to earth that is combated by friendly aliens who ask humans for help.
The special effects at times were creative and others dreadful yet the film is worth viewing.
I if you are into UFO lore you will like this film.
When a cast member said that line in the film, my buddy stood up and shouted "Why did WE come?" which had the whole theater doubled over with laughter.
The only redeeming factors for this film were the sexy female aliens in skimpy costumes and the unintentional laughs.
If you intend to watch this movie, gather some like-minded friends and prepare them for making snippy comments about it.
He gets beamed aboard and the next thing he knows he's sitting in what looks like Danish dentist's waiting room.
Cut to a shot of the farmer breaking into a frightening, toothless grinI remember thinking " If this is an invasion sign me up!"Well, the rest of the movie wasn't quite so interesting.I have no problem with the low budget.
Without giving away spoilers the film had some thought behind it.But everything about this movie is S-O L-O-W K-E-Y.
The music is laid back and elevator style and nobody ever raises their voice, which is pretty uncommon for a movie about invading something.Instead of feeling excited, and revved up, like I'd expect to feel while watching a movie called Starship Invasions, I felt kind of relaxed, even soothed.
A Sci-Fi Flick So Bad, I Didn't Want To See "Star Wars".
At the time, my parents and I had very little in common in terms of taste in movies -- I was a "Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang" and "Love Bug" kind of guy; they were into Woody Allen and French Cinema.But when it came to this movie, for once, we agreed: It sucked.It left such a sour taste that a couple of months later, they had to drag my brother and me literally kicking and screaming to the movie theater to see something called "Star Wars."I gave it an extra star because Christopher Lee..
And I remember when I finally saw it on a Sunday afternoon broadcast how it looked like it was shot in a suburb of the state capitol, and wondering why it was so poorly shot, and why the music and everything else looked so poor.This film looks like it was thrown together at the last minute, and I think it's a safe bet that it was designed to compete with Star Wars, which, judging by the poor quality of this production, they expected to be another "Plan 9 from Outer Space".
Well, "Star Wars" was much more than anything 1950s had to offer, and this movie all but vanished into the ether.But it's like a man wonders who approves these films, and how they get made.
Zooms, hand held shots (before shaky cam became a thing), reliance on either natural lighting with 1970s film stock, and primitive tilts with medium shots, just bespeak of a movie that was thrown together at the last minute.What's worse is that there are fans who like this garbage.
With the likes of 2001, Star Trek, Star Wars, the Planet of the Apes movies, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone TV series and everything else, ...
it's like even the schlocky 1950's science fiction movies were better than this thing, and it makes one wonder how people who like good scifi come to like this movie and other junk like it.
And indeed it was revisited in the likes of "The Last Starfighter" and one or two other films that had a cast, crew and budget that actually cared about the material.
But B-movies like this thing just show how much some studio exec has control over what used to get shot and what doesn't.I have to admit, I've often wondered whatever happened with this film, and now I have my answer.
Apart from his stint among the ensemble of AIRPORT '77, 1977 was truly Annus Horribilis for Christopher Lee: his three genre efforts were easily among the worst exploitation outings of their vintage that I have come across!
For the film under review, I sure hope that he did not accept it without even bothering to read the script – in the vain hope of matching the enormous success enjoyed by his frequent colleague Peter Cushing with the same year's STAR WARS (for the record, he would himself eventually join that most auspicious franchise – albeit with a quarter century's delay)!
In fact, here we have two sets of aliens, one which is evil and intent on destroying our planet (shades of Lee's own END OF THE WORLD, one of his afore-mentioned contemporaneous duds) and the other benign and seeking to thwart their plan (though, yet again, they still need to kidnap humans in order to have THEIR computer system fixed – WTF?!).
Indeed, its unintentionally hilarious moments are perhaps too many to catalogue or remember even at a mere day's juncture, but I will try regardless: a dim-witted, middle-aged farmer is abducted and conditioned to engage in sexual intercourse with a voluptuous alien (which he cannot quite believe is happening to him!); the costume of the invaders looks like a full-body black condom (which Christopher Lee looks understandably miserable inhabiting – what is more, all the actors playing extraterrestrials have had to loop their lines in post-production, since the writer-producer-director apparently thought it cool to allow them to only voice their thoughts!); equally incomprehensible is the redundant presence of what can only be described as space escorts forever waiting in the wings – maybe they should have called the film STAR WHORES?!; a couple of inept intergalactic goons realize too late that their protective force-field was not switched on, so that they are blown to bits by the typically impulsive and paranoid U.S. military; hero Robert Vaughn (displaying a fixed baffled countenance throughout) is supposed to be an expert on UFOs, yet when one flies over his car he does not immediately notice it and has to be alerted to its presence by his kid daughter and, on realizing that he missed the all-important sighting, he just shrugs and keeps on driving; to recruit his computer whiz pal to the aliens' cause, he visits him one evening at home, yet this guy is still wearing his coat and tie as if they were his casual attire; the world's end comes by way of a suicide epidemic (not in itself a bad idea, but would it not just take too long to achieve?) triggered by a laser beam fired from way out in space; Vaughn's wife, depressed over his absence from home (she had already voiced her concern about how he was being unfaithful to her with UFOs!), goes from peeling onions for dinner to slashing her wrists in a split second; though supposedly emanating from outside our atmosphere, the spaceships are inexplicably seen emerging from the sea several times; Lee does very little here except press random buttons off a keyboard and aimlessly fiddle with knobs to feign his authority, check his wristwatch every now and again to God knows what ostensibly vital purpose, and operate the occasional flimsy ray gun (also worn on his wrist), etc.
I definitely shared his enthusiasm, because I truly worship cinematic B-trash like this, and my only regret was that I wasn't yet drunk enough when I watched "Starship Invasions".
Although a low-keyed crossover between the hugely successful "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", this piece of junk has quite a lot to offer.
For example, it stars Christopher Lee in the most ridiculous and embarrassing outfit of his long and respectable career, hypnotizing aliens speaking without moving their lips, alien base camps underneath sea level, loads of sexy space wenches, authentic R2D2 robots (oh no, they're not men in suits AT ALL) and goofy intelligent beings with gigantic bald heads and miniature ears.
There are alien invaders trying to overtake planet earth, but at the same time these crazy beings are at war with other extraterrestrial species.
Presumably the big bald aliens are here to protect us humans from the nefarious Christopher Lee and his posse.
Okay, "Starship Invasions" comes across as cheesy and campy, but admittedly it's also dark and sinister at times, especially when it turns out that the evil aliens are able to make earthlings commit ritual suicide through their telekinetic powers.
Once you're done laughing with Vaughn's nihilistic facial expressions and Lee's stoic voiceovers the film does become very boring, though.
The special effects are astonishingly decent for a low- budget Canadian exploitation flick like this.
With a slightly more coherent script and competent direction, and maybe also with less urge to imitate other and more successful Sci-Fi titles, I'm convinced that "Starship Invasions" could have been a better movie.
Mainly because two big named actors Robert Vaughn and Christopher Lee agreed to act in a film with FX, set direction, and costumes that look like they were slapped together at a church picnic.Really!
The plot: Vaughn is a renowned scientist and family man who's having his reputation damaged by speaking out publicly about UFOs. Apparently, Big Brother knows about the aliens and Earth and wants to keep the matter quiet.Like all media the term UFO doesn't mean "Unidentified Flying Object" such a insects, reflections of light, or lens' glare.
However, evil alien Christopher Lee heads a coup of their bases.
Lee's evil alien race used up all their planet's resourced and now wants to enslave/destroy humanity.The surviving peaceful aliens reach out to Vaughn by literally landing on his front yard.
What the heck was used to blackmail Vaughn and Lee into being in this movie.I'd have to think once they saw the set which looks like a children's playhouse they would be kicking a screaming to get out of there!
Like so many of Vaughn's films, possibly intriguing for pre-teens.
I saw this movie at the theater when it was released -- in 1977 -- when I was in fifth grade.
I then saw the movie about 20 years later and wondered if I had taken any drugs that Saturday afternoon so long ago.
Whether you believe in Ancient Astronauts or not, Starship Invasions will mostly likely fulfill all your expectations of what it would be like to have Canadian Aliens building subaquatic bases and terrorizing dumb farmers.
This dreadful attempt to catch the extraordinary wave of sf enthusiasm splashed up by Star Wars (a phenomenon that is hard to imagine today, if only because everyone now seems to love science fiction movies) lacks even the so-bad-it's-good charm of Plan 9 or Robot Monster.
painfully amateurish, and the dialog really, actually, sounds like the actors were asked to make it up as they went along (and did a painfully amateurish job of it).This is the kind of film that begs for lampooning in a review, but I'm sort of hoping not enough people have, or will have, seen it to make it worth the effort.
There is nothing you could possibly do to further waste your time than devote another millisecond to anything connected with this movie, including reading more of this review.
Other flying saucers were obviously just thrown like a frisbee and filmed that way as 'cool flying sfx.'All I can figure is that they were TRYING to be hokey.
Aliens, who have established a base on Earth, welcome a race of saucer-flying folks lead by Christopher Lee. Lee starts an invasion of Earth by taking over the alien base and getting humans to commit suicide, one by one.
The good aliens must call on the talents of human Robert Vaughn (Man From UNCLE, Helsinki Formula) to help them defeat Lee and his minions in a deep-space battle royale.
Oh yeah, all the aliens speak by telepathy (lots of voice-over work in this film).
This movie is rife with cheesy elements, from the alien garb (dragon logos that look like they came off the side of a Chevy van) to the crucial plot points (Why do the aliens need Vaughn's knowledge of the planets' weight?
Although bad, it's a lot of fun to watch.
Crap acting, plot, costumes, set designs, dialogue, character motivation, music, you name it, it sucks.Christopher Lee is the worst.
You get: Scantily clad alien ladies with their buttcheeks hanging out (whoo-hoo!), Christopher Lee in a ridiculous big hat and leotards (buh-ha ha ha!- poor guy), "mod" "futuristic" space decor, funky electro-swill jazz music soundtrack (that you may be inclined to dance to while watching this- yes, I danced!), the lowest of low-budget laser beam special effects, Robert Vaughn trying to be overly serious wearing a turtleneck, big bald obviously fake-looking alien heads, a space ray that causes earthlings to commit suicide, inflatable pillow-like flying saucers, dialogue spoken with the mouths shut, and oh-so-much more!
The aliens come to take our planet, need our "seed" to do it, and use a transmitting device that turns humans into wanton killing machines.
The hero tries to fly a saucer, and disable the device before we wipe ourselves out, thereby doing the aliens job for them.The movie was way over the top for a kid's mind.