40 Years Later, An Underrated Sci-Fi Adventure Deserves To Be Remembered For More Than Bad Timing

It’s no secret that Star Wars sparked a lot of imitators. 1978’s Starcrash starred former child preacher Marjoe Gortner and future Baywatch star David Hasselhoff as they navigated a shlocky space thriller. 1984’s The Last Starfighter took the space opera element and folded in an everyday American kid hero. On the small screen, Battlestar Galactica became a franchise that persists to this day.

But while all of these stories were influenced by Star Wars’ sci-fi action and unlikely heroes, only one also referenced the effect that Star Wars had on pop culture itself. Forty years ago today, a rollicking adventure rooted in real-world science did just that, but was kneecapped at the last minute by tragic timing.