Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

• Directed and Produced by Steven Hahn
• November 22, 1985 (US)

Voice Cast

• Orin-Joe Colligan
• Dagg Dibrimi-Carmen “Jacob Carter” Argenziano
• Lord Zygon-Anthony De Longis
• Elan, Aviana-Noelle North
• Silica-Tyke Caravelli
• Arthur, Man-Droid #1, Smuggler #1-Les Tremayne
• Kallie-Daryl Bartley
• Aunt Bella, Fortune Teller-Tina Romanus
• Mizzo, Man-Droid #2, Smuggler #2-Thomas H. Watkins
• Mine-Master, Man-Droid #3, Tactical Robots-Mickey Morton
• Z’Gork, Raymo-John Moschitta, Jr.
• Magreb, Major Tagani-Ken Sansom
• Star Fly-Mona Marshall
• Elan’s grandfather-Herb Vigran

After finding a legendary sword, a slave sets out to free his people.

Ever wonder how a movie passes you by? Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is one such movie for me. Arriving in 1985, I was not only in the right age group for the this, but I was clearly in the sweet spot to want to see something like this. Yet until recently was unaware it existed. This movie is part Saturday morning adventure cartoon and part Star Wars with a little bit of King Arthur added because the narrative involves a magic sword.

As a story it touches on religion as the slaves are kept in place by religious doctrine. They dig to feed their god whom the believe keeps them alive and they are forbidden from digging upwards (which would eventually lead to freedom if they kept doing just that) by religious doctrine. Fear by some and zealotry by others keeps their society in place. We even have the implication of heavy taxation leading to a criminal underbelly for the common citizen to survive once the hero reaches the outside world. Religious indoctrination, authoritarian governments, and destiny. All this in a space opera environment.

If there is any message within this, it is that the power for change is within you. And that’s not exactly uncommon in 80s Saturday morning television where this draws much of its inspiration from. The mystical sword hilt that Orin discovers in the mines with an invisible blade is a metaphor for Orin being the one with the power to change things. It’s not the sword that grants him that power but his own will instead. Some serious stuff for an animated film.

Our hero of the story Orin goes through two girlfriends in relatively rapid succession in this movie. That really is weird and takes away a possible driving force for the character. He starts out in love with a fellow slave named Elan who gets killed when they are escaping before falling in love with (or rather she with him at first) Aviana who is the daughter of a planet’s governor. That whole thing comes out of left field. There’s absolutely nothing to connect the two. The most exposure she has had to the guy was on a planet that bought and sold slaves yet she’s professing her love to him. Stalker!

In the story Orin is one more in a long line of galactic saviors who this time is fighting against a machine intelligence bent on conquest-again! For the past millennia or so it’s been working to conquer intelligent beings by planting its machine allies throughout the galaxy and building its numbers. Insidious! Do I detect hints of Terminator with that machine bit?

Starchaser draws much from the well of Star Wars. Then again, this came in the wake of Star Wars and Star Wars was quite the game changer so copying anything from that is almost expected. It does feel a bit like a rip-off because of so much that is clearly similar.

Obviously Orin having been a slave he could not save the day without help. Despite the Saturday adventure style and space opera elements, it would stretch believability for him to cross the galaxy all on his own. Enter Dagg Dibrimi who is a slightly less reputable version of Han Solo. Orin is even a bit like Luke Skywalker. He has better hair though. The ship’s intelligence of Arthur is a bit of a scene stealer. Built into Dagg’s ship he is a little haughty but loyal and true to his owner. Think the personality of C-3PO with the loyalty of R2-D2.

Lord Zygon is the main villain with a grand plan. He is a massive threat something like this needs. There are no shades of gray where he MIGHT be right. He is clearly in the wrong. I miss baddies like that. Just a hairs breadth away from twirling a moustache.

I found stuff here very reminiscent of later works like Independence Day or Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. There is a dogfight in a canyon reminiscent of the Will Smith scene in ID4. And like Maul in Phantom Menace our villain gets cut in half and falls in a pit. I’m not knocking it in either instance. I am left believing this is one of those niche things that is known by only a select few and those few used the stuff they liked elsewhere.

One of the major strikes against Starchaser is that it gives very few of its elements time to breathe. It just tosses one thing after another at you. It’s fast paced and kinetic once it starts. The quickly moving plot is not bad but even if a plot quickly moves it needs to give things a moment. This doesn’t do that often enough.

I can certainly see some people today not being necessarily happy with the administrative robot Silica. She starts out as a bit of a nag when they accidentally kidnap her. That’s not too bad. The real sin comes when they turn her into a man worshiping robot by altering her personality circuits in her butt. After that she is a bit vapid.

The only other major issue I have with this is that is the ending. The film should have ended with Orin freeing his people and overthrowing Zygon. Instead, it included what amounted to an addendum that reveals these light things that were following him around were actually his predecessors. Not that you really do not figure that out before hand and then they offer to take them away with them. It just felt so much like an afterthought.

The character and environment designs are imaginative and have a strong visual association with the Saturday morning cartoons of the late 70s and early 80s. That for me was a good time in animation so I consider that a plus. Despite certain elements of the story you could still watch this with your kids or by yourself. It’s mature without being too mature.

It is an exhilarating adventure yarn with some substance to it. You have an epic quest and massive battles and imaginative environments. It’s a fun roller coaster ride. We have a hero who overcomes impossible odds to save the day and free his people.

I’m surprised Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is not better known than it is. It has all the right elements to be a cult classic. While I’m not sure if it’s streaming anywhere, you can find various copies on YouTube but however you watch it I suggest that you do. It is certainly worth your time and you will not be disappointed.