From the director who watched “Star Wars” two years earlier
Made in 1979 this is an Italian made movie staring, believe it or not Barbara Bach (Lady Agatha) and Richard Kiel (Golob). Although the director freely admits that it is a rip off of Star Wars, and you can see its influences, everything from the Darth Vader helmets to the Luke Skywalker Landspeeder, it’s more reminiscent of old time science fiction serials.
The story: The evil Lord Graal attempts to overthrow his brother who is the ruler of planet Metropolis. To do this he enlists the help of genius yet insane Dr. Kraspin who has created a chemical that will change the cell structure of ordinary people turning them into mindless indestructible soldiers. The experiment is used on a pilot named Golob tuning him into the perfect soldier with superhuman strength. The people of Metropolis must somehow find a way to defeat Lord Graal before it’s too late.
Richard Kiel (Jaws from 007) is wonderfully campy as Golob and you will melt for his sidekick robot dog. I wasn’t crazy about TomTom but he had a major part so...
The special effects are cheezy. The dialogue is cheezy. The acting is cheezy. It’s fun. It’s campy. If you like old time serials or are a fan of Sci Fi movies from the 50’s era you will love this one. It will bring out the kid in you. And I defy you to keep from laughing out loud! It’s Saturday afternoon at the movies again.