''Starship'', also known as ''Lorca and the Outlaws'', and ''2084'', is a 1984

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by Roger Christian from a screenplay by Christian and Matthew Jacobs, and starring John Tarrant, Deep Roy, Donogh Rees, and

Cassandra Webb ''For the fictional character named Cassandra Webb, see Madame Web.'' Cassandra Webb is an Australian-American actress. She grew up in Sausalito, California and Moree, New South Wales, graduating in Slavic Language and Literature from the Univ ...

. The music for the film was written by Tony Banks of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

Plot

On the remote mining planet Ordessa, the management uses killer military police androids to crack down on workers upset with the terrible conditions. Lorca (John Tarrant) and his mother Abbie ( Donogh Rees) led the human underground resistance movement until Abbie was killed by androids. Now, Lorca and Suzi (

) battle Captain Jowitt (Ralph Cotterill) and the brutal bounty hunter Danny ( Hugh Keays-Byrne), with the help of the friendly android Grid ( Deep Roy).

Cast

*John Tarrant as Lorca * Deep Roy as Grid * Donogh Rees as Abbie *

as Suzi *Ralph Cotterill as Captain Jowitt * Hugh Keays-Byrne as Danny * Joy Smithers as Lena *

Tyler Coppin Tyler Coppin (born 9 November 1956) is an American-Australian actor, playwright, and American dialect coach for actors in film, television and theatre. Personal life and education Coppin is a fourth-generation Californian born in Roseville, Ca ...

as Detective Droid *James Steele as MP Droid * Arky Michael as Dylan *John Rees as Priest

Production and release

''Starship'' was originally released under the title ''Lorca and the Outlaws''; it also had a working title of ''The Outlaws and the Starship Redwing''. It was filmed in New South Wales and Western Australia in Australia, and at Shepperton Studios in the United Kingdom. Its initial theatrical release was in Australia on 14 December 1984. It later premiered in West Germany on 5 July 1985, and was shown at the

Fantasporto Film Festival Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to fantasy/science fiction/ horror-oriented commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental proje ...

in Porto, Portugal in February 1987. Its American theatrical release was on 4 April of that year, and the VHS home video was released later that year.

Reception

M.J. Simpson, a British journalist who specialises in reviewing science fiction films, called ''Lorca and the Outlaws'' a "sub-sub-Star Wars piece of semi-juvenile rubbish which is nothing more than a scrappily assembled mishmash of clichés and lazy film-making." The ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' concurred, calling it "a low-rent, Anglo-Australian rip-off" of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (1977).

Awards and honours

''Starship'' was nominated for an International Fantasy Film Award, in the "Best Film" category, at the Fantasporto film festival in 1987.

Notes

External links

* * *
''Lorca and the Outlaws''
at Badmovies.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Starship (Film) 1984 films Films directed by Roger Christian British science fiction films Australian science fiction films 1980s science fiction films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films