Released the same year as Star Wars , Alfonso Brescia’s (internationally known as Cosmos: War of the Planets ) offers a fascinating, albeit low-budget, glimpse into the Italian "Spaghetti Sci-Fi" boom of the late 1970s . While George Lucas was revolutionizing special effects, Brescia was working in the trenches of Italian genre cinema, delivering a film that is now celebrated—and often roasted—as a cult classic of the "so bad it's good" variety. A Galactic Misadventure
The film follows Captain Hamilton (played by ) and his multicultural crew aboard the MK-31. After Earth receives a mysterious deep-space signal, the crew is dispatched to an unstable planet where they encounter a race of green-skinned aliens enslaved by a megalomaniacal computer. Key elements that define the experience include: Anno zero - guerra nello spazio(1977)
: The ultimate antagonist is a giant, stationary robot that looks remarkably like a 1950s jukebox, which has enslaved the local humanoid population. Production & Cult Status Released the same year as Star Wars ,
Director Alfonso Brescia (often using the pseudonym ) was a master of efficiency. Anno Zero was the first of five space operas he directed between 1977 and 1980, frequently reusing the same sets and cast to save costs. After Earth receives a mysterious deep-space signal, the