Galaxina (1980)

"Galaxina" is a crappy low-budget sci-fi film...no way around that. Its only real standout feature is the movie's robot, Galaxina, which is played by the gorgeous and ill-fated Dorothy Stratten. If you don't recall, Stratten was the Playboy centerfold who was inexplicably murdered by her deranged husband...and it was brought to the big screen by the film "Star 80". Well, apart from a few TV appearances and movies, this is one of the only chances you'll find to see Stratten as an actress--though often the film gives her practically nothing to do as through more than half of the film she is mute. And, surprisingly, Stratten keeps her clothes on during the entire film!!Galaxina is a sexy robot aboard an intergalactic police vessel. She was not programmed to talk and shocks crew members who try to have their way with her! Why they would put this tempting thing aboard the ship, I have no idea. However when the crew is placed in suspended animation for 27 years, she decides to reprogram herself so that she can enjoy carnal pleasures with Sgt. Thor (Stephen Macht). Naturally, the Sergeant is VERY pleased with the reprogramming, but their love must wait as they land at their destination--a planet which is like the old west and "Star Wars" AND "Star Trek" combined! Is any of this worth seeing? No. The film is comedy and looks as if it was written by some 3rd graders. Some examples of this is naming the leader of the expedition 'Captain Butt' (Avery Schreiber), cursing and the copious bad jokes--none of which even approaches being funny or entertaining. If you're hoping to enjoy the film on a pornographic level, it's also a disappointment. Stratten is lovely to look at but has nothing in particular to do and the film is amazingly chaste. As for the sci-fi elements, the movie is a failure as it looks as if they project cost about $483.99 to make--with really awful makeup and effects. In particular, the orange planet not only looks bad but is horrible on your eyes. Overall, it's a horrible and incredibly stupid film with little, if anything, to provide interest.By the way, the look of horror on my wife's face as she watched this crap was priceless!!

Regarding my thoughts on "Galaxina", I can only concur with what my good pal BA_Harrison wrote. That poor, poor Dorothy Stratten! She became a lust object and Playmate of the Year at the tender age of 19, but what did she have to show for it? Two lousy movies and an affair with a sleazy director 20 years older than herself! Only one sole and turbulent year of success, between August 1979 and August 1980, tragically cost her life since she was barbarically murdered by her former husband/manager Paul Snider. This pathetic and otherwise completely forgettable little flick exploits her luscious female curves and cleverly camouflages her limited acting skills, since Stratten stars as a cyborg in a tight golden latex outfit. The film itself is a dire and non-humorous spoof of Sci-Fi milestones such as "Star Trek", "Alien", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and primarily of course "Star Wars". Writer/director William Sachs previously made "The Incredible Melting Man", which was supposed to be dead serious and petrifying but provoked hysterical laughter instead. With "Galaxina" he actually tries to be funny, but fails miserably. The plot is inexistent, the dialogs are dull and the gags are embarrassingly inept (and badly timed atop). Avery Schreiber does what he can to provide the film with a light-headed and cheerful atmosphere, but the script is just hopeless. "Galaxina" got released around the same time as Stratten's murder, and undoubtedly would have been long forgotten if she hadn't passed away. Imagine her poor parents' grief!

Poor old Dorothy Stratten: not only was her life tragically cut short when her homicidal husband took it upon himself to unload a shotgun into her face, but of the few titles on her filmography, crappy comedy/sci-fi Galaxina will forever be the one she will be best remembered for.In this excruciatingly bad pulp sci-fi spoof, inspired by the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek, Stratten plays Galaxina, a robot aboard police space cruiser Infinity who falls in love with Sgt. Thor (Stephen Macht), a member of the crew. Writer/director William Sachs has the potential for a really interesting movie, but is more intent on delivering puerile gags and trashy action than exploring the complexities of his central human/machine relationship.In addition to the embarrassingly bad comedy (some gags repeated ad nauseum), the pacing of the film is absolutely dreadful, the acting is lousy and the special effects are terrible, with naff spaceship designs and thoroughly unconvincing rubber alien creatures. Thankfully, Stratten's hotness helps to ease the pain somewhat, the gorgeous Penthouse Playmate looking absolutely stunning in her tight outfits, but not even her magnificent form can prevent this from being a disastrous dud.

The major attraction of this film is Dorothy Stratten. The famous murdered Playmate appears as sexy robot Galaxina (dressed throughout in a skin tight space suit) who serves aboard a galactic police ship with a small crew of incompetents and burnouts. To be honest, without Stratten, without the tragedy of her death at age 20 just as her career was gaining momentum, there would be little point in wasting 90 minutes with this misbegotten crew.The crew are introduced in a series of clumsy comic vignettes pitched at about the level of the old Hudson Brothers TV show. After about a half hour assorted bungling about, they get a new mission: find the Blue Star (uhh-ahh!), with pretty Galaxina leading the hunt on a planet filled with degenerates and other comic relief. Abysmally crude as sci-fi, weakly written and obvious as comedy and a poor action vehicle, this film nevertheless has developed a cult appeal beyond the sum of its parts. Recommended as a potential guilty pleasure.