Battle Beyond The Sun / Star Pilot

In the early 1960s producer Roger Corman acquired the rights to two Russian science fiction space operas, Planeta Berg and Nebo Zowitt. While populated by dull, unattractive people the films featured special visual effects that rivaled those of Hollywood's top studios. The trick for Corman was how to exploit the Russian films and pawn them off on the American public. He handed the footage off to several of his staff and gave them an opportunity to develop the footage into (hopefully) passable "Americanized" movies.

The films, Queen of Blood, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, Battle Beyond the Sun and Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women were the starting points of several important careers, launching the cinematic beginnings of no less than Peter Bogdanovich, Curtis Harrington and, in the case of Battle Beyond the Sun, Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather).

Corman insisted that Coppola work some monsters into the film to boost sales and the fledgling director created (in an oven) two creatures that more than vaguely resembled human genitalia. They do, in fact, "get it on", sorta.

A startling SECOND BONUS feature, Star Pilot, features space terror Italian style with former muscle stars Gordon Mitchell and Kirk Morris in tight spandex outfits. We warned you.