10 Blatant Star Wars Rip-Offs to Watch on May 3 to Appreciate May the Fourth More

You can watch all these movies on Prime Video.

10. The Shape of Things to Come (1979)

The Earth is uninhabitable and now, humanity lives on the Moon under domes. Things aren’t looking too bad until a madman known as the “robot master” declares he’ll destroy the remains of the civilization — and what do you know? Only three people and a robot can stop him and prevent the tragedy! Sounds familiar?

9. Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)

Spacehunter doesn’t directly borrow from Star Wars — except for its characters and locations, of course. In this movie, three women get stranded on an Earth-like planet, but there’s an issue: the planet is effectively ruled over by a mutant warlord, and now two bounty hunters race to save the women from his clutches before it’s too late.

8. The Humanoid (1979)

Planet Metropolis is ruled by a good-natured man. This would have been the end of it if the ruler’s evil brother didn’t decide that all that positivity just wouldn’t do — and didn’t embark on a quest to mutate an army of supersoldiers to take over. The Humanoid takes all its aesthetics directly from Star Wars, but forgets a good story.

7. Space Raiders (1983)

Wouldn’t you know it, a motley crew of space pirates and other ne'er-do-wells accidentally kidnapped a 10-year-old boy! Yes, they are running from an evil warlord if that’s what you’re asking. There’s something Space Raiders exceeds in: its visuals exactly mirror those in Star Wars, and its creature design is arguably even better.

6. Star Odyssey (1979)

With all fairness, Star Odyssey tries to step away from Star Wars somewhat. The movie’s premise is that aliens auction off insignificant planets — and when this fate falls upon the Earth, the locals aren’t happy. The evil space warlord (yeap) who looks, sounds, and acts suspiciously like Darth Vader will have some fighting to do.

5. Message from Space (1978)

To anyone wondering why this movie is called so, Message from Space gives the answer right away: an evil empire is coming for a small planet, and its inhabitants send an SOS signal into the open space. Some good-natured folks answer the call and come just in time to try and prevent a tragedy. Oh, those evil space empires…

4. The Black Hole (1979)

Back in the good old days when Disney still hadn't purchased the rights to Star Wars, it really wanted to make its own. Thus, The Black Hole was made: a bizarre rip-off with great visuals for the time and enough curse words to earn Disney its first PG rating — but ultimately, a little too blatantly copycat-ish and trippy. You’ll love it.

3. Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

We’ll be real with you here: Battle Beyond the Stars copies nearly everything from Star Wars, from characters and setting to story and pacing. However, it was quite successful — and what’s more important, launched James Cameron ’s career. The movie looks sensational because it was made by the man who’d later make Avatar.

2. The Last Starfighter (1984)

It’s movies like The Last Starfighter that prove: you can rip off legendary stories and still come up with something new. While the film follows its own Luke, it features an interesting premise of a boy being recruited into space forces after beating a video game that turns out to have been just a test — and it looks really good, too.

1. Starcrash (1979)

The good old Emperor of the Galaxy needs some serious rescuing: he wants his son back and his evil enemy left without his all-powerful weapon. Just as George Lucas proved to the world, there’s no one better fit for such a quest than an outlaw smuggler — but ultimately, it’s the lightsabers that make Starcrash a blatant rip-off.