Space opera is a sci-fi genre usually featuring expansive worlds, epic battles, and larger-than-life characters.The stories tend to be grand in scale, like high fantasy, with archetypal themes, exotic planets, and alien species, as well as romance and adventure. The defining example isStar Wars.George Lucas’s success with this formula spawned countless imitators. Some of them are good, most are okay, and a few are egregiously awful.
With this in mind, this list looks at the very worst space operas out there.They suffer from bloated narratives, underdeveloped characters, and/or lackluster special effects.These missteps can turn an exciting sci-fi journey into an uninspired slog through the cosmos. From disappointing blockbusters to low-budget disasters, they all promised space-faring entertainment but delivered galactic letdowns.
10’Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' (2019)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
“They don’t know what they’ve started.” While not as egregious as the other films on this list thanks to its massive budget and star power,The Rise of Skywalkerstill deserves a mention due tohow disappointing it was. The conclusion of the sequel trilogy attempts to tie up decades of storytelling but falters under the weight of its ambitions. It’s crammed with frenetic action and fan service, butits lack of cohesion and poorly explained plot twists left audiences divided.
The return of Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is particularly jarring, with minimal buildup or justification, undermining the stakes of the previous films. Overall,The Rise of Skywalkerwants to be everything to everyone—an homage to the past, a crowd-pleasing blockbuster, and a fitting conclusion to the Skywalker saga—but ends up being a Frankenstein’s monster of ill-fitting parts. Few films so badly squander their franchise’s potential, and no amount of nostalgia can paper over this fact.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
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9’Space Mutiny' (1988)
Directed by David Winters and Neal Sundstrom
“We’ve got to stop the mutiny before it’s too late!”Space Mutinyis a low-budget disaster that has gained cult status for its unintentional hilarity. Set aboard a massive space colony, the film follows Dave Ryder (Reb Brown), a no-nonsense pilot who must stop a mutiny led by the villainous Kalgan (John Phillip Law). The plot is riddled with clichés, and the laughably bad special effects—including the use of stolen footage fromBattlestar Galactica—make it difficult to take seriously.
There are continuity errors galore, including a notable scene where a character dies only to be seen alive again minutes later. Then there’s the shoddy editing, the obvious sets in what appears to be an abandoned factory, and, of course, the cheap costuming, including extras in embarrassing spandex outfits. For all these reasons,Space Mutinylent itself to a terrific episode of the satirical movie review showMystery Science Theater 3000, where the hosts ripped it to shreds.
Space Mutiny
8’Heavy Metal 2000' (2000)
Directed by Michael Coldewey and Michel Lemire
“I’ll destroy everything you’ve ever loved.” A sequel to the 1981 cult classicHeavy Metal,Heavy Metal 2000follows Julie (voiced byJulie Strain), a warrior seeking revenge on Tyler (Michael Ironside), a miner corrupted by an ancient artifact that grants him immortality. While the originalHeavy Metalwas celebrated for its creativity and unique anthology format, the sequel opts for a more straightforward narrative, sacrificing the original’s charm for a bland revenge story.
The movie’s niche intended audience may get a kick out of it, butmost viewers will be left scratching their headsat the gratuitous violence and weird sexual imagery. The humor is also crude and lame, utterly devoid of wit. Even more bizarrely,Heavy Metal 2000bears little resemblance to the magazine on which it’s supposed to be based. Even the songs, which should be the highlight, are underwhelming this time around, despite their heaviness.
Heavy Metal 2000
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7’Space Raiders' (1983)
Directed by Howard R. Cohen
“This is my ship now, and we make the rules!”Space Raidersrevolves around a boy named Peter (David Mendenhall) who is accidentally taken aboard a spaceship piloted by a group of mercenaries. While the crew initially plans to ransom him, they form a bond and decide to protect him from the forces pursuing them. It’s a decent if unoriginal premise, brought down by derivative storytelling and cheap production values.
Indeed,Space Raidersbrazenly recycles footage from schlock masterRoger Corman’sBattle Beyond the Stars(he served as producer here). It very much tries to ride the coattails ofStar Wars(it came out a month beforeReturn of the Jedi), repackaging familiar sci-fi tropes and visuals for a younger audience.Star Wars-esque space battles, ship designs, and even the alien cantina are all cobbled together in service of a story that never quite takes off. Plus, many reviewers took issue with the protagonist’s performance.
Space Raiders
6’Wing Commander' (1999)
Directed by Chris Roberts
“Protect the galaxy at all costs!” Based onthe popular video game series,Wing Commanderfollows a group of young pilots tasked with defending humanity from an alien race known as the Kilrathi. The main characters are Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Todd “Maniac” Marshall (Matthew Lillard), who navigate dangerous space battles and internal tensions within their team.
While the source material had the potential for a decent space adventure, the film’s clunky dialogue, mediocre performances, and dated special effects derail the experience. It feels more like a generic B-movie despite the $25m budget.The practical effects and creature design are especially lame, serving up aliens that look like people in bad Halloween costumes. Freddie Prinze Jr. later admitted that the film was a stinker, saying that the script was completely changed at the last minute. “I can’t standWing Commander. I can’t watch one scene of that movie,” hesaid.
Wing Commander
Blair, a fighter pilot, joins an interstellar war to fight the evil Kilrathi who are trying to destroy the universe.
5’Battlefield Earth' (2000)
Directed by Roger Christian
“Man is an endangered species.” Widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, thisL. Ron Hubbardadaptation takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth is controlled by an alien race called the Psychlos. The story focuses on Jonnie Goodboy Tyler (Barry Pepper) as he leads a rebellion against their overlords, including the towering Terl (John Travolta, who also co-produced).
Travolta chews some serious scenery here(and torches much of the goodwill he had generated withPulp Fiction). His bad performance is amplified by the garish lighting and bizarre cinematography, big on weird, tilted camera angles. The shoddy special effects and overuse of slow motion are also striking.Battlefield Earthjustgets worse and worseas it rolls along, ultimately coming across like the work of an inept theater troupe with access to a multi-million dollar budget. Consequently, it was quickly canonized as one of the worst movies of all time.
Battlefield Earth
4’Galaxina' (1980)
Directed by William Sachs
“She’s the perfect woman—if only she weren’t a robot.”Galaxinais a parody of space operas centering on the crew of the starshipInfinityas they embark on a mission to retrieve the mysterious Blue Star. The titular character (Dorothy Stratten), is a robot who begins to develop human emotions during the journey. While the film aims to spoof popular sci-fi tropes, its humor is inconsistent, and its pacing drags, making it a slog despite its brief runtime.
The finished product is a haphazard collection of lazy gags and half-baked references, more interested in gesturing toward its inspirations than doing anything clever or subversive with them. It jabs at everything fromStar TrektoAlienin a way that seems basic and obvious, as if it was written by high schoolers. For example, there’s a scene with a character coughing up a baby alien, and another where the characters visit an intergalactic brothel. It’s all rather juvenile.
3’Princess of Mars' (2009)
Directed by Mark Atkins
“Welcome to Barsoom, a world of war.”Princess of Marsis a low-budget adaptation ofEdgar Rice Burroughs’s classic novel, which also inspired the more polishedJohn Carter. In this one, (Antonio Sabato Jr.) is John Carter, a soldier mysteriously transported to Mars, where he becomes embroiled in a conflict between alien races. The novel is bursting with creative ideas, butthis direct-to-video movie is bland to the core.
The problems are myriad here. The acting is laughable, the dialogue is ham-fisted, and the aesthetic is derivative. The microbudget is visible in the sparse sets and shaky CGI, which would have been for 2009 and is obviously atrocious by today’s standards. There is also little to no chemistry between Sabato Jr. and the titular princess, played byTraci Lords. Evidently aware of the film’s lack of quality, the producers tried to associate it withJames Cameron’sAvatarin the promotional materials, even going so far as to release it in Japan under the titleAvatar of Mars.
Princess of Mars
2’Turks in Space' (2006)
Directed by Kartal Tibet
“Saving the galaxy, one mishap at a time.”Turks in Spaceis a Turkish sci-fi comedy that follows the intergalactic misadventures of a dysfunctional family as they attempt to save their planet from an alien threat. The star is martial artist and performerCüneyt Arkın, a screen legend in Turkey. Here, he seems utterly disinterested, totally phoning in his performance. Perhaps he sensed that he had a flop on his hands.
The other elements of the movie are even worse, fromMehmet Ali Erbil’s grating supporting performance to the unfunny jokes. Most good sci-fi comedies display an affection for the genre, butTurks in Spaceseems to have disdain for science fiction, the viewer, and itself. Not for nothing, the critics who bothered to watch it eviscerated it, and it currently holds an abysmal 1.5 out of 10 on IMDb.It’s a total waste of time.
1’Star Quest: The Odyssey' (2009)
Directed by Jon Bonnell
“We’re light-years from home, but we can’t outrun our past.” Beating outTurks in Spacefor the title of worst space opera ever isStar Quest: The Odyssey, which sounds like a parody but sadly is not. It’s about the crew of a spaceship stranded in deep space as they grapple with internal conflicts and dwindling resources. But instead of a gripping tale of survival, it delivers a tedious journey to nowhere.
The execution is stunningly inept, from nonsensical world-building to the flimsy production design (there are cyborgs wearing plastic shin guards, for instance). The cast is limited, and none of them turns in a decent performance. The script gives them little to work with, as there’s essentially no plot here. For all these reasons,Star Questis actively unpleasant and genuinely difficult to sit through. It holds no ‘so bad it’s good’ ironic entertainment value. Really, it’s just best avoided.
