10 Sci-Fi Movie Rip-Offs You Won't Believe Exist

10. Star Odyssey

The success of Star Wars: A New Hope of course spawned a glut of low-budget cash-ins, perhaps the most infamous of which is 1979's Star Odyssey, an hilariously naff Italian rip-off directed by Alfonso Brescia.

Within three years of A New Hope's release, Brescia had directed five sci-fi films in a similar vein, with Star Odyssey - the fourth in his "series" - being the most obviously indebted to George Lucas' groundbreaking blockbuster.

Where to even begin? Just look at it: the heroes have lightsabers, while the droids look just like C-3PO and R2-D2.

From top to bottom this thing is the textbook example of a thrown-together cash-grab. The sets, costumes, and makeup all look hilariously horrid, with the lightsabers actually being cardboard swords painted fluorescent colours.

Despite occasionally achieving a compelling level of off-kilter weirdness - such as two of the droids being suicidal - and boasting hilariously bad English dubbing, its attempt to make easy cash off the back of Lucas' hard work evidently didn't pan out, as Star Odyssey quickly evaporated into the cultural ether.