The Star Wars parody. "A thrilling space saga of romance, rebellion, and household appliances!"* "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll kiss three bucks goodbye!"*
Year: 1977
Runtime: 13 min.
Director: Ernie Fosselius
Cast:
Frank Robertson: 4-Q-2
Scott Mathews: Fluke Starbucker
Jeff Hale: Augie "Ben" Doggie
Cindy Furgatch: Princess Anne Droid
Bob Knickerbocker: Ham Salad
Paul Frees: Narrator
Sonny Buddy Jr.: Voices
Ernie Fosselius: Lecturer
Walt Kraemer: Voices
Presented as a trailer for a coming attraction, Hardware Wars follows the adventures of Fluke Starbucker and friends, who rescue the beautiful Princess Anne Droid from the clutches of the completely unintelligible naughty person, Darph Nader, who has destroyed her home world of Basketball. Our heros roam the galaxy battling evil and all manner of household appliances. It was made popular when, in 1978, HBO ran it as part of a series of short films between feature presentations. The film was shot in 16 millimeter and features hilariously crude special effects and some really excellent performances by the actors, whose spoofs of the main Star Wars characters are dead on. The movie has received much praise and even George Lucas has called it his favorite Star Wars parody. A special edition was released in 1997 four months after the release of the Star Wars special edition, but this was done without the involvement of the director, Ernie Fosselius.
As an interesting side note, director Fosselius actually worked on Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi as a music arranger. He also worked on another Star Wars parody, Mel Brooks's Spaceballs as a sound effects editor, and his other work includes films such as Ed Wood (sound effects) and The Unbearable Lightness of Being(composer).
Most of these facts were borrowed from the Internet Movie Database.* Quotes from the movie.