Space Wars (film)

Space Wars (retroactively titled Space Wars: Chapter V – A New Frontier) is a 2027 American adult animated space opera comedy web film written and directed by Brandon Greene and produced by Frederator Studios. It stars Jack Quaid, Zachary Quinto, Jerry O'Connell, Liliana Mumy, Coto Galloway, Ron Perlman, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Greg Baldwin, Rick Moranis, Jeremy Shada, Alyson Stoner, David Tennant and Dee Bradley Baker. It is the first installment of the original Space Wars Quadrilogy, the first of the franchise to be produced, and the fifth chapter of the "Starrider saga".

The film's setting and characters is primarily a parody of the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as other sci-fi franchises, tv shows, and popular films including Star Trek, Spaceballs, Treasure Planet, Final Space, and Bravest Warriors.

Space Wars focuses on the journey of Gary Starrider (Quaid), who along with the wizened Astro-Knight Master Orion Kosmic (Baldwin), astronaut Rex Korso (O'Connell), his Sehlat companion Karal (Baker), and a Lupian bounty hunter Apollo (Galloway), attempts to free Princess Gwen (Mumy) from the clutches of the tyrannical Galactic Empire. At the same time, the heroes try to deliver the plans for the Empire's planet-destroying space station, the Death Ball, which are carried by the robots R.O.V.E.R. (Baker) and H.U.E. (Tennant), to the Spacefleet Rebellion Enterprise, but face opposition from the Smith Lord Dark Slader (Richardson) and his bounty hunter Necro (Perlman).

After a turbulent production, Space Wars began streaming on YouTube TV on May 25, 1977, and quickly became opened to critical acclaim, most notably for its groundbreaking visual effects.

The film has been reissued multiple times with Greene's support—most significantly with its 20th-anniversary "reuploaded version"—incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks and added scenes. The film's success led to three sequels, Space Trek (2029), The Wrath of the Empire (2031) and Return of the Astro-Knight (2032), and later to a quadrilogy trilogy, a sequel quadrilogy, and two anthology.