8

I am trying to identify a Sci-Fi movie from the 80s. Amongst the 'good guys', there are three identical aliens with a form of telepathy that allows them to synchronise their body movements. They have humanoid bodies, and glow white. They agree to an arm transplant and so an arm is surgically removed from one of the aliens. The arm is then sent as a gift to the bad guy, who transplants the arm as a sort of trophy. Once the arm is attached, or during the surgery, the trio of aliens try to control the arm (using telepathy from elsewhere in the galaxy) in an attempt to cut the bad guy's throat with his newly transplanted arm.

New contributor
Pedro is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct.
3
  • Hi, welcome to SF&F. Where did you see this? Was it in a theatre or on TV? What language was it in?
    – DavidW
    Commented 11 hours ago
  • This sounds extremely familiar.
    – jo1storm
    Commented 11 hours ago
  • You can accept a correct answer by clicking on the checkmark by the voting buttons, as per the tour.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented 11 hours ago

1 Answer 1

7

This is likely Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) produced by Roger Corman, borrowing from my answer at Searching for title of 1980s sci-fi movie that reminded me of Star Wars

The farming world Akir is threatened by the tyrannical warlord Sador (John Saxon), who rules the sinister Malmori Empire and, his body parts deteriorating, is capturing and appropriating them from others. Sador's huge dreadnought, the Hammerhead, mounts a "Stellar Converter", a weapon that turns planets into small stars. He demands that the peaceful Akira submit to him when he returns in "seven risings of your red giant", or he will turn his Stellar Converter on their planet. Zed (Jeff Corey), last of the famous Akira Corsairs, is old and nearly blind. He suggests they hire mercenaries to protect their world. Since Akir lacks valuable resources, its people can offer only food and shelter in payment. Unable to go in person, Zed offers his ship for the job if they can find a pilot. The ship is fast and well-armed, but, despite its AI navigation/tactical computer Nell, cannot defeat Sador alone. Shad (Richard Thomas), a young man who has piloted the ship and is well known to Nell, volunteers for the recruiting mission.

....

Later, Shad meets a set of five alien clones who share a group consciousness named Nestor. They admit their life is incredibly dull, since their whole race shares one mind. In order to be entertained, they have sent five members to join Shad's cause. Nestor does not require payment, saying they are completely self-sufficient....

I see Nestor's interrogation scene around an hour and a third into the film on the copy I found online. One of the Nestors specifically says "that facet has ended" after the glowing chainsaw is lowered to harvest his arm, although they then attempt control of the transplanted arm to kill Sador.

Trailer

Found on a list of 11 Movies and TV Shows That Tried to Be Star Wars

4
  • If so, it will be a dupe of scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/169275/…
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented 11 hours ago
  • I'm still trying to understand the concept of dupes. @fuzzyboots the post you linked is about a computer self destruct malfunction, and this question is about mind control. How is the question a dupe?
    – ArlettaS
    Commented 9 hours ago
  • @ArlettaS: Longstanding policy is that if two story-identification questions share the same accepted answer, one is to be closed as a dupe of the other. There are exceptions, such as different media (we don't close Deltora Quest books as dupes of the anime) or where the only questions/answers apply to specific episodes (although general wisdom has been that we find a way to create an over-arching Q/A).
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented 9 hours ago
  • Every year or two, we debate it again, but so far, that policy has stood. Note that it's specifically for story-identification since other questions might address the same topic (say Star Wars lightsabers), but story-id is considered to have the same answer if one person is asking about a film with a dark-helmeted man who turns out to tbe the father of the blonde protagonist and another is looking for the film where there's a golden robot and one named "R-too" who stole some secret plans.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented 9 hours ago

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.