Derek Meddings and crew outdid themselves. Considering the real space shuttle had not flown yet in 1979, the launch sequences are still impressive. (Like Thunderbirds on steroids.) I didn’t mind Jaws returning, but making him suddenly become a “good” guy is a bit of a stretch. His lady love unfortunately looks like the Swiss Miss Instant Cocoa gal. Drax was a great villain though. (I think Austin Powers cribbed from this as much as the Connery films.) I’m surprised nobody has done a fanedit to dial back the goofiness.

I have to chuckle that the U.S. would have a platoon of space marines handy they could quickly launch, (what were they training for, alien invasion?) and a real shuttle launch from Vandenberg gets you into a polar orbit, which probably isn’t in the neighborhood of Drax’s space station.

And if Drax wasn’t evil enough, he somehow captured the Jupiter 2 from Lost in Space! (Lower right corner.)