The filmmakers were highly reluctant to allow John Barry to see the film, in case he decided to quit the project.

David Hasselhoff got food poisoning during shooting. A production assistant in a mask had to fill in for a significant number of scenes. Hasselhoff also did most of his own stunts. On his first day of stunt work, he accidentally knocked out an Italian stuntman's tooth.

New World Pictures producer Roger Corman picked up the film to see if a market existed for a low budget space opera. This influenced his decision to go ahead with Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).

Christopher Plummer was paid $10,000 per day.

Nat Wachsberger asked Luigi Cozzi to make a space opera like Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Cozzi had never seen the film, but he had the novelization of the film in his library. He read it, and began working on his own version.

Early promotional photos of the spaceship Murray Leinster were printed upside down. As a result, the spaceship was also drawn upside down on the original theatrical one sheet poster.

Most of Christopher Plummer's scenes as the Emperor of the Galaxy were shot in a single day.

While David Hasselhoff's bout of on-set food poisoning is well documented, less known is Caroline Munro's close shave with gastric distress, which she revealed in an interview with Fantasm magazine in 1993. "In one scene, I needed the bathroom so bad I thought 'It's a good job I'm wearing a plastic suit over my bikini. If you know what I mean!'"

Only Marjoe Gortner, David Hasselhoff, Christopher Plummer, and Joe Spinell have their own voices in the English-dubbed version. Everyone else was dubbed by different people. The post-production budget was very tight, and flying Caroline Munro and Judd Hamilton in to do their own voices was too expensive.

The character Akton was originally devised as a grotesque alien, but Marjoe Gortner refused to wear any heavy make-up.

Luigi Cozzi was a huge fan of Ray Harryhausen and wanted the film to be "Sinbad goes to space". Caroline Munro played Marigana in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), and Harryhausen did the special visual effects.

A dinosaur sequence was filmed, but deleted.

The martial arts fight between Marjoe Gortner and Robert Tessier was improvised on the spot.

In the U.S. version, Caroline Munro's voice was dubbed by Candy Clark, who was married to Marjoe Gortner at the time.

Caroline Munro was writer/director Luigi Cozzi's first and only choice to play Stella Star.

Caroline Munro was originally going to wear a skimpy leather bikini outfit through the entire film, but American studio executives insisted that writer/director Luigi Cozzi have Munro wear less provocative clothing in the second half because they thought the film would have problems being broadcast on network television.

The working title was "The Adventures of Stella Star".

In 1980, Caroline Munro appeared on the cover of the science fiction fantasy magazine "Starburst" opposite Mark Hamill and Kirk Douglas. She was interviewed about this film, her other roles in other films, her childhood, and her modeling career. The magazine came with a bonus poster of her posing for the camera.

The spaceship in the opening sequence bears the name Murray Leinster, after the Science Fiction writer and special effect pioneer of the same name.

Caroline Munro did most of her own stunts.

Ennio Morricone was first offered the opportunity to compose the film's score, which he turned down.

On September 14, 2010, Shout! Factory released the film on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time.

Lucas Gunn designed Lieutenant Derpola's pterodactyl outfit using monkey teeth from the San Francisco zoo and his father's 1965 leather garter belts.

Joe Spinell also worked as a dialogue director on the set. He dubbed his own voice using a different accent to hide his distinctive New York accent.

The American trailer for this movie was the last theatrical trailer Joe Dante edited for New World Pictures.

Luigi Cozzi conceived this film as "Sinbad on Mars".

American International intended to release the film prior to its sale to Filmways. New World Pictures acquired it later.

Caroline Munro and Joe Spinell would later work together again in the horror films Maniac (1980) and The Last Horror Film (1982).

This film was riffed on Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Return (season 1, episode 6, 2017).

The film grossed $478,000 at the American Box Office.

Caroline Munro came onto this film after she completed filming her scenes in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). In that film, Naomi, her character, is a helicopter pilot. In Starcrash (1978), Stella Star is a space pilot.

John Barry composed the soundtrack of the earlier James Bond films. Caroline Munro starred as Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Director Cozzi used a less Italian name, Lewis Coates, for the American release

In the opening sequence on the Leinster, the loudspeaker can be heard asking for "Major Bradbury " to come to the bridge, likely a reference to sci-if author Ray Bradbury.

Ernie Anderson narrated the radio spots and TV spot for the American theatrical release.

One of Eli Roth's favorite movies.

Caroline Munro stated in an interview that her mother was originally going to name her Stella Star.

Caroline Munro grew her fingernails long for the movie.

Although the film was released on DVD in Australia, as of 2018 the film hasn't been released on DVD in New Zealand.