Stometer
Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Dorathen
Better Late Then Never
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
JLRVancouver
A princess releases eight magic seeds into space to find heroes to help her people in their resistance against the silver-skinned hordes of the Gavanas Empire. The seeds recruit a motley team including a retired soldier, three hot-dogging space racers and their buddy, a robot, the rightful imperial heir, and the princess' sidekick. Can the reluctant heroes free the enslaved Jillucians, can they protect Earth from the evil Emperor, can they survive the onslaught of the powerful Imperial space-carrier, and will love and honour prevail? Unfortunately, for the answers to these questions, you'll have to watch the film, which is an awful mélange of "Star Wars" (the basic plot and some set pieces such as the attack on the reactor), kid's tokusatsu like "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" (the Emperor and his silver-skinned henchman), and 1960's Italian science fiction (much of the music and fashion, especially in the dance scene). The music ranges from knockoffs of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western themes to bad '60s instrumental pop to 'as close as you can get without being sued' derivatives of the iconic "Star Wars" (1977) score. Other than old pros Sonny Chiba and Vic Morrow, the acting is amateur and the (dubbed) script makes little sense (and is full of scientific errors). It's a tribute to Morrow's professionalism that he could deliver his fatuous lines with a straight face, especially when playing straight man to a sensitive robot. The special effects are weak (even Showa-era kaiju films had better miniature work) and generally unimaginative (an exception being Imperial fighters), and the story inconsistent, incoherent, and not particularly interesting. I enjoy most Japanese kaiju and tokusatsu (even the goofy TV series such as "Ambassador Magma" (1966) and "Super Giant" (1964)), but I found "Message from Space" a challenge to get through. Definitely for hard core fans of the genre (or of 'camp') only.
Sam Panico
At nearly half the budget of Star Wars - $6 to $7 million dollars - Message from Space was the most expensive movie in Japanese history up until 1980. At the time, it was routinely panned by the critics. Yet watching it nearly 40 years later, I was struck by just how ambitious, fun and strange it is.
Jillucia was once a planet of peace, but that was before the Gavanas Empire turned it into one of their military bases. Kido, one of the planet's leaders, sends eight Liabe seeds into space to find soldiers strong enough to liberate the planet from the steel grip - and faces - of the Gavanas. Princess Emeralida (Etsuko Shiomi, Sister Street Fighter) and Urocco follow them into space in a space galleon.
We meet some space racers - Shiro (Hiroyuki Sanada, Shingen from The Wolverine) and Aaron - and a spoiled rich kid named Meia who are chasing one another through some asteroids. These guys mess up the Kessel Run and wreck, but then find some Laibe seeds in their ships.
General Garuda (the name means phoenix and the role is played by Vic Morrow, who graced the screen in films like 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Humanoids from the Deep before dying while making Twilight Zone: The Movie) is a drinking man, embittered by the loss of Beba-1, his robot. He orders that a rocket send the body of his faithful companion into space, which gets him in trouble with his superiors, who see it as a waste. This leads him to retire and take up a bar stool on Milazeria, where he also finds a Liabe seed.
In that very same bar, Jack puts the pressure on Shiro and Aaron to repay their debts, as he himself owes the gangster Big Sam (no relation to Jabba) plenty of dough. Oh - he also finds a seed. To get the cash, they agree to take Meia to a forbidden zone where she can watch fireflies. On the way, the Gavanas attack, destroying the space galleon and a police ship.
All of our heroes battle, but when the seeds - and Garuda, who is sleeping off his drinking - reveal themselves, Emeralida explains that the seeds have chosen them to liberate her planet. Garuda responds by leaving in a huff, but Beba-2 promises to get him to change his mind. There's supposedly a Chris Isaak cameo as a gambler in the bar scenes, way before he became famous.
Aleksandar Sarkic
Everyone knows Message From Space as a Japanese response to Star Wars but i must say there are not to much similarities, of course this movie is total cheese, but if you love spacey movies from the end of 70's and want to laugh hard this movie is for you. I was surprised to see that this movie is directed by legendary Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku who is more known for his Yakuza and gangster movies, in my opinion he is to this days one of the best Japanese directors. Believe it or not this was the most expensive movie in history of Japanese cinema in that time, now everything looks so funny, from costumes, special effects but there is something in that, some nostalgia. How not to love evil aliens with corpse paint in samurai outfit, or hippy music from the 60's in the bar, i found some similarities wtih other Fukasaku's movie "Street Mobster", that shaky camera, and many fighting and punching scenes, this is so funny, and yes i am founding this movie to be very surreal or feeling like you are on LSD, total madness. In my opinion better to watch this than "Battle Beyond Stars" it is more fun, imagine and action. i Gave it 6/10.
Maciste_Brother
I saw this film at the movies. Yes, a Japanese film that had a wide release back in 1978. How times have changed. It's something which doesn't happen anymore.Is this an all 'round successful film? Not really. I'd say 40% is really pure schlock. While the remaining 60% is non-stop explosions and goofiness which I enjoyed back in the day and still today.Pros :the idea of magical walnuts was coolThe main villain looks really greatsome of the space fights / dog chases, in the asteroid belt and inside the villain's inner sanctum were amazingly edited and were later seen in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI. Oh the irony.the sail-ship in space is fine by megreat sword fight at the endThe fantasy / sci-fi elements actually work herethe tight pants on the two male heroes. Aha the 1970s!It was shot in VistaVision!Cons :the mother in the wheelchairthe retro 1960s dance and pop music ; outdated even in 1978the script is all over the placeat times, the film's overall grubby look the overactingToday's audiences wouldn't understand this style of filmmaking but I get it and I enjoy it for what it was / is.
