Message from Space.

Review #1215: Message from Space.

Cast: 
Vic Morrow (General Garuda), Sonny Chiba (Hans), Philip Casnoff (Aaron), Peggy Lee Brennan (Meia), Etsuko Shihomi (Emeralida), Tetsuro Tamba (Noguchi), Mikio Narita (Rockseia XII), Makoto Satō (Urocco), Hiroyuki Sanada (Shiro), and Isamu Shimizu (Robot Beba-2) Directed by Kinji Fukasaku.

Review: 
Undeniably, Star Wars (1977) looms over this film, much in the same way that one sees with other "inspirations", like Starcrash (1978) or Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), only this time with an attempt at making some spectacle, having a budget of over $5 million (roughly half of the amount from Star Wars) while having a big blend of castmates and ideas, some of which that go well and some of which that go ridiculously. It has something for everybody, or more specifically it has all of the things someone can use to pick it apart, such as magic walnuts, ridiculous young leads, semi-passable effects, metal-skinned villains and their mom and so on. I should expect no less from a film with four writers (Hiro Matusda for the screenplay, and a listing of Kinji Fukasaku, Shotaro Ishinomori, and Masahiro Noda for the story), a grand total of eight producers, and seven special effects members. This was made and distributed by Toei Company (with American distribution by United Artists in the fall).

This is a mess of a movie, but it sure is perfect to make light of with the execution of its story and effects. The highlights are seeing Morrow and Chiba, seemingly in it for the money (which seems really obvious for the former) but at least interesting to be around when they try to sell this material. Casnoff and Sanada, playing a hotshot spacerider duo, do not fare as well. They come off as too silly to be the kind of character to become heroes; one amusing sequence involves the characters recieving their magic walnuts after throwing them out earlier (while getting bad dreams that make them feel bad) - which takes a bit of time for one of them, who pouts for a moment. Brennan is cheery but pretty forgettable. No one really stands out too much, mostly because of the goofiness that the film shows in full, such as when some of the characters go out in space without helmets. It does seem like an ambitious film at least, clearly looking at the current big thing and making a big effort to make something weird and epic. It may need to be hold enough for me to really give this a positive note, but at least it made an effort. No sci-fi movie is complete unless you have a big goofy villain, and this one is no different, with a big silver faced, big horned weirdo like this. I especially like how he is guided by his mother Empress, played by an actor in drag of all things. Narita tries his best with this material, no doubt wondering how long he'll have to put up with such oddness. At 105 minutes, it might prove just fine for people looking for something a bit familiar with their space stuff but with a bunch of weird flair packed into things, where scenes involving playing chicken with space ships can roll right along with others about a robot being chosen alongside the other walnuts seed things. Whatever is your fancy, this film may have the weird thing for you.

May the 4th be with you.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.