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Message From Space

Vic Morrow (Actor), Sonny Chiba (Actor), Kinji Fukasaku (Director) Rated:
PG
Format: DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars 190 ratings
IMDb4.9/10.0
Additional DVD options Edition Discs
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April 16, 2013 		—
1
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— $55.99
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Message From Space — —
Genre Science Fiction & Fantasy
Format Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Anamorphic, Widescreen
Contributor Peggy Lee Brennan, Noburo Mitani, Yoshihiro Watanabe, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hideo Amamoto, Vic Morrow, Masazumi Okabe, Junkichi Orimoto, Isamu Shimuzu, Mikio Narita, Kinji Fukasaku, Sonny Chiba, Sue Shiomi, Noboru Mitani, Makoto Sato, Banjiro Uemura, Harumi Sone, Tetsuro Tamba, Philip Casnoff, Eisei Amamoto, Tan Takaiwa See more
Language English
Runtime 1 hour and 45 minutes

Product Description

Product Description

Soldiers of fortune in a spaceship with sails answer an SOS from a planet under attack.

Amazon.com

Delirious is the best (perhaps only) word to describe 1978's Message from Space, director Kinji (Battle Royale) Fukasaku's science fiction adventure that borrows from Star Wars (1977) for its central premise of an outer space war with an evil empire while adding a host of bizarre embellishments. Penned by a team of writers led by legendary manga creator Shotaro Ishinomori (Kamen Rider, Cyborg 009), Message filters the Lucas film through elements of the epic 19th-century samurai novel Nanso Satomi Hakkenden for its story of the peaceful planet of Jillucia, which sends out eight seeds in order to recruit warriors to aid them against the invading forces of the Gavanas and their leader, the metal-skinned Emperor Rockseia XII (yakuza film vet Mikio Narita). Opposing them are a motley crew culled together by the seeds, including the hard-drinking General Garuda (Vic Morrow), exiled Gavanas prince Hans (martial arts superstar Sonny Chiba, who also choreographed the film's fight sequences), Jillucian princess Emeralida (Chiba's frequent costar Etsuko Shihomi of Sister Street Fighter fame), and a trio of speed-loving space jockeys (Lost's Hiroyuki Sanada and American actors Philip Casnoff and Peggy Lee Brennan). The resulting adventure is a crazy quilt of Star Wars set pieces manqués, anime tropes, and moments of pure accidental surrealism, from the Jillucian seeds (which resemble nothing more than glow-in-the-dark walnuts) and Garuda's robot companion Beba-2, who appears constructed from cardboard boxes, to a whoda-thunk cameo by Chris Isaak (!) and Emperor Rockseia's nagging mother, played by veteran actor Hideyo Amamoto (King Kong Escapes) in drag.

Such elements have made Message from Space a favorite among camp and "bad movie" devotees for decades, but unlike the infamous "Turkish Star Wars" (Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam) or Italian carbons like Star Crash, the picture also possesses the genuine naive charm and boundless energy of Saturday afternoon cartoons or serials, as epitomized by its most memorable image, the schooner-shaped Prayer Star (the construction of which helped to skyrocket the film's budget to record-setting heights). Shout Factory's DVD presentation offers the English-language version of Message from Space released in America by United Artists in 1978, which is virtually identical to the Japanese version, with Morrow and the other stateside actors providing their own voices. A 16-page booklet about the film's production, written by Japanese genre film experts August Ragone and Patrick Macias, is also included, while the disc itself features the American theatrical trailer, a still gallery, and bios on the main players. --Paul Gaita

Product details

  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 13986
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Kinji Fukasaku
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Anamorphic, Widescreen
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 45 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ April 16, 2013
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Vic Morrow, Sonny Chiba, Philip Casnoff, Peggy Lee Brennan, Sue Shiomi
  • Producers ‏ : ‎ Banjiro Uemura, Yoshihiro Watanabe, Tan Takaiwa
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ SHOUT! FACTORY
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AWHDFLC
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 out of 5 stars 190 ratings

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4 out of 5 stars
190 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Angel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Retro Sci-Fi Gold!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Have you ever seen a movie and loved it from the first few seconds of opening? Yeah, that's was me while watching this movie. As soon as it began with the small narration and seeing the visuals, I loved this movie and wished I could have seen it sooner.

    This movie has the lore of a "chosen one" theme way before it got over used. It also has pretty good dialogue. It may not be always executed well, simply because many of the acting was voice over dubbed, but it still worked for me. This IS a foreign B film after all. My expectations were not high, but I was relieved when the story began to develop. And what an awesome space story it is.

    Some of the special effects are pretty good and hold up. Then some of the effects are terrible which was common for the time. There were some effects that were just drawn animations... you can tell. But you get the picture of what they wanted to do. What I love about this, is that there are some scenes that look BETTER than some of the special effects today. Not kidding. The space chases inside the vehicles are pretty awesome. They capture the fun fantasy of flying in a space chase.

    Sounds like STAR WARS? Yes, but it's not and what's wrong with a space movie that has a few similarities to STAR WARS? I loved that about the movie. In fact, give me more of that please. The universe could be filled with countless space operas that have battleships and helpful robots.

    I had been seeing pictures on the internet of the villain and always wondered what film he was in. My usual suspects were, Starcrash and Battle Beyond the Stars, but I was very wrong. I screamed with joy when I saw the villain in this movie. He's wonderful and so is his mother!

    This is not a perfect movie, but I can forgive all of it's flaws for the wonderful story a group of eight chosen champions to save the world of Jillusia.

    The title of this movie is a little underwhelming though and because of it, I kept putting off seeing this movie. I didn't expect such a good movie. If I could accurately name this movie it would be "The Chosen Eight". The actual "Message From Space" is a reference to a brief moment 54 minutes into flick when the villains send a message to Earth to surrender... which was a sub-plot within a subplot.

    The last layer of awesome in this movie is the fact that it is a Japanese production giving us a little bit of that Voltron force / Power Rangers feel to the story. I just loved that!!!!! This has it all for me and that is why I gave it five stars.
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  • Curtis G
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beats the pants off "Turkish Star Wars!"
    Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2010
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    This is a review of the Eastern Star HK release, aka "special uncut widescreen edition."

    I've been in love with this movie since I saw it on "Star Channel" (IIRC) back in 1979 or so, and ordered the DVD as soon as I saw that it was available. I expected a mediocre transfer from a dirty, scratched print; what I got was a great-looking transfer from a great-looking (if not pristine) print. From the crisp menu screen to the end credits, this DVD is glorious. It looks fantastic on my HDTV.

    The story is but a minor tweaking of "Star Wars" (that is, the inanely retitled "Episode IV: A New Hope"): Earth people team up with a space princess to save the universe from a bad guy in a helmet and cape. Spaceship models on wires zoom around; space samurai fight with electric swords; lots of stuff blows up real good. What I find endlessly fascinating is that the designers of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" borrowed elements (action scenes, ship designs) right back.

    The performances are just what you'd expect: completely over the top. (Fans of Lost might enjoy seeing a very young Hiroyuki "Henry" Sanada as a freewheeling pilot turned reluctant hero.) Vic Morrow chews the garish scenery like the grizzled pro he was. When he gets maudlin over the "death" of his faithful servant robot, it's as touching as it is silly. And speaking of silly, while "Star Wars" rises above the fashion sense of the mid-1970s, "Message" celebrates it. "Disco Space Wars" would be a more on-the-nose title.

    My only gripe is that there's not a "comprehensive" or blended language version. The English-language version features the American actors' voices, but the Japanese actors are overdubbed by the Titra crew (the guys who did the "Speed Racer" animated series and countless Shaw Brothers kung fu movies, as well as the US dub of "Mad Max"). The Japanese-language version seems to feature the Japanese actors' voices, but the American actors have all been dubbed into Japanese. I'd really love to have a version where all the actors spoke in their own voices/languages, like they did with Gunhed.

    Guilty pleasure? I don't feel guilty at all!

    Note: This version appears to be out of print or otherwise unavailable. Despite comparable image quality, I find it superior to the newer Shout! Factory version, which has only the international (English) audio, not just for the Japanese audio but for the bonus features, including Japanese theatrical trailers.
    24 people found this helpful
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  • Raisuli the Magnificent
    1.0 out of 5 stars Bob Wilkins; "This is the Japanese 'Star Wars'."
    Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Bob Wilkins, dressed in his Captain Cosmic outfit, after spending years in Sacramento doing the late night Creature Feature show, stood on the mock spaceship set at KTVU Channel 2, Jack London Square, and, with his calm voice clearly said; "Folks, this is the Japanese 'Star Wars'".

    Well, I can only assume he meant the "Hardware Wars" parody with Ham Salad where planet Basketball is blown away, and flashlights become light sabers because of a fog machine.

    Yes, Message from Space is aimed at children, and so was 'Star Wars', or at least in theory. The huge difference being that Star Wars was shot better, had better acting, better scoring, better special effects, and a deeper story. Where Message from Space looks like it was thrown together in a few months time, shot in that amount of time, and then thrown up on the big screen.

    I did NOT see this in the theatre when it come to the USA, and I am forever grateful that I gave it a pass (yes, I knew Bob Wilkins was lying to me all those years ago).

    Whoever reads this review, don't see this movie. Not even for the camp factor. It is a stupid film as is. I could shoot the same script and turn it into a sci-fi masterpiece, but someone in Japan didn't want to take the time and care to make a proper sci-fi film for kids, and instead made some quasi jingoistic, poorly acted, poorly shot, poorly directed film to ride off of 20th Century Fox's smash hit from 1977.

    Aimed at kids? Yes. Will kids like it? No.

    Well, I've finally seen it ... in widescreen and from a corrected print no less. And you know what? I'd just assume not have seen it. Still, like another reviewer said, it's got Turkish Star Wars beat. Go figure.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • cercia
    3.0 out of 5 stars Fireflies! How sweet.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A fun-filled romp somewhere between Flash Gordon and Stingray. Overall seems much like Star Wars but with major cuteness. The musical score is great. Hiroyuki Sanada and co. are in it lots, and Peggy Lee Brennan is super! Can't complain about this one, the quality is fine also. But obviously if you are looking for something more serious in space, this film isn't for you.
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  • kellis
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2016
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    if ur a hardcore star fleet fan u to have this.
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