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Message from Space
The peaceful planet of Jillucia has been nearly wiped out by the Gavanas, whose leader takes orders from his mother rather than the Emperor. King Kaiba sends out eight Liabe holy seeds, each to be received by a chosen one to defend the Gavanas. Each recipient, ranging from hardened General Garuda to Gavana Prince Hans to young Terrans Meia, Kido, and Aaron all have different reactions to being chosen.
Release : | 1978 |
Rating : | 4.8 |
Studio : | TOHO, TFC, Toei Company, |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Special Effects, |
Cast : | Vic Morrow Sonny Chiba Philip Casnoff Etsuko Shihomi Tetsurō Tamba |
Genre : | Adventure Action Science Fiction |
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
Instant Favorite.
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
One reviewer said that this was so bad it was good. Wrong, IMHO. This is so bad, it is bad.They break lots of the laws of physics in space. 1. Why in the world would a space ship have a full set of sails? They would get knocked off immediately upon use.2. The exhaust from a huge ship just trails out randomly. a. It would not be on in space most of the time b. It would shoot out, at least for a while, in a straight line 3. The hotshots crash land on some minor rock and find air. No thought of putting on protective helmets. 4. The space cop has a siren. Didn't he know there is no sound transmission in space? 5. Without retro rockets, space ships stop on a dime and hover. 6. They move around free in space by flapping their arms like it was water.This silliness goes on and on. Dancing Robot, indeed!I was looking for a real space movie and found this abortion. I'm think this pass you should. Well, then, the costumes are nice shades of orange and pink. The only saving grace. After 29 minutes, there was no plot in evidence. Maybe one happens later. Right at 30 minutes, a plot point. The clouds are lifting. We can go out and play after all. Mother, Father, kindly disregard this letter.
Vic morrow appearing with Japanese professional wrestler Thunder Sugiyama should give you an idea about the craziness of this movie.Residents of planet Jirusia who are losing a war against the invading forces of Gavanas sends a princess, and 8 glowing balls to earth, to seek for help.If you've seen "The Legend of the eight samurai", you'll notice that eight glowing balls idea is strait out of that movie.Kinji Fukasaku always brings cheap, and crazy atmosphere to his movies. This one is no exception. I have no idea why he's considered a great director in his country. He's one of the worst director I know who's movie is guaranteed to look cheezy, and schizophrenic. His son is even worse director.The movie is like amalgamation of Star Wars and the Legend of Eight Samurai, done in worst possible way. Actors are pretty good, but their talents are wasted on this movie.I guess the international casts were put in place so the movie has appeal for audiences in both Japan and USA, but instead they succeeded in making a movie that has appeal maybe only to little children.
The nice Jillucians have had their planet invaded by the wicked Gavanas. So, in desperation, they toss a whole bunch of glowing magic walnuts into the sky--where they fly across the galaxy in search of patsies willing to help them in their fight against the Gavanas. Eventually, a group of supposed misfits come to their aid--and using the power of the Force (or whatever it's supposed to be) they lead a battle for niceness....which is pretty important because the craptastic Gavanas now have their sights on Earth itself! If all this sounds a bit familiar, it's because it's a reworking of the plot from "Star Wars". However, in every possible way it's inferior and stupid....very stupid. The special effects are just abysmal. Comparing the artistry of "Star Wars" to "Message From Space" is like comparing the Mona Lisa to a velvet Elvis painting! The acting is also pretty bad...no, actually, it's horrible. The annoying daddy's girl is a character you just want to strangle--she's THAT grating on the nerves. The rest aren't very good, either, but at least they didn't fill me with hate! This isn't a glowing endorsement, however, as most of them suck--really, really suck. Overacting, over-emoting and ineptitude abound. It's also sad to see Sonny Chiba in this film, though he did have a pattern of making some GREAT martial arts films as well as really crappy fantasy/sci-fi films.So is any of this not terrible? Well, the music isn't bad. It's no "Star Wars" but some of it's decent--and seems strongly inspired from the music from "Once Upon a Time in the West" (seriously). I also like the narrator's nice soothing voice. I know this isn't much...but I am trying to be nice and find some positives.By the way, get a load of the big baddie's mother. In some close-ups, you can see her nose is simply some really crappy putty--one of the worst makeup jobs I've ever seen. Also, if you want to see a DELIBERATELY funny and more enjoyable "Star Wars" knockoff, try watching "Thumb Wars"--it's a hoot. Also, no matter how bad "Message From Space" is, it's STILL better than the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special"!!
Where do I begin. I saw this film, in a theater, when I was 7 years old. It was fresh on the heels of a number of Star Wars rip-offs (i.e. 'Battle Beyond The Stars', etc.) This one, however was different. I hated it when I was a child, but I have grown to love it, in a screwed up Ed Wood kind-of-way. It is a terrible film, but it's so terrible, that it is legendary. Sailboats in space. Villains that make Power Rangers look like Academy Award material. Glowing acorns. Planets with rocket boosters on them. Plot holes you could ride an elephant through. Vic Morrow? Sonny Chiba? You could write a doctoral thesis about what's wrong with this movie, but why? Perhaps the most endearing quality of this film, aside from the raging fires in the vacuum of space, is the fact that a game company bought the rights to use some of the dogfight sequences in a very early laser disc arcade game, which I played at a waterslide park in Utah 1982. Believe it or not, this movie was a TV show in Japan, although it did not last long. Seriously, if you love really bad movies, this is the arc of the covenant.