Message From Space — Message From Space( Blu Ray)
Message From Space is a late 70’s Japanese sci-fi action film blending a grand/heroic score, a planet & princess in need of help, laser gun shoot-outs, acrobatic spacecraft battling, sword fighting, a cute/ quirky droid, and a selection of reluctant heroes. Aside from the sword fighting bit, this may sound a little familiar, and ‘yes’ this was inspired/ informed by the first released Star Wars film- but with a few neat/interesting enough twists added into the mix. Here from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series is a new Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a new HD scan of the film, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
Released in 1978 Message From Space( aka Uchu Kara No Messeji, Return to Jelucia). It was directed & co-written by Mito, Japan Kinji Fukasaku. Between the early 60’s & early 2000’s he had sixty-three credits to his name. These move between fun ‘n’ quirky Private investigator film Man In A Funky Hat( 1961), Kabuki influence melodrama Black Rose (1969), a fair few 70’s yakuza films such as Sympathy For The Underdog, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, and Graveyard of Honor. Apocalyptic adventure horror Virus (1980), and horror/survival classic Battle Royale (2000).
After the shifting space graphics, bold texts, and huge-sounding orchestral credits. We drop down onto the planet of Jillucia- which we are told was once a peaceful, bright, and happy place- this all changed when red ‘n’ silver painted face, red clocked & horned helmet bad guy Rockseia XII(Mikio Narita) dropped down onto the planet sometime back- turning it dark & grey. So the planet natives- all who wear crowns of green vines- decide to send out eight magic seeds- they look like walnuts and at points glow Orange- to find eight warriors to save the planet. Following the seeds on their travel in a large sailed space gallon are the glowing white-dressed Princess Emeralida (Etsuko Shihomi) & loyal soldier Urocco (Makoto Satō).
We then meet our series of possible heroes/ warriors- commander General Garuda (Vic Morrow) and his robot companion Beba-2 (Isamu Shimizu) who got thrown out of his high-ranking job for using a rocket to send his dead robot buddy into space. Thrill-seeking space racers Shiro (Hiroyuki Sanada) and Aaron (Philip Casnoff), flat-capped & glittery coated gambler Jack (Masazumi Okabe), aristocrat Meia (Peggy Lee Brennan) and swordsman with a grudge Prince Hans (Sonny Chiba).
Over the film's one hour & forty-five, we get lots of twisting ‘n’ turning spacecraft action, laser gun fights, bad guys kidnapping the good guys, huge planet-sized ships, and towards its latter half more than a few dramatic sword flights, plus a OTT/ explosive resolve.
The film’s baddie feels more like Emperor Ming than Darth Vader, and he has a crooked nose, grey flowing hair, and in a chair mother- who is clearly a man in bad silver-painted drag. I’d say personally the most effective character here is the commander General Garuda- the neatly moustached Morrow has some great banter with his quirky-voiced robot buddy.
With Message From Space, there is no doubt of the Star Wars influence/ at points wholesale stealing- but the neat enough twists like the glowing walnuts, space riding gallon, and over-the-top bad guy hamming it up make it entertaining enough in its own right.
Moving onto this new Region B release- the print certainly looks wonderful bright, bold, and crystal clear. On the extra side, we have a new commentary track from Japanese film expert/author Tom Mes- and as we’ve come to expect from Mr Mes this is another well-researched and observed track. He begins by talking about why a director who had made so many violent yakuza films would do a space opera and the way Toei as a studio changed its focus from more sleazy & violent exploitation to more mimicking Hollywood fare like this film. He talks about how the seed elements of the film is based on the classic Japanese story. eight dog chronicles. He points out the hyperactivity of many of the actors, and he touches on the director's other work. Later on, he discusses the use of the Snorkel- a camera for the special effects- this was one of only three of these in the world at the time, and the company hired it for a month. He talks about the dedicated performances of the actors. He talks about the characters in the film, and the sword-fighting elements. A well-worth a play track.
The other new extra is A Message From Space(14.26) which finds film writer Patrick Macias discussing the film- which he calls his favourite Japanese film, how he came across it, and his general appreciation of the film.
We also get an image gallery and a trailer on the disc. The finished release comes with an inlay booklet.
Message From Space is a lot of romping fun & full of high campness- yes the Star Wars influence is very clear & present here, but there is enough wackiness to make it stand on its own. This new release from Eureka presents us with a lovely scan, and an interesting selection of extras.