MESSAGE FROM SPACE: GALAXY WARS Graphic Novels (1979)

I haven't posted much about the Message From Space: Galaxy Wars television series, spun off from the Japanese feature of the same name, because until recently, I knew very little about it. I still don't have a lot of information about the series, but I know it was popular in Europe (especially France), and in English-speaking markets it was known as Space Ninja!

There was also a feature-length compilation/condensation, called Swords Of The Space Ark. I actually found and watched it on YouTube some months ago. It was fun, although it made little sense. The strongest connection to the original movie seemed to be the re-use of both miniatures and actual effects shots.

This artwork is from the cover of one of a pair of graphic novel adaptations, published in France by Dargaud in 1979 and 1980, written and illustrated by Pierre Frisano.

Thanks to August Ragone for the info!

News: MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) Blu-ray Available For Pre-Order

Shout! Factory has announced that it will be releasing a high-definition Blu-ray edition of Kinji Fukasaku's 1978 epic Message From Space in September. This is a limited edition release - only 1,000 copies will be made - and it's available for pre-order now, exclusively through the Shout! website.

This is the U.S. English-language version, and the only bonus features are the trailer and a still gallery. It's a little pricey for my budget, but I've already pre-ordered my copy. I love this movie, space fireflies, magic walnuts and all.

Captain's bLog: 0506.13

• Well, I did a slightly better job keeping up with this blog in April than I did in March. Still have a number of long-ish posts/reviews in the works, waiting for a spare hour or two to finish them up....

• I've pre-ordered the Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray from Best Buy (at present, it is exclusive to that chain). As soon as I get my hands on it - which should be in just over two weeks, depending on how efficiently Best Buy fulfills their online orders - I'll let you all know how it looks.

I did pick up Shout! Factory's DVD of Kinji Fukasaku's Message From Space last week, and it looks very good, although I think Shout's source print is a little more beat up (more specks and pops) and the transfer a bit darker and less detailed than the Eastern Star import DVD. The Shout disc's English-only mono audio is crisper and clearer than the optional English language track on the Eastern Star disc, however.

• Star Kid Tim Snider sent me a note a few days ago to let me know about a forthcoming role playing game from Spectrum Games called Retrostar. Why? Well, because apparently, it's designed to emulate exactly the sort of movies and TV shows this blog was created to celebrate. From the Spectrum website:

While most people associate the 1970s with disco, polyester, feathered hair and eight-track tapes, many of us were far too busy being enthralled by the unprecedented amount of sci-fi programming on television to even notice those things. The television landscape was rife with these shows, from all the primetime series to the Saturday morning kid-vid fare. And that was just fine by us.

Those days may be long gone, but the shows still live on in our hearts and memories -- shows about the doomed human race attempting to escape its robotic oppressors; shows about a time-tossed astronaut making his way in a future world; shows about the occupants of a moonbase on an unwitting journey when the moon itself gets knocked out of Earth's orbit; shows about an individual who was rebuilt into a bionic man to be better... stronger... faster; shows about scientists traveling across the post-apocalyptic wasteland in a futuristic RV to find remnants of civilization and to help rebuild it.

These are the shows that -- despite their campiness, hit-and-miss acting and limited budgets (or perhaps partly because of such factors) -- have stuck with us for decades. With Retrostar, you'll relive all the magic and excitement of the sci-fi shows of yesteryear, right at your game table. 

I wonder if the folks at Spectrum are fans of this site?

•  Blatant Cross-Promotion: First, I want to remind you all again that my weekly sci-fantasy webcomic, Perils On Planet X, drawn by the talented Gene Gonazles, can be read for free at perilsonplanetx.com.  This serialized interplanetary swashbuckler has a new page posted every Friday, and chronicles the adventures of modern-day Earth astronaut Donovan Hawke, stranded on the lost planet of Xylos, hundreds of millions of years in the past. The story is packed with monsters, beautiful women and lots of Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers-styled thrills. I hope you'll check it out, bookmark it, and follow the comic each week.

Anyone who enjoys my writing and the reviews on this blog should check out my DVD Late Show site, where I have been reviewing B-movies, cult films and genre television shows on DVD and Blu-ray disc since 2005. Among the over 700 reviews on the site are plenty of Space: 1970-era favorites, like Battle Beyond The Stars, Damnation Alley, Starcrash, The Starlost, the Space: 1999 Blu-rays, and many more.

News: MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) New on DVD

Kinji Fukasaku's 1978 Star Wars-inspired space opera, Message From Space, starring Vic Morrow and Sonny Chiba, received a Region 1 licensed DVD release from Shout! Factory this week. The disc - DVD only - contains the United Artists, English-language version of the movie.

Message has been available in the U.S. on DVD from Eastern Star since 2010 (it's the version I have), which contained the Japanese print with both Japanese and English audio. (My review of that disc can be found HERE.) I haven't seen the Shout! Factory edition as yet, so I can't speak as to the picture and audio quality, but the company usually does an exceptional job on their cult releases. As to the movie itself, it's one of my favorites of the International Star Wars rip-offs, and a lot of giddy fun.

The new Message From Space DVD is in stores now, and can be ordered through online retailers such as Amazon: Message From Space

News: MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) DVD Coming From Shout! Factory In April

I don't have much information on this yet, but a pre-order listing has appeared on Amazon for a domestic DVD release of Kinji Fukasaku's 1978 space opera epic, Message From Space. I don't know if it will be just the U.S. United Artists version, or will include the original Japanese language version as well, nor do I know if any bonus material will be included. As more information becomes available, I'll post it here on the site.

Message From Space has already been available in the U.S. on DVD from Eastern Star for a while (it's the version I have). My review of that disc can be found HERE. I was quite satisfied with the quality of that edition, and I'm curious to find out what difference - if any - there is between the Eastern Star and forthcoming Shout! edition. However, if they offer the title on Blu-ray, I'll definitely pick it up!

The Shout! Factory edition is due on April 16th, and can be pre-ordered here: Message From Space

MESSAGE FROM SPACE: GALACTIC WARS (1978) TV Series

I've long been aware that Toei Studios produced a television spin-off of their Message From Space feature film, but as it only aired in Japan, the Philippines and parts of Europe (it's on DVD in France, where it was called San Ku Kai, for instance), I never saw it. From this brief sampling of scenes from the show, it looks like an endearingly low-budget, action-packed continuation, loaded with effects footage from the movie... and it's probably a lot of fun. Even as much as I love the movie, though, I doubt I'll be ordering those French DVDs....

News: MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) on Netflix Instant

One of my favorite 70s space operas, Toei Studios' bizarre Message From Space, directed by Kinji Fukasaku, is currently available on Netflix Instant in the U.S.  If you haven't seen this high-spirited, special effects loaded Japanese take on Star Wars, I suggest checking out my review and the trailer before viewing the film.

Personally, I love the movie- but that is far from a universally-held opinion....

Sorry it's been so quiet around here lately. Hopefully, posting will pick up shortly.

MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) Lobby Cards

Today I've got a selection of colorful theater lobby cards from Toei Studios' interstellar epic, Message From Space. As I've said before, I'm a big fan of this bonkers space opera, and I enjoy it completely without irony. Now that I own it on DVD and I've had the opportunity to view it a few times, it's risen right up there with Starcrash and Battle Beyond The Stars as one of my favorite Star Wars "rip-offs!"

MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) Theatrical Posters

 

Here's a colorful selection of international one-sheets issued to promote one of my favorite Star Wars imitations, the 1978 Toei space epic, Message From Space. I've always loved the U.S. poster (top), ever since I saw the art in a newspaper ad back in '78. I'd love to find a better scan of the one directly below it; the art is magnificent! My favorite, though, has to be the Egyptian (?) one at the bottom; isn't that Marvel Comics' Starlord?

MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) Model Kits

And, speaking of classic Space: 1970-era sci-fi model kits - as I was just a few posts ago - here are two of the Bandai kits that were released by Entex in the U.S. that were derived from Toei Studios' Message From Space - the "Comet Fire" and "Galaxy Runner." There was also a kit of what the U.S. package called "The Liabe" - though I don't believe that Meia's ship was actually called that in the film.

Here are some shots of the actual model, which included small-scale versions of the two fighter/"hot rods" pictured above. I had this kit, but these aren't my pix - I borrowed them from a Japanese modeler's site - I couldn't have managed a paint job like that even at my best.

I love that design... man, I wish I still had my model.

A lot of people are baffled by my affection for this crazy film, but a large part of my enthusiasm is simply the wonderful spaceship designs and plentiful space battles. Most cinematic space operas don't really have all that much outer space combat, screentime percentage-wise - special effects are expensive, after all - but Message doesn't skimp on the action. That the plentiful miniature spaceships are so idiosyncratic and stylishly designed is just frosting on the cake.

MESSAGE FROM SPACE (1978) DVD Review

In the wake of the unprecedented box office bounty of George Lucas' seminal Star Wars in 1977, filmmakers around the world raced to unveil their own epic space operas, all hoping to strike gold mining the same cosmic vein.  Among the most prominent of these international productions was Toei Studios' Message From Space (Uchu kara no messeji), released in the United States in the Autumn of 1978 by United Artists.

The planet Jillucia has been conquered by the Gavanas Empire, its natural beauty devastated after years of war. The few survivors call upon their gods and are given eight magic seeds (that look like walnuts), which they send out into the universe to find eight champions to help Jillucia overthrow its conquerors. The seeds end up in the hands of a motley crew - including a disgraced Earth general Garuda (Vic Morrow, Twilight Zone: The Movie) and his robot, a couple of young "space hot rodders" (Philip Casnoff, Dollhouse, and Hiroyuki Sanada, Lost), a thrill-seeking heiress (Peggy Lee Brennan), and an exiled Gavanas warrior prince (Sonny Chiba, Streetfighter, Kill Bill). Ultimately, all of these individuals embrace their destiny and unite to face the evil Empire and save Earth from destruction.

 

 

Fast-paced, absurd and fun, Message From Space is a giddily insane interstellar samurai fantasy, loaded with space dogfights, laser battles, swordplay and explosions. The miniature effects are extraordinarily well-crafted, and the production design is lavish. The cast is pretty good, too; I really like Morrow as the noble, drunken Garuda, and, of course, Sonny Chiba rocks as the ronin-like Prince Hans.  Etsuko Shihomi - better known to cult film fans as "Sue Shiomi" of the Sister Streetfighter films - makes a lovely space princess, even if her character is sadly under-used and she never gets to demonstrate any of her legendary ass-kicking skills.

The story owes as much to traditional Japanese chambara as it does to George Lucas' pulp space opera, and while Western audiences might find the plot both convoluted and juvenile (especially the magic, glowing walnuts!), I actually find it to be a rather charming outer space fairy tale.

 

"Viva Chiba!" 

Like Toho's The War In Space of the year before, Message exhibits a distinctively Japanese aesthetic, with many striking images, including a schooner-like starship with solar sails. Interestingly, a number of scenes and images from this film were echoed in later American sci-fi films, like Roger Corman's Battle Beyond The Stars (1980), and even by Lucas' Star Wars sequels, especially Message's climactic bombing run, which is uncannily similar to the climax of The Return of the Jedi, released five or six years later!

Personally, I never imagined that Message From Space would ever be released on DVD in the U.S., and definitely not in widescreen, but, much to my surprise, the original Japanese/International uncut version is now available on an NTSC format, region-free import disc from Eastern Star. Presented in a nearly flawless, 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, Message From Space looks terrific! Both the original Japanese language track and the English dub are included, both in 2.0 stereo, although the English track is somewhat muffled and has a soft background hiss. English and Chinese subtitles are available. Special features include a still gallery, several original Japanese trailers for the film, and trailers for a couple other Eastern Star titles.

If you enjoy Asian fantasy films or 70s space opera, you owe it to yourself to check out Message From Space. If you're already a fan of the movie, I can't recommend the Eastern Star release more highly. It can be purchased from Amazon: Message From Space