3 Star

Cult Japanese Knock-off.

Writer/director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale, Virus) brings us a way-out-there Sci-fi opera that will blow your mind, as planets are ravaged, people massacred and irreverent punk kids are expected to be heroes. With a very similar story and attempts at visual effects done on a budget, compared to a film that came a year before, Message From Space is definitely in the niche Sci-fi category. All that said, it is one heck of a ride and must be watched.

The steel hordes of Gavanas have invaded and conquered planet Jillucia in the Andromeda Galaxy. The natives are led by Kido (Junkichi Orimoto, Three Outlaw Samurai, Samurai Wolf) who reaches out to their gods and is sent eight Liabe Seeds (walnuts), which Kido sends out into space to find them eight heroes to save them and their planet, from being turned into a military outpost. Kido’s granddaughter volunteers to follow the seeds into space to see where they find the heroes they need, trusted warrior Urocco (Makoto Satô, The Hidden Fortress, Chushingura) joins her to keep her safe. They depart in their space galleon, which is spotted by the Gavanas.

The leader of the Gavanas, Rockseia XII (Mikio Narita, Samurai Reincarnation, Sengoku jieitai) orders the destruction of the galleon. As the seeds spread through the void, Human ‘roughriders’ fly their supped-up ships through an asteroid field, narrowly missing socialite Meia Long’s (Peggy Lee Brennan, Born in Flames, Unsavory Characters) chauffeur driven space-shuttle. The chauffeur alerts the authorities and patrol man Fox (Nenji Kobayashi, The Twilight Samurai, Riyû) gets on their tail, Aaron (Philip Casnoff, Strong Medicine (TV Series), Dollhouse (TV Series)) and Shiro (Hiroyuki Sanada, The Wolverine, 47 Ronin) dive down to a planets surface where they race through canyons, until they all crash. As Aaron and Shiro look over the damage they both find a seed in their ships inner workings.

Alright, so I’m disgusting. I’m a punk, who wants a war, you want to be a war hero? I don’t!

Marking them as reluctant heroes.

The journey starts with these two, only six more to find. It’s good versus evil Japanese style.

From the bargain bucket to cult classic, and if it isn’t a cult classic, then this release will make it one.

Message From Space is available on Blu-ray

 

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:

Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Scott Saslow | Limited edition reversible poster | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a restoration of the original film elements supplied by Toei | Original Japanese audio | English dub | Optional English subtitles | Brand-new audio commentary by Tom Mes | An appreciation of the film by film writer Patrick Macias | Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork | Stills gallery | Trailers | PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Christopher Stewardson