Message from Space
| Message from Space | |
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Japanese theatrical poster
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| Japanese | 宇宙からのメッセージ |
| Hepburn | Uchū kara no Messēji |
| Directed by | Kinji Fukasaku |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Hiro Matusda |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Kenichiro Morioka |
| Cinematography | Toru Nakajima |
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Production
companies |
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| Distributed by | United Artists (United States) |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
Message from Space (宇宙からのメッセージ Uchū kara no Messēji?) is a 1978 Japanese science fiction film directed by Kinji Fukasaku. The film stars Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, and Vic Morrow. The film was produced by Toei and cost between the equivalent of US$5 and 6 million, the most expensive movie made in Japan up to that time.
On the film's release in the United States, it received generally negative reviews from critics who not only found many similarities with the previous year's original Star Wars (1977), but also complained that the special effects were poorly executed in comparison with the film by George Lucas.
The peaceful planet of Jillucia, in the Andromeda galaxy, has been conquered by the steel-skinned warriors of the Gavanas Empire, who have turned the planet into a military fortress. Kido, leader of the tribes of Jillucia, sends out eight Liabe Seeds to seek help in liberating their planet. Kido's granddaughter, Princess Emeralida, and the warrior Urocco follow the seeds into space. The Gavanas, on the orders of Emperor Rockseia XXII, pursue the Jillucian's space-galleon as it flees the planet.
Meanwhile, space hotrodders (called 'roughriders') Shiro and Aaron are spotted by a young, spoiled aristocrat, Meia, as they race each other through an asteroid belt. Notified by Meia's chauffeurs, Patrolman Fox pursues the duo to their planet Milazeria. The three ships all crash after stunt-flying through rocky canyons and tunnels. Examining their spacecraft, the roughriders find Liabe seeds, and wonder what they are and how they got there.
At the Milazeria military base, General Garuda mourns the mandatory deactivation of Beba-1, his faithful robot. He orders a rocket to launch its remains into deep space. Garuda's commanding officer condemns this as a waste of a valuable rocket; the General, disillusioned, decides to retire and leaves the base with his new robot servant Beba-2. Later, while drinking heavily inside a busy tavern on Milazeria, Garuda finds a Liabe seed in his drink.
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Wikipedia