Message from Space (1978)

They don't call me kamikaze for nothing!

With Star Wars marking a turning point in cinematic blockbusters, it's only natural it would spawn countless imitators and knock-offs. I've taken a look at Toho's answer with The War in Space before and I thought it high time to take a look at Toei's attempt. Often unfairly slagged as a cheap rip-off of the previous year's Star Wars, Message from Space actually has way more going for it than what initially meets the eye.

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.

Considering how much George Lucas lifted from Japanese culture and cinema for Star Wars, consider Message from Space a case of, ahem, striking back. In a narrative sense, the story is completely baffling and at times indecipherable, taking the core elements that makeup Star Wars' story but delivering it in a way that a viewer is left in a state of confusion. A white-clad princess on the run, an evil empire, armoured bad guy troopers, an obnoxious beeping droid, a trench run, a cantina, and spaceships flying in formation. There’s even a long shot of an enemy starship cruising into the frame. And while Darth Vader may have drawn visual inspiration from samurai, Message from Space has full-on space samurai as the villains.

Where this film shines, and boy it does shine, is in its incredible visual and production design. Given this was the most expensive Japanese film at the time, and yet was made for half the budget of Star Wars, it looks mighty impressive. Be it the gorgeous, elaborate sets and costumes or the highly detailed and genuinely incredible and increasingly complex miniature special effects work by Nobuo Yajima, the ethereal and dreamlike fantasy nature of the film is present from the encapsulating opening titles. The very literal "spaceships" are a real work of art and wouldn't be out of place from a Gerry Anderson production.

Given my love for Kinji Fukasaku's final film, Battle Royale, it's no wonder that I would love this as well. With the sweeping and evocative landscape shots, the gritty and intense yet easy-to-follow fight sequences, the expert choice of shots and thanks to regular collaborator Tôru Nakajima the film isn't without a bold use of colour from brilliant orange to deep blues, its most certainly a visual treat for the eyes.

The film's cast is populated by many faces you may recognise, be it the always reliable Vic Morrow or Sonny Chiba to a baby-faced Hiroyuki Sanada. There are hardly any complaints to be had on the talent front and they all perform the film well even if what is being delivered is a bit too much at times. The music by Ken-Ichiro Morioka is pretty good, there's plenty to love in its more fantastical elements and less synth-laden than you'd expect but it matches the visuals well and does a good job, lends itself to easy listening so maybe I'll give it another listen one day.

Overall, Message from Space is a very bold attempt at the Star Wars formula and makes up for its shortcomings with devil-may-care energy reminiscent of '40s-era serials. The Blu-ray set I bought comes with both the English version of the film, the spin-off show Galatic Wars and the compilation movie of that show, so I'm hardly done with Message from Space for a while yet.

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