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Message From Space

Play trailer Poster for Message From Space PG 1978 1h 45m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 29% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
The once thriving planet Jillucia is in trouble, under threat from an evil empire run by Rockseia XLL (Mikio Narita). So the peace-loving denizens look to the skies, sending out magical seeds meant to find protectors of the troubled world. Among those enlisted are the cocky pilot Aaron (Philip Casnoff), the well-to-do Meia (Peggy Lee Brennan) and the burned-out General Garuda (Vic Morrow). But the disparate crew will have to work together if they're to defeat Rockseia.

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Chris Moyse Starburst Message from Space is great fun – carried wholly by its sweet characters, rousing themes, creative design, and time-tested, (if admittedly dizzying), tale of Good vs. Evil. Rated: 4/5 Jul 23, 2024 Full Review Starburst Staff Starburst The four Japanese gentlemen who created the epic pull out all the stops in a praiseworthy effort to make their movie one step for Japanese film-men, if not exactly a giant leap for movie-mankind. Jul 22, 2022 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Unwitty hokum. Rated: D Dec 2, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (26) audience reviews
nick s Low grade special effects. Acting was pretty average and humour weak. Okay for a student film but I didn't find much joy in it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/17/24 Full Review Audience Member This movie is really slow and boring. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/19/24 Full Review Audience Member Star wars rip off and it still couldn't bring any excitement. Very boring Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member There is a fabulously gonzo visual flair and an almost equally nutty narrative sensibility which lends this Star Wars knockoff a loopy, loony charm. It also doesn't hurt that I first saw it cinematically when I was twelve. It is the second best of the glorious trinity of Lucas wannabes : the best being Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars, and Cozzi's Star Crash, the Italian super-low-budget, completely narratively inane & awesomely insane film bringing up the rear. What Message has over the other two is a super kinetic spaceship dynamism which is so much more visually exciting than the other two...let alone most other science fiction movies. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Message from Space is so clearly Japan’s attempt to mimic the success of Star Wars, to the point that there was at least one musical cue in the score that sounded nearly identical to John Williams’ music. Yet, while there were many elements of the film emulating Star Wars, it had its own unique story. It is the tale of a defeated society on a far-away planet, who send out magical seeds in order to find warriors who will help them rise up against their conquering enemies. This movie is loaded with predictable elements, and I could see some people thinking of it as overly cheesy, yet I found it charming. Even though it was almost childlike in the simplicity of it all, I was invested in learning who would get the next seed, and how they would come together to defeat the evil Gavanas. Each time a new Liabe Chosen One was revealed I was ticking off another number in my head, keeping count for how many more were on the way. There’s a lot of clunky elements in Message from Space. The costumes are sometimes goofy, and some sets are roughly thrown together. The characters are sometimes over-the-top and fit broad stereotypes. Yet all the silliness and schmaltz worked for me. It had the same kind of heart that I love in Star Wars, and it never felt like they were doing these things tongue-in-cheek. There’s an honesty and sincerity to the film that I found endearing. Plus, the plot is well thought out. They establish characters, set up their skill sets and personalities, then fold them into the story slowly so we can easily see how they’ll be useful later. What impressed me most was that every time I thought the story was going off the rails or was reaching too far, there was a logical explanation and they quickly righted the ship to keep the plot on a logical progression. I recognize Message from Space isn’t a great film, but I enjoyed it more than I ever expected and would genuinely like to see it again in a format that is cleaned up much better than the shoddy Youtube video I found. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/21/19 Full Review Audience Member Quite possibly one of the worst Star Wars ripoffs ever made. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Message From Space

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis The once thriving planet Jillucia is in trouble, under threat from an evil empire run by Rockseia XLL (Mikio Narita). So the peace-loving denizens look to the skies, sending out magical seeds meant to find protectors of the troubled world. Among those enlisted are the cocky pilot Aaron (Philip Casnoff), the well-to-do Meia (Peggy Lee Brennan) and the burned-out General Garuda (Vic Morrow). But the disparate crew will have to work together if they're to defeat Rockseia.
Director
Kinji Fukasaku
Producer
Banjiro Uemura, Yoshinori Watanabe, Tan Takaiwa
Production Co
Toei Company, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation
Rating
PG
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2016
Runtime
1h 45m