# Message from Space
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{{Short description|1978 Japanese science fiction film}}
{{other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Message from Space
| image = MessageFromSpaceFilmPoster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name = {{Infobox Japanese| kanji = 宇宙からのメッセージ
| revhep = Uchū kara no Messēji}}
| director = [Kinji Fukasaku](/source/Kinji_Fukasaku)
| producer = {{plainlist|
*Banjiro Uemura
*Yoshinori Watanabe
*Tan Takaiwa{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}}}
| writer =
| screenplay = [Hiro Matusda](/source/Hiro_Matusda){{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}
| story = Kinji Fukasaku
[Shotaro Ishinomori](/source/Shotaro_Ishinomori)
[Masahiro Noda](/source/Masahiro_Noda)
| based_on =
| starring = {{plainlist|
*[Vic Morrow](/source/Vic_Morrow)
*[Sonny Chiba](/source/Sonny_Chiba)
*[Philip Casnoff](/source/Philip_Casnoff)
*[Peggy Lee Brennan](/source/Peggy_Lee_Brennan)}}
| narrator =
| music = [Kenichiro Morioka](/source/Kenichiro_Morioka){{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}
| cinematography = [Toru Nakajima](/source/Toru_Nakajima){{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}
| editing =
| studio = {{plainlist|
*[Toei Company](/source/Toei_Company)
*[Tohokushinsha Film](/source/Tohokushinsha_Film){{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}}}
| distributor = Toei Company (JPN)
[United Artists](/source/United_Artists) (USA)
| released = {{Film date|1978|4|29|Japan}}
| runtime = 105 minutes{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}}
| country = Japan
| language =
| budget =
| gross =
}}
{{nihongo|'''''Message from Space'''''|宇宙からのメッセージ|Uchū Kara no Messēji|lead=yes}} is a 1978 Japanese [space opera](/source/space_opera) film directed by [Kinji Fukasaku](/source/Kinji_Fukasaku). It stars [Sonny Chiba](/source/Sonny_Chiba), [Etsuko Shihomi](/source/Etsuko_Shihomi), and [Vic Morrow](/source/Vic_Morrow). Produced by [Toei](/source/Toei_Company) with a cost between the equivalent of US$5 and 6 million, it was the most expensive film made in Japan at the time.
Upon release in the United States, ''Message from Space'' received generally negative reviews from critics who not only found many similarities with the previous year's ''[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars_(film))'' (1977), but also felt the special effects were poorly executed in comparison to the American film.[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzPADT7BTRcC&q=message+from+space+special+effects+compare+to+star+wars&pg=PT1638|title=Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide: The Modern Era|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|date=2012-09-04|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781101604632 |language=en}}] It was however nominated for [Best Foreign Film](/source/Saturn_Award_for_Best_International_Film) at the [7th Saturn Awards](/source/7th_Saturn_Awards) in 1980.
== Plot ==
The planet Jillucia, located in the Andromeda galaxy, is conquered by the steel-skinned Gavanas Empire, who transform it into a military fortress. Kido, the leader of the Jillucians, sends eight Liabe Seeds to find help. Princess Emeralida and the warrior Urocco flee Jillucia in a space galleon as the Gavanas, led by Emperor Rockseia XXII, pursue them.
The Liabe Seeds reach various individuals, including Shiro and Aaron, two reckless space pilots; Jack, a friend entangled in debts to gangsters; Meia, a young aristocrat; and General Garuda, a disillusioned officer. These characters encounter the Jillucians and learn of the seeds' divine selection of warriors to liberate Jillucia. Initial reluctance and betrayal occur, including Jack selling out Urocco and Emeralida, though Jack later regrets his actions. Urocco survives an assassination attempt, and Gavanas troops capture Emeralida.
The group eventually unites when Garuda, persuaded by a glowing Liabe seed, joins the cause. They discover Prince Hans, the rightful heir to the Gavanas throne, who reveals Rockseia's betrayal of his family. Meanwhile, Rockseia forces the Jillucians to watch as he propels Jillucia toward Earth as part of his conquest plans. The Earth government seeks a peaceful resolution, but Rockseia rejects their envoy, General Garuda, and destroys Earth's moon as a warning.
The Liabe warriors infiltrate the Gavanas base, intending to destroy the reactor that powers the empire's fortress. Urocco, initially disillusioned, sacrifices himself in battle, becoming the eighth Liabe warrior as he dies. Prince Hans leads the Jillucians in revolt, ultimately killing Rockseia in combat. Shiro and Aaron destroy the reactor, escaping just as Jillucia is destroyed in the explosion.
As the planet disintegrates, the surviving Jillucians escape on a space galleon, joined by Garuda, Beba-2, and the remaining Liabe warriors. Shiro, Aaron, and Meia carry out a suicidal attack on the Gavanas space carrier, causing it to crash. They awaken on the space galleon, miraculously saved by the power of the Liabe seeds. Offered asylum on Earth, the Jillucians decline and set off in search of a new home.
== Cast ==
*[Vic Morrow](/source/Vic_Morrow) as General Garuda
*[Sonny Chiba](/source/Sonny_Chiba) as Hans
*[Philip Casnoff](/source/Philip_Casnoff) as Aaron
*Peggy Lee Brennan as Meia
*[Etsuko Shihomi](/source/Etsuko_Shihomi) as Emeralida
*[Tetsuro Tamba](/source/Tetsuro_Tamba) as Noguchi
*[Mikio Narita](/source/Mikio_Narita) as Rockseia XII
*[Makoto Satō](/source/Makoto_Sat%C5%8D_(actor)) as Urocco
*[Hiroyuki Sanada](/source/Hiroyuki_Sanada) as Shiro
*Isamu Shimizu as Robot Beba-2
*Masazumi Okabe as Jack
*Noboru Mitani as Kamesasa
*[Hideyo Amamoto](/source/Hideyo_Amamoto) as Dark
*[Junkichi Orimoto](/source/Junkichi_Orimoto) as Kido
*Harumi Sone as Lazarl
*Charles Scawthorn as 1st guard, at Headquarters entrance
==Production==
{{Expand Japanese|topic=cult|宇宙からのメッセージ#製作経緯|section=yes|date=May 2025}}
''Message from Space'' cost between US$5 and 6 million, roughly half the budget of ''[Star Wars](/source/Star_Wars_(film))'' ([1977](/source/1977_in_film)), which made it the most expensive Japanese film, until it was beaten by Fukasaku's later film ''[Virus](/source/Virus_(1980_film))'' ([1980](/source/1980_in_film)).{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=250}}{{sfn|Hardy|1984|p=345}}
== Release ==
[[File:mfsusa.jpg|thumb|150px|[United Artists](/source/United_Artists) theatrical poster for the 1978 U.S. release of ''Message from Space''.]]
''Message from Space'' was released in Japan on April 29, 1978.{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}} The American version of the film was released in the United States on October 30, 1978, where it was distributed by [United Artists](/source/United_Artists).{{sfn|Galbraith IV|1994|p=332}} [United Artists](/source/United_Artists) acquired ''Message from Space'' at a US$1 million cost; according to company personnel: "[It] can't keep 'em from lining up at the box office. It's a Jap ''Star Wars''! It'll clean up." Studio executive [Steven Bach](/source/Steven_Bach), however, countered: "The only thing it cleaned up was the red inkwell."[{{cite book|last=Bach|first=Steven|title=Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the Making of ''Heaven's Gate''|chapter=Style|page=[https://archive.org/details/finalcutdreamsdi00bach/page/68 68]|isbn=0-451-40036-4|year=1987|orig-year=1985|publisher=Onyx ([New American Library](/source/New_American_Library))|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/finalcutdreamsdi00bach/page/68}}]
[Shout! Factory](/source/Shout!_Factory) released ''Message from Space'' on DVD on April 16, 2013.[{{cite web|url=https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/sci-fi/message-from-space|publisher=[Shout! Factory](/source/Shout!_Factory)|access-date=2015-10-26|title=Message From Space|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513031126/https://shoutfactory.com/film/sci-fi/message-from-space|archive-date=2015-05-13}}]
== Reception ==
''Message from Space'' was nominated for [Best Foreign Film](/source/Saturn_Award_for_Best_International_Film) at the [7th Saturn Awards](/source/7th_Saturn_Awards) in 1980. However, it received generally negative reviews from Western critics. [Janet Maslin](/source/Janet_Maslin) of ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' described the film as "so terrible it has a certain comic integrity".[{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9405E2DE1731E432A25754C1A9679D946990D6CF|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|last=Maslin|first=Janet|author-link=Janet Maslin|title=Message From Space (1978)|date=November 17, 1978 |access-date=2015-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151027025657/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9405E2DE1731E432A25754C1A9679D946990D6CF|archive-date=2015-10-27}}] The review noted poor special effects based on [miniatures](/source/Scale_model) and that the screenplay was "pleasantly indecipherable, and the screenplay seems to have passed through a food processor with a sense of humor."[{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title='Message From Space': Nuts Over 'Star Wars'|page=D10|date=November 20, 1978|last=Arnold|first=Gary|issn=0190-8286}}] ''[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))'' gave the film a positive review, noting that the film "borrows wholesale from [Star Wars]", while stating "if the Japanese have not come up with something original, they have brought forth an illegitimate baby that is so good that it will not shame its unacknowledged parents. The special effects are spectacular and the action is everything one could wish."{{sfn|Willis|1985|p=335|ps=: "Review is of 105 minute English dubbed version viewed in New York on October 30, 1978"}}
From retrospective reviews, online film database [AllMovie](/source/AllMovie) gave the film three stars out of five, described reviews as "unfairly slagged as a cheap rip-off of Star Wars" and that the film "makes up for its shortcomings with a devil-may-care energy reminiscent of '40s-era serials".[{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/message-from-space-v127435/review|publisher=[AllMovie](/source/AllMovie)|title=Message From Space|access-date=2015-10-26|last=Gaita|first=Paul}}] The review recommended the film to "non-discerning genre fans" and children.