Sternenkrieg im Weltall

MESSAGE FROM SPACE answers the question: "What if, just prior to creating STAR WARS, George Lucas had removed his brain and replaced it with lint?".

Packed with groovy music, flashing lights, explosions, and insane characters, this is in the running for the most uber-ridiculous of the STAR WARS clones.

See! Vic Morrow dressed in intergalactic pimp clothes! Watch! Grown adults as they hunt for "space fireflies"! Witness! Sonny Chiba in the single most embarrassing role of his career!

If you're expecting a serious science fiction adventure, then you might want to drive an icepick through your pelvis before viewing. That way, you'll already be in agony going in.

Plot? Actually, it's better to simply watch agog and not worry about any trivialities such as a "story line". However, if you must know, it has something to do with a handful of flying, glowing, mystical nuts.

Visuals just happen randomly throughout: Look! Seagulls!

BOTTOM LINE: This movie is a riot! There's no need for any intoxicants or hallucinogens. It's all done for you!...

So, ah, imagine "Star Wars," only with as much Japanese-brand weirdness as is at all possible, dubbed by chimps and involving not only the wackiest costumes I've ever seen but magic, glowing walnuts. I don't have to tell you this is the best movie ever made. There's a witty robot, a wormy guy in a glittery jacket and very orange shirt, two guys in disco spacesuits, a plucky girl, some people who wear leaf-wreaths and lucky Vic Morrow in a kind of Captain Harlock get-up. The bad guys seem to be the children of Stormtroopers and the Wicked Witch of the West's soldiers. Oh... and there's a scene where the protagonists swim around on ropes catching SPACE FIREFLIES. In all sincerity, "Uchuu Kara no Message" is more fun than a barrel full of magic walnuts. If you're into that, I mean.

This was one the first of the many Star Wars knockoffs and it does borrow certain key elements (the bad guys operate from a mobile planet which blows up real good at the climax, the spoiled rich girl rides around in a ship that is basically a rectangular version of The Millineum Falcon). Okay, so the effects and art direction are a throwback to the sixties, but it does have some original ideas-the heroes are a motly bunch; all seeking redemption for their wasted lives-, Kinji Fukusaku keeps it belting along at good pace, and once Sonny Chiba starts beating up on the bad guys in the final, there is just no stopping him!

This certainly isn't a masterpiece, however it's something that shouldn't be overlooked. It's Japan's attempt to make Star Wars and is a complete failure. That doesn't mean it's terrible. It's history. These types of movies are so cool to look back on and watch. We shouldn't forget or overlook them.

Ahhh.. Message From Space. This was, as you probably read in previous comments, a grab at Star Wars from Japan. Sonny Chiba plays the main character of Hans. Chiba has a multitude of films under his belt as well as a very large following. The film is pure eye candy for any child despite its weak overall attempts at working out plot, characters, etc.. I actually like this movie. I enjoyed the fumbling Vic Morrow despite his intoxicated performance. I thought the special effects & props were creative. You see, the problem with any scifi film released in 1978 is that it will be compared to Star Wars. Star Wars set something as far as expectations, and anything else is considered a ripoff & a cheap one at that. The effects are retarded compared to Lucas & Co. But good for a saturday afternoon type movie. As a child this had a massive look to it and it was fast paced. The ships were actual sailing vessels in space, lots of good ideas but even with a date of 1978 there is no real excuse for how corny it ended up. Yes, & the walnuts.. Hard to believe. A not so typical 1978 type space saga with one step below the effects of the Flash Gordon movie. 5/10