Ginga tetsudô Three-Nine

One word can describe this movie and that is weird. I recorded this movie one day because it was a Japanese animation and it was old so I thought it would be interesting. Well it was, the movie is about a young boy who travels the universe to get a metal body so he can seek revenge. On the way he meets very colorful characters and must ultimately decide if he wants the body or not. Very strange, if you are a fan of animation/science-fiction you might want to check this out.

The animation isn't great, but it does have a certain charm. The design of the new world which is based on a very old one is striking. The story is intriguing, as it stars a little boy on a quest to avenge the death of his mother. During his journey he acts like a snotty little brat, but in the process helps a lot of people and they in turn help him.

The film is very long at over two hours and after half of it is gone, it seems as if the story is going to end soon, but it doesn't, it unfolds into different layers. However it remains fundamentally simplistic, abstracted in a way that it seems at the same time both naive and deep.

Common themes can be found in the plot, like the child avenging his mother, innocent love, machines that dehumanize, humans that do everything for their souls and so on, but each substory shows a different aspect of humanity so that in their simplicity, they all gather together to form a deeper meaning.

Bottom line: I don't regret seeing it. It is certainly a beauty for its time and it has an interesting story. I even recommend watching it.

My review was written in August 1982 after a Greenwich Village screening.

"Galaxy Express 999" is an attractive Japanese animated sci-fi feature dating from 1979. One of the many hits in the genre in its domestic market, film was picked up for U. S. distribution by Roger Corman's New World Pictures in 1980 but shelved after test bookings. Sporting an effective English-language soundtrack, pic deserves a second look, with tv usage a strong possibility.

Though the visual inspiration for "Galaxy Express" is from hit films such as "Star Wars", this episodic picture more closely resembles the format of Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles". Premise is to represent future concepts in familiar nostalgic forms. Thus the title refers to a vast space ship which looks to its passengers like a steam locomotive. Throughout the film, the visual mixture of the old-fashioned an high-tech creates comic juxtapositions.

Story concerns an orphan named Joey, who encounters a beautiful blonde (Matel) who looks like his mother, killed years before per flashback) in a "people hunt" by the evil Count Mecca. The young boy, styled with his dark hair covering one eye (Veronica Lake-style) is bent upon revenge, riding with Matel on the Express to search for Mecca's TIme Castle on some distant planet.

Stopovers en route bring him into contact with villains styled out of Westerns, pirate movies and other varied genres. After visiting the moon Titan circling around Saturn, duo visit the frozen planet Pluto, where humans' bodies are stored under the ice, after they have opted for immortality by taking machine bodies. The conflict between cyborgs (whose humanity is gradually draining away) and remaining human is the central theme, with the visuals making it understandable for younger viewers.

Working in a limited animation format, the chief drawback of which is limited movement (backgrounds are static and key characters move minimally), the film does boast beautifully colored elaborate designs. Once one gets used to the lack of fluid, full animation, the imaginative visuals are impressive. Characters are practically all human or humanoid, with the Japanese animators typically using Caucasian models (all the better to match the American voice dubbing). Oddest touches, besides the use of misspelled English words worked into the animated designs, are an Ed Wynn styled voice for the Express's kindly conductor, and giving John Wayne's voice and gait to a good guy named Capt. Warlock. Violence and semi-nudity account for the basically children's film receiving a PG rating.

This movie inspired my IMDB name, Meteru. This, for some reason, appealed to me. Every 3 years, I see an anime that I'm really, really mad about, and this time it's GE999. Be forewarned- this film is very seventies. Bellbottoms are involved. There is scruffy, just-at-the-nape-of-your-neck-but-not-long-enough-to-be-cool hair. Some of the voice acting in the English version is really corny, albeit Saffron Henderson makes a good little boy. And some people interpret this to be a "children's" movie. Ladies and germs, this is not a children's movie. It isn't exactly "Orgasm in Demon City", as there is no nudity nor blood and guts. Some ignorant fools believe blood, guts and boobies are essential ingredients to Japanese animation. Go fig. Instead, this is a beautiful animation about a space-going train called the 999. Passengers are promised mechanical bodies that are practically immortal.Pain is deadened, but so is pleasure and purpose.

And it's all up to young Tetsuro Hoshino to stop it. And he has to grow up, too. It has beauty, soul and a mind of its own, and that's more than most of us could say about the crap that's shoved down our throats these days. The End.

This movie can be criticized as not having the hipness or technical quality of anime films today, but it is the depth of the story and passion of the art that make it such a classic. I'm not a big anime fan, and this is the only anime film I've seen that I would want to watch more than once.

The story is a wonderful and surrealistic coming-of-age type allegory. Despite elements common to science fiction (man vs. machine, hero setting out to avenge his parent's death), it stays free of cliche and retains an air of realism, or true surrealism. Almost all of the characters are more memorable and unique than most main characters in other anime films.

One of the unique things about this film is the way it conveys emotion so powerfully. I can't really define what gives it this quality, but it is extremely moving, like a good symphony or vast impressionistic landscape. The only other films I can think of (at the moment anyways) that have this quality would be the Godfather films.

In conclusion, anyone who appreciates what science fiction is about should see this film. It's a rare treat.