Fugitive Alien

Yes, Sandy Frank folks!

Actually, this is definitely one of my favorite japanese B-movies...which was actually TV shows spliced together. The concept is really neat with renegade Star Wolf...Ken didn't want to kill Ken. Get it? Plus, the matchbox and subpar effects are great in a kampy way and the star wars "homages" are funny! It was definitely a show that fit right in on the SOL which kampy in its own way too!

You gotta love the conflict in this film...Ken and Star Wolves, Ken and Rocky..whereas this ragtag crew become earth's top defenders. Do not miss the infamous "forklift" scene and the sequel: Starforce: Fugitive Alien 2.

Still way better than Space Mutiny.

Yes, this story of Captain Joe and the Backus 3 (if I remember correctly) is one humdinger of bad film. I don't remember much except shots of the actors in the ship and stuff happening. Having them in a centrifuge or something to give the effect of massive g-forces on their bodies. Them walking around and fighting like they were the power rangers without the costumes and martial arts (if you can call it that). Of course, I saw it on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 so it was great thanks to Joel and the 'Bots. Watch for the forklift part. Joel does this great impression of chipmunked-cheeked Captain Joe. Wait until he laughs and says:"You're stuck here!" imitating the character. It's the only way to see this film and frankly, I dare not see it with the MST3K version. Find a tape of it. They trade them over the net. Also one of the early KTMA episodes of the MST3K that they did over. Just see the MST3K version. Seriously.

I very short lived TV series packaged into a movie brought to us by Sandy Frank; who has brought the Gamera films and Time of The Apes overseas. This movie(?) actually isn't all that painful. The plot makes sense, and you can actually tell who the characters are. So it is watchable, just rediculous. Several things aren't explained. Like who exactly these Wolf Raiders are, why they wear wigs to the battlefield, and several behavoiral patterns that just make you go "huh?". Also the hero has the strengh of ten men and can stop forklifts at full acceleration, yet falls down from a clean punch.

The most frustrating thing i found with this movie and plenty of the Sandy Frank films i've seen is this "failed plan" thats in each movie. Here's an example: Our hereo is trapped in prison, so he supports himself up against the top corner of the cell hiding from view. The guard is about to open the door to search the cell and inadvertantly let the captive go. But he spots his foot first, as says "get down from there." end scene. What was the point of that scene? Next he ties an explosive to a cell door to bust it open, and it fails. So we watch him carefully take his time and wire another two explosives to open the door. Another waste of time! It's just disguised film padding.

This movie stands on it's own as something to pass time on a rainy day, but the MST3K version is golden. Probably my favorite episode ever because of Joel Hodgson's dead on and hilarious impersonation of Captain Joe from the movie. No matter which version you watch I'll guarantee you'll be quoting "haa-hahahahahaha-haha-haaahahahaYOU'RESTUCKHERE!"

This "movie" is really just several episodes of a Japanese TV show stringed together, and it shows. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever! This was obviously Japanese television's attempt to cash in on the success of "Star Wars." This movie is really badly dubbed as well. Although I think it would be bad subtitled as well.

On the positive end, it was turned onto a really funny MST3K episode. So it's not a total loss!

In an alternate future universe where everyone is Japanese no matter what world they come from, Earth is under attack from hostile planet Valnastar whose marauding 'wolf-raiders' are sent to wipe out humanity; but when one of the alien attackers, a curly-blonde-wig-wearing wolf-raider by the name of Ken (Tatsuya Azuma), is ordered to kill a defenceless woman and her young son (also named Ken—must be a popular name throughout the universe of the future) he resists, accidentally killing a comrade in the process.

Branded a traitor by his own race, Ken (the alien, not the boy) flees for his life, but must abandon his craft in space when it is damaged in a fire-fight. Luckily for Ken, he is soon picked up by a passing Earth ship, the Bacchus 3, whose happy-go-lucky crew have no idea that he is a wolf-raider; they patch him up and make him welcome. Eventually, Ken comes clean to Captain Joe (Jô Shishido), who decides to keep schtum just so long as the fugitive alien joins his crew. Ken agrees, to the chagrin of moody pilot Rocky but much to the delight of cute computer boffin Tammy (Miyuki Tanigawa).

Ken's first mission with the Bacchus crew is to rescue a captive Colonel from a high-security alien prison, a task that takes every ounce of his incredible strength and all of his amazing fighting skills to overcome all obstacles (plus a few handy gadgets hidden on his fetching, red PVC, all-in-one space jumpsuit), including Ken's girlfriend Rita (was the writer of this nonsense a fan of UK soap Coronation Street, perchance?) who just happens to be the sister of the guy Ken accidentally killed and who is now gunning for revenge.

Cobbled together from a short-lived Japanese TV series, Fugitive Alien is hard to endure despite plenty of ridiculously bad action and lots of unintentional humour. The embarrassingly inept space dog-fights (clearly inspired by Star Wars, but severely lacking their technical excellence) and unexciting shoot-outs are extremely repetitive, the editing is random, the pacing stodgy, and the dubbing awful. Some of the model shots of the Bacchus are pretty cool but the ship's interior could have done with a little more attention to detail (the dashboard boasts dials that read 'Space Speed' and 'Cabin Air Presser'). After 100 or so excruciating minutes of incomprehensible rubbish, viewers are presented with the words 'To Be Continued' and the horrible realisation that this is only half of the story.

I've never seen an MST3K episode—I believe that all films, no matter how bad, deserve more a bit more respect than that—but I can understand how this sort of thing would prove irresistible to such a show. Fortunately, for movie purists like myself, Fugitive Alien is available minus comedic robot commentary as part of a 50 film sci-fi DVD box set, meaning it can be enjoyed exactly as enterprising American film distributor Sandy Frank originally intended when he snapped up the rights for a song.