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Feb 11 10 6:32 PM
Hachigatsu wrote:MESSAGE FROM SPACE is certainly not for everyone. Since Kinji Fukasaku had a string of big-budget costume dramas (which Toei hailed as the return of the "Jidaigeki" genre), and Japan was already engulfed in "Yamato Fever" from the tremendous success of the SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO animated feature (STAR WARS was not due to open in Japan until mid-1978), Toei decided to do a "Jidaigeki in Space". The plot is taken from the 106-volume story, Nanso Satomi Hakkenden written by Kyoutei Baikin between 1814 and 1842, set in the tumultuous Sengoku period (age of Warring States), follows eight samurai brothers and their adventures, with themes of loyalty and family honor, as well as Confucianism, bushido and Buddhist philosophy. Basic elements from this story were used as the basis of MESSAGE FROM SPACE. Interestingly, modern author Toshio Kamata produced a two-volume adaptation/reworking of Baikin's story into Shin Satomi Hakkenden in 1982 (featuring more supernatural elements), which was then adapted into a lavish feature film (for the time), starring Hiroyuki Sanada (LOST), the following year, simply entitled SATOMI HAKKENDEN (Sanada was also top-billed in MESSAGE FROM SPACE). The film was issued on R1 DVD, uncut and with English subtitles from Ventura, under the title LEGEND OF THE EIGHT SAMURAI in 2005. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006IINIC/ref=pd_cp_d_1
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