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Feb 12 10 1:47 AM
Kaijubait wrote: PS - IMHO... Legend of Eight Samurai > Message From Space 100 fold
Feb 12 10 2:07 AM
Hachigatsu wrote: 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.
Feb 12 10 4:01 AM
WaverBoy wrote: This would be great to see on the big screen.There's a decent quality torrent of this one floating around, which is a rip of the partially letterboxed Japanese DVD with the English track skillfully laid over the top. I'm making do with that for now.
Feb 12 10 6:20 AM
Feb 12 10 10:33 AM
What makes LEGEND OF 8 SAMURAI better than MESSAGE FROM SPACE? There are no spaceship drag races, there's no Vic Morrow,
Feb 12 10 2:55 PM
Hachigatsu wrote:And STAR WARS was "original"?
Feb 12 10 4:25 PM
Nov 6 10 1:57 PM
Nov 6 10 9:35 PM
Nov 7 10 12:47 PM
Hachigatsu wrote: And STAR WARS was "original"?
Nov 7 10 12:51 PM
DougGorius wrote: The film is available on Netflix streaming:http://www.netflix.com/Mo...sage-from-Space/70147036I'm watching it right now, the sound quality of the English dub blew me away after years of bootlegs with indecipherable audio.
Nov 7 10 1:43 PM
Nov 7 10 4:39 PM
WaverBoy wrote:Hachigatsu wrote: And STAR WARS was "original"?You know what I'm talking about. STAR WARS took inspiration from various sources and whipped them up into something that seemed new and fresh at the time; it didn't carbon copy one staggeringly popular film that was released a year before it for the sole purpose of cashing in on its success. There's no comparison. I very much like MESSAGE FROM SPACE for what it is: an extremely entertaining, enthusiastically directed, badly acted (by the American cast), amazingly boldfaced ripoff of STAR WARS. And it's better than STARCRASH.
Nov 8 10 8:11 AM
Nov 8 10 9:09 AM
Nov 8 10 1:24 PM
Chiba's character (Prince Hans) reminded me of Prince Barin from the Flash Gordon serials. Both are the rightful heirs to the throne of an evil emperor. Chiba even looks a little like Richard Alexander's Barin in his helmet, armor, and moustache.But it does appear that MESSAGE FROM SPACE got most of its inspiration from STAR WARS and STAR BLAZERS. Toho's answer to the success of Lucas' blockbuster was WAR IN SPACE, which was almost a live-action STAR BLAZERS with a little ATRAGON and BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE thrown in. STARCRASH is also one of my favorite STAR WARS cash-ins, and is the best Italian space opera of the 70's. That was Flash (complete with "one-shot" FX), Barbarella, and Sinbad all thrown together in a blender with some magic mushrooms. Not only did it have Caroline Munro wearing very little, but it had what was probably the greatest line ever uttered by Christopher Plummer in any movie he ever did: "Imperial Flagship- HALT THE FLOW OF TIME!!!"
Nov 8 10 4:52 PM
Nov 8 10 5:19 PM
Nov 8 10 10:36 PM
Hachigatsu wrote: Specifically, what? Grocery list, please.
Nov 9 10 1:05 AM
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