SHOULD I WATCH IT?
For reals. You get to see a historical piece of Star Wars hype, as well as some pretty distinct Japanese cinematography and costumes of the era. How they mix is fascinating. I would say this is a must for anyone who owns "Han Shot First" memorabilia, and/or has seen at least a couple Kurosawa flicks. If you've seen Sandy Frank's Fugitive Alien series, do not miss it for anything.
PARTICIPATION
1. When someone says "Jillucia", correct them by shouting "Alderaan". Find the other comparisons and enjoy your outbursts. Make them your own. Throw in some obscenities. There's a good boy.
2. When the evil forces appear on screen, do your best Rita Repulsa.
3. Throw in some Akira Kurosawa references for good measure. Or just shout random Japanese phrases like "NANDA YO!".
4. Vomit whenever the main theme (the blatant, same-key-and-everything rip-off of Obi-Wan's theme) is played.
5. Seriously? It's Star Wars. Geek out.
THE SUMMARY
The story is pretty basic. There's an evil force in the act of conquering an impossibly peaceful people. A wise sage sends 8 seeds into the galaxy. These seeds will seek out heroes who are destined to save the people. Moral dilemmas occur. Adventure happens. Good guys win!
What's interesting is that a vast majority of the finders of the Liabe Seeds are reluctant hero types, who are not at all interested in having anything to do with saving anybody. I kind of like that. (Luke Skywalker always came off to me as an overeager Herbalife salesperson.) We also spend a bulk of the movie meeting our characters and developing them well before any actual saving enters the picture, like a sort of space Goonies. I kind of like that, too. There's a heap of Japanese actors here, and then American ones - I assume to cater to the North American market and therefore a potential cash cow. What I didn't like was the manic muppet direction, which looks like it might have cost a few people some torn ligaments. Actors are flailing about having fist fights and tumbling down hills and shoving each other during emotional outbursts. I feel tired watching this. I am a tired old woman.
So let's talk about some more parallels, but break it down by character.
The Obi-Wan analog is Vic Morrow, a.k.a. the crusty and world-weary General Garuda. I knew I had heard Vic Morrow's name before, so I looked him up. He starred in a 1960s World War II drama called Combat!, and had a lot of guest roles in TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Bonanza.
Dee deedle dee deedle dee deedle dee GARUUUUDAAAAAAA!
Leia is actually split into two characters. The first is Princess Emeralida, who is serene, mystical,virginal, and the spokesperson for her people, trying to convince the heroes to hero up.
For a barren planet, they sure gotta lotta leaves going on.
The second is a spunky space chick who is bubbly and headstrong and cocksure and fumblydumbly. Here's how the story meeting went: "Now, let's see, we can't name her Leia... so what should we call her?"
NAILED IT.
There are the Luke/Han combo characters, namely the stunt flyin', risk-takin', fun-lovin', authority-challengin', fast-talkin' young buddies known as Aaron and Shiro. They find their Liabe Seeds when they crash their ships.
He's trying to extinguish confusing sexual feelings for his friend.
The Fire Extinguisher sequence, ladies and gentlemen.
The Fire Extinguisher sequence, ladies and gentlemen.
Rounding out the Liabe Warriors are the robot, the noble warrior, the cowardly gambler, and the... mystery person whom I won't spoil for you. So here's some more screen captures.
Catching "space fireflies".
Even a space fantasy should take heed of the basic fact that the cold, black void of space will render you unconscious, if not frozen, within about 15 seconds. As a filmmaker, if you don't acknowledge the friggin' vacuum, it ceases to be a space fantasy. It becomes a space insane-suspension-of-disbelief. Just set it on a planet, jeez. But I guess we're supposed to be Star Wars-ing here, so Space!
Now allow me to drop the mic and step offstage.
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