Message from Space (1978)

Message from Space is a film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, one of the co-directors of Tora! Tora! Tora!. The film stars Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, and in a rare foreign film appearance, Vic Morrow. Released in 1978, the film is seen by many critics as a Japanese answer to Star Wars The film was produced by Toei and cost $6 million, the most expensive movie made in Japan up to that date. Shotaro Ishinomori, a famous science fiction manga artist and pop culture figure, co-wrote the script and helped design the overall look of the film.

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Cast:

• Takayuki Akutagawa
• Peggy Lee Brennan
• Philip Casnoff
• Sonny Chiba
• Genzō Wakayama
• Shotaro Hayashi
• Hideyo Amamoto (in drag)
• Chris Isaak
• Jerry Ito
• Minken Karasawa
• Nenji Kobayashi
• Makoto Satô
• Vic Morrow
• Hirohisa Nakata
• Mikio Narita
• Masataka Naruse
• Noboru Mitani (in drag)
• Masazumi Okabe
• Mari Okamoto
• Junkichi Orimoto
• Norman Rose
• Hiroyuki Sanada
• Charles Scawthorn
• Seizō Fukumoto
• Etsuko Shihomi
• Isamu Shimizu
• Shōzō Iizuka
• Machiko Soga
• Harumi Sone
• Thunder Sugiyama
• Tetsuro Tamba