Space Travelers

What a great film this is! The director of Bayside Shakedown returns with this fantastic movie which will bring out the kid in all of us.

The film's action sequences are top notch, at times even better than Hollywood. The comedy level in the film is very, very high.

Now, it seems for a moment that this is a regular action comedy but guess what - apart from the action and comedy, the film is also a pinching satire on Japanese media, police force and the entertainment industry.

I would give this film a perfect 10 if not for the end.

The film opens up giving us a feeling that this is one roller coaster ride we'll never forget. But then in the end, the film suddenly goes into a very sad mode. My God - it disappointed me!!!!!!

Screw the ending. Check this film out. You'll love it!

I was lucky enough to be in Singapore at the time of the release of this movie, and I'm certainly glad for it. The movie was one of the more artistic and stylish action movies that I have ever seen, with some libertine cinematography and a dash of the fantastic. I'm not a big fan of subtitles, but the humor shines through in any language, and it's definitely worth seeing.

Although it is a "bank heist gone wrong" movie, it is surprisingly well done, with vibrant--if slightly shallow--characters, understated and well-placed special effects, a hip, hip soundtrack, and a good sense of humor about itself. Highly recommended.

SPACE TRAVELERS is a comic thriller about three men (Takeshi

Kaneshiro, Masanobu Ando and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), orphans all,

who decide to rob a bank just before closing time to finance their

escape to a tropical paradise. Plans, as they often do, go south

and the trio ends up trapped in the locked-down bank with an

eclectic and eccentric collection of staff and customers, each of

whom corresponds to characters in an anime show adored by one

of the robbers (Ando, the psycho kid in BATTLE ROYALE). In short

order, the hostages realize their captors are actually misguided

losers and decide to help them out, adopting character names

from the anime and making the growing throngs of cops outside

think the gang is much bigger than it really is and, in the process,

discovering untapped potential and new senses of purpose in

their mundane lives. A fast-paced, often touching piece of work,

with extremely well-drawn characters.

The dynamic animation and list of characters in this film's opening scene might lead you to believe that what you are about to view is either an animated film, or a mixture of animated and live action sequences. Neither is really true. Like 1997's Cat's Eye, the opening scene is the longest stretch of animation in the film. However, unlike Cat's Eye, this movie is not actually based on a comic. This is a classic bank heist gone wrong. Takeshi Kaneshiro, in a performance more like those in his television dramas than in his notable screen successes, leads a psychotic Hiroyuki Ikeuchi and a nervous Masanobu Ando through the doors of the bank at closing time. Their goal: to take the staff and patrons hostage, and liberate the institution of its assets. As their plan begins to deteriorate, Ando provides the team with fresh motivation by assigning them with character names from a comic book that he is obsessed with, allowing them to escape the severity of the situation (and the boredom of their own lives) by living that fantasy.

Space Travelers is a stylish action comedy with a decent soundtrack and a lot of pretty faces. It isn't exactly a brain-teaser, but that can play in your favour. If you are faced with an un-subtitled version, the visual comedy and slick action shots should be able to maintain your interest.

I bought the dvd after reading a couple of good reviews and a interesting synopsis. I like the idea that instead of a live action anime that would never work (like Dragonball live action) they instead had a character resemblance movie. That was a clever idea to execute the movie and at the same time make it closely based on a Japanese animation. However 30 minutes into the movie it became a disaster case. It was unbelievablely corny. Anyone who finds this movie good, has serious problems and has absolutely no taste in movies what so ever.