AKA: Bye Bye Jupiter
Country and Year: Japan (1984)
Director: Koji Hashimoto and Sakyo Komatsu
Starring: Tomokazu Miura, Diane Dangely, Rachael Huggett, Akihiko Hirata

Review By: David Austin
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars (average)

The scamps behind Mystery Science Theater once described the perfect sort of movie for their show. It wasn’t enough that a movie be bad, or stupid, or cheap. All those elements were necessary but not sufficient. The key was that the movie not only be unaware that it is bad, but that it have aspirations not only to be good but to be great, to be meaningful. Anyone can goof on ‘50s sci-fi or Ed Wood films, but not every film can perfectly marry delusions of grandeur with utter incompetence. Sayonara Jupiter is such a movie. It is truly as lovely a piece of early 80s camp as one could ask for. Almost every aspect of the film, from the acting, to the dialogue, to the plotting, is simultaneously mind-bogglingly silly and deadly serious.

Oddly, especially in light of the above-mentioned flaws, Sayonara Jupiter evinces some highly impressive technical merits. The model work (a Toho specialty, though here produced by innovative contract workers) is superb. The various miniature spacecraft on display are detailed and creative, striking an interesting balance between the nifty gewgaws of Star Wars and the photo realism of 2001: A Space Odyssey (much as Sayonara Jupiter treads the line between Star Wars’s triumphalism and 2001’s moody metaphysics). The cinematography, blue-screen work and computer-generated effects are also expertly done, capturing a number of arresting images, from the storm-ridden atmosphere of Jupiter to armadas of spacecraft maneuvering and docking. All credit to the technical wizards behind this project – they’ve done a fantastic job. If only the softer arts of acting and screenwriting hadn’t let them down the effects crews so miserably.

It doesn’t help that the plot is a mish-mash of elements that recall superior films. The primary influences on Sayonara Jupiter are clearly the aforementioned Star Wars, 2001 (and its sequel 2010), and Japan’s own Gorath. In fact, creators Tomoyuki Tanaka, producer of the Godzilla series, and Komatsu Sakyo, one of Japan’s most prominent science-fiction authors, initiated the project in the wake of Star Wars, though it took another 7 years to reach the big screen. Screenwriter Sakyo states that he did not want simply to make a Japanese Star Wars. True to his word he did not (you’ll have to check out Message from Space for that particular treat). However, though Sayonara Jupiter ultimately is its own movie, large, undigested pieces of other films are easily recognized.

For example, Sayonara Jupiter begins with the accidental discovery of giant runes on Mars that match ancient Nazca carvings in Peru, and point toward a mysterious alien presence on Jupiter. Sayonara Jupiter also duplicates Kubrick’s upside down shots of passengers in space, and similarly utilizes imagery of slowly-maneuvering vehicles in the void of space. After getting 2001 out of its system, Sayonara Jupiter shifts gears, stealing the major plot point from Gorath of an enormous threat approaching our solar system. Here, instead of the rogue planetoid in Gorath, the human race is threatened by a black hole. (In the later Armageddon, it would be a meteor. Hollywood action cinema of the 1990s found a fertile field in earlier Japanese films like Gorath and Bullet Train, the inspiration for Speed.) Elements from other pictures also turn up here and there - a laser battle and transition via camera wipes from Star Wars (though as Lucas took the latter from Kurosawa, and director Hashimoto was a former A.D. for Kurosawa, this one may be come by honestly), title credits from Superman. We are also treated to some incredibly gratuitous product placement, with cameos by Coke and “Space McDonalds.” Oddly, considering Sayonara Jupiter is itself such a scavenger, I suspect at least one major Hollywood picture, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, was in part inspired by Sayonara Jupiter.

Slapped into this colossal cosmic plot of alien forces and destructive black holes are a particularly stupid batch of human protagonists. Our hero, Eiji Honda, a strapping man’s man, heads the Jupiter Solarization Project, devoted to turning Jupiter into a second sun. He is assisted by scientists including Dr. Webb (William Tapier), who looks remarkably like Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes; Carlos (Marc Panthona), the requisite teenager for young people to identify with, and Millie (Rachel Huggett), a “space linguist.” When the black hole is discovered, Honda suggests blowing up Jupiter in a last ditch attempt to divert the menace.

Opposing Honda’s crew are the lowest scum of the universe – space hippies! Actually, the environmentalist “Jupiter Church” is not all bad – though leader Peter bears a frightening resemblance to Aum Shinrikyo guru Shoko Asahara and subjects the audience to appalling pop songs – but within this group of New Agey beach-lovers is a hard core of violent terrorists who oppose Eiji’s plan for somewhat opaque reasons. Led by Anita (Miyuki Ono), this group also includes Maria (Diane Dangely), Honda’s old flame. Fortunately for the terrorists, the Jupiter project is remarkably easy to infiltrate. Honestly, how hard can it be to maintain security on a space station, let alone one with presumably unlimited access to military forces? Even the control room is covered with graffiti, like the set from a Death Wish film. I guess you can’t expect much from people who make their elite astronauts wear ponchos even though it can’t rain in space.

“Epic” would be one way to describe this story. “Schizophrenic” would be another. Characters wander in and out of the narrative at will. At one point, a Dr. Mansur is introduced in a manner that suggests that he is a major character. After we follow him for some time, he disappears entirely from the film. Major plot points suffer the same fate. The initial premise of the film relates to the discovery of the mysterious alien runes, and much time is spent discussing them and exploring their portents. Yet, at the end of the film, I found myself wondering whether it would have made any difference at all if the entire “alien” story thread had been removed (any difference aside from a significantly shorter runtime, that is). Sure, in real life events that seem significant might fade away in the face of more important events, but this is a movie. If a storyline doesn’t matter to the plot, and sheds no light on the characters, cut it out! These problems only serve to highlight the main thing preventing Sayonara Jupiter have being a perfect so-bad-it’s-good classic - it is WAY too long.

Nevertheless, aficionados of camp will find much more to appreciate here than the special effects. In scene after ridiculous scene, Sayonara Jupiter bares its mawkish heart. In one segment, Peter’s incredibly fake pet dolphin must fight an equally fake shark, leading to an emotional song featuring flashback footage of the dolphin with lyrics like “You were very big.” We are also treated to a zero-gravity love scene between Eiji and Maria that prominently features superimposed naked asses floating through the cosmos (I refuse to make a “Uranus” joke, as strong as the temptation may be) and is followed by a very suggestive shot of a spaceship. You can also tell, despite the large amount of gaijin actors, that this was a Japanese production because all the girls dig Japanese guys. Turnabout is fair play – when Hollywood sets movies in Asia, the girls are always swooning over Sean Connery or Tom Cruise.

Recommended? A-list effects in the service of a C-list plot. Fans of campy 80s films and detailed sci-fi model work will appreciate this one.

If you like this, you might like: War in Space, 2001, Star Wars, Atragon, Gorath, Zardoz

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DVD DETAILS

DVD Production Company: Discotek (www.discotekmedia.com)
Release Date: January 30, 2007
Run Time: 129 Min

Extras:

Discotek brings Sayonara Jupiter to Region 1 DVD with a nicely restored 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen print. There are two options for audio: “English” and ”Japanese.” “English” is what you would think, though most characters are ridiculously dubbed. The “Japanese” option has certain characters speaking Japanese, but many of the international crew speak English, albeit poorly. The effect isn’t unlike that in Star Wars, where characters carry out bilingual conversations, each in their native tongue.

Discotek has not skimped on the extras. There is a very detailed photo section which includes stills, behind the scenes and publicity shots, and even schematics of the models, together with helpful captions and menus. There is also a lengthy “Making of” documentary for those curious about the special effects, and a number of essays and press pieces by the films creators and crew. Finally, every member of the cast and crew of even marginal importance gets a biography. Winning the award for oddest extra is a contemporary essay by Yuko Weisser of Asian Cult Cinema magazine, who talks about how the film inspired her avant-garde theatre troupe. It’s a great presentation - more than one would ever expect for this film.

© David Austin