by Tyler E. Martin » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:49 pm
Sorry to exhume this prehistoric thread, but I just watched Sayonara Jupiter for the first time (via Netflix), and didn't want to make another one to essentially serve the same purpose.
Now, I had heard that this movie was bad, but DANG. It seriously makes almost no sense and feels even longer than it actually is. Granted, it's got some truly marvelous effects work--the melting of the polar ice caps on Mars at the beginning was my favorite bit, and there are plenty of other sequences that are genuinely awe-inspiring...but that's unfortunately enough to save it from a script, cast, and overall execution that all rank among the very worst I've ever witnessed in a professionally made film.
This picture deserves a "WTH Moments" thread all its own, as it's stuffed to the brim with them. There is, of course, the infamous shark/dolphin sequence and the equally hilarious song that follows, and the "sex" scene that doesn't end and serves no real narrative purpose...but then, one could say that about at least half of the film's remainder. But to give the movie credit, I did laugh out loud quite a few times.
It bothers me that Akihiko Hirata was even in this piece of $#!+, but that it was his last film makes me genuinely sad for the man. For such a fine actor whose presence in so many earlier films in the genre made them that much more enjoyable to be thrown away like he is here rubs me the wrong way. And to add insult to injury, the last shot we see of him is with his face smushed against the glass in a very silly manner...right before his hand goes flying? Oh yeah, and Millie once loved him, a long time ago...but that apparently isn't too important, because it's only mentioned as an afterthought in what, two scenes?
Seriously Toho, WTF?