Message from Space (1978)

The Japanese attempt to get in on the Star Wars craze, Message from Space unfortunately did not have any costume designer credit at all, so I can't give any name to the various costumes of the film.. The bulk of the human characters in the film just wear off-the-rack contemporary clothing, but it can be safe to assume the main cast all had most of their costumes bespoke made, rather than bought. The two main leads Aaron (Phillip Casnoff) and Shiro (Hiroyuki Sanada) both wear white racing jumpsuits of different designs; Aaron's is buttoned up and has chevrons of yellow, red and dark blue, while Shiro's consists of a biker-style jacket and flares with brown stripes and panels.

Meia's (Peggy Lee Brennan) wears two lovely dresses that are similar in design, and thus designed for the picture; the first one she wears is black with silver trim, and worn over an orange shirt, that noticeably has asymmetrical sleeves with one being shorter than the other.

Meia's second outfit is a glittery green top with a downwards pointing black triangular panel, worn with a headscarf of a similar material, and worn over dark green leggings.

Jack (Masazumi Okabe), being a sleazy huckster, dresses in an overcompensating fashion, wearing a jacket and straw hat of silvery patterning; his flat cap and windbreaker jacket are made of the same material, indicating the jackets and hats were bespoke made for Okabe.

Jack is introduced in a bar, whose patrons are entertained by dancers wearing these golden headdresses and chest pieces.

Slightly More restrained are the various uniforms worn by Garuda (Vic Morrow), who is introduced wearing a light blue uniform with large white lapels and buckles instead of buttons; considering the other military characters' uniforms are all rented or bought from uniform suppliers, this must have been bespoke made for Morrow to wear.

Garuda's dress uniform is again bespoke-made and is much more archaic in design, being a double-breasted red jacket with golden trim all over, worn with white trousers.

When going into combat, Garuda wears a silver zip-up jackets and trousers that slightly resembles racing gear, but I feel was also specially made for Morrow in the film.

The film's plot involves the leader of the people of Jillucia, Emeralida (Etsuko Shihomi), trying to enlist warriors to help her fight off the aggressive 'Gavanas Empire' - and Emeralida is always dressed in a white gown, worn with silver necklaces, and the gown itself adorned with shiny dotted pieces all over. It's more striking than Leia's plain dress in the original Star Wars, honestly.

Of course, the design highlight of the film are the Gavanas themselves, in particular their leader Rockseia (Mikio Narita) who is clad in an orante armored suit, covered in golden trim - in particular it is the helmet that is the most striking aspect, sculpted with three pairs of horns and a skull motif over the forehead. The rest of the Gavanas' outfits follow the same general design, except having dark green vinyl vests (with what look like ammo rounds attached) over their armor, and only one pair of horns. Some of the Gavanas soldiers wear gas masks designed to look like they are glaring, in a manner similar to the skull-like helmets of the Star Wars films. Rockseia and his officers wear patterned capes.

Hans (Sonny Chiba), the rightful heir of the Gavanas throne, is dressed in a less obviously 'evil' armor design, this one being more grey in colour but still with detailing around the chest and waist - his helmet also is slightly different, having a crest on its top in addition to the horns.

Lastly is Rocksia's mother, played by Hideyo Amamoto, who wears a plain red gown but with a ornately designed crown.