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Makoto Tezuka's The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985) is playing exclusively on Mubi starting March 18, 2021 in many countries in the series Rediscovered.It’s ironic that Legend of the Stardust Brothers, a film about the meteoric rise, fall, and disappearance of two pop idols, nearly suffered the same fate as its protagonists. A giddy live-action cartoon full of surprising cameos, the film’s plot is sketched around insanely catchy tunes by eclectic pop musician and TV personality Hauro Chikada mocking industry, government, celebrity and scene drama. The anarchic musical was the first feature from up-and-comer Tezka, nee Makoto Tezuka, who at 22 had already garnered national attention for his creative shorts. Family name recognition probably didn’t hurt, as he was also the son of “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka (creator of “Astroboy”). The film is a charming time capsule of Japan at the dawn of its booming bubble economy, and...

Stars: Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kyoko Togawa, Kiyohiko Ozaki | Written and Directed by Macoto Tezuka

The Legend of the Stardust Brothers was made all the way back in 1985. I was only two years old; Back to the Future, The Goonies, Weird Science and The Breakfast Club were enchanting cinema goers by the millions; New Coke was introduced in the USA to very little fanfare and our friends over in Japan released this movie, a movie that I, until very recently, hadn’t heard anything about. It seems I’m not alone though, as the film flopped in its native Japan and even remains unknown to the majority of folks to this day. Strange. Needless to say, I was excited to check it out once I read the premise and heard the riveting backstory behind it.

The backstory to the film, which I found quite intriguing, would see the son of...

In 1985, Macoto Tezka (son of the great manga artist Osamu Tezuka) met musician and TV personality Haruo Chicada who had made a soundtrack to a movie which didn’t actually exist: The Legend of the Stardust Brothers.

At the time Macoto was just 22 years old, a film-student with many short experimental films under his belt, but yet to make a feature-debut and of course had the pressure of the Tezuka name. With Chicada as producer, Tezka then adapted this “fake soundtrack” into the real movie story of “The Stardust Brothers”.

With inspiration from “Phantom of the Paradise” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Tezuka assembled a cast of some of Japan’s most famous musicians of the time, including such greats as Kiyohiko Ozaki, Issay, Sunplaza Nakano and Hiroshi Takano, alongside many famous names in Manga such as Monkey Punch (Lupin the 3rd), Shinji Nagashima (Hanaichi Monme), Yosuke Takahashi (Mugen Shinsi...

Stars: Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kyoko Togawa, Kiyohiko Ozaki | Written and Directed by Macoto Tezuka

The Legend of the Stardust Brothers was made all the way back in 1985. I was only two years old; Back to the Future, The Goonies, Weird Science and The Breakfast Club were enchanting cinema goers by the millions; New Coke was introduced in the USA to very little fanfare and our friends over in Japan released this movie, a movie that I, until very recently, hadn’t heard anything about. It seems I’m not alone though, as the film flopped in its native Japan and even remains unknown to the majority of folks to this day. Strange. Needless to say, I was excited to check it out once I read the premise and heard the riveting backstory behind it.

The backstory to the film, which I found quite intriguing, would see the son of...

At 22 years old, Macoto Tezuka, the son of legendary manga artist and anime director Osamu Tezuka, was still a film-student who was yet to make his feature debut when he met musician Haruo Chicada, who had made a soundtrack; a soundtrack for a movie that didn’t even exist! Inspired by the record, Tezuka set out to adapt it into his first feature length film “The Legend of the Stardust Brothers”. Thirty-four years after its release, Third Window Films are set to release the film on home video with a brand new restoration and a fresh Director’s Cut of the film, in the process introducing a majority of the western as well as Japanese audience to the film.

“The Legend of the Stardust Brothers” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sdaff)

The film begins with a stark black & white sequence in a futuristic nightclub where the host...

Third Window Films is pleased to announce the World Premiere release of the new master of Macoto Tezuka’s 1985 debut film “The Legend of the Stardust Brothers”

In 1985, Macoto Tezka (son of the great manga artist Osamu Tezuka) met musician and TV personality Haruo Chicada who had made a soundtrack to a movie which didn’t actually exist: The Legend of the Stardust Brothers.

At the time Macoto was just 22 years old, a film-student with many short experimental films under his belt, but yet to make a feature-debut and of course had the pressure of the Tezuka name. With Chicada as producer, Tezka then adapted this “fake sountrack” into the real musical story of “The Stardust Brothers”.

With inspiration from “Phantom of the Paradise” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Tezuka assembled a cast of some of Japan’s most famous musicians of the time, including such greats as Kiyohiko Ozaki,...