Galaxy Express 999 (1979 movie)

## **Galaxy Express 999**

***Galaxy Express 999*** is a film directed by Rintaro, inspired by the manga and anime. The film premiered while the TV series and manga were still being released. The sequel, Adieu Galaxy Express 999, was released in 1981. The movie begins as a re-telling of the first few stories of the original manga/anime, but veers off and creates an entirely new story.

The film takes place in the year 2221. A poor boy, Tetsuro Hoshino, and his mother, travel to Megalopolis Station to try and board the Galaxy Express 999. Along the way, the two were hunted by the sinister Count Mecha, and his mother was killed. Tetsuro, who settles in the slum of Megalopolis, looks for an opportunity to get a pass for the 999, even risking his life by stealing one, but fails to make it. However, Tetsuro gets a pass from the mysterious beauty Maetel, and the duo set off from Earth on the magical train, in an effort for Tetsuro to extract his revenge by encountering Count Mecha again.

It was released in the United States on **8 August 1981** under the distribution of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, making many changes to the script and animation, cutting the runtime to 90 minutes. In 2010, Discotek licensed the film along with the sequel, releasing it on DVD in 2011 and later on Blu-ray [1]

## Summary

Escape from the police

A young boy wanders the slums of Earth, noticing the “WANTED” posters for numerous space pirates. He calls a group of children together and they run to the Galaxy Express Travel Center. At the center, a mechanized man and woman notice the poor people sitting outside, scoffing at them and saying that they should move along if they can’t afford a ticket. The woman purchases a ticket that includes access to the 999, but when the ticket appears, the boy takes it and runs off.

He tosses the pass to other children, trying to evade the cyborg police. The police catch him and tell him he’s under arrest. His pendant falls off of his neck, and a woman picks it up. He sees his mother, but her illusion fades and it is a blonde woman dressed in black. The police chase him again, but he escapes, catching the pass from the other children.

The boy is eventually cornered by the police, and sees the blonde woman at the top of a tall staircase. He runs to the top, dropping the pass from exhaustion. The woman takes him into an elevator just as the police arrive and closes the door. She brings him to a bed to rest, and uses her memory scanning device on him.

Tetsuro receives his pass

After scanning his memory, the woman sees an image of the boy and his mother on a cold, snowy night as they travel toward Megalopolis Station. They discuss how much easier life would be with mechanical bodies. The boy’s mother is shot by a trophy hunter, and she says that they must have stumbled onto Count Mecha’s grounds.

She tells him that she can’t go any further, and tells him that he must receive a mechanical body. She gives him the pendant that she was wearing and succumbs to her wound. The trophy hunters on horseback pick up her body while the boy hides in a pile of snow. He cries for his mother and swears revenge.

Back in the present, the boy wakes up and wonders where he is. He sees out the window that he’s in Megalopolis. He hears a voice coming from the hotel room’s shower, and hears a mysterious voice telling “Maetel” that the boy must never leave her sight. The boy initially confuses her for his mother. The woman introduces herself as Maetel, and says that if it wasn’t for her, he’d be in police headquarters.

The boy says he must get on the 999 at all costs to kill Count Mecha. Maetel gives him a pass for free, under the condition that they travel to the Andromeda Galaxy together. He signs the pass as Tetsuro Hoshino. Just as Tetsuro begins to become excited, the police begin to break down the hotel room door. Maetel throws a flash bomb, and the two escape.

Taking off

Tetsuro and Maetel make their way to Megalopolis Station and Tetsuro is surprised to see the Galaxy Express 999 is an old-looking train. Maetel says not to worry, it’s actually a modern space train protected by an infinite-source electro agnetic barrier. Tetsuro feels better when he sees the locomotive room.

Tetsuro looks out as he finally leaves his home planet. With tears in his eyes, he sees an illusion of the children who helped him steal a pass and his mother. Maetel sits down next to him, and tells him to look well at Earth, because the next time he sees it will be with mechanical eyes.

The 999’s conductor arrives to tell the passengers that the next stop is Titan, layover time of 16 Earth days. Maetel says that while Titan is a beautiful planet, it’s also very dangerous. Tetsuro is excited to be on a new planet, but is horrified when a man next to him is shot dead. Maetel is kidnapped, and Tetsuro is shot as well. He wakes up to the voice of an older woman asking him if he’s finally awoken.

The woman tells him that Maetel has been kidnapped by the bandits of Grape Valley. The woman tells him that everything Tetsuro has seen is normal on this planet. She tells him where to find a boat outside of her house and gives him a hat and a special type of gun. A giant space beetle carrying a small children tries to grab Tetsuro, but he shoots it down. An older man helps the child to safety, and asks Tetsuro where he got this “warrior’s gun”.

The man is introduced as Antares, the great bandit of the Grape Valley. When Tetsuro brings up Count Mecha, Antares brings him back to where the bandits live. They scan his body to see if he’s truly human or not. Maetel is also there, and they scan her body as well, threatening to disassemble there if she’s not human. Antares scans his own body as well, revealing he’s also human.

Tetsuro notices all the children around, and Antares says they’re all orphans, their parents killed by Count Mecha. Count Mecha resides in a Time Castle, the location known to one person who doesn’t reveal it: Female pirate Emeraldas. Antares says if she wants to find Tetsuro, she will. Antares gives Tetsuro one piece of advice: If you find Count Mecha, shoot first, ask questions later.

Tetsuro and Maetel return to the old woman, who lets him keep the hat and gun. It was a keepsake for her son who died who went on many journeys. The 999 leaves Titan, and the Conductor says that the next stop is Pluto, layover time for 6.39 days.

Pluto

Maetel holds Tetsuro close for warmth, reminding him of time with his mother. Once on Pluto, Maetel leaves Tetsuro to attend to other matters. She tells him to not leave the city limits. Tetsuro later finds her in the icy graveyard, mourning over a body. A woman appears to Tetsuro, saying her name is Shadow, the gravekeeper.

She invites Tetsuro to come with her to show him her old body. Tetsuro tries to struggle and get away, but Shadow wants him to stay with her forever. Maetel arrives and Shadow becomes frightened, weeping at the casket of her old body. The two leave Shadow alone and return to the 999 as Shadow looks on.

Tetsuro wonders who Maetel was looking at in the graveyard. He begins to use her memory scanning device while Maetel is sleeping, but stops at the last moment, stomping on the device. They go to the dining cart where they meet Claire, a woman made of glass. Tetsuro is fascinated to meet her.

The lights go out when the 999 enters a tunnel and Claire’s body begins to shine even brighter. She escorts him to the front of the train where there’s a loud crash. The Conductor is alerted that a ship is flying above them. A voice comes from the ship addressing the train as Emeraldas, demanding that the 999 slow down.

Queen Emeraldas

Tetsuro shoots at the Queen Emeraldas to get her attention, and the ship fires back in retaliation. Emeraldas herself boards the train asking who shot at her train. She disarms Tetsuro and notices his gun. She recognizes Maetel as well, asking where the original owner of Tetsuro’s gun and hat are. Neither of them know, to Emeraldas’ dismay.

Tetsuro asks Emeraldas’ where Count Mecha’s Time Castle will appear next. She says that it will appear at Trader’s Fork next, which is conveniently the next stop for the 999. Claire is very worried for Tetsuro’s safety and wants the 999 to skip stopping at Trader’s Fork, but the Conductor says that skipping a station is impossible

The 999 arrives on Heavy Melder and Tetsuro goes off alone to try and find out more about the Time Castle. He goes into a saloon and hears the voice of a woman singing a song. The crowd applauds her and burst into tears. When Tetsuro asks about the Time Castle, the barkeeper takes him to a room alone, scolding him for trying to fight Count Mecha.

The man tells Tetsuro to go to Mt. Gun Frontier and says someone there will know where the Time Castle will appear next. Tetsuro drives off on a motorbike to Gun Frontier and crashes in front of an abandoned-looking ship. A man comes out with a bird on his shoulder, wearing the same hat as Tetsuro. Tetsuro realizes that he’s the son of the woman from Titan!

Time Castle

Tochiro says that his time is nearly up and isn’t interested in talking to Tetsuro until he says that Emeraldas is looking for him. Tochiro says that at midnight, the Time Castle will appear at Mt. Gun Frontier. He asks Tetsuro to pull the lever down when he lies down, and asks him to shoot Count Mecha. Tochiro says he will now become one with the Arcadia.

Tetsuro buries Tochiro, placing his hat on his grave. Men from the saloon confront Tetsuro and beat him up, leaving him. A man appears in front of Tochiro’s grave. Tetsuro returns to the saloon and demands his gun back. Captain Harlock appears and forces milk down the mans throat, rusting his mechanical body.

Tetsuro and Harlock meet up with Maetel and Emeraldas, and Harlock stops Tetsuro before he can tell Emeraldas about Tochiro’s death. Harlock tells her himself, and Emeraldas walks away alone. Tetsuro goes and finds the vast Time Castle. He sneaks his way inside and walks through the castle.

He enters a room where he sees the body of his mother being used as a trophy. The woman from the saloon appears, as does Count Mecha. Tetsuro says he’s come to avenge his mother. A cloaked man shoots the gun out of Tetsuro’s hand. It’s revealed to be Antares in disguise, who helps Tetsuro. Mecha escapes with the woman with Tetsuro trailing.

Tetsuro shoots off Mecha’s arm but listens to his pleas to spare him. Antares jumps in the way just as Mecha fires a gun, hitting him. Mecha seals himself behind a glass wall with Ryuz, instructing her to move time forward. She hesitates, and Antares says his unexploded bullets will lead to destruction, and urges Tetsuro to get out of the way. He warns him not to trust Maetel before exploding. The blast breaks the glass and Tetsuro quickly shoots Count Mecha in the head.

Tetsuro doesn’t know why Ryuz is helping him, but she says that he reminded her of her past. She urges him to go as her body turns into rust. Tetsuro escapes as the Time Castle begins to collapse. He places Ryuz’s guitar outside the remains of the Time Castle. Tetsuro tells Maetel and Captain Harlock that he wants to go the planet where he can get a free mechanical body so he can destroy it.

Planet Maetel

Back on the 999, Maetel congratulates Tetsuro for avenging his mother. He notices that she seems to be depressed as they get closer to the final station as he hears Antares’ last words in his head. The Conductor announces the final stop: Planet Maetel. Tetsuro is sound asleep, however, and doesn’t hear the announcement.

The 999 arrives on Planet Maetel and Tetsuro hears the name of the station, much to his surprise. He’s greeted by mechanical servants who address Maetel as “your highness”. The servants say that Tetsuro has impressive qualities, but since he killed their hero in Count Mecha, he will receive the punishment of becoming a mechanized component of Planet Maetel. Tetsuro slaps Maetel, saying she tricked him before he’s knocked out and dragged away.

Tetsuro is brought before Promethium, Queen of the Mechanized Empire. She says they will be turning him into a bolt. Maetel races to the operating room, and Promethium addresses her as her daughter. A voice is heard from Maetel’s pendant, which Promethium recognizes as Dr. Ban, Maetel’s late father.

Maetel says that she must go against her mother, and Promethium asks if she truly wants to betray the one who gave her life. She says that the pendant Maetel holds could lead to the destruction of the planet. A servant tells Promethium that enemy ships have been detected. Off on the Arcadia, Captain Harlock tells his crew that Tetsuro is not to receive a scratch and must return to Earth safely. Emeraldas also joins in on helping.

Maetel begins to throw the pendant into the core of the planet but hesitates. Promethium tries to grab it and it falls in the air and into Tetsuro’s hands. He throws it into the core of Plane Maetel and the planet begins to collapse. Tetsuro and Maetel escape the destruction and return to the 999.

Just when it seems they’ve come to safety, Promethium appears behind Tetsuro and strangles him. Claire grabs onto the back of her and her body begins to glow. Promethium’s body begins to erode and vanish. Planet Maetel explodes, leaving nothing behind. The Conductor dumps out Claire’s remains except for a single glass tear that Tetsuro keeps with him. Harlock and Emeraldas wish Tetsuro and Maetel farewell.

Maetel says she’s off to Pluto for her original body. When the time comes, they will meet again, but Tetsuro will not recognize her. She kisses him goodbye and boards the train. Tetsuro runs alongside the train waving goodbye to Maetel, crying initially but smiling as she begins to leave the planet.

*"Now, carrying with it a thousand thoughts, the whistle blows one more. Now, carrying with it a thousand thoughts, the train departs once more. As one journey ends, a new one is about to begin. Farewell, Maetel. Farewell, Galaxy Express 999. Farewell days of youth."*

## Promotion

**Commercial** **Trailer #1****Trailer #2**
The film was released during the summer vacation for students in 1979. At the initial press conference for the film, Toei Co. president Shigeru Okada set a target goal for ¥1 billion, aiming at middle school and high school students. The final gross for the film exceeded Okada's target by far, grossing ¥2.65 billion, becoming the highest grossing film of the year in Japan.

## Production

 12-13 September
 14-15 September
 16 September
 21 September
 23 September
 29 September-1 October
 16 October

## Cast

### Additional Voices

* Original: Kouji Totani
* New World Pictures dub: Booker Bradshaw, Gary Seeger, Dicey Adams, Jill Fisher
* Ocean Studios dub: Ward Perry, Karl Willems

## Staff

* Director – **Rintaro**
* Script – **Fumio Ishimori**
* Music – **Nozomi Aoki**
* Theme Song Composition – **Yukihide Takekawa**
* Original creator – **Leiji Matsumoto**
* Character Design – **Kazuo Komatsubara**
* Art – **Tadao Kubota**,**Takamura Mukuo**
* Animation Director – **Kazuo Komatsubara**
* Mechanical design – **Katsumi Itabashi**
* Executive producer – **Chiaki Imada**
* Assistant Animation Director – **Kōichi Tsunoda**
* Assistant Art Director – **Akira Yamakawa**
* Assistant Director – **Masayuki Oozeki**, **Takao Yoshizawa**
* Background Art – **Akira Yamaguchi**, **Emiko Kashige**, **Kenji Makimoto**, **Kenji Matsumoto**, **Masazumi Matsumiya**, **Masuo Nakayama**, **Shizuko Kawamura**, **Takafumi Katou**, **Yasushi Nakamura**, **Yoshiharu Ishigaki**
* Camera – **Masatoshi Fukui**, **Toshio Katayama**, **Yukio Katayama**
* In-Between Animation – **Hiromi Seino**, **Keiko Koizumi**, **Keiko Matsumura**, **Keiko Nagai**, **Kimiharu Obata**, **Kimiko Tamazawa**, **Mao Takahashi**, **Mari Okuda**, **Masahiko Imai**, **Momoko Ueno**, **Nobuhiro Aihara**, **Noriko Hara**, **Reiko Kurihara**, **Tadashi Fukuda**, **Takenori Mihara**, **Toru Yamada**, **Yasuhiro Nakura**, **Yasushi Hirakawa**, **Yoshie Komatsu**, **Yuka Hotani**, **Yumiko Hayahara**, **Yuri Hand**, **Yuzumi Enosawa**
* In-Between Check – **Yutaka Arai**
* Key Animation – **Chūichi Iguchi**, **Chūji Nakajima**, **Eikichi Takahashi**, **Emiko Tsukima**, **Hiroshi Oikawa**, **Johji Manabe**, **Kazuhide Tomonaga**, **Kenzo Koizumi**, **Nobumichi Kawamura**, **Reiko Kuwahara**, **Shigeo Matoba**, **Tomeko Horikawa**, **Yoshinobu Inano**, **Yoshinori Kanada**, **Yoshinori Kanemori**
* Orchestra Conductor – **Hiroshi Kumagai**
* Planning – **Ken Ariga**, **Leiji Matsumoto**, **Yoshio Takami**
* Production manager – Saburo Yokoi

## Music

**Note from the admin: It is important to know the distinction between the set of BGM pieces between the TV series, this movie, and Adieu Galaxy Express 999. While the TV series and this film share the same composer, the pieces are not the same. For example, M-2 from the TV series and M-2 from this movie are NOT the same!**

## Availability

After the release of the film in theaters, it was released for home video in Japan and the United States in the following:

Movie Version "Galaxy Express 999" Galaxy Box (Japan, LaserDisc)Galaxy Express 999: The Signature Edition (United States, VHS)Galaxy Express 999 DVD-BOX The Movie (Japan, DVD)Galaxy Express 999 (United States, DVD)Movie Version "Galaxy Express 999" Box (Japan, Blu-ray)Galaxy Express 999: The Movie (United States, Blu-ray)
## Changes

**Note from the admin: For this section, the manga and TV series will be referred to as the source material, as this film is an adaptation (or retelling) of those.**

* In the source material, Count Mecha's role is significantly reduced. He is killed immediately after Maetel rescues Tetsuro from the snow, and Tetsuro returns to his lair. All of this is done within one chapter/episode.
* While Harlock and Emeraldas do appear in the source material, their appearances are minor, with the main focus of the episodes going towards a "copycat" version of the character.
* In the film, Ryuz is shown to be working for Count Mecha. In the source material, she is only working for herself and no mention is ever made of Count Mecha in her story.
* In the source material, Antares invades the 999 and forces it to return to his home planet. In this film, Antares is found on Titan.
* This is the first usage of the Time Castle in Galaxy Express 999, as the episode/chapter involving the Time Castle from the source material would not come until later.

## External Links

The follow databooks contain information about this film:

* **Galaxy Express 999 FANTASTIC ALBUM PART 6**
* **Galaxy Express 999 FANTASTIC ALBUM PART 7**
* **Galaxy Express 999 ROMAN Album**

This story can also be read in these other formats:

* **Futami Shobo Novel**
* **Shueisha Novel**
* **Young Novel**
* **Junior Novel**
* **Galaxy Express 999 Theater Anime Mook**

The following music releases contain pieces and/or songs from this film:

* **THE GALAXY EXPRESS 999 / TAKING OFF!**
* **Symphonic Poem Galaxy Express 999**
* **Toei Movie Galaxy Express 999 Original Soundtrack**
* **Toei Movie "Galaxy Express 999" Original Soundtrack Drama-hen**
* **Galaxy Express 999 Theme Hit Song Collection**
* **All About Leiji Matsumoto: SF World of Romance**
* **Memorial Song Collection: 1 Galaxy Express 999**
* **Time Trip CD Series: The World of Leiji Matsumoto**
* **The Music Encyclopedia of Leiji Matsumoto 1999**
* **GALAXY EXPRESS 999 ETERNAL EDITION File No.1&2**

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