Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa (1987)

Director:

Hiroyuki Yamaga

Writers:

Mary Mason (English dialogue)
Kevin Seymour (English dialogue)

Release Date:

10 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In an alternative Earth, a young astronaut participates in a controversial fledgling space program.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Space Program | Spacecraft | Astronaut | Spaceman

Cast

Jane Alan	...	Reporter (voice: English version)
Masahiro Anzai	...	Majaho
Steve Blum	...	General's Assistant, Noble (voice: English version) (as Steven Jay Blum)
Ivan Buckley	...	Construction Worker (voice: English version) (as Jack Emmet)
Steve Bulen	...	General Khaidenn (voice: English version) (as Stevie Beeline)
Bryan Cranston	...	Matti Tohn (voice: English version)
Bambi Darro	...	Matti's Girlfriend (voice: English version)
Christopher de Groot	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Christophe de Groot)
Dorothy Elias-Fahn	...	Laughing Woman, Kid (voice: English version) (as Dorothy Melendrez)
Richard Epcar	...	Talkative Launch Tech (voice: English version)
Jonathan Fahn	...	Protester, Launch Tech (voice: English version) (as Jonathan Charles)
Tom Fahn	...	Bar Patron (voice: English version) (as Tom Charles)
Michael Forest	...	Dr. Gnomm (voice: English version) (as Alfred Thor)
Jeff Frayer	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Lena Gale	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dougary Grant	...	Prince Toness, Photographer (voice: English version)
Stanley Gurd Jr.	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Arnie Hanks	...	Karrock (voice: English version)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Space Force Trainer
Kazuo Kumakura	...	(voice)
Melody Lee	...	Riquinni Nonderaiko (voice: English version)
Wendee Lee	...	Bar Patron, News Reel Narrator (voice: English version)
Jill Lyons	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jake Martin	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Dan Martin)
Rob Matthews	...	Shirotsugh Lhadatt (voice: English version) (as Robert Matthews)
Joe Montane	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Leo Morimoto	...	Shirotsugh Lhadatt
Gorô Naya	...	(voice)
Chikao Ôtsuka	...	Dr. Gnomm
Tony Pope	...	Guy Washing Clothes (voice: English version) (as Anthony Mozdy)
Simon Prescott	...	Republic Leader (voice: English version) (as Simon Isaacson)
Joe Romersa	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Anthony Santacrose	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Bin Shimada	...	Yanaran
Kazuyuki Sogabe	...	Marty
Ellyn Stern	...	Republic News Narrator (voice: English version)
Doug Stone	...	TV Commentator, Noble, Reporter (voice: English version)
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Domorhot
Jimmy Theodore	...	Cadet With Glasses (voice: English version) (as Rudy Luzion)
Kôji Totani	...	Tchallichammi
Thomas White	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Mimi Woods	...	Test Film Narrator, Launch Countdown (voice: English version)
Dan Woren	...	Nekkerout (voice: English version) (as Warren Daniels)
Yoshito Yasuhara	...	Nekkerout
Mitsuki Yayoi	...	Riquinni Nonderaiko

Also Known As:

Starquest
Wings of Honneamise (USA)
Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | UK:PG (cut video release) | Australia:M | Canada:14A | New Zealand:M

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Quotes:

Shirotsugh Lhadatt: Aw hell, I give up. "And what I see now is - " tanks everwhere!
Marty: Open your eyes, you damn idiot, they're fakes!
Shirotsugh Lhadatt: Fakes?
[singing]
Shirotsugh Lhadatt: All around us there's nothing but fakes... Whoa! Soar with me on the biggest fake of all!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shin seiki Evangelion Gekijô-ban: Air/Magokoro wo, kimi ni (1997)

A bit slow, but has one of the best endings in all of anime.

For all the flaws in this movie (actual or perceived), I have to admit that ending has stuck with me since I first saw the dubbed version five years ago. All that fighting, all that posturing--for what? No one end up caring, no one listens to their pleas for the end of violence. It is very easy to understand how these moviemakers were able to later make Neon Genesis Evangelion, which has many of the same issues (religion, an examination of the belief that some people have that "the way justifies the means," technology and the use and misuse of it by humans, etc.).

The biggest problem I have with the movie is the attempted rape scene and the victim's subsequent forgiveness of the perpetrator (the hero of the movie). I couldn't tell whether the filmmakers were being sarcastic of her religion or if they really felt it was a good thing for her to forgive him--or if they needed that scene at all. I bought the DVD, hoping that the director's commentary would shed more light on the subject--they spend more time discussing how the cels (of the girl naked) were stolen before they could give them to friends than they did explaining the purpose of the scene in the movie.

Another thing is that Wings doesn't completely break out of the anime mold to become a mainstream film--it occasionally slips into anime-style slapstick and there's a few too much insider talk (both in technological aspects and inside jokes).

Beyond that, it is a daring, engrossing but deliberately-paced animated film.