During the ’80s, I hung out with a crowd that appreciated weird and innovative films. We’d drive from Raleigh to Chapel Hill to see them at the Varsity or rent them from various shops in the Triangle. We’d stay up late to see catch one on USA’s Night Flight. We’d even get duped VHS tapes from various (and perhaps illegal) sources. If a person described a movie by saying, “You won’t believe this exists”; I had to track it down or at least put it in my notebook to find at a later date. Movies about musical acts were always demanded. We hunted down Peter Watkins’ Privilege, Derek Jarmen’s Jubilee, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (coming out on 4K UHD in January), Decoder with members of Psychic TV & Einstürzende Neubauten and even Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap (which wasn’t popular in 1985 since I saw it in a 500-seat theater with 2 other people). At the height of the ’80s weirdness, nobody near me mentioned The Legend of the Stardust Brothers from Japan. But I’m going to tell you about it, so you won’t miss out.
At a nightclub’s battle of the bands, two different sounding groups face off. First up is the punk London Boots fronted by the leather clad Kan (Kan Takagi). After they wrap up, the stage is reset for the New Wave sounds of Super Car with lead singer Shingo (Shingo Kubota). While things get tense backstage between the bands, an agent for Atomic Promotion arrives with an offer for both singers to sign with his company. They have a plan to turn them into superstars. The singers arrive at the ominous headquarters and meet with president Atomic Minami (His Motorbike, Her Island & House’s Kiyohiko Ozaki). When Shingo tries to give him a demo tape of a new song, Atomic has a laser beam set the cassette on fire. He’s got a plan that involves passing Kan and Shingo off as long-lost brothers finally reunited. They will be the Stardust Brothers. He gets them new haircuts and dresses them in silver spacesuits. He slams them in the studio and presses out their first album in record time. Did I mention Atomic sings this business plan? The “brothers” become overnight sensations with fan letters clogging up the mailbox. But the newfound fame gets them to thinking that one of them is “star” while the other is “dust.” Fame hits hard on the duo as they embrace the pop idol lifestyle. It’s hard to tell if they are suffering from mental breakdowns or just making a new music video. Can they sustain their partnership at the top? Or will the music business chew them up and spit them out before they can completely self-destruct when Kaoru (Issay) arrives on the charts?
What’s extra interesting is the movie is based on the concept album The Legend of The Stardust Brothers by Haruo Chicada. He made it as a soundtrack to a non-existent movie in 1980. Except five years later, there was a movie. He had achieved his dream of creating the music to a film that goes well with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Phantom of the Paradise. The stars of the film, Kan Takagi and Shingo Kubota sing all their songs. Even fan club president Marimo (Kyôko Togawa) gets a tune. Kiyohiko Ozaki is marvelous which shouldn’t be a surprise since he was a pop singer previously. The songs are great as they comment on the action.
So why didn’t we see The Legend of the Stardust Brothers back in the mid-80s? Why didn’t MTV or Night Flight run it late night? Turns out the film didn’t do well in Tokyo back in 1985. Maybe it was a bit too wild for the audience especially the ending when Shingo and Kan reunite in front of a disinterested audience. There was no plucky North American distributor back then that would risk a release on the movie that wasn’t at least cult big in Japan. The movie didn’t gain a proper cult status until around 2010 when England’s Third Window Films rejuvenated the movie by playing it at festivals as a lost classic. The movie finally found an audience eager for the Stardust sounds.
If you like any of the other films that I’ve mentioned so far, The Legend of the Stardust Brothers is perfect for you. Director Makoto Tezuka mixes a cinematic musical with scenes that feel like videos you would have seen Martha Quinn introduce. It’s a brilliant film about the music that speaks more about the truth of the industry than spoofs it. The Legend of the Stardust Brothers dazzles the eyes and ears after 40 years.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The 1080p film has the grainy joy of originally being shot on Super 16mm. Things have the colorful pop found in early MTV videos. The Audio is Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0. The movie sounds great for a rock musical. The movie is subtitled in English.
Making of (44:51) is presented by Atomic TV News. It’s great behind the scenes footage to give a sense of the scope of the production even if they only used a Super16 camera. There’s interview with the stars and crew. We get a clip from Makoto Tezuka’s early film Moment which is a musical too.
Director Interview (25:06) is a recent chat. He talks about making a 75 minute movie on 8mm that played at college film societies and Berlin. During promotion for this film, he met Haruo Chicada. This is how he found about the “fake soundtrack.” Chicada wanted him to come up with a real story and script. They couldn’t find a film company since it didn’t seem profitable when proposed as a 35mm film. But when they went indie, they got sponsorship from a department store that wanted to get into film production.
Trailer (2:23) makes it look like a TV screen showing the film.
SRS presents The Legend Of The Stardust Brothers. Directed by Makoto Tezuka. Screenplay by Makoto Tezuka. Starring Shingo Kubota, Kan Takagi, Kiyohiko Ozaki and Kyôko Togawa. Running Time: 101 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 16, 2025.
