Think there is little to new variety to the blog, maybe lamenting i don’t review stuff like Walerian Borowczyk’s filmography? Too many occasional ninjas, exploitation flicks, or ninjaxploitation flicks? You’re wrong, but for the sake of it, we’re going into proper obscure, cult classic weird territory with The Flying Luna Clipper, the best intro movie to a game that doesn’t exist.
Imagine an obscure japanese point and click game heavy on surreal imagery of moon faced TV presenters, birdmen and anthro fruits, all natively dubbed in nearly “engrish” fashion, but instead of having to solve inventory puzzles or explore or witness dream scenarios while Osamu Sato tunes play in the background… minus the gameplay aspect.
Because this was never meant to be a game, but a showcase of what the MSX line of 8-bit computers could accomplish, an art film distributed by Sony and directed by Ikko Ono, the graphic designer mostly known for the cover artworks of MSX Mazagine, also having a column in the magazine itself for various illustrations, Ikko’s Gallery, that would later be featured in this film, presented by/as “Ikko’s Theathre”.
And it’s the very definition of forgotten gem, since it did receive various releases on home video in Japan at the time, but it was basically only salvaged from the darkness in 2015 when Matt Hawkins found a copy of its Laserdisc release in a thrift store, and uploaded it to Youtube, and ever since growing its niche popularity, to the point it’s definitely one of the main inspiration for what would later become the “vaporwave” art scene, itself stemming from the music style of the same name.
Respect your weird elders, one could say, because this is still a stunning piece of art, early computer visual art, to be specific, because there’s actually not much to the narrative.
Yes, there is a story, but going into The Flying Luna Clipper searching for a fulfilling narrative is pointless, because – again – this was clearly meant to be a visual showcase of what could be achieved with new computer technology of the time, an experimental animated film isn’t afraid to also use FMV-esque live action sequences, even mixing the sprite work with live action footage, like the oceanographer seahorse with random german accent sequence.
This is framed in the form of educational, historical or performative shows that play during the ride of the titular vehicle, The Flying Luna Clipper, as the film depicts this group of “anthro fruits n vegetables” and other creatures (like a snowman and a monkey lady) that won a contest and hence earned a ticket to board on the newest sensation, a flying boat with state-of-the-art luxuries, and embark on a short journey across the Pacific Ocean, starting from Honolulu, and during the ride they drink and watch some short films, most introduced by the hostess, which i can only describe as “stupid sexy Banana Bayonetta”.
These short film are either animated, like the one abouse Polynesian legends, use a mixture of live action and sprites (see the aforementioned), or use a variety of early video effects over live action footage of jump diving, a baby… toddling about, or stuff that’s definitely more on the weird side, like singing volcano with faces, an anthrophormized island presenting cheeks to a nearby volcano island, tribal polinesian drum solos, alongside the various interactions between the weird passengers, be it a monkey-faced lady being stung in the nose by the sprite of a mosquito, non-Howard The Duck quacking more drinks at the seductive banana megane hostess, or a pickle man complimenting a snowperson about his almost-non existent garments/accessories.
… i think, because while it’s fully dubbed natively in English with japanese subtitles, the dubbing isn’t very good, and at times i really had a hard time figuring out what the fuck pickle man or “herr seahorse oceanologist” were saying, while for the most part the diction is mostly basic but intelligible, so you can understand it without having to go back once or twice to that bit.
But then again, it’s a movie that drifts into what should be a dream sequence… still not sure it did exactly, though ultimately everything it’s so surreal it doesn’t matter if that was a dream or not, even putting aside the movie immediatly stating “everything is true in your dreams”… it don’t matter because there isn’t much of a real story, and especially thanks to the stilization, it feels like a series of vignettes we’re moving through in the fashion of progressing a videogame’s world map.
After all, this is a movie that might suddendly cut from the “story” to show you a supercut montage music video for a random song, have the pilots make an improptu music act, to them making up a fake videogame the passengers of the Flying Luna Clipper could play while seated, it’s not about any story, it’s about the visual experience, and it’s definitely something you’ve never seen before.
Aside being the enbodiment of “Laserdisc obscure japanese import”.
And sure, nowadays many of the effects and tricks used (especially in the live action segments) do look primitive (see the rain in the fully animated sequences), but it’s impressive that it doesn’t look even more ancient, again, remember, this was made using MSX-2 computers of the late 80s, it’s an impressive feat for the era and thanks to its stylization, it still the trip even today, brimming with such a strong aesthetic that’s indeed unique and striking, and blessed by a soundtrack that “slaps”.
It also being just 55 minutes long and freely available on Youtube (we’ll hopefully get a proper HD restoration in the future, as some fans are trying to improve on the quality you’ll find the movie in), i simply cannot recommend The Flying Luna Clipper enough to a certain kind of cinema buff, and beyond as i can assure you’re never quite saw something like this ever before.
Even if you’re looking more for narrative in your art experimental films, it’s undeniable the sheer prowess of making an 1 hour long animated film using just japanese 8-bit computers of the middle-to-late 80s, and testament-worthy how it holds up, still so visually intriguing and hypnotizing in his strong stylization and peculiar visuals, with 40+ years of hindsight.
Still waiting on those “Flying Luna Slippers” advertised in the film, BTW.
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