Takeshi Kaneshiro stars in the story of three guys who decide to rob a bank and then head for the islands somewhere. The robbery goes sideways and becomes a hostage situation. Things become complicated when several hostages join the robbers becoming a live action version of the cast of the Space Travelers anime show. Funny action comedy is a great deal of fun. Yes its silly and over the top, but you won't care because you'll be having too good a time watching it. The trouble with the film comes in the last 15 minutes or so when the film turns jarringly into left field with an ending that is completely out of place for what has gone before. Sure its real, but nothing that went before was so it becomes seriously WTF. The film is still worth seeing, but at the same time that ending may put you off the film (certainly it has to be the reason I can only find this as a region 3 bargain bin film)

I'll be honest and say right now that I wasn't expecting much from this movie but it turned out to be one of the best movies I have seen in years and is also the best Japanese movie I have seen since Battle Royale.SPOILERS.The plot is basically about three close friends who in their search for paradise (a beach they don't know the location of in picture they have) decide to rob a bank to get the money to find that paradise and things quickly go wrong turning the robbery into a hostage crisis but in a strange turn of events the hostage's (ranging from a shy bank employee all the way up to a wanted international terrorist) don't seem to mind being held hostage after a while and actually end up joining the robbers and taking on the roles of characters from one of the gang members favorite anime series "Space Travelers" a show in which each character has a shocking similarity to each hostage and robber.IMHO the basic story here is about escaping reality, the bank robbers want to escape to their paradise and for a short time the hostages all get to escape from their pasts or their boring, unhappy lives but the other side of the coin is the the dangers of trying to hard to escape reality with the tragic ending that You know is coming but still packs a hell of a punch.A great movie filled with strong likable characters and some very touching moments which is a great way to waste 2 hours on the weekend, 9/10.

My brother is a huge fan of Asian cinema. Every month he goes to Chinatown with a list of films he "needs" to get and returns with three new DVDs or VCDs for his collection. This is how I was introduced to Space Travelers, now one of my favorite films of all time.I don't want to give away much of the plot, because the experience will be so much more enjoyable with the less you know. All I will say is that it begins with a stereotypical bank heist that fails only minutes into the robbery and that three orphans, a fiancée, a feuding couple, an electrician, an insecure bank teller and a terrorist will partake in cosplay* like no one has ever done before.The film is about holding on to something. A dream. A goal. No matter how hard things get, even if the dream is ridiculous, impossible, never give up. During the film I developed Stockholm syndrome along with the other hostages as I began to believe in the three robbers dream of `paradise'. Very rarely am I so absorbed with a film.And for what starts as such quirky comedy, ends in such dramatic and powerful climax. I've heard people consider that a negative thing, but I've seen enough of Asian cinema to realize that ¾ comedy and ¼ drama is not unusual. Such an ending could only work in this Industry; I shudder to think of how it might of ended if it followed the traditional Hollywood formula. Coupled with Faure's powerful `Requiem' and director Katsuyuki Motohiro powerful images the ending of Space Travelers is one that I will never forget.While there are many parts of the film that could be considered flaws (such as some loose ends with certain characters, some low brow humor or some completely unrealistic situations) I found that they never detracted the experience and in my opinion were not flaws at all.And yes there's the title. Space Travelers. What does it mean? Well it's the name of an anime series that used to be popular. One of the robbers happened to be a big fan of the series and collects trading cards for it. Still don't understand? Good, now go see the film.*Cosplay is when anime fans dress up as their favorite characters.

Honestly, I didn't even know what the movie was about when I imported it from Japan; just that the cover looked cool. Let me tell you: this is a must-see. It starts out as a bouncy comedy; you can't really help but side with the robbers when everything goes horribly wrong. It's funny, the cinematography is great, the action is great and funny too. However, like most foreign films, there's a twist ending. I won't say any more since it might give it away but it's worth buying just to see it. The soundtrack is great. Not only is it full of orchestrated pieces by Akihiko Matsumoto, but the use of popular songs like "Now I'm Here" by Queen, and classical like "Requiem" by Fauré, really add to the movie. If you're looking for a foreign movie to see, this is the one.