Fugitive Alien (1987) (TV)

Directors:

Minoru Kanaya
Kiyosumi Kuzakawa

Writers:

Keiichi Abe &
Bunzô Wakatsuki ...
(more)

Release Date:

1986 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Marauding Wolf Raiders in Space Chase to the Death.

Plot:

An alien is pursued as a traitor by his own race because he refuses to kill humans. |

Plot Keywords:

Reverse Footage | Space Opera | X Rayed Skeleton | Forklift | Edited From TV Series

Cast

Tatsuya Azuma	...	Ken
Miyuki Tanigawa	...	Tammy
Jô Shishido	...	Captain Joe (as Joe Shishido)
Chôei Takahashi	...	Rocky
Tsutomu Yukawa	...	Dan
Hiro Tateyama
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akihiko Hirata	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Minoru Kanaya
Kiyosumi Kuzakawa

Writing credits
Keiichi Abe		&
Bunzô Wakatsuki		(as Bunzou Wakatsuki) &
Yoshihisa Araki		&
Hiroyasu Yamamura		(as Hiroyasu Yamaura) &
Hideyoshi Nagasaki		(as Hideyoshi Nagasaka) &
Toyohiro Andô		(as Toyohiro Andou)

Produced by
Sandy Frank	....	executive producer (English language version)
Jushichi Sano	....	producer
Akira Tsuburaya	....	producer (as Akiri Tsuburaya)
Noboru Tsuburaya	....	producer (as Noburu Tsuburaya)

Original Music by
Norio Maeda

Film Editing by
William L. Cooper Jr.

Other crew
William L. Cooper Jr.	....	feature concept (as William L Cooper Jr)
Jessie Vogel	....	creative consultant

Production Companies

• Sandy Frank Enterprises
• Tsuburaya Productions

Distributors

• King Features Entertainment (1987) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Celebrity Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Celebrity Video Presentations (video)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Tsuburaya Productions

Other Companies

• Cinemedia Ltd.  creative consultant

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18

Company:

Sandy Frank Enterprises

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): One of the dials on the ship says "tenperature".

Quotes:

Ken:What did I do to deserve this?
Captain Joe:We don't deserve half the things we get.
[laughs maniacally, then abruptly stops]
Captain Joe:You're stuck here!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (#5.5)" (1992)

Look out, "Star Trek: Voyager"- Here comes "Fugitive Alien"!

Hey Network TV: Instead of beating the venerable "Fugitive" premise to death (a tv show based on a movie based on a tv show?), why not seek out a tv series that was flawed when originally produced but still features enough good stuff to salvage into a new, better series? Here's a good example- "Fugitive Alien" and it's sequel, "Star Force: Fugitive Alien 2" are goofy, sometimes-incomprehensible "features" made from re-edited episodes of a Japanese TV show. They're hard to watch in their current incarnation, but have interesting premises and fun plots.

The story is this: Our hero Ken is a Wolf Raider. Wolf Raiders are super-strong humanoid aliens who like to invade other planets and run around smashing things. For some reason they wear curly red wigs when they do this, which is pretty bizarre. Anyhoo, during a routine invasion Ken is ordered to shoot a little boy named Ken, and he refuses. In the resulting scuffle Ken accidentally shoots his best friend and flees the evil Wolf Raiders, ending up floating through space in his spacesuit, waiting to die (already this is hilarious!).

Luckily, Ken is discovered by the Bacchus 3, a Star Force spaceship commanded by the jowl-sporting, hard-drinkin' Captain Joe (possible come-back role for Ernest Borgnine here!). Ken is almost immediately adopted by Captain Joe, who hides Ken's Wolf Raider past from the rest of the crew and offers him a job. This delights Tammy, the navigator, and dismays Rocky, Captain Joe's first mate, who tries to run Ken over with a forklift. There are two other guys on the ship, I think one was called Dan or something. They don't do much. Anyway, the crew of the Bacchus 3 goes on one crazy adventure after another while Ken is pursued by Rita (who is Ken's ex-girlfriend and the sister of the guy Ken killed). They visit a lot of different planets, Ken saves everyone over and over again, and eventually he and Rocky get past the whole "forklift incident".

If this isn't a set up for a hit TV series or even a feature film, I don't know what is. It's certainly a more plausible premise a series than "Cleopatra 2525", that's for damn sure. So please, consider "Fugitive Alien". Maybe you could get Timothy Daly to star in the series version.