Deaf Crocodile Films has opened pre-orders for its release of the rarely-seen 1987 Romanian animated sci-fi film The Son of the Stars (Fiul Stelelor / Ultima Misiune) for the first time ever on Blu-ray. The film will be released in the original Romanian audio with English subtitles.
Described as a wild mid-eighties mash-up of The Empire Strikes Back, Alien and Tarzan, the film was directed by the same creative team behind Delta Space Mission (previously released by Deaf Crocodile), Călin Cazan and Mircea Toia. The picture also features a scored by pioneering synth-rock artist Stefan Elefteriu.
Speaking on the filmmakers’ influences, Cazan explained, “The Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan novels were important books from our childhood. You may know that Animafilm producer and director Victor Antonescu made a film from Robinson Crusoe, as well as short films from the Brothers Grimm. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick was another inspiration, and life in the jungle as depicted in Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. We knew the Walt Disney version, and the earlier live-action version by Alexander Korda.”
“It was a strange Cold War here in Romania in the 1980s. We were able to see the movies from America one year later after they launched in the U.S. We saw Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, and maybe we were inspired by them. They remained important points in our moviemaking,” the director added.
Working with the Romanian National Film Archive and Cinematheque and the Romanian Film Centre, Deaf Crocodile has created a new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative and sound elements, overseen by Co-Founder and in-house restoration expert Craig Rogers.
“I’m always excited when we get to work on a vintage animated film,” said Rogers. “I enjoy finding the balance in the restoration process of making the film look as good as possible but being sure always that it retains its hand-made analog feel. All that ‘imperfection’ is what sets it apart from the all-digital animation of today.”
Synopsis: In the year 6470, a husband and wife team of explorers receive a mysterious distress signal from a female astronaut who disappeared decades earlier. They leave their son, Dan, on board their ship while they go searching for the missing woman — but fate intervenes, crash-landing the ship on a jungle-like planet populated by bulbous, telekinetic aliens and eerie stone gardens of frozen space creatures.
As Dan grows up and moves toward his destiny, he encounters giant disembodied eyeballs, a world of massive decaying Cubist structures, floating purple tentacles, alien-headed cosmic flowers and even a sword-wielding medieval Space Knight in armor — haunted by psychedelic visions of his lost parents and the missing cosmonaut.
“The Son of the Stars a truly amazing fusion of different styles and storytelling traditions in animation, from Eastern European mythology with sword-wielding medieval Space Knights, to early ’80s Japanese anime, to classic lost-child narratives like Tarzan and The Jungle Book,” commented Deaf Crocodile Co-Founder and Head of Acquisitions & Distribution, Dennis Bartok.
“Of course, comparisons to George Lucas and the Star Wars universe are very strong as well — but the incredible thing is how unique, psychedelic, and incredibly entertaining Călin Cazan and Mircea Toia’s synthesis of all these elements is in The Son of the Stars. For fans of 1980s animation and sci-fi, it’s a major rediscovery.”
The Son of the Stars is now available for pre-sale via Deaf Crocodile’s home video distribution partner OCN / Vinegar Syndrome in a limited edition slipcover and standard edition. Order here.
Blu-ray Release Features:
- New 4K scan of The Son of the Stars from the original 35mm negative and sound elements, with digital restoration by Craig Rogers and Tyler Fagerstrom for Deaf Crocodile Films.
- New video interview with co-director Călin Cazan, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile.
- New commentary track by film journalist Samm Deighan.
- New booklet essay by comics artist, editor, and publisher Stephen R. Bissette (Swamp Thing).
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie at Fidelity In Motion.
