Cobra, a notorious space pirate, is enlisted by bounty hunter Jane to rescue her sister from the strange being known as Crystal Bowie, but then finds himself drawn into a complex struggle over the fate of a mysterious wandering planet.
Direction
Dezaki's psychedelic split-screens and pastel-noir lighting.
Practical Effects
Hand-drawn spaceships that outshine most modern CGI.
Score
Yuji Ohno's saxophone-drenched funk fusion.
Director
Osamu Dezaki
Shigeru Matsuzaki
Cobra (voice)
Akiko Nakamura
Jane Royal (voice)
Toshiko Fujita
Catherine Royal (voice)
Jun Fubuki
Dominique Royal (voice)
Yoshiko Sakakibara
Lady Armaroid (voice)
Reiko Tajima
Sandra (voice)
Gorō Mutsumi
Crystal Bowie (voice)
Kenichi Ogata
Missionary Dakoba (voice)
Minoru Inaba
(voice)
Norio Wakamoto
Sheriff (voice)
Yu Shimaka
(voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dezaki adapted this from Buichi Terasawa's manga while riding high on his revolutionary work on 'Ashita no Joe' and 'Aim for the Ace!', importing his signature 'postcard memory' freeze-frames into space opera.
The film flopped in Japan but became a midnight movie staple in France, where Cobra's design influenced an entire generation of European comic artists—Moebius reportedly owned the cel of the opening shot.
JP
