Masako Nozawa, Masako Ikeda, Saffron Henderson

Tetsuro Hoshino's wish to board the famous galaxy-traveling train is finally granted when he joins Maetel, a mysterious woman who suggests that he can fulfill his dreams of vengeance against Count Mec...( read more  read more... )ha for murdering his mother. But life has a way of proving to idealistic young men that the simplest desire may not always be the easiest to satisfy. Sequel - "Adieu Galaxy 999."

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83% liked it

1,277 ratings

PG, 91 min.

Directed by: Rintaro

Release Date: August 4, 1979

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Flixster Reviews (90)


  • March 18, 2009
    Too short to really give anything.
    I think you have to watch the series to really appreciate it.
  • January 30, 2009
    Your imagination is the final destination - and that is traveling to the sea of stars. The 1979 film adaptation of the Leiji Matsumoto manga series, Galaxy Express 999 (original Japanese title: Ginga Tetsudo Three-Nine) tells the story of the young Tetsuro Hoshino a...( read more)nd his wish to board the famous galaxy-traveling train. He joins Maetel, a mysterious woman who suggests that he can achieve his dreams of revenge against Count Mecha for murdering his mother. It was the long trip when Tetsuro learns the true meaning of longing for immortality in a mechanized body. This anime film is a very good dramatic sci-fi tale, and the cel animation here is drawn in detail to good quality. Even though it was long, I enjoyed this film title anyways. Having finished Galaxy Express 999, I knew that if there are more sci-fi anime like this, then I'm in. There is a sequel called Adieu Galaxy Express 999; I definitely want to see that.
  • July 19, 2008
    A Classic in Japanese Animation. The story, the music, the animation, the characters, this movie has it all.
  • July 10, 2008
    One of Matsumoto?s greatest works is Galaxy Express 999, and its a shame that in never got a chance in the US. I became acquainted with GE999 when I was about 12 or so, flipping through channels I stopped on the Foreign language channel which split its time up between Japanese, C...( read more)hinese, Italian, and Spanish. It was a thursday evening, and I saw a familiar looks show, because of the character designs I knew it was something by the creator of Yamato, and even though there were no subs, I watched it anyways. It was pretty good and I only wished I had subs so I knew what happened exactly. School got on top of me, and I didn?t get to see the show again. But later in life, I saw that Viz Entertainment had licensed the movie, so I grabbed it. GE999 has been a beloved favorite ever since.

    After the death of his mother at the hands of the evil robot Count Mecha, young Tetsuro has become a delinquent street urchin who dreams only of revenge. Tetsuro lives in a far future world in which humans have the choice to travel to another planet where they can exchange their bodies for immortal, robotic counterparts. His goal is to someday acquire (through theft) enough money to board the Galaxy Express 999, a train which is capable of traveling through space, and which will take him to the planet of robots. One day, after escaping from the police, he meets the beautiful Maetel, who resembles his mother. She offers to take him on the Galaxy Express 999 to get a robotic body and to get revenge on Count Mecha. Along the journey, the two meet many varied people (including Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas), and Tetsuro learns what it means to be human.

    It has a great story, great characters, great music, and a great atmosphere. Its full of emotion, and like nearly every Matsumoto film I?ve seen, it brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. Some people in today?s anime fandom would accuse Matsumoto?s work to be too long and slow moving, but its not true. These folks seem to not be able to watch anything that doesn?t have an explosion or a panty shot every 2 minutes.
  • March 13, 2008
    The first anime I ever saw, subtitled into English on the station that shows Telemunundo on UHF
  • December 21, 2007
    i want this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • October 23, 2007
    THe usual lame premise that always accompanies an anime movie.
  • July 23, 2007
    Absolute cult classic western style sci-fi anime that is worth a watch if you can stomach a little the somewhat weird character design that is Leiji Matsumoto's trademark (it's simply not for everyone's tastes). And since it is so old-fashioned, expect some dated and unintentiona...( read more)lly funny action sequences as well. But even if it lacks subtlety, at least the melancholic undertones about disrupted families, loneliness and people craving for human warm after becoming mechas will remind you of the struggle of saying goodbye to the simpler and good days of childhood. I believe this was Leiji Matsumoto's intention all along. And this feeling alone will strike you as a good film and also explain why it was so popular.

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  • kaollasu7
    September 27, 2006
    quite possibly the greatest anime of all time.

    This is the anime that brought me to anime.

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