‘Interstella 5555’ 20th Anniversary Review: A Flawed 5pace Ody55ey

Two decades ago, a revolutionary mix of music and animation brought Daft Punk’s legendary Discovery album to life in a way that broke all the rules of traditional filmmaking. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem was a unique collaboration between the French house music duo Daft Punk and legendary Japanese animator Leiji Matsumoto and director Kazuhisa Takenouchi. As the movie celebrates its 20th anniversary with a re-release, it is still one of the most interesting case studies regarding the synergy between sound and visuals. Read our full review below.

Interstella 5555 is an animated feature-length visual album that matches Daft Punk’s 2001 album Discovery to a silent narrative. The film tells the story of an alien pop band abducted by a malevolent music mogul, then brought to Earth and compelled to stardom, it plays out in this surreal tale of rescue, rebellion, and self-discovery that’s all told in silence in a sense of a music video. Every beat, melody, and lyric of Discovery drives the narrative, making it as much a musical experience as a cinematic one.

Before going into the 20th anniversary screening of this movie, I had expected that the remastered visuals and audio were going to breathe new life into this film. However, I found out that the 4k restoration is actually enhanced with AI, though some scenes actually benefit from this AI enhancement, in many, it feels overdone and the polished product is too evident and makes the animation look unnatural and sterile, stripping off some of the original charm and texture of the film. It’s almost as if the film has been artificially refined to a point that it loses its identity. The colors are vivid and the details are razor-sharp, which would otherwise have added to the nostalgia of the film; now, they come across too crisp and clinical. It’s such a pity for a film that once was celebrated for its uniqueness and handcrafted feel. The sense of warmth and character from the original animation are lost in favor of a shiny and almost soulless veneer.

But nonetheless, if you don’t mind the AI enhancement of the re-release, it’s still a no-brainer that the visual design of Interstella 5555 is striking when you know that Leiji Matsumoto is the man behind its genius; a man of such incredible influence in anime design working with such classics as Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999, Matsumoto ensures that the film’s retro aesthetic captures something old about 1970s and 1980s anime that feels so nostalgic, yet somehow never out of style enough for it to become inaccessible for the new audience even for it’s 20th anniversary re-release..

The film’s palette is full of vibrant color and dynamic motion and reflects each track’s mood. Tracks like “One More Time” bursts onto the big screen in neon hues and celebratory imagery, while tracks like the somber “Something About Us” is drenched in melancholic blues. The animation flows with the rhythm of the music, creating an almost seamless union between every sense of emotion. Nonetheless, the visuals can be quite monotonous at times, especially when long scenes of no action occur when the tracks play and characters speak with no audio making the whole vibe dragging. Although the artistry is indeed superb, some scenes make it not so engrossing with the music.

There’s no denying that Discovery is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums from Daft Punk’s discography. An album that beautifully combines house, disco, funk, and rock elements into a solid album. The film features the album as its soundtrack; with every track representing a chapter in the film. But the film’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness.

On one hand, the film’s strength lies in the music’s energy and depth of emotion that effectively transmits the experiences of the characters and their surroundings as Daft Punk’s music transcends language barriers. Tracks like “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” perfectly underscore the forced transformation of the alien band into human pop stars, and “Digital Love” captures bittersweet longing for unspoken affection.

However, the reliance on the structure of the album means the pacing of the story is dictated by the songs. It can result in moments where the story is rushed or dragged out to fit the length of a track. For instance, the high-energy “Aerodynamic” suddenly gives way to the reflective “Digital Love,” which breaks up the flow of the emotions in the film.

Interstella 5555’s storyline is as simple as it gets and almost archetypal: it follows the alien band’s underdog journey to freedom and self-identity and features characters that embody familiar anime tropes ranging from the shy but strong leader to the comedic sidekick. These characters are all very likable and endearing but as the film goes on you’ll also notice that they feel pretty shallow, acting more like vessels for the music than fully realized individuals.

The featured villain acts more of a caricature by embodying greed and exploitation in a thinly veiled critique of the music industry’s darker side. While his motivations are rather evident, the lack of dialogue throughout the entirety of the film restricts his character development quite significantly, making his one-dimensionality severely limit the narrative 

Despite these flaws, the universal themes of freedom, love, and the redemptive power of music come through loud and clear. The emotional peak of the movie with the accompaniment of Daft Punk’s “Face to Face” is unforgettable, as it binds together the band’s odyssey with a sense of unity and redemption.

Imperfect as it may be, Interstella 5555 still left a mark on music and animation. It opened up the visual album and music-based film genre by demonstrating that even nonconformist formats can be commercially and critically successful. It also cemented Daft Punk’s status as the multimedia storytelling pioneers making their influence continue to transcend in different genres.

Overall, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is a unique work of art that very few films could ever do since they joined music and animation in it. The 20th-anniversary re-release is proof of the abiding interest in the project, an opportunity for both old and new fans to experience the charm that was created in this one of a kind experience.

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and supervised by Leiji Matsumoto. The film has no dialogue but instead consists of the entirety of Discovery with minimal sound effects. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Thank you for reading, if you liked this review of Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem check out more reviews here at Feature First!