Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, or just simply Interstella 5555 is unlike any movie I’ve ever seen before. Serving as the animated companion to the Daft Punk album “Discovery”, this movie is definitely unique.

Directed by Leiji Matsumoto, Kazuhisa Takennouchi, Daisuke Nishio, and Hirotoshi Rissen, and written by Daft Punk, this film follows an alien band who are kidnapped and brainwashed to believe that they’re a human band called the Crescendolls. The band consists of Octave (played by Romanthony), Arpeggius, Stella, and Beryl, as they soon find themselves in a devious plot by the Earl of Darkwood to take over the world. The maintenance worker for their ship, Shep (played by Thomas Bangalter) finds out about this plot and sets out to save his love, Stella and the rest of the crew. This film is unique in a variety of ways, the first being that there’s no dialogue and minimal sound effects, letting the animation and Daft Punk’s music take center stage. Another thing that makes this movie unique is that because the songs move seamlessly into each other, it’s entirely possible to watch the movie just by watching the music videos in order. The story is a bit basic, but entertaining. Some of the animation loops during some of the songs. It’s very reminiscent of Matsumoto’s earlier work from the eighties, but in a very low-budget way. It’s also implied that Shep has had a crush on Stella for a while, but it’s still weird and jarring when he expresses it and even sings about it so early on. The ship designs, except for the band’s guitar shaped one, are not great. Some of the character designs are a bit interesting, and it’s a great movie from a visual standpoint. If you don’t like Daft Punk, you won’t like the movie. If you’re indifferent, then it’s a bit of a slog, but the story will hook you in and make it watchable. It’s suitable for teens, and any age group above. There’s blood, mentions of suicide, alcohol, and drugs, so it’s good to be mindful of that if you want to show it to kids. Also, during the “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” part, the band members are shirtless and pantless for the majority of the song. Despite its flaws, the movie is still a masterpiece in meshing music and cinema together, and I recommend it to any animation and music fan, and find it essential viewing for any Daft Punk fan. 

I give it 7.5 Guitar shaped spaceships out of 10.