40 Films in Robotech: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1979)

        

Like many music lovers, I love David Bowie’s catalog of songs and albums. Film-wise, though, I'm kinda picky as to what Bowie films I can enjoy. I have very special connections to this film and seeing it loosely referenced in a Robotech comic was the best of my favorite worlds colliding.

 ROBOTECH MENTION:  

In Robotech Masters Comico comic book issue #14, Dana Sterling mentions a movie with “Martian Spider(s)” in the title…

This comic is based on the Robotech TV episode 51 entitled Clone Chamber. In the television version, Dana Sterling gets her hands on some hard-to-come-by expensive movie tickets for The Revenge of the Martian Mystery Women. We paired that title with a different film that’ll be on our list later this year.

 SYNOPSIS:  

Here's a synopsis I wrote for the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia when they screened the film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in honor of the album's 30th Anniversary in 2002: "'Not only is it the last show of the tour - it's the last show we'll ever do!' With these crushing words uttered onstage at Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1972, David Bowie dazed, confused, and broke the hearts of both The Spiders from Mars band and his legions of followers. With striking red hair, legs longer than a flamingo and a face of striking androgynous beauty, Ziggy Stardust defined glam-rock and has inspired such tributes as Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001). Acclaimed documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captured one of rock and roll's most historic concerts. Now beautifully remastered and remixed just in time for the 30th Anniversary celebration of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album. See it in all its glam, glitter, and glory!"

 AWARDS & KUDOS:  

Philly Loves Bowie Week is celebrated each year around the week of Bowie’s birthday (January 8) and the day of his passing (January 10). This year it will be celebrated January 3-11. Bowie’s connections to Philadelphia include the recording two albums in the City of Brotherly Love -- David Live: David Bowie At The Tower Philadelphia (1974) and Young Americans (1975).

 OTHER COOL FACTS:  

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars concert documentary was part of my Film366 project several years back with my good friend and blog guest writer Phil Congleton. Check it out:

Here's the official soundtrack from Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars film - which is really a recording of the concert it documented:

 ROBOTECH REASON:  

Robotech creator Carl Macek and his crew were clearly David Bowie fans as Dana Sterling (pictured above in the comic) had a best friend named Bowie. In Robotech, Bowie is a young Black man more interested in music than being a soldier. David Bowie was an advocate for black musicians to be represented on MTV in the early 1980s during this interview when he challenged MTV News Correspondent Mark Goodman. The Robotech character Bowie falls in love with a snow-white-skinned alien named Musica. David Bowie also wrote of the challenges of race relations in his song Black Tie White Noise (1993) which was inspired by the L.A. riots that occurred while he was in L.A. on his honeymoon with supermodel Iman. Robotech often had interracial and interspecies couples which was rare in mid-80s American media. I authored an academic article on these Robotech couples that was published in multiple journals.  

To read my ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐ (out of a possible 5 star) rating Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1979) on Letterboxd, click here.