The film tells the story of Captain EO (Michael Jackson) and the ragtag crew of his spaceship on a mission to deliver a gift to "The Supreme Leader" (Anjelica Huston), who lives on a world of rotting, twisted metal and steaming vents. Captain EO's alien crew consists of his small flying sidekick Fuzzball, the double-headed navigator and pilot Idey (Debbie Lee Carrington) and Ody (Cindy Sorenson), robotic security officer Major Domo (Gary Depew), a small robot, Minor Domo (who fits like a module into Major Domo), and the clumsy elephant-like shipmate Hooter (Tony Cox) who always manages to upset the crew's missions. Dick Shawn plays Captain EO's boss, Commander Bog.
The film opens with a strange dance number that continually gets interrupted by Leigh Bowery and his friends (Sue Tilley and Nicola Bateman, later Nicola Bowery), who keep walking over to a table of fruit. Michael Clark wakes up and begins rehearsing. Other members of the Company gradually arrive. A reporter calls, then drops by to interview Clark; they discuss how he started dancing and came to London, as well as his interest in traditional Scottish dance. Clark appears on a TV program with Mark E. Smith and Brix Smith. Gaby Agis walks by the river, musing about how she should find her own apartment (she's been staying with Clark). The Company performs scenes from New Puritans. Julie Hood's boyfriend, meanwhile, is shown wandering London. Clark and Agis shoot a scene in a film. Clark visits Bowery, who along with his friends Trojan and Rachel, are "getting ready" (dressing up) for the clubs. Clark leaves for a rendezvous with "a date," then heads out to a clubs himself, where he dances. Finally, at pre-dawn, he heads home, where Agis is already in bed.
Le film caricature des personnalités de New York comme Frank Sinatra, Rodney Dangerfield, Alfred E. Neuman, Woody Allen ou encore la Statue de la Liberté.
Tout le monde connaît l'oratorio de Haendel, ici on découvre le Messie de William Klein. L'oratorio est une institution aux Etats-Unis, où innombrables sont les choeurs qui le chantent. La caméra de Klein va les chercher partout, dans les lieux les plus improbables : à Times Square, où se réunit le choeur homosexuel et multiracial de NY, dans une prison de Sugarland, Texas, où les prisonniers entonnent "Un enfant est né, un fils nous est donné", ou encore à Las Vegas, au milieu du nulle part des salles de jeux. http://www.kuiv.com/pages/messie.