Battle in Outer Space (1959)

The nations of the Earth unite in a common cause to fight off an invader from outer space.

Director:

Ishirô Honda (as Inoshiro Honda)

Writers:

Shin'ichi Sekizawa (as Shinichi Sekizawa), Jôjirô Okami (story) (as Jotaro Okami)

Stars:

Ryô Ikebe, Kyôko Anzai, Minoru Takada

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryô Ikebe	...	Maj. Ichiro Katsumiya (as Ryo Ikebe)
Kyôko Anzai	...	Etsuko Shiraishi (as Kyoko Anzai)
Minoru Takada	...	The Commander
Koreya Senda	...	Professor Adachi
Len Stanford	...	Dr. Roger Richardson
Harold Conway	...	Dr. Immerman (as Harorudo Konwei)
George Whitman	...	Dr. Ahmed
Elise Richter	...	Sylvia (as Erisu Rikutâ)
Hisaya Itô	...	Kogure
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Iwomura
Nadao Kirino	...	Gravity Man
Kôzô Nomura	...	Rocket Commander
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Inspector Iriake
Ikio Sawamura	...	Lantern Man
Takuzô Kumagai	...	Alien (as Jirô Kumagai)

Storyline

Munchkin-like aliens invade Earth full force with their flying saucers and laser weapons, rendering cities helpless. All eyes turn to the most powerful nations on Earth as they unite to concoct a plan to vanquish the aliens and return Earth to the hands of humans, thus, resulting in the most fierce and ultimate battle royale in outer space the galaxy as ever seen.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | outer space | iranian | year 1965 | near future | 

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Taglines:

HERE COME THE PLANET SMASHERS! (original U.S. print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English Italian

Release Date:

8 July 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Battle in Outer Space

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 96 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A different cast had to be brought in for this movie because the original actors were unavailable except for Harold Conway, who portrayed Dr. Immelman.

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Goofs

The funniest bits are the gravity antics. When the first scout ship turns off the thrusters and the crew all unfastens their safety belts, one of them flies up to the ceiling. He is so surprised, clearly no-one told this astronaut that there was no gravity in the spacecraft. They help him down and the chief tells him that there is no gravity in the ship. Then they all begin walking around completely normally.

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Alternate Versions

The final 16mm prints struck for U.S. television distribution had the final third of the film letterboxed for the widescreen Tohoscope format.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

User Reviews

In context, this is actually a very good sci-fi film.

In the 1950s and 60s, quite a few Japanese sci-fi and horror films were sold to the US. Then, the studios chopped the films apart and inserted American actors into some of the scenes to supposedly make them more acceptable to the public. Perhaps this was true, but in all these cases you wish today that you could also see the original non-bastardized version as well. One of the most famous examples of this sort of film is the original "Godzilla"--where they added lots of footage of Raymond Burr saying and doing practically nothing of value! In fact, his pointless performance was parodied very cleverly on "Pinky & the Brain"...with Burr's character saying "...yes....yes...I see..." every time the camera cut to him! "Battle in Outer Space" was originally "Uchû Daisensô" but was sold to Columbia Pictures for American distribution and I assume, too, that changes were once again made for domestic distribution. Unlike many of these films, it has been unavailable for viewing due to the film's decomposition (the print turned red). Somehow, they've either restored it or found a decent copy, as recently it has finally been re-released on DVD as well as on local On Demand viewing--and I must say the glorious 1950s color is outstanding.

The film begins with a UFO attack on an Earth space station orbiting our planet. Soon, UFOs are seen all over the planet and naturally the governments of the Earth (led by the Japanese) are organizing to combat this. But the scourge is much worse--aliens have also been kidnapping humans and implanting them with devices to control them! And, when you think it can't get any worse, the aliens set up a base on the Moon--presumptively to use for an eventual attack on the planet. All this occurs just in the first 20 minutes! Can the human race survive in an eventual battle in outer space?! If you compare this to other space films of the era, "Battle in Outer Space" is actually quite exceptional--and is probably among the best. However, with huge advances in technology since this film was made, today it all comes off as very quaint. But, don't dismiss it so quickly--as I said, for its time it's very good. The action sequences (especially those in space where you can't see all the wires!) and effects are Japanese 1950s robot cool. The biggest weakness in the film is in its narrative and characters--which are a tad bland.

Thank goodness the Earth they had their flying weinermobiles! See the film and you'll know what I mean.