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 (as Hisaya Ito)
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Iwomura
Nadao Kirino	...	Gravity Man (as Hiro-o Kirino)
Kôzô Nomura	...	Rocket Commander (as Kozo Nomura)
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 | space opera | outer space | iranian | year 1965 | 

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Taglines:

Space Wages War on Earth!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, a reference is made to the "Sea of Rains". This is the Mare Imbrium, the second-largest "sea" on the moon, and one of the largest impact craters in the solar system. In the "Man in the Moon" image of Western folklore, Mare Imbrium forms the man's right eye.

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Goofs

The strings holding the flying machines (rocket ships and flying saucers) aloft are clearly visible in several scenes.

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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

Follows The Mysterians (1957)

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Soundtracks

Burlesque-style Rondo
Composed by Akira Ifukube

User Reviews

Saturday Afternoon Fun 1959

Battle in Outer Space brings back some happy memories. I recall seeing this movie at the local Strand Theatre. I was (10) years old at the time and it was such a revelation to see an outer space film in "Color". In those days most Saturday afternoon Sci-Fi was in B/W. True, there were a few high dollar efforts like War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet but for the money, or lack there of, this "B" films brilliant colors & special effects (loved those jitter-bugging saucers)held its own with the big boys. I recently bought a Japanese DVD version at eBay, with English subtitles, and believe me it's just not the same as the dubbed English version. Forget the bad lip-sink, that "Voice of Doom" from the Natal Moon base is not nearly as ominous in Japanese. Glad to see others remember this little "B" gem too. Hope to see it properly released in DVD soon.

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