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

Writers:

Shin'ichi Sekizawa, Jôjirô Okami (story)

Stars:

Ryô Ikebe, Kyôko Anzai, Minoru Takada

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryô Ikebe	...	Maj. Ichiro Katsumiya
Kyôko Anzai	...	Etsuko Shiraishi
Minoru Takada	...	The Commander
Koreya Senda	...	Professor Adachi
Len Stanford	...	Dr. Roger Richardson
Harold Conway	...	Dr. Immerman (as Harorudo Konwei)
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)
Katsumi Tezuka	...	Alien

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:

outer space | iranian | year 1965 | near future | tokusatsu | 

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Taglines:

SEE! Space saboteurs juggle earth's bridges...ships...trains...life toys!

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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

This film was the first Japanese science fiction film which had the original Japanese cast and crew listed on the posters and other advertising material in the United States.

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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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Connections

Featured in Gojira Fantajî: SF Kôkyô Fantajî (1984)

User Reviews

A Rarity from The Steven Spielberg of Japan

Ishiro Honda is the Steven Spielberg of Japan in that he created a huge body of work...big, exciting, fantasy movies of such number, quality and iconic value that he stands head and shoulders above his peers.

This film is among Honda's lesser known works, and is a rarity in that there is absolutely no Kaiju in this film, not even a robot Kaiju such as seen in the better-known 'The Mysterians'. And, in terms of the fantastic cinema of Japan, this is one of the more serious science fiction creations of the period, although containing many inaccuracies that would be glaring to anyone with the slightest familiarity to the work of George Pal.

This film features creative and interesting FX that vastly outshine most of what the US was producing at this time, and might even have the most complex miniature sets and sequences of anything produced by Toho during the classic period. There are large scale space ship dogfight sequences that anticipate Star Wars, which was done 17 years later.

The plot, while not profound, is sufficiently interesting and entertaining and the actors are good enough to make this an enjoyable escapist film. Thematically, this is classic Invasion Literature, with few new wrinkles thrown in...definitely straightforward, Honda doesn't give us anything ambiguous or subversive to chew over.

Any fan of old-school scifi and Kaiju films is liable to enjoy this one very much, it's just an impressive spectacle.