Movielogr

Rating: 6 stars

Tags

Japan alien invasion toho studios dubbed missile alien attack ufo tokusatsu

All movies seen on 03/08/2024

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Battle in Outer Space (1959)

Directed by Ishirō Honda

Science Fiction | Action | Thriller

Most recently watched by sensoria

Overview

In 1965, the space station JSS-3 is destroyed by a fleet of UFOs, which then begin a global siege on Earth, using rays to manipulate gravity and control the minds of men. In response, a global council meeting is held to determine the source of the attacks and prepare a rocket ship armada for a counter-attack, a true battle in outer space. . .  The film is a sequel of sorts to Toho’s THE MYSTERIANS in the reprise of the Etsuko Shiraishi character of that film as its heroine.  It was edited to 74 minutes for its American release.

Length 90 minutes

Actors

Koreya Senda | Ryô Ikebe | Kyôko Anzai | Yoshio Tsuchiya | Leonard Stanford | Harold Conway | Hisaya Ito | Minoru Takada | Nadao Kirino | Fuyuki Murakami | Malcolm Pearce | Leonard Walsh | Kôzô Nomura | Ikio Sawamura | Tadashi Okabe | Elsie Richter | Takuzô Kumagai | Katsumi Tezuka | Mitsuo Tsuda | Osman Yusuf | George Whyman | Yasuhisa Tsutsumi | Dona Carlson | Kisao Hatamochi | Yasuo Araki | Heinz Bodmer | Rinsaku Ogata | Shigeo Katô | Saburô Kadowaki | Keisuke Yamada | Yukihiko Gondô | Koji Kamimura | Shinjirô Hirota

Viewing History (seen 3 times)

Viewing Notes

After recently viewing Fukada’s WAR IN SPACE I wanted to revisit Honda’s film. Really the comparison is the alien invasion aspect which isn’t unusual. Honda’s film is more Red Scare / Cold War allegory, which was common at the time, whereas Fukuda signed on for a fast production to ride the science fiction wave that Star Wars made more popular in May of that year (tho it shares very little with Lucas’ film).

I like this movie but the co-production still feels strange to me. Like it was more American than Japanese. I’d like to see this in theater bc of Ifukube’s score and those neat miniatures.

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