Uchu daisenso (1959)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Jojiro Okami (story)
Shinichi Sekizawa (writer)

Release Date:

8 July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Moon is Captured! The Earth is Next!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Iranian | Alien Invasion | Mind Control | 1960s | International Cooperation

Cast

Ryo Ikebe	...	Maj. Ichiro Katsumiya
Kyôko Anzai	...	Etsuko Shiraishi
Koreya Senda	...	Professor Adachi
Minoru Takada	...	The Commander
Leonard Stanford	...	Dr. Roger Richardson
Harold Conway	...	Dr. Immerman
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Iwomura
Hisaya Ito	...	Kogure
Nadao Kirino	...	Gravity Man
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Inspector Iriake
Malcolm Pearce	...	Dr. Achmed
Leonard Walsh	...	Thomas Sheldon
Kôzô Nomura	...	Rocket Commander
Ikio Sawamura	...	Lantern Man
Tadashi Okabe	...	Newscaster

Also Known As:

Battle in Outer Space (USA)
The Great Space War

Runtime:

Japan:93 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

For a number of years the U.S. distributor, Columbia Pictures, had been unable to furnish 35mm release prints for theatrical showings. This was apparently due to all of the Eastman Color release prints fading to red. This film was not released on home video in the United States until 2009.

Goofs:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Independence Day (1996)

So-so Japanese sci-fi

I've always been a sucker for these cheaply made films because I grew up on them but this one just doesn't have the lasting impact of the other films of this kind. Earth is of course attacked by martians in UFO's and the countries of the world unite to combat them. We send a crew of astronauts to their planet to stop them and then get ready for the battle royal back here on Earth. Although early on in the film their is to much talking and discussing on how to stop them, once the two ships leave for the planet then the film never ceases the action. But one thing that I think hurts the film is that the martians just don't leave a mark. We see them in one scene and they seem somewhat harmless. They are short with orange plastics suits and big helmets with lights on they're foreheads and have long noses! Not scary at all! So the rest of the film is just UFO's flying around. As silly and laughable as other films like "Mothra", "War of the Gargantuas", and "Rodan" at least those are memorable in their own way. This one seems to be easily forgotten. It just doesn't distinguish itself like the other films.