Yusei oji (1959)

Director:

Eijirô Wakabayashi

Writers:

Masaru Igami (story)
Shin Morita (writer)

Release Date:

19 March 1959 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Plot:

When an alien force tries to invade Earth to steal a powerful new rocket fuel, a mysterious hero intervenes.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Alien | Superhero | Alien Invasion | B Movie

Cast

Tatsuo Umemiya	...	Wally / Prince of Space / Planet Prince (as Tatsuya Umemiya)
Ushio Skashi
Joji Oka	...	Phantom of Krankor (as Johji Oka)
Hiroko Mine
Takashi Kanda
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ken Sudoh
Nobu Yatsuna

Also Known As:

Invaders from the Spaceship (USA) (alternative title)
Prince of Space (USA)
The Star Prince (USA)

Runtime:

121 min | USA:85 min (DVD version) | 57 min (part 1) | 64 min (part 2)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Company:

Toei Company

Trivia:

Like Shintoho's Super Giant/Starman series, this Toei production was released to theaters as a sort of mini-serial with two approximately hour long episodes. In the United States this was edited into a single feature film running less than 90 minutes.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Krankor's ship returns to Earth the morning after the first confrontation, a bird is perched on top of the spinning periscope. It can even be seen flying around and away from the periscope in the following close-up.

Quotes:

Phantom of Krankor: I am the Phantom of Krankor. Ha ha ha ha.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Diabolik (#11.13)" (1999)

Prince of space...or the real starman series...I'm confused!

Prince of space is a pretty crappy movie, but it isn't the so called "Starman" series. The Starman series, which has been released in two volumes from Something Weird video, features a tights-wearing japanese man running around laughing and beating people up as they fire guns, which they know can't kill him, for he's made of steel. Shintoho, a company that was an off shoot of the great Toho production company created these films which range from bad to so horrible that you want to spray mace in your eyes so you can't see the screen. Walter Manly, the man responsible for delivering these messes to America made it worse by cutting them down from serials and turning them into 75 minute films about salamanders and monsters, and emerald planets... I really couldn't follow the plot I was to busy throwing up... anyway, their are some really classic moments in the films, weird, American serial influenced fights against hordes of creatures or even space facists, and mutants dressed in costumes you'd think were made by the producer's mother for $15.00. There are four films made for American release (even though there were nine films from Japan, three of them were turned into "The Evil Brain From Outer Space" which, sadly, is one of the better ones. My favorite of them all is "Invaders from Space, which has some nifty acrobatics and isn't as boring as some of the others. Prince of Space does suck, but then again so does Starman... if you've got nerdy friends and you're either drunk and/or high and your looking for a giggle, check them out.