In 1965, distributor Walter Manley acquired the rights to nine short Japanese features about a superhero from space called Supergiant. The struggling Shintoho Studio produced the 45-minute features three 2-part episodes, followed by three stand-alone stories in 1957/58 in imitation of the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN series. Director Teruo Ishii had a hit with the boxing flick KING OF THE RING, and chose its star Ken Utsui to play their man of steel. Manley renamed the hero Starman and had the features edited and dubbed into 4 movies (along with several other Japanese juvenile sci-fi movies) and released them for kiddie matinees and television. A whole generation caught these strange visitors from another continent on odd local TV movie slots, and marveled at their combination of weird imagery and energetic action.
Actually, Something Weird Video and Image Entertainment have put the cart before the horse, as VOLUME 1 presents the latter two Starman features, though in edited form it makes little difference. Each feature begins the same way, with the council of the Emerald Planet responding to a threat that may spread out into space by sending their Man of Steel to Earth to nip it in the bud.
ATTACK FROM SPACE is a slightly condensed version of THE SATELLITE AND THE EXTERMINATION OF MANKIND (or SPACESHIP OF HUMAN DESTRUCTION, depending on your translation) and its sequel DUEL BETWEEN THE SPACESHIP AND THE SATELLITE (or DESTRUCTION OF THE SPACE FLEET). The Sapphire Galaxy plots to invade Earth, lighting a fire under the Cold War. The High Counsel of the Emerald Planet once again sends superhero Starman to Earth with a "globe meter" (which gives him some extra powers), hoping he can ferret out intergalactic traitors. Sapphire agents have been causing mishaps at observatories worldwide, and it's feared the next target will be a spaceship under construction at a secret island base. There, Sapphire soldiers capture some Earth scientists (plus the regulation little kids) and take them to their underground lair, where they are forced to help the invaders build an engine for their own spaceship. Starman destroys a Sapphirian space station, and heads for their mothership, while the spies launch their ship from Earth, with the enslaved Earthlings on board, planning to force them to help build an entire fleet. To quash resistance, the aliens destroy downtown Tokyo, New York and London with rockets. However, the kids plot to sabotage the mothership and escape, and Starman is on his way.
One may wonder why invading aliens would need the help of Earth scientists to build their ships. In truth, in the Japanese version the invaders were actually terrestrial terrorists, but Manley no doubt thought aliens would be more fun and less topical (even in 1965). A change in setting from Earth to outer space makes ATTACK FROM SPACE a much more dynamic feature than its predecessor. The fight scene pitting Starman against the Sapphirians on the mothership lasts well over 13 minutes, with Ken Utsui hopping around the place throwing punches and occasionally picking soldiers off with their own pistols. The alien mothership looks terrific, fittingly looking halfway between a battleship and a futuristic factory.
EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE is a bit more hectic than previous features, having been edited from three episodes of the Supergiant serial this time - THE SPACE MUTANT ARRIVES, THE DEVIL INCARNATE and KINGDOM OF THE POISON MOTH. The evil genius Balazar is assassinated by a robot on planet Zemar, but his brain lives on! To avoid intergalactic nuclear war, Starman is sent to Earth once more. The Brain takes up residence with sinister Dr. Kurakawa, but his assistant Kuada catches on to the danger and swipes the Brain, hoping to get it to Dr. Sakurai, who may be able to destroy it, though he loses it to enemy agents soon after. Of course, Sakurai has a pair of precocious children, and Starman gives them one of his nifty pagers, knowing they'll be sure to get into trouble. The Brain creates some freaky-looking mutants, who can fly, turn invisible, disguise themselves as humans, and have other powers. The mutants cause accidents and commit robberies, attack Dr. Sakurai, and are able to multiply themselves. Police and of course, little children do their best to track down mutants, who are now lurking everywhere. Luckily, Starman shows up just in time whenever anyone gets in trouble.
Most feature condensations of serials have an awkward, rushed pace and sometimes sloppy continuity from the editing. But though this feature only uses roughly 60% of the serial episode footage, Manley's editor is to be commended for finding ways to combine three different stories into one fast-moving adventure, without repetition or padding. Besides, we've got a narrator to tell us that Starman finds his way into the secret base why show it again, when we just saw someone else find it? The editing can't explain a couple of the series' stranger moments, though. At one point the hero prevents the assassination of an Arab dignitary by impersonating him, with the assassins' bullets bouncing off his iron body. But after revealing his ploy, he stupidly points out that the real dignitary is not far behind him and amazingly, the villains don't try to shoot their real target! In another sequence, the narrator tells us that the mutants are now killing people indiscriminately, but we cut right to a scene of kids enjoying cotton candy. The mutants in their natural state are creepy creations, with big fangs and claws, and some kind of antennae that look like bat ears. They actually seem to pose a challenge for Starman in combat, and melt when killed (ick!). The Brain's minions wear a selection of nifty uniforms, and their various headquarters are interesting visually. It's intriguing that wheelchair bound Dr. Kurakawa seems to prefer handicapped henchmen one is missing a leg, and another a hand.
Like all Something Weird DVDs, this one has a rich selection of extras. The highlight among these is a 21-minute educational short produced in Denver during the 1950s, "My Milkman, Joe." It's about a tow-headed boy named Bobby and his unnatural fixation with his dairy deliveryman. Even stranger is the fact that Milkman Joe is assisted by an alien named Half Pint. There's also an episode of one of the better Astro Boy knock-off anime series from the '60s, PRINCE PLANET, which still received syndicated airplay via American International into the 1970s.
Also included are eight trailers from European superhero action movies. The supplements are capped off with a thorough text article on the Starman series by August Ragone, reprinted from Planet K Magazine.
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