ATTACK FROM SPACE (1964)
Article #1435 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-17-2005
Posting Date: 7-17-2005
Directed by Koreyoshi Akasaka, Teruo Ishii and Akira Mitsuwa
Featuring Ken Utsui, Sachihiro Ohsawa, Junko Ikeuchi

Starman must help the earth to defeat an invasion of an outer space race known as the Superions.

Yes, folks, it’s Starman again, and those of you might remember EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE will find this one either more or less satisfying than that one. It’s certainly more coherent, but that’s due to the fact that it pillages only two episodes of the Super Giant featurettes rather than the three that went into EBFOS. Certain things haven’t changed; Starman still has a tricky way of changing costumes, his gender is still completely unquestionable (apparently this is due to padding, since one of the producers felt that Starman would appeal more to female viewers if his manhood was more impressive), and the fight scenes still leave you with the sense that no one really got hurt. The down side is that the movie lacks the wild creatures of the other movie; the Superions all look very human, and other than a short segment showing the residents of the planet that sends Starman out on his missions, there’s not an atomic mime to be seen. Still, it’s kind of fun, and Starman seems to really enjoy fighting; he engages in gymnastics, throws people around as if they’re big rag dolls (which they probably are), grabs the enemies guns for his own use and engages in a little western-style gunslinging, warps back and forth from one area of the fight to another, and when he gets tired of this, he’ll stand somewhere laughing with his hands on his hips and let the enemies shoot bullets at him. Let’s face it; there’s something charming and fun about Starman that makes him a lot more interesting than a lot of other Japanese superheros. I just want to see more of the atomic mime.