ATOMIC RULERS (1964)
aka Atomic Rulers of the World
Article 1815 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-4-2006
Posting Date: 8-1-2006
Directed by Koreyoshi Akusak, Teruo Ishii and Akira Mitsuwa
Featuring Ket Utsui, Junko Ikeuchi, Shoji Nakayama

Starman (aka Super Giant) (Aka Prominent Equipment Man) does battle with an evil country which is planning to use atomic power to take over the world.

Yes, folks, it’s Starman again, and he’s here to save the Emerald Planet from being contaminated from radiation from nuclear tests on the planet Earth. Given that the Emerald Planet exists in another galaxy, I wouldn’t think that would be such an urgent problem, but apparently it is, so they send Starman to save the Earth (and themselves). On the plus side, this is one of the more coherent Starman movies I’ve seen; on the down side, he only does battle with humans, and there are no atomic mimes to be seen (as they were in EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE ). It’s edited down from a couple of features, and occasionally they have to use narration to fill in the gaps, but this doesn’t happen overmuch. As always, Starman is the biggest friend to children next to Gamera, and he entertains them by bending guns in half. He’s still good at those quick costume changes and those backward leaps as well. Yes, the Starman movies are rather silly, but I find them a lot easier to enjoy than their imitations, PRINCE OF SPACE and INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN.