Why am I just now discovering Starman? And there are four of these movies? I can't believe I've never heard of this before. Attack from Space may be my introduction to Starman, but it won't the last time I pay him a visit.In Attack from Space, the Earth is threatened by a race of aliens known as the Spherions. They show they mean business by blowing up one of the mountains in the Himalayas (odd choice, but whatever). A benevolent race of aliens from the Emerald planet send their superhero, Starman, to Earth to help defeat the Spherions. Starman discovers that one of the Earth's top scientists and his family have been abducted. Can he rescue the Earthlings and save the planet?Rating and writing about a film like Attack from Space is difficult because, honestly, it's a train wreck of a film. Special effects, dubbing, lighting, acting, plot, logic, and just about anything else you can name is so bad it's impossible to put into words. It's bad, but it's also bizarrely fun. Things like the crazy looking council on the Emerald planet, the Nazi-esque aliens dressed like 1940s era US Navy officers, Starman's lumpy superhero suit, and, most of all, the ridiculous fight choreography – I can't describe what joy these things brought to me. Even though the fight scene between Starman and the Spherions overstayed its welcome by what seemed like hours, it's still the real highlight of the film. Starman has a style of fighting I've never seen before. He reminded me of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz trying to do Kung Fu. Hysterical. The use of silly looking guns, reversed camera shots, and the most obvious dummy I've ever seen only added to the fun. Seriously, this is truly one of those "so bad it's good" type movies. I'm looking forward to the others in the series.
... View MoreHell, there might not be any sinister aliens here, but my god does that end fight pack a literal punch! Lordy! I'm getting ahead of myself here. What this all boils down to is that Starman is up against some Nazi aliens called the Spherions who are out to destroy earth using a space station equipped with the firepower to destroy an entire planet. Sound familiar? Well, that bit about the Death Star won't as I've never heard that phrase used before.Death Star you say? Well, it ain't a big space station that can destroy planets (although the Nazi aliens have one of them too), but an actual Star that means death for Starman. This film may be lacking in the scary alien department, but in the Starman floating through space department, this one wins.Also, this film has the best Starman fight ever, as instead of Starman taking on thirty to forty bad guys at a time, this time round he takes on about one hundred guys armed to the teeth, takes their guns from them, and shoots the hell out of everyone while laughing. I put the death toll here in the thousands as this fight scene goes on forever.Also, the makers of the film must have acquired a dummy that they then dressed in a bad guy costume, because your going to see this dummy about eight or nine times, being pushed off balconies or thrown across a room. Basically, the dummy makes the end fight scene easy.Starman manages to kill most of the Spherion species in this film as you would expect, but makes you a bit sad at the end by waving goodbye when you know the actual actor that played the Starman died this year.But for Starman fans I'd watch the film in the following sequence: Evil Brain from Outer Space, Invaders from Space, Attack from Space, and Atomic Rulers of the world.Yep
... View MoreI hear that this is based on a really old TV show, Starman. I heard good things about it. But it's like this movie I think I'd rather pass on the TV show. This movie has terrible production value, the story was boring and repetitive. The dubbing was God Awful and basically it's one big stink fest. Anyone who calls GAMERA or GODZILLA cheesy, don't know what cheesy is. Look up cheesy in the dictionary and you'd find a picture of this movie. Look at the costume for a second, goofy with that antenna. The evil aliens were just humans. Not one monster except for the council. I love Japanese stuff, and I'm the one defending Japanese sci-fi when other people call it crap. But this is one of those rare times when the Japanese dropped the ball big time and didn't care. I give ATTACK FROM SPACE...THE NOOSE!
... View MoreThis is another movie I wish MST3K had a chance to screen.This movie is the combination of 2 Japanese movie serials from the Super Giant series of the late 1950s.When I first saw this movie when I was a child, it scared the hell out of me, as it contains the usual 'violence against children' seen in movies like 'Invasion of the Neptune Men' and to a lesser extent, 'Prince of Space'. Even today, the scene where the Nazi-like soldiers kidnap the children is a little too edgy for anyone under 12 years old.But the allure of this movie is the innocent and almost naive story line. Even though the movie has many ridiculous ideas, the actors remain deadly serious throughout. The film opens with a bunch of ridiculous looking aliens with costumes that are right out of a 3rd grade theatre production. The aliens send 'Star Man' to protect the Earth from a invasion from the 'Spherions'.Star Man is a slightly paunchy, overacting, average-looking, middle aged Japanese man. He flails his arms around, beating up Japanese extras in highly exaggerated and very poorly choreographed fight scenes. The fight scenes alone are worth the price of admission. Many times, actors aren't even close to being hit when they do flips and pretend to be knocked out.Also, watch for the scene where Star Man disables flying saucers by bending what can only be described as a metal rack from a refrigerator.As with most early Japanese Sci Flicks, there are numerous technical errors like people being able to breathe and fly through space.But I recommend this movie to any B Movie fan. It's very campy and the shoddy production values are more than made up for by the movies goofy charm.One of the reasons the TV show 'Batman' was so successful was because the actors took their roles so seriously. This is also what makes this movie work. All of the actors take their silly roles very seriously, as if they are acting in 'Hamlet. This only makes 'Attack from Space' even more enjoyable.
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