Customer Reviews

Starman, Vol. 1 - Attack from Space / Evil Brain from Outer Space

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Longtime fans of Starman must be dizzy with disbelief that these are actually out on DVD (beating hundreds of revered film classics to the format), although Something Weird has wisely (from their perspective anyway) not grouped the movies chronologically, but essentially give you one of the two better features on each disc, with one of the lesser efforts second-billed. All four movies (heavily reedited from the original late-1950s serial episodes) open with the same scene of the ruling council on the Emerald planet in the Marpet galaxy, one of the all-time bizarre set pieces in film history. An indescribable menagerie of alien mutants on a papier mache background gesture, nod, and sway as a large cutout of Saturn swings to and fro. If the movies could have somehow sustained the unsettling imagery and strange mood of these opening scenes they'd be revered as surrealist classics. A narrator sets up the plot, which always involves sending Starman, a "creature made of the strongest steel," to Earth to stop some menace or another. Stonefaced Ken Utsui wears a white spandex winged, hooded costume, with sometimes augmented codpiece, and a "Globemeter" on his wrist, which allows him to 1) fly in space, 2) detect radioactivity, and 3) speak and understand any earth language. Starman movies remain a curious melange of 1930s/40s American serials, comic-bookish martial arts action, A-bomb paranoia, gangster/film noir thrillers, kabuki theatre, freaky monsters, and cutesy kids. The odd, stylized choreography and lame-but-amusing camera tricks utilized in Starman's battles with the alien monsters (sometimes decked out in garish, Ben Cooper-on-acid costumes) and hilariously inept flying scenes, complete with clearly visible harness, create a specialized brand of cinematic cheese that simply must be experienced for full effect. SW's digitally remastered transfers look as good as these movies ever have, and Starman fans likely will never see a more definitive release than this pair of discs. While all four flms suffer from varying degrees of speckling and lining, all have good tonal values and crisp detail, except in some of the stock footage.
Evil Brain from Outer Space is the better of the two pictures on Volume 1, but still finishes second to the even crazier Invaders from Space on Volume 2. After a robot assassinates Balazar, the most brilliant mind in the universe, his brain is kept alive by agents from the planet Zemar. Seeking conquest, the Zemarians infiltrate Earth, and plan a follow-up attack with nuclear weapons. Concern about ensuing leakage of radiation into space prompts the ruling council to send Starman to the rescue. The brain is sought by gangster-look Zemarian agents, and fanged, reptilian mutants wreck trains and ships at sea. The Zemarians, who have established a clandestine base behind a secret passageway in a hospital (discovered by a little boy, of course), all wear black tights and wide belts with bat symbols on their chests. The alien leaders also sport capes and hoods, making them look like shlumpy Batman knockoffs. Zemarians disguised as humans commit robberies to finance the invasion, and a freaky, smoke-spewing, glowing-eyed, chirping mutant with "solid cobalt nails," huge eye on his belly, ugly veins on chest and arms, and large fanlike ears shows up to do kabuki battle with Starman. The mutant escapes and replicates, showing up again for the climax at the Zemarian base. Plenty of oddball gymnastics, reverse filming, and dummy-tossing ensues. Print quality is pretty solid, with very good to excellent tonal values, brightness, sharpness, and detail, marred somewhat by recurrent light to moderate speckling and blemishing and some occasional light lining. Still, quite watchable overall, probably better than you remember from Saturday afternoons.
Attack from Space gets my vote as second-least of the four Starman features. It opens with a leisurely interstellar voyage by Starman, who happens onto a Superian warship loaded with enough radioactive material to destroy Earth. Astronomers and scientists feverishly work in secrecy preparing a spaceship, while traitorous Earthlings cooperate with the Superians on another one. After observing one of the Superians' thuggish agents descending a secret passage in a graveyard to their underground base, astronomer's kids Kaoru and Ryuichi are kidnapped at gunpoint and held as ransom for engine blueprints the Superians need to make their rocket work. Starman, in street clothes, addresses a group of military brass, then flies off on highly visible wires to retrieve the stolen blueprints and rescue the hostages. The Superians launch their rocket, Starman detects their supreme headquarters (a space station), kicks Superian ... in a typical display of gymnastics/acrobatics, rescues Kaoru, and flies her through the void of space (maybe she's holding her breath). Although we get more plentiful cheesy spaceship sequences than in the other three films, the bad guys just look like humans in military uniforms, and there are no appearances of the bizarre mutants that make Evil Brain and especially Invaders from Space so delightfully demented. Print quality overall is, ironically, a bit cleaner than Evil Brain or Invaders, with the usual light to moderate speckling/blemishing and sporadic light lining, but otherwise quite watchable.
Volume I extras include an approximately 25-minute B&W Prince Planet episode (ca. 1965) in old-school manga style, and a 20-minute color 1950s "educational" short, My Milkman Joe, produced by the Denver Dairy Council, in which a creepy, annoying puppet from outer space helps Milkman Joe propagate dangerous misinformation about dairy products. Both volumes include an extremely detailed essay on the Starman/Super Giant phenomenon, packed with all the information about Starman you probably need. While this is a solid set for serious Starman freaks, I would recommend Volume 2 first to the uninitiated, casual fans who only want a 'sample' for their movie collections, or anyone with limited funds.

These took me back many years, about 30! Made in the l950's as Japanese sci-fi episodes-and called SUPER GIANT-it starred Ken Utsei as a space going caped superhero from the Emerald Planet. These were originally made by Shintoho Company-a small studio made up of people who originally worked for the more-famous Toho Motion Pictures and left due to disputes and set out on their own. In the mid 60's these mini-movies were edited together to make four films for US distribution to TV. They showed up in the Mass/RI area on the old low-output UHF Channel 27 in Worcester, usually on the 6:30pm "Early Show" weeknite movie. Until now, I'd only seen them on those fuzzy "adjust the rabbit ears" showings. Those strange four films were more or less lost over the years until brought back on VHS tape and now, DVD. They are an absolute gas to watch, and you can hear dubbing done by Peter "Speed Racer" Fernandez. The quality of the films vary, with some skips, and scratches typical of old films of these types. But, honestly, I feel lucky we have that to watch and they are truly artifacts of a by-gone time.

STARMAN Vols. 1 and 2 offer four heretofore frustratingly rare films with lots of extras and the customary Something Weird quality (though don't expect the prints to look as though they'd been released yesterday). All fans of Japanese psychotronica NEED these two DVDs...nothing more need be said.

Starman (Ken Utsui, in white tights and a codpiece) was a hero in a series of Japanese serials from the 1950s. The raw footage was assembled into movies (an economical methodology which was common in the US twenty years earlier as well; think of this as sort of like "Commando Cody" on LSD) and distributed throughout the world. Something Weird has packaged two of these movies, added some characteristically odd extras and background information, and has made the whole digitally remastered package look as good as it ever will, although numerous artifacts still exist, sound dropouts are still a problem, and some scenes are quite dark. Lovers of sci-fi camp classics will adore this.

These movies rival anything I have ever seen for sheer goofiness. Right off the bat in "Attack From Space" I loved the dizzying variety of creatures from Starman's home, the Emerald Planet. Starman is assigned to oversee the wellbeing of the Earth. To help him he is given a "globemeter" which he wears like a wristwatch. The globemeter allows him to fly in space, speak any Earth language, and detect radioactivity. Much of these films are based on postwar Japanese fear of atomic weaponry (not without good reason, of course,) although there's plenty of inspiration from good-versus-bad western, spy caper, and gangster films, and a generous foreshadowing of Japanese monster movies to come. As in all Japanese monster movies, there are cute children front and center with apparently the highest security clearances known to man, because they are always in the thick of things. Here the two adorable kids get kidnapped so the evil Superians can get secret rocket plans to enable them to rain atomic death on Earth. Because the film is so heavily edited, there is an omnipresent narrator explaining everything. There are many moments that absent the narration you wouldn't have the slightest clue what's going on. Almost as common as the narration is the background music. If you have seen many science fiction films you've heard much of this music many times before (check out "Zontar: The Thing From Venus" and "The Eye Creatures" and see for yourself.)

"Attack From Space" has lots of ridiculous fight scenes that are quite balletic and are all camp. It also features numerous hilarious space terms ("Starman has crossed the electron net!") and even has a Death Star of its own. There are lots of funny sets, lots of spacecraft on strings, and more questions than answers (although the United Nations is accurately portrayed as totally ineffectual.) I didn't know, for instance, that there is plenty of breathing oxygen in space (of course Starman has the globemeter, but that does not explain other human breathing issues.) I also wonder how did the good guys keep getting all the weapons during the climactic fight scene? I am also still unclear on exactly how Starman destroyed the Superian command post. But these are trivial loose ends: the film excels in campy hilarity, and serves as a great warm up for the second and even better Starman feature in the set.

The second feature on the disc, "Evil Brain From Outer Space" was my favorite of the two. This one involves a robot from the planet Zemar. As I understood it from the helpful narration, a robot assassinated the smartest and most evil man in the universe, Balazar, but the Zemarians keep Balazar's brain alive to help him continue his plan of universal conquest. The brain makes its way to Earth where it is tended by some Zemarians disguised as gangsters, and directs the replication of Zemarian mutants to begin ravaging the planet. These reptilian mutants are one of the funniest things I have ever seen: they have ponderously large ears, hands like a three-toed sloth complete with deadly "solid cobalt fingernails" and can make the film stock change to a negative image at will.

After the brain takes a leisurely trip floating down a river in a suitcase, Starman gets down to serious work. He infiltrates the Zemarian command center (which is a hospital annex) and the gymnastic fighting begins in earnest. There's lots of high drama and many weird plot distractions such as a germ warfare subplot, ballet, an evil robo-geisha, a mutant attack on a rollercoaster (a key strategic target, no doubt,) and the use of a nuclear grenade, which seems like a self-critiquing bad idea. The monsters are great, the fighting is a true guilty pleasure for lovers of campy sci-fi, but like "Attack From Space" this film also leaves many questions unanswered, most particularly how is an amphibious attack from space executed, and why is the first step a string of petty jewelry store heists? Perhaps the narrator was keeping that to himself, or perhaps the answers are only understandable by those on Zemar and the Emerald Planet.

I thought the intensity of the weirdness would slacken once the Starman features were over. How wrong I was. If anything, the short "My Milkman, Joe" is the strangest thing on the disc. This is a short made jointly by the Denver Dairy Council and the Denver Public Schools (see, even back then you tax dollars were well spent) praising milk. The surreal short opens with the protagonist, a young boy, being visited by Half Pint, an extraterrestrial puppet from the Milky Way. (Really.) It turns out that after exerting some kind of mind control on the child, Half Pint makes the rounds with Joe the milkman. If that premise wasn't creepy enough for you, Joe comes to talk to an elementary school class about the wonders of milk, and it turns out he's a ventriloquist. Joe and Half Pint proceed to do the lamest dummy and magic act I can remember, while using the act as a springboard to show cows grazing and pasteurization. Everything about this short from the premise to the footage of the milking machine is beyond the fringe, and on that basis I recommend it highly. Other extras feature some trailers and an episode of "Prince Planet" which is a superhero cartoon that's reminiscent of a cross between "Aladdin" and "Speed Racer," and is one of the most unbearable things I have ever watched.

For enthusiasts of Japanese science fiction or people who love campy B-movies of any genre, Something Weird has done you a huge favor with this set. Enjoy it with a cold glass of milk!

WOW! What can I say about this little gem of a B-Movie? It is a fast pace movie. A little too fast at times.
And the music is terrible. I give it a one star {And that is being kind}. Now I did like the evil monster &
witch. They were cool looking. The fight scenes were plain STUPID! Those bad guys couldn't fight a flea
much less Starman. But all in all this is a fun little B-Movie to watch and laugh at. If you a big fan of
B-Movies as I am, you need to get this one.

The film joyfully reuses the same shots of fight scenes from early in the picture later, as if one is not supposed to recall them. Regardless, I still wonder about some of the characters who appear within the film, then disappear after they have served what ever purpose they were created to serve. There are several evil doctors, a lab assistant that steals the brain in the film's opening shots, a few local detectives from the Tokyo Police Department, but, most of all, an exceptionally nerdy pair of siblings- a four-eyed nerd girl about ten years of age, and her eight year or so old snotty little brother-forerunner to the baseball cap wearing little punks of the Godzilla series. After the boy, naturally, penetrates the impenetrable defenses of the bumbling Zimarians, and is finally seen, we see him run away, get a cut, because the denouement has obviously been left on the cutting room floor, and then never see his, nor his nerdy sister's, sorry little asses again.

Still, watching Starman battle the same idiotic henchmen- who never swarm en masse, but wait to go one on one with the clearly stronger superhero, is a hoot; no matter how many times the exact same shots are recycled. But, are you telling me that, fifty years ago, they couldn't have forced Utsui to wear an undershirt beneath his costume. After all, areolae are not that....well, you get the point. I guess that's all one could expect for a film that clocks in at less than twenty cents to see. Still, the lone disappointment with the film had to be the fact that Starman never got a chance to make 'nice' with any of the handful of attractive young Japanese babes on hand. It's simply not fair to leave such allure in the air, and then not consummate it. I'd have to give this film a slight recommendation, if only for its silly camp value, and inoffensive mind-numbing. That's still better than the majority of superhero films today. Areola power!

Same old corn, shaky sets, bad special effects, but somehow entertaining. I would've gave it 4 stars if Starman would've wore a cup

Starman (Ken Utsui) flies in from the Emerald planet, just in time to battle the evil, disembodied brain of Balazar! Look out! Hordes of mutants and mad scientists are out to assist Balazar in his bid for world conquest! Will Starman be able to defeat these hideous creatures? Watch as he jumps, leaps, flies, and does some sort of kung-fu dance routine, all in the name of a free and peaceful earth!...

Starman really should have bought himself a home on Earth. That would have saved him all the trouble of flying all the way back to the Emerald Planet just to turn around and come save the Earth from hostile aliens time and again. Of course, that would have denied us the privilege of seeing the utterly ridiculous High Council of Emerald Planet at the start of every Starman movie (which actually consist of footage from episodes of the Japanese Super Giant television serial). They're always worried that aliens using nuclear weapons will not only destroy the Earth but the rest of the universe as well - which makes it especially peculiar that none of the alien attackers ever seem to use nuclear weapons at all. This time the threat comes from a brain in a pan - yes, it's Balazar, the most intelligent person in the universe, who figured out a way to keep his brain alive after he was assassinated. Balazar's Brain is basically indestructible, we are told, and he already has hordes of Zimerian spies infiltrating science institutes and governments all over the Earth.

Naturally, Balazar's Brain lives in a briefcase, one which has been stolen by a lab assistant in an attempt to kill the brain and save the Earth - ah, but that would just be too easy. No, we have to have a big production with secret bases all over the place full of bad guys wearing rejected Batman suits, hybrid monsters able to materialize out of nowhere and kill people with the power of their supremely ridiculous costumes, and plenty of chances for Starman to dance with (uh, I mean fight) the bad guys. If you've never seen Starman fight, you have no idea just how bad fight choreography can be. All Starman does is wave his arms and dance around, never doing anything more than pushing his enemies away from him. That's why his fights take forever - he pushes guys down, and they just keep getting back up. At least it gives him plenty of exercise - and, judging by the paunch he carries around with him, he needs all he can get.

Let's talk about these hybrid monsters. The first mutant looks sort of like the Swamp Thing if he had vampire teeth and some kind of mutant sombrero on his head. At least he does look a little dangerous, which is more than can be said of the witch woman with a makeup job that would frighten even Tammy Faye Bakker. Then there's Balazar's Brain, which is less than impressive once we finally get to see the darned thing at the end.

These Starman movies are just about the campiest things you'll ever come across. They stink to high heaven, yet you just can't help enjoying yourself while you watch them.