Inadvands
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
Sharkflei
Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
Joanna Mccarty
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Brooklynn
There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
JLRVancouver
This fusion of episodes 3 and 4 of "Space Giant" finds the Japan's man of steel, in his see-through and suggestively padded costume, battling Salamander Men from the Planet Kulimon in the Moffit galaxy (I kid you not). The invaders have the ability to change their appearance (or, sometimes, most of their appearance) and are spreading a deadly contagion by disguising themselves as an avant-garde dance troupe. Weird beyond belief, the film is full of acrobatic 'fight' scenes in which none of the kicks or punches seem to make contact but that include lots of back flips and cart wheels. At one point children are pursued by a Kulimonian disguised as a nurse (a creepy scene) who then seems to turn into a cackling witch. While much more lively than the leaden Atomic Rulers (the first Starman movie), there are some tedious moments (e.g. the flying saucer chase scene) and the special effects are laughable. I don't know how much has been lost in translation, but apparently the 'Salamander Men' were actually 'kappa', a Japanese mythological water sprite (which fits their look but not the Moffit Galaxy backstory). There may be other cultural tropes that I am missing (at times the Salamander Men make-up resembles 'slit-mouth', a motif that occurs in Japanese horror). The film is hard-to-rate, being a definite 10 for fans of weird cinema but probably unwatchable for most everyone else.
Rainey Dawn
I personally love to see the theater dance fighting and this film has that... some of the best scenes in the film to me. I also love some of the eerie imagery that we see in this film - it's almost to the point of a horror film. What's lacking to me just a little tiny bit is the story that needed just a little bit more pizazz to me - the on screen visuals and dance fighting has quite a bit of it though, that's very nice.Here we have Starman (a Japanese superhero) that is saving Earth from the evil salamander men! I prefer this movie over the Starman film "Evil Brain from Outer Space (1965)" and I liked that film too. Really fun movies if you ask me.I acquired this film from the Sci-Fi Invasion 50-Pack and I must say I'm glad they added it. I enjoyed the movie.7/10
Bezenby
Starman is kind of like Doctor Who, only Japanese, I'd say. He's like him because he's an extra-terrestrial being whose job is to protect the human race from alien invaders, only Starman's a little more hands on than the Doctor. Which is to say, he's not averse to giving the invaders a good kicking for their trouble. In fact, in this film, he actually kicks an alien spaceship's head in not once, not twice, but three times! From the inside! These aliens are the Salamander men and they've started their invasion the usual way, by spreading a deadly disease to anyone who attends their surreal dance routine they perform on stage. They also go out their way to track down various scientists who are working on cures for the disease, or know where all the Earth's secret weapons are stashed. As with Starman's Evil Brain from Outer Space, almost everyone encountered on Earth is a scientist, doctor, or a small child.These salamander dudes are pretty creepy when in disguise as humans (and appear like ghosts when they feel like it). They also breathe radioactive mist that can control humans. While trying to steal some scientists, Starman thinks he'll take in a show and gets drawn into a teleporting fight with the Salamanders, which results in an even bigger fight in a swamp. This is only the first half of the film! The latter half goes all Ju-On on us as an especially creepy Salamander turns up to take care of kids who have stumbled upon the alien's plan to follow a scientist to the secret Earth weapon stash (and when I say stumbled, I mean the aliens just told the kids about it). This leads to a half salamander lady chasing kids about for ages and the kids stumbling on the alien's weakness.All this of course leads to a big showdown, where the aliens have a weapons that disrupts Earth's orbit (causing random objects to float in the air), a battle where Starman takes on loads of Salamanders and even stops mid air for a punch up with a guy (closely followed by an underwater punch up)
aw man.Starting with the surreal good alien committee meeting at the start, and fill with crazy imagery from start to finish, Invaders From Space is yet another utterly bonkers entry into the Starman series. Crazy rubber suits for the Salamanders, Joker-like grins on the half-aliens, dance routines, people melting, aliens causing water to explode, time running backwards, alien spaceships where the controls seem to be shadows on the wall. This film has it all. Fast paced and mental. I love these films.And RIP Starman. I'm just discovering your films now. Your vibrations will live on.
MartinHafer
In 1965, American audiences were given the treat of seeing the Star Man trilogy in "Attack From Space", "Invaders From Space" and "Evil Brain From Outer Space". In each, the Emerald Planet (filled with silly but benevolent weirdos) sends the super-hero Star Man to Earth to fight off an invasion by hostile forces--or just to get rid of him because he looked so silly. Star Man is Ken Utsui--a Japanese guy in a body suit with an antennae on top of his head as well as a cape! I am pretty sure he must have felt ridiculous in this getup. However, ANYONE appearing in these films should have felt pretty silly, as they are amazingly bad--at least in their confusing English-dubbed versions. Originally, they were part of some TV series called "Super Giant" ("Sûpâ Jaiantsu").In this installment, the Salamander People are trying to wipe out the humans with some sort of virus. It's not a terrible idea for a plot. However, it turns out that the virus is disbursed by a modern dance troop of aliens performing in Japan!! Watching their hysterical gyrations and acrobatics is pretty funny. But they must stop both Star Man and Dr. Fukami--and spend most of the film trying to kill or brainwash the pair. Can the Earth possibly be spared? And, does anyone out there even care?! The film abounds with Star Man and the Salamander People doing somersaults and flips instead of actually fighting. I must say, they were quite athletic and talented--that is, until they tried acting or fighting. Then, it was just dreadful. However, the film, like the other two, is so amazingly bad and silly that it might be worth seeing if you are a bad movie addict and love laughing at ineptness. This certainly qualifies as inept!