JLRVancouver This film, the third of the anglicised Starman 'franchise', combines episodes 5 and 6 of the Japanese kid's show "Super Giant" into a tale about an attempted Earth takeover by aliens from the Sapphire Galaxy. As in the previous installments, the story opens with the benign beings of the Emerald galaxy, who are once again concerned about the state of the neighbourhood and send Starman to protect Earth against nuclear-armed aggressors. Also as in previous installments, the aliens use mind control to enslave humans, children are held as pawns to ensure cooperation, and Earth's future lies in hands of the intergalactic caped hero. While marginally better than the boring "Atomic Rulers" (the first film in the series), "Attack from Space" lacks the surreal silliness that made the second film ("Invaders from Space") so endearing. Beyond a couple of spaceship shots, some rudimentary scenes of cities being attacked, and possibly the first cinematic use of the term "Deathstar", the film does not have much to offer even the least demanding viewer. Unlike the odd but entertaining 'Salamandermen' in the previous film, the aliens in this opus are just humans in vaguely Nazi uniforms and the climactic battle between the invading horde and Starman is an interminable brawl, full of poorly choreographed 'martial arts' moves and silly 'reverse motion' shots, but with little of the gymnastics that highlighted the fights with the acrobatic 'Salamandermen'. Even by 1950's kid's show standards, the movie makes little sense and veers into complete ludicrousness when Starman rescues one of the hostages by carrying her, sans spacesuit, through space from the satellite to the Earth scientists' rocket ship. Overall, other than a checkmark on budget-tokusatsu (or 'camp') aficionados' life-lists, the film has little to offer.

bensonmum2 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.

wes-connors "The Earth is threatened by the forces of the evil Spherions (sic), an alien race out to conquer the universe. The Spherions (wouldn't they be Sapphirans?) are aided in their attempt to take over the Earth by some of the world's top scientists. Standing in the way of the alien invaders and their treacherous allies is Starman, mighty interplanetary champion sent to Earth to defend the planet against galactic menaces," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Ken Utsui (as Sûpâ Jaiantsu, or Super Giant) must save Earth and the galaxy from Nazi-saluting aliens from "The Sapphire Galaxy". This compliments the films gemstone theme, as Mr. Utsui is from "The Emerald Planet"; and, the comic book characters slightly resemble DC Comics' "Green Lantern". This is the American (English edited and dubbed) version of the Japanese super-hero's fifth and sixth movies, Jinkô eisei to jinrui no hametsu (1957) and Uchûtei to jinkô eisei gekitotsu (1958). Herein, the series substitutes additional fighting, explosions, stock footage, and other paunchiness, for lost charm and direction.* Attack from Space (1964) Teruo Ishii ~ Ken Utsui, Utako Mitsuya, Junko Ikeuchi

jbar19 This 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.