WARNING FROM SPACE (1956)

In a rotating spaceship in outer space, aliens shaped like starfish with a big eye in the center of their bodies are on a mission to save Earthlings from their own blunders. They send out flying saucers over Japan and try to get the attention of scientists Kamura, Matsuda and Itsobe. Citizens of Tokyo also begin to see these saucers, with some people reporting weird power glitches, and a reporter who catches Prof. Kamura lounging at the Cafe Universe (great name, awful decor) tries to get a story from him. Eventually one of the aliens (referred to as #1 by the other aliens) transmutes itself into the appearance of famous entertainer Hikari Aozora. She is rescued from a lake and brought to the attention of the scientists where she exhibits odd behavior like leaping ten feet into the air and passing through walls and closed doors. She also finds and tears up the formula for a new, powerful and deadly atomic weapon that Matsuda has been working on. We soon learn the aliens are from the planet Pryan whose orbit is exactly opposite that of Earth and they seem to have two missions. One was to stop us from building Matsuda's weapons, which Alien #1 seems to have done, but the other one is to warn us that a rogue planet (they call it Planet R) is heading our way and will crash into us, destroying Earth but also negatively affecting Pryon's orbit as well. The best way to do this might be to gather all existing nuclear weapons and fire them at the planet, but the United Nations (called the World Congress here) fights that idea—until the approaching planet becomes visible. They try it but it has no effect. Then someone thinks maybe Matsuda's secret new weapon might work, but a gangster has kidnapped Matsuda, keeping him tied up until he gives up the secret formula. Does Earth have a chance?

Online critics have noted that The Day the Earth Stood Still and When Worlds Collide may have influenced this low-budget Japanese film's plot, but it’s also a hodgepodge of interesting but half-baked ideas, some of which are brought up and then dropped pretty quickly. (It’s also the first Japanese sci-fi film in color, for what it's worth.) Let's get the biggest problem out of the way first: the aliens look like big Teletubbies whose costumes were made by the moms of middle school students for a talent show. They are perhaps the worst looking aliens in movie history (pictured above right). The gimmick of having Alien #1 impersonate a celebrity has promise, but little is done with it. The flying saucers being shot out of a mothership is a largely squandered idea, as are the World Congress, the gangsters, and Alien #1’s ability to pass through solids. The irony of the aliens trying to eradicate the very thing that ends up being the solution to the larger problem is never dealt with. I feel like they threw every idea they had for this movie in a hat, picked a few out, and gave them each 5-10 minutes of screen time. [Caveat: I've only seen the dubbed American print from American International which was released directly to TV in 1963, and it may differ from the original version in major ways.] Once I got done laughing at the opening scene of the aliens, I admit the movie did have a certain charm. The last section, which features some limited destruction due to the approaching planet, works up some thrills, and the scene of Matsuda tied up with a blood red sky lighting the room, looks almost like film noir. The actors are par for the course, with the only one allowed to stand out being Toyomi Karita as Alien #1/Hikari, mostly due to her being a bit glamorous. OK for Saturday afternoon fun. Note: every other review of this movie calls the aliens "Pairans" but I distinctly heard a "y" sound in there, so that's why I stuck with "aliens." Pictured at left is the transformation of Alien #1 into Hikari. [YouTube]