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Uchujin Tokyo ni Arawaru
Warning from Space
The Cosmic Man Appears in Tokyo / The Mysterious Satellite / Space Men Appear in Tokyo / Space People Appear in Tokyo / Unknown Satellite Over Tokyo
Japan 1956
produced by Masaichi Nagata for Daiei
directed by Koji Shima
starring Keizo Kawasaki, Toyomi Karita, Bin Yagasawa, Shozo Nanbu, Bontaro Miyake, Mieko Nagai, Kiyoko Hirai, Isao Yamagata, Gai Harada, Kanji Kawahara, Sachiko Meguro, Toshiyuki Obara, Fumiko Okamura, Tetsuya Watanabe, Yuzo Hayakawa, Shiko Saito, Koh Sugita, Noriaki Yuasa
screenplay by Hideo Oguni, based on the novel by Gentaro Nakajima, music by Seitaro Omori, special effects by Kenmei Yuasa
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A group of aliens from a yet undiscovered planet heads
for earth to deliver a warning of impending doom, but because of their
grotesque, starfish-like looks, they are not only not taken seriously but
are considered invaders. So one of them takes on human form - that of a
popular female musical performer (Toyomi Karita - and sees to it that she is adopted by a
group of scientists, namely doctors Itsobe (Shozo Nanbu), Kamura (Mieko
Nagai) and Matsuda (Isao Yamabata), who are soon in awe over her superhuman abilities but
also baffled about her superior knowledge ... so that when she finally
reveals she's from a superior alien race, they tend to believe her, and
also believe her warning: That earth is going to be hit by stray planet
R in only a few weeks time, and the only defense is to fire all of
earth's nuclear weapons onto the planet. When our scientists try to convince the
World Council about this though, they are at first only met with ridicule
as for one the council doesn't believe in UFOs, and furthermore Planet R
hasn't shown up on earth telescopes yet. Once Planet R is visible though,
the World Council rethinks, and earth launches a nuclear attack on the
planet - to no avail. Now the last hope is with a super explosive which
Dr. Matsuda has developed for peaceful purposes. Problem though is,
Matsuda has been abducted by an agent for a foreign power who wants to
force Matsuda to give up the explosive's formula for his country's
dominance in the arms race. Problem is, the gravity of Planet R is already
causing destruction on earth even if the planet's still days away from
impact - so the time's running out ... Now despite the
film being very competently made with some solid effects work and nice
imagery, one can hardly call Warning from Space big cinema, it's
just too simplistic for that, too much of a crowd pleaser with its
plethora of cute kids and even some musical interludes, and of course the
thing the most remembered about the movie will always be its slightly
ridiculous starfish-aliens. However, it's hard to not fall in love with
its pacifist message, which it shares with many Japanese science fiction
films of an era when American sci-fi often sang praises to
militaristic solutions to problems big and small. And I'll admit, the
starfish aliens have a hypnotic lure despite their ridiculousness. So in
all, no classic for sure, but retro genre fun at least.
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