Uchujin Tokyo ni arawaru (Warning from Space) (1956) [PILD-7063]


very poor quality print of the film, lots of scratches and color seems to be off, has more yellow than it should at parts possibly from fading.

mono film, sound is good with less damage than the image, but higher end has some crackle/breakup.

film is of people being invaded by Star shaped aliens with giangantic eyes in the center of their chests.
then realize that they are trying to help save earth and their own home planet.

as like my other post of the transparent man vs fly man, these films have some great scenes of
nightclubs, dancers and people in normal settings which are really cool for younger people or people who were not from Japan.


great film as always from this time period.
i have a dollar store DVD of this film and it looks like it's from the same source
but the DVD is horribly fuzzy and the LD is clear but both with scratches on the print.

if you love these films then pick up a copy, but remember there is no english anyting on this Japanese release.

Wow
I thought you're sure watching this.
Remastered DVD has been released last month
What is the improvement of the picture quality is not known

i had the LD for a long time and never watched it, the DVD i have was a cheap english dubbed that was
probably from a US VHS tape.

i know that criterion is releasing some really cool Japanese sci-fi films which is always a good thing.

Did you to watch Daimajin?
I guess you probably will like.
Although it is not Sci Fi.

yes, i enjoy those films, not too sci-fi but very cool.
also the yokai monsters.
unfortunatley i only have them on bad USA DVDs.

Some caps from video file

Didn't know there were real japan movie lovers amongst ourselves; bought Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (セーラー服と機関銃, Sērā-fuku to kikanjū?)
some years back, but still not viewed it .... will do it soon and post a review
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1982) [PILD-1117]

wow, those images are super clean compared to the print on the LD.
i would love to see a picture of sailor suit and machine gun's cover.

I've had this movie on my eBay Watch List for months. After seeing what it's like tonight I finally bought it. $30 shipped.

did you get the LD?

the scene with the star people is super clean on the LD, the rest has damage but is watchable and a cool
disc to own.

i want to get X from outer space, i bought one on ebay from a US seller but it was cracked in 2
but they are releasing it on criterion DVD so i am fighting myself if i sould get the LD or DVD

There's an X From Outer Space?

I've seen Message from Space (which is AWESOME) and The War in Space (not as good, at all) but neither of these other two.

I got the LD because its...you know, LD.

320885235033
this is the item number for it, i don't like doing ebay links anymore since they open strange stuff for me
when others post them.

anyway i think the same person had the LD warning from space on ebay.
i never bought message from space on LD, i just saw that last year, it was cool but a little too star wars for me,
but i can always watch it again!!.
i have battle in outer space, i haven't seen that in some time, is that what you are talking about or is
war in space early 80s?

The War in Space I'm thinking about was this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_in_Space.

I've heard people compare Message from Space to Star Wars before and I really don't know WTH they are talking about. They compare the evil boss to Palpatine for some reason, like there's been some artistic thievery there, evidently not realizing that Palpatine wasn't shown until Empire, which came out two years later! Having seen a bunch of Japanese crap before, the boss just reminded me of the boss that's in a million different manga/anime and sentai. Dynaman, specifically, although that came later as well. Some aspects of Message From Space look a little like Star Wars, but so did all sorts of scifi from that time, shortly before and after Star Wars.

Living in Michigan I actually know people that believe, honestly believe, that "the Japanese" "copied America" by getting into the automobile industry. They honestly think that the automobile was invented in Detroit and is somehow an inherently American thing. Anyone else who makes one is just a monkey who's learned to copy the work of great men.

Anyway, my favorite part of Message From Space is Vic Morrow's character. He literally sacrifices his career for robot rights, and not sexy/emotional Leiji Matsumoto robots, crappy trashcan clunk-bots, which I think is amazing. I don't know if they were trying to portray him as ultra-progressive or just nuts, but its great.

Now, The War in Space is absolutely inspired by Star Wars, although doesn't look much like it. If you watch the American DVD there is some AMAZING interview stuff with the head FX guy who's favorite line of mine is something like, "Now, you CAN make a movie in three months, but only if you are crazy." The movie itself is boring, but the FX are nice.

now i thought there was a furry character in one of them, i might be mistaken.
message from space is the one with the princess and sail ship in space, right?

i don't think it's a full 100% copy there are some similar things, i think, or i have to watch it again.

now i remember when the anime lensman came out and people were saying it was a star wars rip off?
but it was written in the late 30s, so it's not.
people who don't know enough or like me who might be mistaken

Yes, Message From Space has the space sail ships, pretty awesome ones. Just like Star Wars!

The Lensman anime is more like Star Wars than the Lensman books are, but neither has much to do at all with Star Wars.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1982) [PILD-1117]

hereby the cover, review will follow later, this release is part of series featuring Hiroko Yakushimaru

WOW, thanks for the picture.
i would love to see that one, seems there are no copies around in the US so i guess it's the LD.
just read IMDB about it, pretty cool one.

I got my LD the other day. I like it! The jacket is very vintage looking and even has a gloss-free finish to make it look more like period movie posters. I sure wish people making DVDs/BRs understood how much cooler it is to represent home video with period-correct packaging rather than badly modernized stuff.

The transfer, the actual transfer itself, is actually really really good. The print they used though...yeah, that's not so great . Each reel is in different condition than the one before. Much of the movie is very scratched, near the end there is even some color dropouts. The DVD screenshots above are way way cleaner as far as surface noise, but when it comes to detail and color...I don't know how much of an improvement there is. Also, I can see macroblocking in those shots that certainly aren't on the LD so...its kind like like choosing from a scratchy Iron Maiden record from 1982 or an overly cooked remastered CD from 1998. Neither are perfect, take your pick, I guess.

There is a US DVD with english only. I wonder what that looks like...

Anyway, as for the movie itself, I like it a lot. Its a bit boring at times, but there is a lot to like. The most standout thing is the color. Its beautiful! Also, while the acting and plot aren't that great, the lighting and sets are as good as Hollywood for the time. This was 1956 after all. The Pairans are goofy as hell, but they are also almost certainly the main attraction to the movie. (The list of in-jokes and cameos in Daikon IV that I don't get is growing shorter ever year, its one shorter now having seen this movie.)

I also like this movie because I don't have many Japanese movies this old that take place in cities and feature normal people. The scenes with the children in the school yard or the neighborhood shops were very charming. They make me nostalgic, even though its a place I've never visited and it takes place 20 years before I was born.

This film was on TV here the other day, & I watched part of it. Talk about production values… at one point it looked like they were actually using a Happy Meal toy for a spaceship model. Not exactly Eiji Tsurabaya!

Hmm, I thought it was pretty impressive. Compared to Godzilla, made just 2 years earlier, it was a huge upgrade in production value. It came out the same year as Forbidden Planet, but considering Japan was only a decade out from getting its a** totally kicked in a war I'd say Warning from Space did very well with what they had.

EDIT: the dance scenes kind of sucked in this movie. That's one area of movie making where the US definitely did a much much better job.

...but then there are no dance scenes in most American scifi movies, are there?