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War in Space
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $22.49
Your Save: $ 2.46 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Discotek Media
Starring: Kensaku Morita, Yûko Asano, Ryo Ikebe, Masaya Oki, Hiroshi Miyauchi
Directed By: Jun Fukuda
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Ryko Distribution
EAN: 0875707000697
Format: Color
Label: Discotek Media
Manufacturer: Discotek Media
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Discotek Media
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-04-25
Running Time: 85
Studio: Discotek Media
Theatrical Release Date: 1977
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Editorial Reviews:
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The year is 1988. Aliens from the Empire of Galaxies establish a base on Venus and launch a surprise attack on Earth. As the invaders’ spaceships quickly defeat the world’s armies and destroy New York, Moscow, Paris, and London, a United Nations Space Bureau team led by Professor Takigawa manages to finish construction of Earth’s last line of defense, the space battleship Gohten. The Gohten makes short work of the alien fleet, and the crew decides to take the battle to the enemy. While en route to Venus, an alien manages to sneak aboard the ship and kidnap Takigawa’s daughter Jun. The UN team attempts to rescue the girl from the clutches of the wookiee-like Space Beastman, but even if they succeed they must still deal with the greatest threat of all— Supreme Commander Hell and his powerful space galleon, the Daimakan. Originally released in 1977, and helmed by the legendary Jun Fukuda (Godzilla Vs. Megalon, Godzilla VS. Gigan). Starring Akihiko Hirata (Mysterians, Atragon) Kensaku Morita (Virus) and the beautiful Yuko Asano (Renegade Ninjas). With special effects directed by Teruyoshi Nakano (Godzilla VS. the Smog Monster, Godzilla 1985). This classic sci-fi film from the creators of Godzilla, has never before been available on DVD. This is the definitive edition, presented in its original theatrical aspect of 2.35:1. It includes the rare English dub, and the original Japanese language. Presented uncut and unedited for the first time ever
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: glorious japanese madness
Comment: to me there is nothing like sitting down to one of these 60's technicolor crazy sci fi movies...where they make no excuses for anything and just aim to entertain. The japanese are the masters of the evilest villains, the straightest good guys and helpless women who who are either extremely clumsy or outright evil...being in charge of armies of sunglass wearing thugs who look like they jumped right out of an italian spy flick. I loved the whole look of this film, from the bright blue orange and red of the walls to the giant bolts and control screens to the vivid colorful uniforms. the greatest is the enemy galleon in space with the rows of oars that shoot as well as row. And how about that lone white guy who I can never tell if he is speaking japanese or english ( I suppose I could watch the japanese language track..but why spoil the fun)
classic.
Customer Rating:
Summary: More like star wars in space..........
Comment: Not a bad japanese classic. But gave it 2 stars for to munch star wars like scenes. After seeing Toho's monster films, this one blows. But not bad to see it once, only once. Whats with the hairy alien with horns, stupid!
Customer Rating:
Summary: high-spirited blasting and zooming
Comment: I pretty much saw that this was the director of Godzilla vs Gigan and Godzilla vs Megalon and took the plunge. Lots of fun and rockin' music. I only wish there were a bit more a-battlin', but I can always watch it again. (so 4.5 stars) This must have been amazing in a theater... (as I presume most of these kaiju/model epics are...)
Customer Rating:
Summary: space opera Japanese style
Comment: This movie has an alien invasion plot not unlike 1950's American science fiction. However there are peculiar Japanese elements, especially the debate about using what would now be called a weapon of mass destruction one time only, to save the earth. The special effects are surprisingly good.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "I am the emperor of the galaxy...Commander Hell!"
Comment: From Toho Studios comes War in Space (1977) aka Wakusei daisenso (the original Japanese title) aka The War in Space aka Battle in Outer Space 2 aka Great Planet War aka Planet Wars...call it what you will, but I call it just, plain fun. Directed by Jun Fukuda (Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Gigan), the film features Kensaku Morita (Topsy-Turvy Journey), Hiroshi Miyauchi (Secret Task Force Goranger), Ryo Ikebe (Gorath), Yûko Asano (Guillotine Island), and David Perin (Companions in Crime), as the token Caucasian character.
The year is 1988, autumn, to be precise, and there be some trouble at the UN Space Federation, Japanese Branch. Upon arriving home after spending a couple of years in the states, Miyoshi (Morita) learns that there's been a lot of strange space activity causing electrical interference preventing contact with Space Station Terra...oh yeah, he also finds out the girl he liked, named Jun (Asano), is engaged to his friend Morrei (Miyauchi). Anyway, the stuff soon hits the fan as orb-shaped UFOs begin appearing in the sky, attacking various miniature cities throughout the world. Not only that but Space Station Terra finds itself under attack by something described in the short and highly illuminating message as follows..."It's big! It's very big!"...all right, so Jun's father, Professor Takigawa (Ikebe), who also happens to be Miyoshi former teacher, is instructed to revive a defunct project known as `Gohten', as Earth's defenses are no match for the mysterious, alien ships, which have been wreaking havoc across the globe. What is Gohten? Well, if you've seen the film Atragon (1963), then you're probably familiar with it as it's the same ship used in that film, with a few extra modifications. While Professor Takigawa and his crew struggle to prepare the ship, there's lots of talk about a character named Jimmy (who now works at NASA), and the aliens, learning of Gohten's existence, begin blasting the hell out of the underground island base in the hopes of neutralizing the humanity's last chance for survival. Jimmy shows up (finally), and Gohten takes off just in time to beat the tar out of the alien forces (Hooray!) flying about Earth before heading into space, their destination...Venus! Seems the aliens have set up their base of operations on the Venusian surface and now it's time to take the fight to them...but wait! Some green-skinned goons crash the party, kidnap Jun, and make her wear a tiny leather S&M outfit...Hello Kitty! After some stuff we eventually learn the aliens, aboard a ginormous space galleon named the Daimaken (whose aerodynamics seem dubious at best), led by a tyrant named Commander Hell, who just happens to be emperor of the galaxy (obviously a self appointed title), have all kinds of plans for the Earth, but the one thing they didn't figure on was a bunch of plucky Japanese astronauts riding the pain train right to their doorstep...once Gohten reaches Venus you better believe it's on, as only one ship will be leaving that planet's surface...
From what I've read War is Space was Toho Studios answer to Star Wars (1977), but the two features share only a few, relatively minor commonalities. One obvious aspect was Commander Hell's alien henchman, who looked suspiciously wookie-like, except for large horns on his head and he wields a huge axe instead of a bowcaster. Also know Commander Hell, who's dressed like a Roman emperor (for some, unknown reason), doesn't have much on Darth Vader (Vader and his Imperial forces would have reduced Commander Hell and his fancy space galleon to a greasy, space smudge in about two nano seconds). One really funny aspect for me in terms of the galleon was how it actually had oars protruding from the side, but they weren't used in the traditional fashion as they were, in reality, weapons of mass destruction. Other than that the story seems very similar to that in the film Atragon, except here a good part of the fighting takes place on Venus rather than Earth. The Gohten is pretty cool, one of its main features being a rotation cartridge cylinder, much like that found on a revolver, that has dual use in that it launches fighter ships into space along with firing powerful laser blasts. The story, while hokey, was a lot of fun, but I could have done without the middling love triangle between Miyoshi, Jun, and Morrei. It wasn't played up too much, except for a couple of scenes where I was tempted to jam a couple of shrimp forks into my ocular orbs. In terms of the effects I wouldn't classify this as Toho's best work, but it was still pretty decent as I only saw hanging wires from the ships in a couple of scenes. Once things get rolling there's plenty of action, including a rather large battle between the ships near the end...one word of advice for the captain of the Gohten...now I'm no master strategist but I'd think it'd be wise, when doing battle in outer space (or anywhere for that matter), to not fly directly into your opponents line of fire. Perhaps it's tied to the `kamikaze' mentality witnessed during WWII, I don't know, but if so, it's not an advisable course of action given you're the only defense for Earth against a hostile, alien race intent subjugating the planet. I really liked the music throughout, and I also liked the fact the story had little problems in sacrificing the occasional main character or two, but I only wish they would have done so without the gooey sentimentality that followed. All in all this isn't a stellar Toho production but I found it entertaining and worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Japanese science fiction. One should know there are no gigantic monsters running around in this feature, and element found in many of Toho Studios more popular films often referred to as `kaiju', or giant monster features.
The picture quality, presented in widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1), on this Discotek Media DVD release, looks decent, although the colors seems dull and even brownish at times. Apparently, when the DVD was originally released, there were some quality issues with the encoding process causing the picture to go nutty about forty minutes in, but the copy I got, early in 2006, played just fine. For those who have issues, contact the company via their website and they'll fix you up with a replacement. As far as the audio there's the original 2.0 Japanese, a newly remixed 5.1 Japanese track, and a 2.0 English dub, along with option English subtitles. Extras include a theatrical trailer, a photo gallery, an interview with special effects director Nakano Teruyoshi, and a detailed insert booklet with historical information, poster art, and vehicle diagrams. Also included are trailers for Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974) and Mikadoroido: Robokill Beneath Discoclub Layla (1991).
Cookieman108
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