Uchûjin Tôkyô ni arawaru

Lately I find I have a special place in my heart for the Japanese disaster movie of days gone by. They are so much fun, and their filmmakers throw everything but the kitchen sink in, both so that there's something to please everybody and because they're frankly just so chock-full of bizarre yet interesting ideas. It seems like it would have been a great time to make movies there! I enjoyed this a lot, though many aspects weren't understandable to me, like why as the meteor got ever closer to Earth it got so incredibly hot. I can understand, since the Moon influences tides through its gravitational pulls, why there could have been flooding, but the impact on temperature...I suppose it's simply one of those aspects of watching pre-manned space flight science-fiction films in which you have to approach simply with fun and acceptance, and turn off your disbelief, to simply enjoy the ride. I have no problem with that approach for these films.

Cool ideas I really liked were the way one of the aliens altered its appearance so that the warning would be listened to, so that both worlds could be saved, and the concept that when a world crisis occurs, different countries and cultures--and various planets, for that matter--can sit down and work things out together, that all is not lost for civilization and its discontents in 2016. It's thoughts like that that help me sleep at night.

This would make a great double bill with 'Melancholia'.

This film, literally titled, "Aliens Appear in Tokyo," was the first COLOR sci-fi film made in Japan. ("RODAN" would be the first giant monster film). The first part of the film is similar to "Day The Earth Stood Still" as the Pairans try to warn a scientist using a new kind of explosive he has developed. One of the assumes human form (copying the image of a famous singer)and tries to communicate with the humans. Later, the same aliens discover that a planet is on a collision course with Earth--and the only thing that can save humanity is to use the very explosive that they warned against! This takes the idea from "When Worlds Collide" as the earth goes through disasters as "Planet R" comes closer and closer. Finally the scientist is rescued from the Yakuza, and the wayward planet is destroyed. The film is a charming look at Japan, coming into its own following the Occupation after World War II.

Giving us the Warning From Space are benevolent creatures from a planet on our sun's far side called Paira. The dominant creatures of that planet are these large human size creatures that walk upright and look like starfish with a big eye in the middle of the body. What they're warning us about is a rogue planet loose in space and about to collide with the earth. The starfish civilization has developed the technology to blow up the planet.

The cheap special effects and the fact that no one could take these funny looking aliens seriously flattens out a sincere message about universal brotherhood of humankind that Warning From Space delivers. It was nice to see that all Japanese science fiction doesn't revolve around giant prehistoric creatures destroying Tokyo.

If you can get past the funny looking aliens this is not too bad a film.

My family and I always watched this wacked out- one-of-a-kind treat when it came on WPIX SCI-FI THEATRE. There are these aliens, thier costumes are big baggy starfish outfits with a big cardboard eye duct-taped to the center. They waddle around a minimalist spacecraft and twiddle their thumbs. They need to comminicate with earth scientists about a planet on a runaway coarse about to collide with Earth. The film is silly, completely without logic.

What I sincerely love about this gem is the atmosphere. Night skies alive with darting flying saucers are quite beautiful, the sort of postcard-look of the advancing burning planet is rather neat, and the staggering heatwave that hits a seemingly doomed Earth gets rather discomforting. You'll giggle AT the film, but will be in awe WITH the film.

Weird aliens from a planet called Pairan who look a lot like man-sized starfish creatures with a huge eye in the center show up in Japan and scare people. But their real intention is not to invade earth; instead they try to warn a scientist about his newly created weapon. To do so, one of them changes his look to that of a famous Japanese singer. But then the aliens discover a giant glowing meteor heading towards Earth! Can the starfish monsters help mankind to destroy the meteor before it crashes into Earth? It soon is discovered that there's only one way to destroy it...

Made by Daiei studios (later creators of the flying turtle Gamera, a popular movie monster in Japan) in 1956, this was the fist color science-fiction film from Japan. Supported by a then huge budget it was a serious effort to compete with enemy Toho studios and their 1954 hit "Godzilla". In 1957, Toho studios even made a somewhat similar movie, "Chikyû bôeigun", also known as "The Mysterians". "Space Men Appear in Tokyo" has far less special effects footage than Toho's movies, but the relatively few special effects seen in this film are of pretty good quality, especially considering their age! Filmed in beautiful colors, the film is still well worth watching. Story-wise, it is similar to the American production "When Worlds Collide", but it's actually based on a Japanese novel by Gentarô Nakajima.