Invaders from Space

I personally love to see the theater dance fighting and this film has that... some of the best scenes in the film to me. I also love some of the eerie imagery that we see in this film - it's almost to the point of a horror film. What's lacking to me just a little tiny bit is the story that needed just a little bit more pizazz to me - the on screen visuals and dance fighting has quite a bit of it though, that's very nice.

Here we have Starman (a Japanese superhero) that is saving Earth from the evil salamander men! I prefer this movie over the Starman film "Evil Brain from Outer Space (1965)" and I liked that film too. Really fun movies if you ask me.

I acquired this film from the Sci-Fi Invasion 50-Pack and I must say I'm glad they added it. I enjoyed the movie.

7/10

INVADERS FROM SPACE stars Ken Utsui as Starman, who must save humanity once again! This time, those pesky salamander men from the planet Kulimon have released a plague upon the Earth. Watch as Starman flips, flies, and bounds his way into our hearts!

Without Starman, no butterfly-collecting youths are safe from the Kulimonian hordes! See him utilize his spectacular ballet fu on these dreaded men in amphibian pajamas!

Watching this movie is like finding out that your brain is made of cotton candy! You'll never be the same again, seeing salamander men everywhere you look! Even in the mirror!...

Out of the four films edited together from the Japanese television series, this one is by far the best. While the costumes look fairly basic in places, there are also frequent moments where the costume design suitably capture the overall creepy atmosphere of the film. The sound works well in helping to establish atmosphere, and while a traditional story structure still isn't possible due to being formed from multiple TV episodes, there is an overall plot and several cases of setting up a climax that actually pays off. An additional bonus is there seems to have been more effort into creating the fight scenes, with better choreography and better editing, giving a more convincing appearance than the usual festival of minions throwing a punch, missing and consequently falling over.

In conclusion, if you're going to watch the Starman films, watch this one last. Otherwise the others will not live up to expectation!

When Starman flies, he makes the same noise that my Xbox does when it overheats. And for the same worryingly long length of time, too.

This film is the most ridiculous, insane, incredible thing I've ever seen. It's hilarious story is only made better by the amazing acting and fight scenes which will completely blow your mind with their sheer awesomeness. Seriously, watching this is a joyous experience which I really would recommend whenever you feel down.

Also, I've never seen so many backflips in my life! Surely in all their genius, the salamander men should've been able to think up a slightly more practical way of moving around...

This fusion of episodes 3 and 4 of "Space Giant" finds the Japan's man of steel, in his see-through and suggestively padded costume, battling Salamander Men from the Planet Kulimon in the Moffit galaxy (I kid you not). The invaders have the ability to change their appearance (or, sometimes, most of their appearance) and are spreading a deadly contagion by disguising themselves as an avant-garde dance troupe. Weird beyond belief, the film is full of acrobatic 'fight' scenes in which none of the kicks or punches seem to make contact but that include lots of back flips and cart wheels. At one point children are pursued by a Kulimonian disguised as a nurse (a creepy scene) who then seems to turn into a cackling witch. While much more lively than the leaden Atomic Rulers (the first Starman movie), there are some tedious moments (e.g. the flying saucer chase scene) and the special effects are laughable. I don't know how much has been lost in translation, but apparently the 'Salamander Men' were actually 'kappa', a Japanese mythological water sprite (which fits their look but not the Moffit Galaxy backstory). There may be other cultural tropes that I am missing (at times the Salamander Men make-up resembles 'slit-mouth', a motif that occurs in Japanese horror). The film is hard-to-rate, being a definite 10 for fans of weird cinema but probably unwatchable for most everyone else.