Atomic Rulers

"The Earth is threatened with atomic destruction if the people of Mirapolia (sic) are not allowed to rule the planet. Observers from a distant planet, fat off in space, have been observing Earth and see the peril it's (sic) facing. Hoping to offer aid to the citizens of Earth, the benevolent aliens send their champion Starman to face off against the leaders of Mirapolia (it's correctly spelled Merapolia) and take care of their atomic weapons," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Ken Utsui (as Sûpâ Jaiantsu, or Super Giant) must save the Earth from nuclear peril. This is the American (English edited and dubbed) version of the Japanese super-hero's earliest movies, Sûpâ jaiantsu (1957) and Zoku sûpâ jaiantsu (1957). Herein, Mr. Utsui is Starman of "The Emerald Planet". Considering the material, this is a sometimes surprisingly well-directed, by Teruo Ishii, piece of super-nonsense; the location scenes are most enjoyable. Otherwise, it's, at best, unintentionally funny.

Watch for the scene where Utsui goes to a church with some children, and meets a nun. She gives him a smile that shows she's attracted to him; then, the young nun looks down at Utsui's groin area, where he has positioned his gun. Oh, sister!

*** Atomic Rulers (1964) Teruo Ishii ~ Ken Utsui, Utako Mitsuya, Junko Ikeuchi

Ah, Starman. Clearly influenced by the b/w "Adventures of Superman"

series, and possibly the Republic serial "The Adventures of Captain

Marvel," these flicks are good, old-fashioned fun. The only bummer is

that this first installment is very, very dull and doesn't feature the

loony aliens that would make the later entries so memorable. Instead our

hero goes up against guys in suits and fedoras.

You can afford to miss this one, but don't miss "Evil Brain From Outer

Space" and the ultra-surreal "Invaders From Space," which features

Starman thwarting the salamander-men of the planet Pulimon (you will not

believe their modern dance troupe of doom). And the DVDs are loaded with

extra goodies, including episodes of the long-forgotten b/w Japanese

cartoon "Prince Planet" which is a hell of a lot more fun than I

remembered

Another Starman episode. I have the same criticism. The bad guys are so incompetent. Starman is too powerful. No matter what anyone does, he simply stands there and takes it. It's just a series of silly fights with him posturing. If it weren't for the kids being in danger, I can't imagine that he would have to even think about bringing down the evildoers. It's very cartoon like. The fights and the violence are bloodless and boring, and the enemies talk in a bragging way. I imagine this was popular at one time. The kids are the heroes and are upheld by their hero. They get into trouble so he is left to pull his punches once in a while. Not much worth commenting about.

Half way through this film I wondered which year in the 50s it was made? A decade-guess, based on the horrifically bad "special effects". Mid-sixties, really? Anyway if you like fight scenes in which the aggressors just give up out of sheer boredom, this is an A list movie. My favorite scene was a standoff between star-man and would be assailants who kept driving their car at him. You could go make a cup of tea while they continue this standoff and it's a standoff which ends so inexplicably as to be magical (or really bad editing). Also features an execution machine which proceeds at a pace which would ensure it's victim would die of old age. And it includes a nuclear weapon which ticks so tediously as the alleged actors try desperately to do something, that you feel your life force ebbing. You'll find you forget a lot about the film but if you teach film making, it's a must because in every scene you can just stand there and say "no". Only show this to children you don't like but if you like quality films, you could build an entire party experience around this one and it would be hilarious.

Honestly I enjoyed this movie. It was great fun to watch, but I still have the common sense that it's a piece of crap. This original Japanese superhero made exclusively for this film, is the most ridiculous idea ever. The movie takes place in 1964 japan with an alien race attempting to rule the planet earth. A nearby alien race, notices the nuclear yes nuclear threat from the other alien species. So they send their mightiest warrior of peace... Starman! to save the human race. They hand him some device that permits him to fly and understand human languages and stuff like that. The name is lame, so are his powers and special effects of the movie, but that's what makes it so great. Still the acting is terrible and the dubbing does'nt help. I received the film in a 50 movie pack so I really had no other way to watch the film. I doubt it would have been much better. There are a lot of fighting sequences all poorly done. The film has an anti-nuclear feel which keeps it from feeling really out-dated. The film's hero reminds me of Gamera just without the saber teeth, fire breath, hunger for fire, and rocket propulsion flight out of his shell. I guess it's the whole fact that he's a friend of all children. Which I guess makes it more of a kids film now-a-days but it was placed in a film pack with a label that says, For Mature Audiences. If your looking for a movie to laugh at this one is preferably your best bet. 2/10