Battle In Outer Space is a 1959 Japanese movie from Toho Studios. It was released in Japan as 宇宙大戦争 Uchū Daisensō or literally The Great Space War. I've got a copy that came in a three movie package called the Toho Collection which also contains copies of Mothra and The H-Man. It comes with both a Japanese version and an English version of the film. They run the same length. I had a bootleg from Video DaKaiju before I got the Toho Collection. I'm keeping it for the different translation. BIOS was directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, and the music was written by composer Akira Ifukube. These men are like the ancient gods of Japanese monster and science fiction cinema. It's a nice simple plot, some aliens are attacking the earth from their base on the Moon. First the space station is blown up by some space fighters, then the Earth is attacked with plenty of buildings getting damaged. The Earthmen band together and create a powerful weapon to take the battle to the moon. It's a big fight and many die but the aliens are finally beaten. There's plenty of action in space, on the Earth, and on the Moon. There's a few slow moments and some goofy science but for the most part it's a fun and entertaining film with pretty good effects. It's a nice widescreen print that's so clear you can see many of the wires that hold things up. It doesn't bother me, the story is still fun to watch.
The Human Vapor is a 1960 film that was released there under the title ガス人間第一号 Gasu Ningen dai Ichigo or Gas Person No. 1. I'm highly entertained by the way they title movies in Japan. Was there going to be a gas person no. 2? I didn't even have a copy until last week. I couldn't remember having seen it before and it's not listed on my list of movies watched. I had to borrow a bootleg dvd and make a copy for me to have. It's not out here in the US on dvd. There was a VHS tape ages ago which is where the version I watched comes from. The US version is re-edited, it moves a mid-movie interview with Mizuno, the Human Vapor, to the start of the film. This turns the whole first half of the movie into a flashback. In either version the police arrive and the movie continues in real time until the end. It's directed by Ishiro Honda and the effects were done by Eiji Tsuburaya. Mizuno takes part in an experiment that turns him into vapor. He can turn solid byhis own will. He wasn't expecting that and the doctor who tells him he wasn't his first bad accident but hey, he did survive and the others didn't. Mizuno kills the doctor and you can see why. He might have been better off going to the cops and turning the doctor in but he wasn't thinking that and the deed is done. At least he didn't leave any fingerprints. Mizuno has a deep passion for a Kabuki dancer. He steals millions of Yen from banks so he can fund a preformance of her art. The police arrest the dancer because she passes money from the banks that were robbed. They eventally figure it out that it's not her and they use her to try to trap the HV. But what can they do against a guy who can turn into smoke or mist. Turns out not much. They try shooting him but he's vapor. It's kind of a sad story with little good happening to everyone around Mizune after he turns to smoke. The movie ends with Mizune narrating that he can't die and he has to be vapor for all eternity. Too bad this isn't out in the US, it would be nice to see a good widescreen version. I should order up a Video Dakaiju catalog and see if they have the Japanese version sometime.
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