Our pal Ryan sent along a copy of The Golden Bat. It's a 1966 Japanese film called 黄金 バットor Ōgon Bat. The Wikipedia says: it's a seminal Japanese superhero. The character was created by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu in 1930. Ōgon Bat is considered to be the first Japanese superhero. Originally debuting in kamishibai (paper theater), Ogon Bat is considered a precursor to later superhero characters such as the Japanese Kamishibai character Prince of Gamma (debuted early 1930's) and the American comic book characters Superman (debuted 1938) and Batman (debuted 1939).
The paper theater goes back to the 12th century with monks using it to teach morals to children with stories. The story teller would tell the story and change the pictures in the little wooden stage accordingly. Kind of like a picture book for children. In Japan there was a revival of the art that started after WWI and lasted until tv became popular in the early 1950s.
There's not so much seminal about the 1966 Toei film but it is a fun bit of noisey action and alien battling. It's directed by Hajime Sato from a script by Susumu Takaku. Sonny Chiba stars as the head of an organization that investigates an island that has risen out of the sea. That's Sonny up there with the beard. The older man is the group's head scientist. The young man is a newly recruited member and the woman is one of the group. The island turns out to be a part of Atlantis. They find a sarcophagus with the Golden Bat inside. The air revives GB and he's a hoot. The Golden Bat laughs uproariously and he's great at fighting and flying. His costume reminds me of Mexican wrestlers and the action in this film is often as poorly executed as those Mexican movies.
Out in space an alien called Space Killer Nazō is heading to the Earth. He has a big metal claw for a hand and big ears. That's him up on the left, on the right are his underlings Jackal, Piranha and Keroido. Nazō's ship is a giant screw that digs through Earth's crust as easy as it flies through space. He wants to destroy the humans and their planet. He's sent a small planet to the Earth and it will crash into it in 10 days. the old scientist and Sonny have invented a death ray but they need the rarest mineral in the universe to make a lens. Sonny and his crew have a hard time with the alien invaders who have superior technology. Lucky for him the Golden Bat is totally capable of kicking Nazō's ass. There's plenty of running about and some fighting. Most of the fighting isn't very good but it made us laugh. The underlings are a fun lot too, especially Keroido, who's particularly maniacal. He's worth the price of admission easily.
When it was all done we were still laughing. I'd recommend it but sadly the movie isn't readily available. We saw a fan subtitle bootleg that might have come from a source like this. I wouldn't think it's worth 20 bucks, it's cheaper to Bit Torrent it, apparently there are copies out there.
There was a 1967 Japanese cartoon based on the character. There's an episode on YouTube. I like the bike riding toy.
St Trinian's 2: The Legend Of Fritton's Gold is the 2009 sequel to the highly popular and successful 2007 St Trinian's film which was a reboot of the popular 1950's series. I really liked the first film and finally the second popped up on NetFlix. The directors of the previous film, Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson, are back. The script is by Jamie Minoprio with additional material by Jonathan M Stren.
Rupert Everett is Miss Camilla Fritton, the head of St Trinian's Girls School. As the film opens we see the girls returning to the school for the new year in their own styles. The local police are scared of the girls and with good reason. There's not much higher learning going on, most of the lessons are rather better for a life of crime or stint with MI6. Talulah Riley plays Camilla's niece Annabelle Lealla Fritton and she's the new Head Girl at St Trinian's. The girls learn of a special ring that an ancestor of Miss Fritton left behind. It points to a secret treasure worth millions of pounds. The movie is a race against a villainous David Tennent. He's head of a bunch of twats secret club that doesn't like women. He wants the treasure and he has a grudge against the Frittons. An ancestor of theirs had robbed David's ancestor's ship 420 years ago.
The girls band together to fight David's invading henchmen but he gets the ring they have. There's a second ring and you need both to find the location of the treasure. The girls have some clues and the hunt is on. There's plenty of gags and physical humor. The girls are great and there's a nice variety of types, emos, chavs, posh toddies, goths, nerd and plenty more. Colin Firth, an ex of Miss Frittons joins the team. He steals the ring David has and the girls score the second ring. The action moves to London where the girls have a flash mob dance to cover Anabell, and some of the other girls, slipping away to the Globe Theater. It's where the treasure is. David's right on their heels and briefly he has the upper hand but pirate girls always win over little weasels. Especially in the movies. I laughed a lot but I'm totally in love with the girls of St Trinian's and their defense of Anarchy. It's a nice bit of silliness and girl power that gave me a big smile. I'll certainly want to see it again.
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