The "Starman" Series

Super Giant is a Japanese superhero featured in a successful series of serial-like tokusatsu short feature films produced between 1957 and 1959 by Shintoho Company, Ltd. (the non-union branch of Toho). He is also known in Japan as Giant of Steel, known in France and Italy as Spaceman and in the USA as Starman.

 The American company Walter Manley Enterprises purchased the international rights to Starman and with Medallion Films repackaged the nine Starman films into 4 films for television in 1965. The first six installments were cut and merged into three films-- Atomic Rulers of the World (or just Atomic Rulers), Invaders from Space, and Attack from Space. The final three films were severely cut and merged into Evil Brain from Outer Space. It is doubtful that the 8th film was incorporated into the English language films, as it was in color and Scope. Dubbing was handled by Titra Studios of New York, using many of the voices common in dubbed films of the time, including Peter Fernandez. The original music soundtrack was largely replaced by library tracks.

As far as made-for-TV schlock goes, though, Atomic Rulers is too fun to resist. In a melting pot plot of for-kids camp that touches on sci-fi, espionage, and Adam West-era Batman vibes in its all-encompassing quest for genre thrills, Atomic Rulers of the World is a live action comic book sugar blast that literally & figuratively represents the best of old-fashioned serial storytelling. The first of four films following the out-of-this-world superhero Starman as he attempts to save Earth from destroying itself in a nuclear holocaust, Atomic Rulers looks, feels, and resonates like comic book camp. In a modern context, where all comic book cinema is super serious & adult-oriented, though, its particular band of Saturday morning inanity is oddly infectious.

There are several more infamous superheros Starman could be compared to (as well as some more obscure reference points like Fletcher Hanks’s Stardust character), but there’s no clearer reflection of his character than, arguably the most famous superhero of all time, Superman. Like Superman, Starman is a bulletproof alien with movie star handsomeness, inhuman strength, and a frequent indulgence in green screen flight. The only aspects he’s missing are the adoptive parents & laser beam eyes. Instead of crash landing in Kansas as a wee babe, Starman lives on a distant world known simply as The Emerald Planet. The high council of The Emerald Planet (who look like every episode of the 1950s Dr. Who series smashed together as a dinner party theme) becomes concerned with Earth’s impending doom as the radiation from atomic weapons testing leaks from the atmosphere & poisons other worlds. They deploy Starman, who can master intergalactic flight without any kind of vessel, to stop an evil nation from deploying “atomic superweapons” that would lead to intentional nuclear peril. The alien superhero occasionally does Superman-esque things like landing on the outside of the airplanes to physically steady their landings or alternating between skin-tight supergear & sharply tailored suits, but for the most part Starman acts as a solo agent in Cold War espionage. When a gangster accuses, “You’re a police agent!” he responds “Not of this earth,” which isn’t exactly a denial. By the time he fences like a swashbuckler & engages at length in hand-to-hand martial arts, Starman seemingly encompasses all genre film cliché in a single vessel, but Superman certainly provides his basic framework.

Paced & narrated for television, Atomic Rulers of the World occasionally suffers a boring stretch of narrative or a rigidly episodic story structure, but it’s a format that works well in a superhero cinema context. In the first half of the film, Starman sets out to rescue an orphan boy kidnapped by an evil organization attempting to hold Japan hostage with “atomic superweapons.” In the second half, he has to rescue a second hostage, this time a young woman, while thwarting the impending nuclear holocaust. As this was made for 1960s children’s television, it goes without saying that Starman succeeds in both instances (even though one encounter ludicrously requires him to survive a mini-nuke in an enclosed space). If I hadn’t known that there were three more Starman films to follow, I might have found the story a little slight, but it at least feels totally self-contained. At the end of the movie Starman decides not to destroy the atomic superweapon, but to return it to the “good guys,” urging them to “use it for peace.” It’s a simplistic solution for a massively complex problem (that still hasn’t been solved half a century later), but it still works well enough as a standalone product in an episodic series. I’ve certainly seen films in the MCU with less in-the-moment stakes & frustratingly unresolved “until next time” conclusions.


Anyone who’s curious about watching Atomic Rulers of the World isn’t likely all that interested in the film’s narrative ambition, though, and it’s a work that survives largely on the novelty of its multi-genre thrills. The villainous nuclear cult that plans to take Japan hostage boasts some interesting details in the meth lab futurism of their secret base & their preferred execution method of the world’s most convoluted, slow-moving guillotine. There’s also a quaint charm to the film’s cheap production design, with its half-assed dubbing & green screen flight. The real joy of Atomic Rulers, however, is the introduction of intergalactic superhero Starman. Actor Ken Utsui’s near nude outer space get-up & everything-to-everyone invincibility/versatility turns the character into something of a campy joke, but I do have a strong nostalgia for this kind of over-the-top cartoon superhero media. Some of Atomic Rulers‘s best moments are when Starman is simply delighting an orphanage full of kids who ooh & ahh as he demonstrates his ability to fly or to mangle firearms with his bare hands. I often found myself getting giddy right along with those impressed & overwhelmed tykes, as Starman is a high camp superhero I didn’t know I needed back in my life until Atomic Rulers showed me the way.  (Swampflixx)

Invaders form Space starts with the exact same introduction, a shot-for-shot copy of the Emerald Planet council’s scene in the first film as they choose to employ Starman to once more save Earth. This helpful preamble provides not only context for Starman’s origins, but also a concise overview of his powers, both the ones he was born with (he’s made of the strongest steel) and the ones afforded to him by his fancy “globe meter” wristwatch (flight, radio activity detection, language adaptability). Thankfully, though, Invaders from Space didn’t repeat much else from Atomic Rulers’s basic structure. Instead of fighting off evil nuclear warmongers in this case, Starman does away with an alien invasion of artsy theater types with a proclivity for witchcraft and the results are deliciously ridiculous.

The titular alien invaders in this film are known by name as the Salamander Men of Planet Kuliman. When undercover, they dress like mobster types with black surgical masks covering their hideous alien faces. When letting their freak flags fly, however, they’re alien-frog humanoids with steel-tearing claws and radioactive fire breath. Their uncovered, mutilated faces recall The Joker or a nameless Dick Tracy goon. They fly UFOs seemingly made entirely of light and hide among humanity as “an unusual dance troupe” who put on a “weird performance” at an arts theater that makes its entire audience sick with radiation poisoning. The one female Salamander is a witch that chases children around a suburban home; the salamander people’s temporary home on Earth is a phallic palace with a blatant dickhead on its tallest tower; their second life as an avant-garde dance troupe means that there’s tons of cartwheels & gymnastics included in their hand-to-hand combat styles. So much of Invaders form Space resembles the exact tone of Atomic Rulers of the World that it’s impossible to ever forget the series’ origins as a television property instead of proper cinema. The film still stands out on its own in comparison to Starman’s introductory title, Atomic Rulers, though, mostly because of the absurdity of the Salamander Men of Planet Kuliman are such a perfectly comic strip-oriented type of foe for our bargain bin Superman to thwart.  Another film where Starman bucks against arms-dealing G-men might’ve been a monotonous slog, as we’ll see in a future sequel, but the UFO attacks & interpretive dance combat of Invaders from Space make for a highly entertaining sequel, one that might even surpass the original film on the basic level of enjoyability.

Cobbled together from the 3rd & 4th entries in the Super Giant series, The Mysterious Spacemen’s Demonic Castle & Earth on the Verge of Destruction, Invaders from Space finds the Starman franchise hitting its full stride. The introduction of Ken Utsui’s spandex-clad space alien hero in Atomic Rulers was  a delightful novelty, but just like most superheroes, the strength of his world relies heavily on the shoulders of his villains. The Salamander Men of Planet Kuliman don’t exactly elevate Invaders from Space into a higher tier of cinematic quality above Atomic Rulers; this is still an even keel of made-for-TV schlock that the Super Giant series is operating on. They do, however, keep the series interesting after the initial charm of Starman & his atomic menace foes settles and the reality of watching four of these ventures becomes a potential chore. Starman’s introduction remains static & carbon copied at the top of each feature. There’s no room for him to grow or change as a character from movie to movie, so it’s up to the villains he defeats to provide a sense of variety & continual novelty. Modern dance fish people from outer space who exhale radiation and live in a dick castle are more than fascinating enough as villains to maintain that novelty and Invaders form Space is one of the most interesting entries in the Super Giant series thanks to their gloriously weird presence. (Swampflixx)

( Attack from Space)  is edited from episodes 5 and 6, JINKO EISEN TO JINRUI NO HAMETSU and UCHUTEI TO JINKO EISEN NO KEKITOTSU).  If you’ve ever seen Invasion of the Neptune Men or Prince of Space then you have a good idea what Starman movies are like, and know to proceed with caution. For those of you who haven’t been to the world of Japanese 50’s superhero sci-fi, it is a frightening journey into madness and shame. Or at least very similar to modern day Power Rangers or Ultraman type shows, except no one grows big, and there is usually only one good guy who is invincible and kills hundreds of evil Bad Dudes. So strap yourself in and prepare for the ride.

Evil vaguely Nazi aliens from the Sapphire Galaxy (henceforth known as Sapphirians) are on  a mission to conquer the galaxy. To do this they must first conquer Earth. For some reason. Also Earth seems to be the first planet they’re going to try to conquer. Anyway, the Emerald Planet gets wind of the dastardly deed, and dispatches their agent to Earth.  Starman heads off to stop the Sapphirians! So he attacks a Sapphirian ship (ignore the string) but is forced to abandon his attack when a shower of meteors come. Starman heads toward Earth to find out who is betraying mankind.

Meanwhile on Earth, Dr Yamanaka and his research team are having problems with their   equipment, which is part of a starship being built as a ship of peace to explore outside of the solar system. Parts of the ship are mysteriously being destroyed. Dr. Yamanaka’s children Kiyoro and Riyoichi are sent in the city to buy a solenoid for the spaceship. But someone right before them in line buys all the solenoids in town, and the children decide to follow him to see what he is up to. They manage to tail him to a graveyard, where he enters into a secret passageway down a gravesite. The kids prepare to get the police, but are captured by other agents and are taken below grounds as well.
 

One of the Hired Goons returns to the island where the starship is being constructed and delivers a letter from the children, and threatens their deaths if the scientists do not cooperate. Also one of Dr. Yamanaka’s assistants is a traitor, then lengthily explains what the Sapphirians are up to. The Sapphirians are building a new rocket, and they need Dr. Yamanaka’s engine to power their ship (shouldn’t intersolar space aliens have rocket engines? Especially if they are trying to conquer the galaxy? Who’s planning their attack, Bozo the Clown?) The world leaders meet to discuss the situation. Starman shows up in dapper atire to tell them what is up and give another plot rehash.

The Sapphirians put Dr. Yamanaka and his children and an assistant named Asari into a machine to control their minds. Starman detects the Sapphirians spacebase (but not the big spacebase) and goes to attack, but they evade by going Mach 80.  Starman boards their vessel and begins kicking Sapphire butt. And on Earth the Sapphirian ship launches (with Earth Engine) and Starman detects an even larger space vessel, the Sapphirian Surpreme HeadQuarters. The head of the Sapphirians, Bundar (BUNDAR???), orders their new Rocket to head to Orbit EF— the orbit that takes it near the DEATH STAR! (not that Death Star, this Death Star is just some random star that happens to be in our solar system but none of us know about it, yet it is really hot.) Starman uses deductive reasoning to figure out the ship is powered by Dr. Yamanaka’s engine and that he and his children are hypnotized, despite having no possible way of knowing. The Sapphirian ship nears the Death Star, and Starman must follow despite being worried his steel body will melt. Then hypnotized Dr. Yamanaka is ordered to fire missiles at Starman, one of which hits him and he crashes on the surface of the Death Star (right next to Porkins).

The ship lands on Sapphirian Surpreme HeadQuarters. The mind control wears off of  daughter Kiyoro and Asari. The Sapphirians issue an ultimatum to Earth demanding surrender and destroy a Himalayan mountain. The Humans refuse to surrender, so they destroy Downtown New York, downtown Paris, and one single building in Tokyo. (going a little light on Japan, are we? And Starman is really dropping the ball on this adventure.) Asari and Kiyoro escape and dress as guards as the search for a way to disable the space station. If the humans get control of the single rocket, then the Sapphirian Surpreme HeadQuarters will not be able to defend itself (wait a minute, a gigantic space ship cannot defend itself against a tiny rocket, and has no other rockets to help? I’ve seen games of Chutes and Ladders with more strategic forethought.) The humans disable the missile room, and the Sapphirians begin to search for them. They capture Kiyoro and the son Riyoichi and will execute them along with Dr. Yamanaka, when STARMAN reappears! Starman single-handedly beats up fifty-some guards. He then shoots a whole bunch more. After thirty more dead Sapphirians, they realize they have guns also and start shooting at Starman, but to no avail. While Starman is killing them all one by one, all the hostages escape to the rocket except Kiyoro, who is taken to the back room. Also, they bother to changer her clothes from the guard uniform back to her space hostage clothes. They call the spaceship and threaten to kill her unless the hostages surrender. But communications go out, and then Kyoro escapes by stealing a machine gun, then holes up in a room, and effectively uses cover, and kills a host of evil guys. Man, this chick is a whiz with a machine gun! I think I’m in love… She is a non-stop killing machine.

Back in the rest of the spaceship, Starman is still killing troops. And killing troops. And killing troops. Sometimes, Sapphirians turn into dummies on “invisible” wires after they die and Starman throws them across the room. After the long long long long long long long long long long long fight sequence, Starman finally rescues Kiyoro, but the Starship has already launched, but then Starman just flies her up to the rocket. Then the spaceship rams the Sapphirian Surpreme HeadQuarters, causing massive damage, then ram it again and destroy it. Then Starman waves goodbye, and the day is saved. Except for the millions dead on Earth... (TarsTarkas.net)

The fourth and final Starman film Evil Brain from Outer Space (1964) was edited from three Supa Jaiantsu episodes: number 7 "Space Mutant Appears" (Uchu kaijin shutsugen, 1958); number 8 "Devil's Incarnation" (Dokuga okuku, 1959); & the final episode 9 "Poison Moth Kingdom" (Akuma no keshiin, 1959).

Evil BrainTeruo Ishii left the original series as director when a child imitating Super Giant put on a cape & leapt from a window to his death. The last three episodes had two other directors. It may be that Ken Utsui was also traumatized by the child's death, as he never afterward would answer any reporter or film and popular culture historians' questions about this his most famous role.

The last three episodes were distinct stories and did not combine and condense as rationally (rationally! ha!) as the first three films which were made each from two-part episodes. For the fourth film, too much footage was discarded. All four films are a bit muddled, but this one is chaotic, though assuredly action-packed.

The Star Counsel again convenes with the same footage as always, the narrator explaining how the evil space-tyrant Balisar was about to die when he had his brain put into a machine (more like a belljar) that would keep him forever alive. Balisar's brain is now on Earth fomenting war, with the intent of triggering nuclear warfare so awful it will poison the whole universe, while developing germs that will kill all humanity.

The first scenes on Earth show a man pursued by night along film noir streets until captured  by policemen who cause him to drop his briefcase in a river, calling out, "The brain! The brain!" This moody sequence is I'm pretty sure taken from some other movie I've seen, but I can't remember which one. The comparatively cool noir cinematography is not sustained in the rest of the film.

Starman destroys a germ factory and all sorts of silly heroics, including a couple of his signature one-against-all judo battles in which he occasionally stops fighting to flex his muscles with both arms held upward, Starman's equivalent of Superman with fists on hips.

The germ warfare people are called the Zumarians and dress rather like Batman with the bat symbol on their chests. Some mutant Zumarian soldiers dress like the Green Hornet complete with Lone Ranger masks.

Quite a strange array of comic book type alien super-villains are involved in fights with Starman: A man in big sunglasses with a hook for a hand is the most "normal" of the lot. There's also a kabuki demoness that manifests from a belljarred brain that looks exactly like Balisar's brain but isn't. She has long black nails & can shoot nuclear fire from her body. When she is flnally blown up because of the nuclear energy inside her, it's curious that nobody standing in the vicinity is injured.

Then there's the scarfaced evil scientist who does Balisar's bidding since Balisar hasn't a body of his own; and a mutant Zumarian karate fighter with big funny webbed mouse ears (a moth-man in the Japanese original).

Starman's final deed is finding the hiding place of Balisar's brain, which looks like a pulsating dirty washrag, so that the belljar can be lifted off him & a special toxin dumped on the rag. Doncha love a happy ending?  (Wild Realms Reviews)