Title: Attack from Space
Year: 1964
Genres: Science Fiction; Adventure
Director: Teruo Ishii

Cast:

• Ken Utsui as Starman (the titular hero)

Synopsis:

Earth’s peace is threatened by the belligerent Sapphireans, an alien race plotting to destroy humanity. In response, the Peace Council of the Emerald Planet dispatches their champion, Starman—a superpowered being forged from the strongest steel—to infiltrate the Sapphireans’ plans. Arriving on Earth, Starman must thwart their scheme, rescue the kidnapped scientist Dr. Yamanaka and his family, and disable the enemy’s planetary weapons before catastrophe strikes. This 76-minute compilation stitches together two installments of Shintoho’s 1957 Super Giant series into a single, fast-paced space-opera adventure.

Trivia:

• This American TV feature is the third of four U.S. compilations drawn from the six Japanese Super Giant short films.
• Episodes 5 (“The Artificial Satellite and the Destruction of Humanity”) and 6 (“The Spaceship and the Clash of the Artificial Satellite”) were edited down to create this single feature, losing only about two minutes of content.
• For its U.S. release, most of the original Japanese score by Riichiro Manabe was replaced with library music credited to Chumei Watanabe.
• The film lapsed into the public domain in the United States due to non-renewal of its distribution rights, making it widely available on budget DVD and streaming services.