BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE
Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection
Japan | 1959
Directed by Ishirô Honda
Starring
Ryô Ikebe
Kyôko Anzai
Koreya Senda
Color | 90 Minutes | Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC | 3-disc set)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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More classic Toho sci-fi on DVD
 
 
Review by
Troy Guinn

Film:6
DVD:8
NOTE: DVD Rating is for entire 3-film set
I believe that if I were to meet Eiji Tsuburaya, the late great special effects master of the Japanese fantasy cinema, in the afterlife, I would probably paraphrase Rutger Hauer from Blade Runner and say something like, "Gosh, you sure had some neat toys!" What kid didn't dream of having free reign at Toho Studios to run through those incredible miniature cities and alien landscapes, having access to all the cool props, small-scale spaceships, lunar landing vehicles, and getting to blow things up real good? Just think of the movie you'd make… No complex plot, no mushy stuff, just a simple 'aliens attack and we kick their butts' storyline and let the cool toys do the rest. Oh wait; Toho did make that movie... 1959's Battle in Outer Space.
    A trio of ships make its way towards Earth, destroying a space station along the way, then using their great gravity-manipulating weapons to wreck trains and sea vessels around the planet. The World Council meets in Tokyo to address the crisis, led by Dr. Adachi (Koreya Senda) and Major Katsumiya (Ryô Ikebe). These two men show the Council the preparations they have made to respond to the alien threat, namely constructing a pair of moon rockets (called SPIP-1 and SPIP-2), and developing a heat-ray gun. Another Council member, Dr. Achmed, attempts to sabotage these inventions but is stopped by Iwomura (Yoshio Tsuchiya). It soon is revealed that Dr. Achmed is under mind-control of the aliens, who tell the Council that they are from the planet Natal and that they intend to make Earth one of their satellites. The aliens disintegrate Dr. Achmed, his usefulness having ended, and then inform Earth that they will return and that our planet should be prepared to surrender.
    Natal has set up a station on Earth's moon, from which to launch their invasion, and the World Council decides to launch both moon rockets to attack this alien base. Dr. Adachi and Katsumiya will command the ships, whose crews will be comprised of astronauts from the various Earth nations, as well as Katsumiya's girlfriend, Etsuko (Kyôko Anzai) and his best friend, Iwomura. On the night before their departure, we get some mushy stuff between Etsuko and Katsumiya, as she worries about the future of their love and wants him to promise they'll be together if they survive the mission. Katsumiya is too cool a space-ranger to fall for all this girly talk, of course, so he only delights in teasing her by being bleak and fatalistic. Luckily, this scene is cut short as Iwomura interrupts the couple. He's not quite all business like Katsumiya and wants them to join him for a last night on the town before they ship out. They refuse and Iwomura drives on to the city, but the aliens zap him and take him under their control (this would become something of a typecast for actor Yoshio Tsuchiya, as he would fall under alien influence again in the classic Destroy All Monsters, 1968).
    The two ships leave Earth, and in one of the film's few emotional moments, they encounter the wreckage of the space station that was destroyed by Natal. As they approach the moon, giant alien missiles (looking somewhat like flying pumpkins) are launched from the moon. The ships' weapons destroy the missiles, but during the attack, Iwomura manages to disable one of the heat-rays before he is discovered and overpowered. Shocked by Iwomura's treachery, the astronauts have no choice but to leave him tied to a chair. The Natalians warn the Earth ships not to land on the moon, but the astronauts are undaunted and manage to land both ships safely. Leaving Iwomura with one guard and still tied up, the ships' crews disembark in twin lunar terrain vehicles. Crossing the moon's craggy surface, they manage to locate the Natalians' base, and, after Etsuko is captured and then rescued from the clutches of the Natalians (who, despite having deep and imposing voices, turn out to be very diminutive beings), the heat ray is brought to bear on the base and it is destroyed.
    While the crews have been attacking the base, however, Iwomura has managed to free himself, overpower his guard, and destroy one of their ships. Both lunar terrain vehicles race back to where they landed, pursued all the while by Natal ships. The destruction of the Natal base has freed Iwomura from their control, and, remorseful over the acts he committed while under their influence, he stays behind and fends off the Natal ships until the remaining Earth ship can take off.
    Iwomura's act of self-sacrifice enables the return to Earth of the astronauts, but the Natal Empire is in hot pursuit and their space missiles begin pounding Earth's cities. Now Earth's forces take to the skies to meet the Natalians in an epic space dogfight that will determine our planet's fate...
    Battle in Outer Space (AKA The Great War In Space) was made just eight months after the Mercury 7 astronauts were selected, and effects master Tsuburaya and director Ishiro Honda saw the film as their last chance to depict the moon based on their imaginations, before the age of space travel began and exploration of alien surfaces became commonplace. The film has often been mistaken as a sequel to Toho's earlier sci-fi film The Mysterians (1957), largely because it shares the same scriptwriter, some character names, and some of the same space hardware, but those props were reused for economic reasons rather than story continuity.
    As for the script, it is certainly the weakness of BIOS. There is almost no character interplay that allows us to invest much concern for the cast as individuals, and the Natalians are a frustratingly ineffectual enemy that can destroy space stations but then can be held at bay by one lone man (Iwomura) with a laser gun. Honda's direction is purely functional, and while intimacy and violence are never his forte, with BIOS taking place in mostly sterile and stark environments, we don't get the touches of beauty, magic, and atmosphere that are Honda's strengths.
    But why look so deeply into a film that is so great just to look upon? For BIOS definitely belongs to the art direction of Teruaki Abe and the effects wizardry of Eiji Tsuburaya and his crew of dedicated craftsmen. Some of the special effects set pieces are as intricate and dazzling as those multi-monster battles that Toho is better known for, especially the race of the lunar landers to reach the space ships, and the final space dogfight. In the former, the landers roll through Abe's stunning lunar canyons while Natal ships weave in and out of the scenery and try to blast our heroes out of existence. As for the final battle between the fighter ships of each side, it's not only an incredible display of wire-and-miniature work, but it might be the first such cinematic space battle of its kind. It's well known that George Lucas was a fan of Japanese cinema, thus it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine the dogfight in BIOS planting the idea for the pitched battles in Lucas' later space operas.
    It may be true that one has to channel his inner 10-year-old boy to look past Battle in Outer Space's lack of strong characters and script and enjoy the cool sci-fi action, but in that respect, it's still more endearing and less insulting than Independence Day. Toho devotees will appreciate that BIOS contains templates for the alien-heavy storylines that would come to dominate the giant monster series (the lovely otherworldly landscapes of Invasion of Astro-Monster, the use of mind-control from Destroy All Monsters and Space Amoeba, and the idealistic unification of Earth's nations to oppose a threat from space, just for examples), while the general genre fan should enjoy this film that comes at the tail end of the '50s, the last decade in which all of space was still a mystery and the moon was still uncharted territory for fertile imaginations.
Sony has included BIOS in its three-disc Icons of Sci-Fi: Toho Collection along with The H-Man (1958) and Mothra (1961). Now that Toho's classic films are being given the respectful treatment they deserve, these DVD releases typically look great, as the films are so colorful and the 2.35:1 image so skillfully utilized. BIOS is no exception, and includes both the English-dubbed and original Japanese language prints (the differences between the two prints are mostly inconsequential save for some difference in the film score) as well as a highly informative commentary track by Toho experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. 9/09/10
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