Warning From Space

Warning From Space (Uchujin Tokyo Ni Arawaru) (1956)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Koji Shima

Starring: Keizo Kawasaki, Toyomi Karita, Bin Yagisawa, Shozo Nanbu, Bontaro Miake

From: Daiei

I’d love to hang out at Café Cosmos

Last night I saw this via Arrow’s streaming service; I need to use that platform more than just once in awhile. This was selected as I also need to experience more sci-fi in my life-plus I’ve seen the images of the aliens before. How can you forget creatures shaped like stars w/ a giant eyeball in the middle? I’m not a comics guy but at least I’ve heard of Starro and realize that must have been ripped off from this. Unlike Starro, those aliens are human-sized. This was not only the first Japanese sci-fi picture shot in color, but it was one of a few tokosatsu films that has a connection to an all-time classic to be made, which I’ll talk about at the conclusion.

Those aliens head to Earth to warn us dumbasses that nuclear weapons are so dangerous we could wipe out our own species by accident, but in addition a rogue planet is headed our way-yeah, this was “inspired” by various 50’s genre efforts. However, their appearance scares the everloving s*** out of everyone so instead they replicate a human being… without eliminating the person they closed, so that was odd. What is best described as “a slow-rolling apocalypse” happens, or at least appears to happen-I don’t want to spoil everything in this review.

The movie indeed is languorous; I mean that it is on the slow side and that may bother many but personally I never found this to be too dull. Even if it wears its influences on its baggy costumed sleeves, it was a mix which was fine to me overall. Given the appearance of the aliens (which you see only in one scene for any amount of time; otherwise it’s just a few glancing shots. They are hardly present.) I expected something disposable-wacky schlock-and the first act is on the outlandish side. After that, though… it’s actually a sobering movie where other countries don’t believe the rogue planet is a thing, there are some bleak moments and it’s actually centered around several middle-aged scientists. Plotholes aside, I apparently like this more than many others out there.

The Café Cosmos I mentioned at the beginning is a small joint you see a few times, located on a crowded little street w/ other similar establishments. It appeared to be a chill little bar; it looked like an izakaya bar, as a matter of fact. I am a dumb white guy but those places serve sake and snacks. There’s a radio, a cool middle-aged lady running the place and customers such as a newspaper reporter (OF COURSE in a Japanese sci-fi movie; unlike what I expected, he was a minor character) and a scientist who works at the local observatory. From all impressions it would be a swell place to spend part of your evening after a long day at work.

One last tidbit: a review from a mutual here stated that KUBRICK liked this movie. This was something that warranted further investigation. Some Google-fu later and I discovered that apparently in his biography it was stated that the legendary director watched various kaiju and tokusatau pictures, remembering the aliens in Warning from Space distinctly. Whether or not this had any impact on him doing 2001 is unknown.