Kent Reviews “Invaders From Space”

*I could not locate a poster of this movie, Japanese or American.

Evildoers are at it again! This time, the Kulimonians, or Salamander Men, from the planet Kulimon seek to destroy the Earth!

Interestingly enough, in the original Japanese featurettes, the Kulimonians are referred to as “kappas” from Japanese mythology. It wasn’t until Walter Manley Enterprises obtained the featurettes did the name “Salamander Men” get attached to the Kulimonians.

The Starman series of films officially goes full-blown science-fiction starting with Invaders from Space. Sadly, like Atomic Rulers, the leader of the Salamander Men was hard to pick up and other names of characters aren’t known. Therefore, I’ll do the best I can to distinguish individuals when possible.

Also note that I will use the terms, “Salamander Men” and “Kulimonians” interchangeably.

Synopsis:

The people of the Emerald Planet in the Moffit Galaxy, once again, discover that the Kulimonian people, from the planet Kulimon within the same galaxy as the Emerald Planet, are planning to destroy Earth. If Earth is destroyed in an atomic blast, the radiation will also destroy other planets in the universe; including the Emerald Planet. Therefore, Starman is sent to earth with globemeter firmly placed on his wrist.

But Starman is late. The Salamander Men have already infiltrated earth, infesting the planet with a deadly disease. Several Japanese scientists vow to find a cure, but when one of them is hypnotized by a Salamander Man’s radioactive breath, hope seems lost. Thankfully, Starman comes to the aid of the hypnotized doctor and battles the Salamander Man. After a moderate back-and-forth contest, the Salamander Man jumps off a bridge, escaping. The doctor is taken back to his house and regains consciousness.

However, the Salamander Men have another trick up their sleeve: a high decibel frequency that can damage vital organs. Several Kulimonians pilot a flying saucer that is broadcasting the frequency. Unluckily for the Kulimonians, Starman flies aboard their saucer, tosses the Kulimonians aside and destroys some non-existent controls to blow up the spacecraft (I’m not being snarky when I talk about non-existent controls. There really isn’t any visible controls on the ships, so it’s confounding as to why they blow up when Starman, essentially, karate chops and kicks air.).

Meanwhile, scientists and authorities discover that the disease that has, by this point, infected millions of people, may have been originated from a local theater. Dr. Fukayama and his assistant visit one of the shows where acrobatic dancers put their talents on display. Dr. Fukayama and his assistant leave midway through the show, and he reveals to his assistant that the dancers couldn’t be human due to the high-flying nature of the dancers. Seconds later, Dr. Fukayama and his assistant are kidnapped by the Salamander Men.

With the disease affecting so many people now, local authorities have ordered that children should be transferred out of the city by train until the disease is brought under control. Starman, incognito, overhears Yosiko Fukayama discuss her dad not having been home recently. Starman hands her a crystal that she can throw on the ground if she ever needs help. The catch, though, is that it can only be used once. He promises Yosiko that he’ll find her father.

Yosiko and a couple of her friends go butterfly catching in some local woods when one of her friends freaks out about a thunderstorm and a tree falling on him. Yet, Yosiko and her other friend say there isn’t a storm and no tree has fallen. Moments later, the three children stumble upon a temple surrounded by water. Out from the foliage comes a swarm of Kulimonians who surround the children and take them prisoner. It is at this location that the Kulimonians have their main hideout and are also holding Dr. Fukayama and his assistant hostage. The Salamander Men have found out that Dr. Fukayama is creating a super weapon that will destroy them, and they want to know where the weapon is being created in order to destroy it. Fukayama won’t talk, so his daughter is dangled over a molten pit and her life is threatened if Fukayama continues to be uncooperative.

Meanwhile, Starman checks out the theater and is given a private showing. Knowing who he is, the Salamander Men attack Starman. The battle wages on for a while until, in the woods, one of the children throws the crystal. Starman senses the crystal and flies from the theater to the woods. Starman arrives and sends the Salamander Men in retreat to their base.

Later, the Salamander Men pull a trick on Dr. Fukayama by having one of them disguised as his wounded assistant and their witch disguised as a nurse. When Fukayama leaves, after having believed he was talking to his assistant about the super weapon, he, strangely, leaves Yosiko behind. The Salamander Man reveals himself to her and follows Dr. Fukayama. The witch Kulimonian sets off to capture Yosiko.

Yosiko arrives at her friends’ house where the witch follows. She puts two of them under hypnosis but fails to put the others under hypnosis when a canister of copper sulfate leaks all over her, killing her. The two children regain consciousness after the witch’s demise.

With a liquid solution ready for his super weapon, Dr. Fukayama runs into the trouble of having one of the ingredients on backorder for a couple of days. But when he learns of how effective the copper sulfate is, he states that it can be used as an effective weapon, but orders more of his own solution to be prepared.

But the scientists’ hideout has been discovered by the Salamander Men when they use the actual injured assistant of Dr. Fukayama to lead them to the location. The Salamander Men immediately begin attacking some of earth’s largest cities and use a saucer to commence an attack on the lab where the secret weapon is being produced. Starman, though, arrives just in time and boards the saucer, karate chopping the non-existent controls to blow the ship up.

Needing to regroup, the Salamander Men return to their home on Kulimon. There they come up with a plan to reverse the earth’s orbit and summon their most powerful Kulimonian, who also happens to be their leader. They head back to earth and leave their earth base to board a saucer. The leader reverses earth’ orbit and people and vehicles begin to go…backwards.

Starman boards the saucer and does battle with the Kulimonians. After dispatching all but the leader, Starman, once again, karate chops the non-existent controls and the ship blows up. However, the Kulimonian leader survives the explosion and flies off. Starman catches up with him and the two battle it out in the sky. The Kulimonian escapes again, but Starman catches up to him and the two tumble into the sea, fighting in the water. Somehow, Starman is able to trigger an explosion that defeats the Kulimonian leader once and for all.

The battle isn’t over yet, though! A dozen or so Salamander Men are on a shore nearby and the authorities, armed with the super weapon that’s loaded with the special solution, fire upon the Salamander Men as Starman keeps them at bay so as not to escape. The Salamander Men are finally destroyed and Starman flies 2 billion miles to home on Emerald Planet.

Story:

Okay. So, again, these movies are more aimed at a younger audience, and problems are bound to show up in the story. I wrote some of the issues in the synopsis and I hope you were able to pick up on them.

Before I tear this movie’s story apart, let me just say that the science-fiction element to the story is very much welcomed! I really enjoyed seeing Salamander Men and spaceships. It was more entertaining, in that sense, than Atomic Rulers.

But, my, my, my how this story has issues! Oh, boy!

Okay, for starters, at the beginning of the movie we’re shown the Emerald Planet and the High Council along with Starman and the globemeter. All of this is stock footage from the previous film. Now, I don’t know if this stock footage was shown in the original Japanese cut of the film; but my gut tells me it wasn’t. Nevertheless, we’re told that if earth is destroyed, again, by an atomic weapon, the radiation will destroy the Emerald Planet. Haven’t we been here before?

The film comes right out and says that, “In order to protect their planet, the High Council must save earth.” Once that line is spoken, I lose respect for the Emerald Planet. Sure, I completely understand needing to help someone else out to ensure your own survival, but we’ve been led to believe that, on some level, the Emerald Planet’s inhabitants were universe guardians of sorts. Now? I don’t think that’s the case.

Now one of the problems with the beginning here is that, again, the globemeter is mentioned, yet Starman never uses it in the film. The main issue is that the Kulimonians plan on destroying earth in an atomic explosion only to be told several minutes later they plan to take over the earth by, essentially, infecting humans with a disease. So, is the High Council’s sending Starman for naught at this point? I should think so considering that if the humans die, it won’t have an effect on the Emerald Planet. I’m going to be a smartass, now, and say that the High Council needs a better intelligence agency.

At this point, I’m ready to go into more depth about the numerous problems with the story, but I have quickly realized that would make this review WAY too long; and my reviews tend to be long enough as it is.

So, instead, I’m going to list the many problems:

• A doctor is hypnotized at the beginning of the movie. After he comes to, we never see him again.
• The Kulimonians plan on taking over the earth by infecting humans with a disease, but this plot point is lost halfway through the film. A cure is never made, yet, somehow, everyone seems to be cured by movie’s end.
• We’re told the Salamander Men’s claws are formidable weapons. So much so, that they can cut through steel. Starman is never any danger since the claws prove to be ineffective.
• One of Yosiko’s friends is terrified about a thunderstorm and a tree falling on him. Yosiko and the other friend tell him there is no storm nor fallen tree. What happened here? The only solution I could think of was that this particular part of the woods was an illusion by the Kulimonians since their underwater base was nearby; and they captured the children not long after this incident. However, the film never says what truly happened in that moment of the storm and the fallen tree. I’m probably being too generous with the movie on this theory.
• Starman boards all three spaceships in the movie…with ease. Wow! The Kulimonian’s security on their ships is abysmal! They never learn.
• The crystal Starman gives Yosiko can only be used once? Why? Another example of Starman being incompetent.
• How did the Salamander Men know it was Starman in the theater? On that note, every time Starman goes incognito, nearly everyone can pick him out, including the villains. This is getting to be ridiculous.
• When the Kulimonians reverse earth’s orbit, the only thing that happens is that everything goes backwards? NEXT!
• Non-existent controls. Are there supposed to be invisible controls? If so, how is destroying them able to blow up an entire saucer?
• How did Starman create an explosion to kill the head Kulimonian underwater?
• Where did those other Kulimonians come from at the end? I thought the rest were on board the saucer? I have a theory! They realized they had a plot point involving a super weapon to destroy the Kulimonians. Brownie points for following through, but it’s plainly obvious that’s the only reason why that sequence is in there is to follow through on that, now, very late plot point.
• Speaking of the super weapon, Dr. Fukayama still wants his solution to be produced even after learning that copper sulfate works just as well, knows there’s plenty of it available, yet would rather put the earth in more danger by sitting around a couple of days until a key ingredient is available? Can somebody revoke this man’s license and throw him in jail?!

I think that’s everything. Even if it isn’t, you get the point: there are some serious issues with this story!

So, in a small attempt to redeem anything from the story, I do have to say that, despite the problems, it is very entertaining. Of course you have to just about completely turn off your brain, but, even then, while many of these problems are mind-numbing, it does have some entertainment value.

I do like the Salamander Men as villains compared to the Magolians in Atomic Rulers. The Salamander Men seem to come across as more of a threat and are simply more interesting to look at; even if it’s obvious that their Kulimonian bodies are a spandex body suit.

Again, I really enjoyed the sci-fi components of this film. I truly felt like I was watching an actual science-fiction movie.

Special Effects:

Like Atomic Rulers, the special effects are good. Only this time the effects seem to be upgraded.

The few miniatures that are in the movie look so much better than the miniatures in Atomic Rulers. There are no shaky helicopters or anything of that nature this time around.

The sets, especially those in the Kulimonian hideouts, are nicely done; particularly their home planet’s base interior. However, I must point out that most of the walls and ceilings inside the saucers are sheets and it’s obvious in a number of shots. It’s slightly off-putting, but I can go with it.

A sequence that is conceptually neat, but was executed in a so-so manner, was the mid-flight battle between the Kulimonian leader and Starman. When they are grappling, it’s apparent they’re standing and blue screen is used to hide their feet as much as possible. But I understand this was the best they could do at the time, and the composite shot is seamless!

The saucer effects are very well done! There are a couple of shots where there is a bit of transparency, but nothing awful.

Action Sequences:

Like Atomic Rulers, Invaders from Space is full of action and tremendously well-choreographed battles!

The scenes here, however, are superior. There are more acrobatics and more scenes involving multiple villains attacking Starman. And the film starts off with a wonderful scene that, again, reminds me of a beautiful dance spot.

The higher number of action sequences, along with the Salamander Men being more interesting villains, definitely makes the film more enjoyable.

Overall:

Invaders from Space, from a story standpoint, is an extremely flawed film. It just might even be the most flawed film I’ve reviewed as of this writing.

But that doesn’t mean it’s not an entertaining film; that is if you are someone who can look past many of the problems. It is a very fun movie with lots of action, fun villains, and good effects.

I do like this movie more than Atomic Rulers, but admit that its story is infinitely inferior to that of Atomic Rulers.

As weird as this is going to sound, I would recommend this movie over Atomic Rulers. The Salamander Men and the science-fiction elements are more prominent this time around.

I find Invaders from Space to be more enjoyable, but it’s getting a lower score due to it’s many story problems.

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