JLRVancouver "Evil Brain from Outer Space" is an almost randomly assembled series of clips from the last three episodes of the Japanese kid's tokusatso "Space Giant" (7, 8, and 9) with a ridiculous voice-over plot involving the preserved brain of Balazar, dictator of planet Zemar and the disembodied organ's plans to conquer Earth with his army of mutants. The benevolent beings of the Emerald Planet once again send Starman (the hero's English moniker), equipped with the miraculous 'globemeter', to save Earth. The film makes little sense (three independent adventures were chopped up and some of the pieces reassembled into this opus) and mostly consists of lengthy, poorly choreographed fights scenes that rise above tedious only when the acrobatic mutant shows up. Only worth watching by fans (or students) of the genre who want closure on the four movie Starman franchise.

talisencrw I readily admit that Ken Utsui's films as Starman from the mid-60's are a guilty pleasure. You get the strangest possible scenarios, and from the Cold War-era time of countries jockeying to be the first into manned space travel, when movies of this ilk were both a commercial gold-mine and slowly but surely getting a higher degree of intellectual and artistic sophistication (three years before its pinnacle, '2001: A Space Odyssey'). This is my second of his (to my knowledge) four times as the caped benevolent Starman, always sent from the Emerald Planet when Earth is threatened (not sure why, they must be extremely nice people).Here, the brain of a demented dictator survived and escaped to Earth, where he is able to gather forces and threaten the world with global domination. It's pointless to explain, but the fight scenes (which play out more like carefully choreographed dances) are worth watching the film simply in themselves, and it's good-naturedness, charm and Utsui's likability shine through, and make this endeavor well-worth checking out and discovering for yourself. I found mine in my Mill Creek 50-film pack, 'Nightmare Worlds' for a very low price, and it can be seen for free online.

Woodyanders Obviously cobbled together from several episodes of a TV series and thus barely coherent, but jetting along at a super swift pace that rarely flags for a minute, this screwball Japanese sci-fi lunacy relates the loopy tale of a monstrous evil brain from outer space (that's carried around in a suitcase!) who leads his grotesque minions on a crusade to conquer the universe. The evil brain unleashes a horde of hideous monsters that include a fanged lizard dude with lethal long nails and a creepy witch lady on Earth. It's up to gallant superhero Starman to save the day. Man, does this honey scrupulously cover all the right wrong bases to qualify as a real choice chunk of pure kitsch: A gloriously inane story that's treated with utmost seriousness, cruddy dubbing, lovably rinky dink (far from) special effects, a ridiculously solemn narrator who works mad overtime to keep the ramshackle narrative reasonably linear and cohesive, a colorful array of goofy aliens (the humanoid starfish beings in particular are an absolute hoot), an overwrought orchestral score, silly villains (my favorite was the nasty one-legged guy who limps along on crutches), and crazy fights that are choreographed like violent ballet set pieces. Sidesplitting stuff.

winner55 This is a bad film, but enjoyable in a childish sort of way; I'm certainly willing to waste time on it after a hard night's work.Most of the other comments on the film so far have been dead-on; it does look like a re-edited serial or TV show, it is a Japanese variant on the Capt. Marvel type serials of the '30s, it does include some of the same tonality as the later Kaiju films, and it is not very well made. But, as I say, it goes along at a pretty good clip, so its never really dull, and can be watched without using much mental muscle.Historically, the most important thing about this movie is that it's right now the earliest example we have widely available in America of the choreography of martial arts in Asian cinema. (The IMDb date is clearly that of its American release, everything else says this was made in the early-mid-'50s.) The fight scenes are important - Capt. Marvel essentially brawls and wrassles when he fights, like every other Hollywood hero of his era; the fight scenes in "Evil Brain" are brief, well-choreographed dances; this actually makes it more advanced than similar American films of the period, and for this reason worth seeing at least once for all Martial arts fans.