Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
The Battle in Outer Space (1959) is a futuristic fantasy action film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Original title: 宇宙大戦争 (Uchû dai sensô, English: Great Space War), English title: Battle in Outer Space
Series: unofficially The Mysterians series
Previous entries in the series: unofficially The Mysterians (1957)
Setting: contemporary alternate / fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic fantasy action, Style: sci-fi, thriller, futuristic, futuristic fantasy, aliens, action, adventure
Release: 1959.12.26
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2022.07), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Battle in Outer Space, a futuristic fantasy action movie from 1959. It's about the nations of the Earth trying to protect themselves from an invading enemy force. The Battle in Outer Space film is watchable, but I only recommend it to fans of old movies of the genre.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Battle in Outer Space film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 1:23, because it gives away too much of the plot. It basically shows every twist in the movie.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
I didn't know anything about this movie before I ran into it. It had "battle" and "outer space" in its title, so I assumed it's going to be some kind of futuristic action movie. Or, based on the date of the movie, at least it will have some kind of interesting concepts, even if there's not much action in it. I didn't watch the trailer, or read any reviews.
I think I've seen the American version of the film (due to the Columbia Pictures logo in the beginning), but in Japanese, with English subtitles. I don't know how much does it differ from the original Japanese version.
The Battle in Outer Space movie is about the nations of the Earth trying to protect themselves from an invading enemy force.
The story is okay. The pacing is mostly consistent. There are no character arcs. There are some logical problems, even if you accept the fantasy elements in the premise of the story.
The cinematography is visually it's not very interesting, but it's watchable. Some of the special effects look good, others are not so well-made. The movie was made for a wide screen.
The characters are not well developed, the characters in the second half are almost interchangeable. Their portrayal by the actors is fine.
We don't get to know anything about the characters, beyond their names (and sometimes even that is missing, I found out most of the names on IMDB). The actors are okay for these roles.
The music (by Akira Ifukube) is acceptable, although it gets repetitious after a while.
Battle in Outer Space is a watchable futuristic fantasy action film, but I think only those fans of the genre will enjoy it, who like old movies.
My experience
I was not satisfied with Battle in Outer Space (1959). I prefer stories with well-thought, interesting plots, and Battle in Outer Space couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Battle in Outer Space is a watchable, but very slow film. It might have been an Average movie of its time, but now I consider it Weak.
Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points). Battle in Outer Space was boring for me.
Rewatchability: Low. I think it's mostly the surprise of the story that makes you feel interested, as there's nothing else to be engaged by.
Chance of watching it again: No.
Chance of watching a sequel: Unlikely.
Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Will you enjoy this?
If you like futuristic action movies, and you accept the technical limitation of the era, you might like Battle in Outer Space.
If you'd like to get comedic moments in your movies, Battle in Outer Space will disappoint you, as it's mostly serious.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, from then on it gets into gear, and you might even love this.
If you enjoyed the The Mysterians (1957), you might be interested in this story.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you hate subtitles, there's also a version with English dub.
If you prefer visuals over story, the Battle in Outer Space movie has some good scenes, compared to the visuals of the era.
Do you need to see the other films in the series to enjoy this?
There are no direct references to The Mysterians, and there's enough explanation that you'll understand what's going on without seeing the first film.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in alien invasion stories, I think it's worth watching the Battle in Outer Space movie for the plot points.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals might look better if you watch it in cinema, but then the visible wires are also magnified. So I'd say you'd probably get a similar experience either way.
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Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
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Review with spoilers - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
I didn't really like the Battle in Outer Space movie.
At around 50 minutes, I started to get bored, because everything happened so slowly, and there was no real tension.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The beginning of the trailer is okay, then it starts to spoil the twists of the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Battle in Outer Space film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.
Promise of the first scene
Spaceships approach a space station, then they get fired upon. They destroy the space station. I assume this will either play straight, and the spaceships were really intruders, or they will find it out that this was just a misunderstanding, and they are actually peaceful. It could be also an interesting twist if these spaceships were not actually aliens, but made by some human.
Execution: They've gone with the hostile intruder version. As I've later read, this is the second part of the series, and the first movie showed the aliens as peaceful first, then it turned out they are actually invaders. I'm okay with the fulfilment of the promise.
Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Plot summary / Synopsis
1965, in space: Three spaceships approach a Japanese space station (SJ1) orbiting the Earth. The crew of the space station decides they are being attacked, so they start shooting at the spaceships. The spaceships destroy the space station in retaliation.
In Japan: We see a spaceship approach a railroad bridge. They disable the worker, and they levitate the bridge away, causing a train to fall.
There are worldwide occurrences of tragic accidents (train falling off, ship turning on its size, water damaging a coastal city).
The world leaders decide to meet at the Tokyo Space Research Centre. Their scientists came to the realization that lowering the temperature of an object causes it to levitate. As gravity is caused by the movement of atoms in an object, if you slow this movement, you can lower the effect of gravity.
One of the leaders (George Whitman as Dr. Ahmed) start to have a headache, so he goes out to get some fresh air, then he vanishes. Later, he gets back, and attacks the guards of the armoury, trying to steal the ray-gun. When they corner him, he announces that these people will be all slaves of his planet (Natal), then escapes, until he vanishes again by an alien spaceship. (It's hinted that he got disintegrated.) They think there was a device implanted into his brain, about the size of a coin.
They find it out that the aliens have established a base on the Moon. They decide to send two spaceships on a scout mission in that area. They assign the commander of the first ship (Len Stanford as Professor Richardson), and the commander of the second ship (Koreya Senda as Dr. Adachi), and each ship will carry a crew of nine technicians.
One of the crewmembers (Yoshio Tsuchiya as Iwamura) of the spaceship gets captured and they implant a mind controller into him.
They take off. They are approached by alien spacecrafts, but they immediately destroy them. The mind controlled crewmember of the second spaceship switches off their weapon, but they are still able to evade the attack. They tie up the mind controlled crewmember. The aliens warn them that they shouldn't approach the Moon.
The spaceships land on the Moon, deploy their transport vehicles, and start their scouting mission. Then they disembark, and continue their mission on foot.
The mind controlled crewmember gets free with the help of alien technology, and knocks out the man guarding the spaceship. He makes the spaceship explode, then goes to the other spaceship to do the same.
The scout team meanwhile finds the enemy base. One of them (Kyôko Anzai as Etsuko Shiraishi) is sent back to the transport, but gets ambushed by the aliens. She is almost and captured by the aliens. Another crewmember (Ryô Ikebe as Major Ichiro Katsumiya) hears her cry, so he rescues her, by threatening the aliens with his gun. When they let the girl go, he kills all of them.
They use their ray-cannon on the alien base, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. The aliens also shoot in their general direction, destroying multiple rocks. They don't stop the shooting, and after a while, there's an explosion on the base, so the scouts decide to leave, with the only ship that's left.
This explosion seems to free the mind controlled crewmember under the control, so he doesn't explode the other ship. Instead he stays on the Moon, to cover their taking off, until he gets shot down.
After the spaceship returns, the leaders of the world decide to prepare for the alien attacks. They start to create more fighters capable of destroying the alien crafts.
When they made enough of them, they launch an attack, destroying the alien spaceships, although some cities on Earth are also damaged.
The setting
The future of the then (1959) contemporary Earth, in 1965.
Gravity
In this universe, lowering the temperature of an object causes it to levitate. As gravity is caused by the movement of atoms in an object, if you slow this movement, you can lower the effect of gravity.
Human technology
The people of Earth have space stations, spaceships, heat-ray guns.
Their spaceship (SPIPs) have beryllium plating. Their control can be taken over remotely from the control room, if the crew switches the controls to them.
The portable heat-ray guns (ca. 1 meter long) can get through a beryllium plating in a few seconds at a close distance.
Their transporters they use on the Moon are tracked, but they can fly in low altitudes for short distances.
They've built huge domes, with a heat ray cannon, and these are able to destroy even the alien motherships.
Aliens
They have a weapon that lowers the temperature of humans, causing them frostbites.
They can also control the minds of people. This causes headaches first. It takes about a minute to take hold of a person.
They can control things remotely, as if they have telekinetic abilities.
They have disintegrating rays.
Aliens: They have to wear space suits while on the surface of the Moon. (Or it might be that they naturally look like they are wearing suits.)
Alien spaceships: The humans' heat ray cannons are able to blow them up with one shot. Even their handheld ray guns are able to blow them up. The weapon on the alien spaceship is only able to disable the ground transport. Multiple alien weapons firing at a space station made it explode. The weapon, when it hits a human, seems to make it vanish. One shot explodes a human space fighter.
The alien mothership: It is able to use a weapon that tears apart buildings by levitating them, ripping them off their foundations.
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Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Analysis of the story - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Although I mostly liked the story, the slow pacing and the lack of tension prevented me from enjoying Battle in Outer Space.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Battle in Outer Space film are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There's no single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution. Although the movie feels like it ends in a resolution twice.
Things I liked
- I liked the look of the the technological designs, both alien and human.
Problematic elements
The English title: There's no battle in outer space in this movie. There are three space battles, two of them close to the Earth, and the third is halfway on the Moon.
Gravity: If lowering the temperature causes objects to fly, you'd think they would have find this out sooner, seeing that everything on the North Pole and South Pole levitates, and that they have to catch their frozen goods from the ceiling if they happen to drop them.
Checking for mind controlled people: If they think there's a coin sized device put into their minds, why don't they use an X-Ray to check the heads of important people?
Lack of gravity on the spaceships: As long as they are close to the Earth, they will feel gravity. When the spaceship accelerates, they will also feel something similar to gravity. (Unless they are using a freezing anti-gravity device they've theorised to work, but it doesn't look like it's cold on the spaceship.)
Astronauts and gravity: There are times when one of the astronauts have to be reminded about the lack of gravity in space, and the lower gravity on the Moon. I know that this is done for the audience, but it could have been made more elegantly, as the astronauts would certainly know about this.
Lack of tension: Everything just happens slowly, but it doesn't really even build up tension, because there are no stakes. So, most of the time, we just watch the people, waiting for something to finally happen. It would have improved the plot if they only had an X amount of time due to some limitation of technology or due to the aliens' ultimatum. As we don't know the characters, it's hard to care about them. We don't even get to know the names of most of the crewmembers.
Alien telekinesis: They seem to be able to move objects from a distance, like getting the ropes off from the tied up mind-slave, or opening doors for him. Why do they need the mind-slave to switch things on or off on the spaceship?
Bad tactical decisions: It seems that the commanders of the spaceships are not very good in commando tactics.
- They only leave one man on the spaceship. Two would be helpful, so one can remain at their station, while the other can do something.
- They send a man alone to go back to the transport. Two would be helpful, so they could cover each other, and would have a wider area of sight.
- The scout team doesn't maintain communication with their spaceship.
Alien aiming: They seem to be extremely bad at aiming, even at stationary targets, until the final battle, when they are able to blow up some of the human space fighters.
The final battle: It's hard to follow what's going on, who is winning, what is happening. We don't know how many fighters are left from either side.
Abrupt ending: There's no time to feel joy for their victory, as after the mothership explodes, the movie ends. We don't even get to learn the fate of the pilots, who were part of the battle.
Unanswered questions
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Possibilities of improvement
- It would be nice to add dialogue who gave permission for the SJ1 to fire on the spaceships.
- Cut the train scene, as it has a very slow pacing compared to the rest of the movie, and we'll get to see references to the even plenty of times as they talk about it.
- Cut the planes taking off to the meeting (and most of the other stock footage shots, as they don't really advance the story).
- Cut the lowering the temperature makes gravity lower part - it doesn't appear anywhere else in the movie, and they don't do anything with this information.
- Cut the talking in the forest, and meeting with the guy in the car.
- Shorten the parade scene before the spaceships take off.
- Cut the scene when the guy starts to levitate on the spaceship, and the reference to no gravity.
- Change the space backgrounds and planets to more convincing special effects.
- Add dialogue about some time limit, so the audience would know that something bad happens if they can't complete their mission in time.
- Hide the wires digitally when they launch spaceships.
- Probably cutting the final dogfight would give a better resolution to the movie - the scout accomplished their mission, the Moon base is destroyed, and they are victorious. Especially as the final dogfight is neither exciting, nor is it easy to follow what is happening. The shots of destruction could be inserted into previous parts of the movie, showing the aliens rampaging through the major cities of the Earth, before being stopped by the destruction of their base.
How it could have been better?
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't seen any other works of the story writer (Jôjirô Okami).
I think I haven't seen any other movies of the script writer (Shinichi Sekizawa).
I can't remember watching any other films from the director (Ishirō Honda).
How does it compare to the other films in the series?
I haven't seen either The Mysterians (1957) or The War in Space (1977), so I can't tell.
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Behind the scenes
Battle in Outer Space is an unofficial sequel to the The Mysterians (1957). In that story, the aliens were able to arrive to Earth, and used heat ray technology. They want to conquer Earth, because they have destroyed their own planet. In the end, they were repelled from Earth, and the nations united to get ready for their return.
In Battle in Outer Space, we see that the nations of Earth have used their resources to build a space station, and they were able to create heat ray weapons. When the aliens return, and make a base on the Moon, they are able to destroy the base, then create space fighters, and defeat the alien fleet.
In The War in Space (1977), the aliens return again, and establish a base on Venus. The space fighters have been disbanded years ago. They join the fight, and start attacking the alien base on Venus. In the end, they destroy the whole planet.
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
image © Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Uses for the film - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Plot
- Set in a then contemporary alternate Earth setting, with some futuristic technology.
- Aliens invade the Earth.
- An enemy (aliens) attacking the Earth establishes a base on the Moon.
- A team is sent to destroy the forward base of the enemy.
Scenes
- The aliens attacking the space station can be used to depict an attack on a space station.
- The news reports of the damage done by the aliens could be used to show reports about a mysterious invasion.
- The launch of the spaceships can be used to depict a launch of a rocket ship.
- The final battle where the human fighters are fighting against the alien ships might be used to show spaceships fighting, but I'm almost sure you could find better depictions of that in other movies.
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Assault the base #1: The defenders have a base. It has a turret with a long range weapon, that's weak, but it can damage the attackers with multiple hits, and each hit slows or pushes back the attackers. The attackers have only short range heavy weapons, that can destroy the base with a couple of hits. The defender sets up the playing area, and deploys the turret. Then the attacker deploys their models. The defender wins if they can defeat the attackers. The attacker wins if they can destroy the base.
Assault the base #2: The defenders have a base. It has some kind of protection that prevents the defending units in the base from being damaged. The defender sets up the playing area, including a base in the middle. The defender then deploys their forces anywhere on the playing area. Then the attacker deploys their forces on the edges of the playing area. The attackers have weapons that can easily destroy the defending units with a shot. When the attacker shoots on the base, the attacker rolls a d6 in a cup, and only the defender can check it. If it's a 6, it caused 1 damage to the protection. If 10 damage accumulates, the defender reveals all the dice, and there's an explosion on the base. Every model still on the base receives a hit. The attacker wins if the base explodes, and more than half of the attacker models leaves the playing area. The defender wins if they kill more than half of the attackers. It's a draw if the base explodes, but more than half of the attackers are killed.
Mind control (harder for the attackers): Before the first turn begins, the defender can choose an attacker model, and write the choice down. The defender can reveal the choice any time, and from then on, the defender controls that model, until the base explodes, damaging the mind controlling facility.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Aliens: Human-sized (S3) futuristic humanoids.
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian.
Human space commandos: Human-sized (S3) futuristic humans in space suits, carrying weapons.
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Similar stories - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Novels
H. G. Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because their planet (Mars) is becoming uninhabitable. But luckily, the invasion fails (due to microbes of the Earth).
Movies
Independence Day (1996): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because they want our resources (water). The nations of Earth repel their attack.
The Mysterians (1957): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because their planet became uninhabitable. The nations of Earth repel their attack. It's an unofficial prequel of this movie.
The War in Space (1977): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because their planet became uninhabitable. They establish a base on another planet (Venus). The nations of Earth destroy their base and repel their attack. It's an unofficial sequel of this movie.
The War of the Worlds (1953): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because their planet (Mars) is becoming uninhabitable. But luckily, the invasion fails (due to microbes of the Earth). Based on the War of the Worlds novel.
War of the Worlds (2005): In a then contemporary setting, aliens invade the Earth, because they want our resources (water). But luckily, the invasion fails (due to microbes of the Earth). Based on the War of the Worlds novel.
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Frequently asked questions - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Will the Battle in Outer Space movie be available with English audio dub?
Yes, Battle in Outer Space is already available with English audio dub.
Is the Battle in Outer Space film based on a book or comics?
No, Battle in Outer Space is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Battle in Outer Space film a remake or reboot?
No, the Battle in Outer Space film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Battle in Outer Space? Does Battle in Outer Space have end credit scenes? Does Battle in Outer Space have a post credit scene?
No, there's no post credit scene in Battle in Outer Space.
Where can I see Battle in Outer Space? What is Battle in Outer Space playing on? What streaming service is Battle in Outer Space on? Where can I watch Battle in Outer Space online? Is Battle in Outer Space available on Netflix? Is Battle in Outer Space on Amazon?
As of 2022.10.28, Battle in Outer Space is available on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi.
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Resources - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
Information
IMDB: Uchû sai sensô / Battle in Outer Space (1959): Database article.
WikiPedia: Battle in Outer Space: Database article.
Letterboxd: Battle in Outer Space 1959: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: Battle in Outer Space 1959: Database article.
TVTropes: Film / Battle in Outer Space: Database article.
WikiZilla, the kaiju encyclopedia: Battle in Outer Space: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Battle in Outer Space film (1959)
Grant Watson (for FictionMachine): REVIEW: Battle in Outer Space (1959): Review article of the Battle in Outer Space movie, with no spoilers.¤
Reviews with spoilers - Battle in Outer Space film (1959)
Mike Brooks (for Mana Pop): Battle in Outer Space (1959) – Review: Review article of the Battle in Outer Space movie, with spoilers. Includes a plot summary.¤
Nathan Decker (for Million Monkey Theater): Battle in Outer Space (1959): Review article of the Battle in Outer Space movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Battle in Outer Space movie (1959)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Battle in Outer Space.¤
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Buying the product - Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space, movie (1959)
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Have you seen the Uchû dai sensô / Battle in Outer Space film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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