Invasion of the Neptune Men
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| Invasion of the Neptune Men | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961) |
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| Directed by | Koji Ota |
| Produced by | Hiroshi Okawa |
| Written by | Shin Morita |
| Starring | Sonny Chiba Kappei Matsumoto Shinjiro Ebara Mitsue Komiya Ryuko Minakami |
| Music by | Michiaki Watanabe |
| Cinematography | Shizuka Fujii |
| Editing by | Ryohei Fujii |
| Distributed by | Toei Co. Ltd.; Walter Manley Enterprises Inc. (US TV release) |
| Release date(s) | 1961 (Japan) |
| Running time | 82 min., 74 min. |
| Language | Japanese English |
| IMDb profile | |
Invasion of the Neptune Men (宇宙快速船 Uchû Kaisokusen?, Space Hypership) is a tokusatsu SF/superhero film produced by Toei Company Ltd. (as "New Toei") in 1961. The movie starred then 22-year old Sonny Chiba as the intergalactic superhero Iron-Sharp. (When listed in the credits in the Japanese version, "Iron Sharp" was played by "?", a gimmick often used in many similar Japanese superhero shows at the time) This was the only appearance of Iron-Sharp (who's dressed in silver tights, helmet, cape, carries a ray gun and rides a car-like rocketship), who is called "Space Chief" in the US version. In either case, this film is similar to many a show in the Toei Superhero genre from the same period, like Planet Prince (Toei's movie version).
[edit] Plot
Shinichi Tachibana, a scientist/astronomer who is, in reality, the superhero "Iron-Sharp," is friends with a group of children. When the children are almost attacked by a mysterious group of metallic aliens (called "Neptune Men" in the US version), Iron-Sharp drives away the aliens. Even in human form, Tachibana is resourceful, as he helps the Japanese government invent a protective electric space barrier to block the aliens from entering the Earth. When the aliens can stand no more defeat, they announce that they will strengthen their invasion of the Earth, throwing the world into a state of fear and panic. The invasion begins, and the aliens destroy cities with their awesome mothership (which launches smaller ships from within). Iron-Sharp comes to the rescue.
[edit] US release
The US version was titled Invasion of the Neptune Men and went directly to TV (it wasn't cropped since it was already filmed in fullscreen). It was later featured on the movie-mocking show Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1997, where it was subjected to some especially brutal jokes. The SOL crew considered the movie so bad that by the third host segment they were actually borderline suicidal (until they were rescued from their depression by a surprise visit from the Phantom Dictator of Krankor from Prince of Space). Later on, Crow and Mike actually left the theater for a few moments, and only came back when Pearl Forrester shut off the oxygen supply to the rest of the satellite.
[edit] Trivia
- The alien mothership prop was actually 6 feet long. It was designed by veteran Toru Narita, best known for his design work on Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultra Seven and War of the Gargantuas. At the same period, he was an art director for the Toei superhero series, National Kid.
- Actual World War II stock footage was used for some of the destruction of Tokyo scenes, most obvious when a multi-story picture of Adolf Hitler with some Japanese writing (along with Mein Kampf, mistransliterated as Mine Kampf) is clearly visible on the side of one building before it is destroyed. This, obviously, sets off a line of riffing in the MST3K version. "They took out the Hitler Building! Where is everyone going to see Hitler memorabilia?"
