Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure
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A violent duo abducted into space! The Federation of Planet Pallad surprises with laughs and action!
(宇宙に誘拐されたモーレツ・コンビ！爆笑とアクションでびっくリかえるパラト星連邦！) |
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— Tagline |
Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure (コント55号 宇宙大冒険 Konto Gojūgo-gō: Uchū Daibōken) is a 1969 tokusatsu science fiction comedy film directed by Jun Fukuda and written by James Miki, with special effects by Yoichi Manoda. Produced by Toho, it is the company's fourth and final film to star titular comedy duo Konto 55, and the only of the series to incorporate sci-fi elements. It stars Kinichi Hagimoto and Jiro Sakagami of Konto 55 and Dankichi Tanku and Ganta Iwata of the companion group Konto 0, as well as Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Noriko Takahashi. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 20, 1969[a] as part of the winter Toho Champion Festival, alongside All Monsters Attack and the anime film Star of the Giants: Go, Go, Hyuma.[3]
Plot
In Bunkyū-era Kyoto, samurai Keima Sakamoto asks a geisha, Kogiku, for her hand in marriage, but is challenged to a duel for her love by Shinsengumi Kaku Serizawa. Before long, the men are broken up by a mysterious figure who informs them that Kogiku has decided to become a nun to escape the pain of their love triangle, and fled to a convent. The stranger leads them to this supposed convent, which is in fact an alien spacecraft that takes off into space with they and Kogiku onboard. Their captor introduces himself as Dogma, a visitor from the planet Pallad who intends to bring them back to his people to save them from the brink of extinction. However, because each day spent traveling through space is equivalent to roughly one year on Earth, he gives the trio "time pills" which slows their aging.
Staff
- Main article: Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure/Credits.
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Jun Fukuda
- Written by James Miki
- Executive producers Kikumaru Okuda, Tadahiro Teramoto, Ryoji Asai
- Music by Kenjiro Hirose
- Cinematography by Yuzuru Aizawa
- Edited by Fumiko Ohashi
- Production design by Shigekazu Ikuno
- First assistant director Masayoshi Nemoto
- Director of special effects Yoichi Manoda[1]
- First assistant director of special effects Takeharu Ikebuchi
Cast
- Main article: Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure/Credits.
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Kinichi Hagimoto as Keima "Sa" Sakamoto, royalist samurai
- Jiro Sakagami as Kaku "Se" Serizawa, Shinsengumi warrior
- Hiroshi Kawaguchi as Dogma, alien from the planet Pallad
- Noriko Takahashi as Kogiku, Kyoto geisha
- Junzaburo Ban as Bluebeard, alien ruler
- Oh Ranfan as Yang Guifei, Chinese consort
- Emma Sugimoto as Cleopatra, Egyptian monarch
- Maki Carrousel as Joan of Arc, French heroine
- Yukako Honda as Marilyn Monroe, American actress
- Keiko Sawai as Ono no Komachi, Japanese poet
- Toru Yuri as Dr. Dodome, Palladian doctor
- Bokuzen Hidari as Palladian military director
- Sakae Umezu as Palladian physicist
- Toshiaki Minami as Palladian government secretary
- Dankichi Tanku as Palladian sociologist
- Ganta Iwata as Palladian biologist
- Toki Shiozawa as Palladian teacher
- Keisuke Sagawa as Palladian TV commentator
- Shigeru Tsujishi as man who sees UFO in Kyoto
- Keiko Ozawa, Kinuyo Sado as Palladian protestors
- Setsuko Kawaguchi as Palladian girl
- Midori Uchiyama, Maki Wakayama as women walking in Ginza
- Keiji Yanoma, Takao Zushi as protestors in Ginza
Appearances
Aliens
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Weapons and vehicles
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Development
The Great Outer Space Adventure was intended to appeal to a wide range of ages, mixing science fiction with the comedic stylings of Konto 55, who had garnered popularity even among children.[5] According to the book Godzilla Toho Champion Festival Perfection, the film's inclusion on the first Champion Festival bill may have been an attempt at offsetting potentially low financial returns on All Monsters Attack, as pairings of kaiju and comedy films had proven popular during the Golden Age.[5]
Production
The film's special effects were directed by Yoichi Manoda, who otherwise worked as a cameraman on movies like Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Destroy All Monsters.[1]
The climax makes use of stock footage from various prior Toho movies including The Last War, Dogora, The Crazy Adventure, and Latitude Zero.[2][3]
Gallery
- Main article: Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure/Gallery.
Alternate titles
- Konto 55: Grand Outer Space Adventure (alternate translation, used on Toho Kingdom)
- Konto 55: Space Adventure (alternate translation, used by Showa Video)
- Konto 55: The Great Space Adventure (alternate translation)
Video releases
Toho DVD (2006)
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (mono)
- Subtitles: Japanese
- Special features: Audio commentary by Tsutomu Sekine
- Notes: Also available in a box set with the other Konto 55 films. Re-released in 2014 for the Toho DVD Cinema Fanclub.
While Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure is unavailable officially in the West, a fansub has been released on Blu-ray by Showa Video.
Trivia
- The other three Konto 55 films which preceded The Great Outer Space Adventure are:
- Konto 55: The Weakness of the Century (コント55号 世紀の大弱点 Konto Gojūgo-gō: Seiki no Daijakuten), released November 2, 1968
- Konto 55: The Weakness of Humanity (コント55号 人類の大弱点 Konto Gojūgo-gō: Jinrui no Daijakuten), released August 13, 1969
- Konto 55: I Am the Grandson of the Grandson of a Ninja (コント55号 俺は忍者の孫の孫 Konto Gojūgo-gō: Ore wa Ninja no Mago no Mago), released October 10, 1969
- Close to a decade later, in 1978, screenwriter James Miki would reuse the name of the Pallad aliens for a sci-fi segment in Pink Lady's Motion Picture.
- Midori Uchiyama, who has a bit part in this movie as a pedestrian, voiced Minilla in the Toho Champion Festival co-feature All Monsters Attack.
- While Sakamoto and Serizawa are playing chō-han, a tattoo of a firebreathing monster resembling Godzilla is visible on the latter's back.
- When Dogma asks his ship's computer to foretell Kogiku's future lover, it responds with Yuzo Kayama, the star of Toho's long-running Young Guy film series.
- Director Jun Fukuda had directed four films in the series, including Young Guy Graduates and Young Guy on Mt. Cook which released earlier in 1969.
External links
- Konto 55: Grand Outer Space Adventure on Toho Kingdom
- Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure on the Toho Reference Room
Notes
References
This is a list of references for Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Bibliography
- Kawakita, Koichi; Sugita, Hiroki; Toya, Koichi; Kamatsu, Tadashi; Sasaki, Yu, eds. (1 January 1990). Encyclopedia of Godzilla. Gakken.
- Nakamura, Satoshi (1997). "Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure". Japanese SFX and Fantasy Movies. Keibunsha. ISBN 4-7669-2706-0.
- Nakamura, Satoshi; Shiraishi, Masahiko; Aita, Tetsuo; Tomoi, Taketo; Shimazaki, Jun; Maruyama, Takeshi; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Hayakawa, Masaru (29 November 2014). Godzilla Toho Champion Festival Perfection. Kadokawa. ISBN 978-4-04-866999-3.
- "Toho Special Effects Film Productions List". Complete History of Toho Special Effects Films. Supervised by Tomoyuki Tanaka. Toho. 10 December 1983. ISBN 4-924609-00-5.CS1 maint: others (link)
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Image gallery for the film Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure.
Screenshots
Title card animation
Title card
Releases
Posters
Japanese Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure poster
1969 Toho Champion Festival signboard poster
Video releases
Japanese Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure DVD cover
Merchandise
Theater program
1969 Toho Champion Festival theater program cover
Program back cover
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The following is a transcript of the opening credits of Konto 55: The Great Outer Space Adventure.
Produced by
- Kikumaru Okuda
- Tadahiro Teramoto
- Ryoji Asai
Screenplay by
- James Miki
Photography by
- Yuzuru Aizawa
Art director
- Shigekazu Ikuno
Sound recording by
- Hideo Ushikubo
Lighting by
- Kazuo Shimomura
Music by
- Kenjiro Hirose
Assistant director
- Masayoshi Nemoto
Edited by
- Fumiko Ohashi
Processing by
- Tokyo Laboratory
Mixing by
- Echo Studios
Production manager
- Hisayuki Murakami
Special effects by
- Yoichi Manoda
- Mutsumi Toshima
- Katsuharu Kaneko
- Kazunobu Sanpei
- Shoji Ogawa
- Takeharu Ikebuchi
In association with
- Echo Co., Ltd.
Cast
- Konto 55
- Kinichi Hagimoto
- Jiro Sakagami
- Hiroshi Kawaguchi
- Noriko Takahashi
- Toru Yuri
- Bokuzen Hidari
- Sakae Umezu
- Toshiaki Minami
- Maki Carrousel
- Emma Sugimoto
- Oh Ranfan
- Yukako Honda
- Toki Shiozawa
- Keiko Sawai
- Keisuke Sagawa
- Keiji Yanoma
- Takao Zushi
- Shoji Abe
- Konto 0
- Dankichi Tanku
- Ganta Iwata
- Shinichiro Kamiki
- Riki Harada
- Haruo Kinoshita
- Manabu Hirano
- Kei Imai
- Banjo Oura
- Takanobu Kusunoki
- Mika Katsuragi
- Atsuko Erizu
- Kikue Ono
- Shigeru Tsuji
- Keiko Ozawa
- Hideko Ebata
- Midori Uchiyama
- Wakako Tanabe
- Maki Wakayama
- Setsuko Kawaguchi
- Kinuyo Sado
- Junzaburo Ban
Directed by
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