Warning from Space (1956)
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Soon the earth will explode! All humanity will be destroyed. A war-torn complication film! (間もなく地は大爆発する! 全人類が滅んこの この戦どりえた問題の映画!)
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— Tagline |
Warning from Space (宇宙人東京に現わる is a Uchūjin Tokyo ni Arawaru, lit. Spacemen Appear in Tokyo)1956 tokusatsu science fiction film produced by Daiei. It was released to Japanese theaters on January 27, 1956, becoming the country's first science-fiction film in color.
Plot
A small Pairan ship travels and connects to a bigger one. In it, the Pairans discuss how to warn humans of the incoming threat they just discovered. Meanwhile on Earth, flying saucers are seen over the skies of Tokyo. A journalist asks Dr. Kumara for a statement on the flying saucers, but Kumara simply says that they don't have enough evidence to formulate a hypothesis. Meanwhile, in an observatory, Professor Isobe looks in his telescope and spots an unusual object releasing some objects.
Isobe and Kumara later talk about Isobe's discovery. A physician, Dr. Matsuda, gets the idea of taking pictures via a rocket. However, the pictures they take appear to be unclear. They then deduce the object has high energy output. Meanwhile, Pairans have been unsuccessfully attempting to contact humans. They start appearing in buildings, rivers, and lakes scaring the citizens of Japan. A Pairan manages to get a photo of Hikari Aozora, a popular Japanese entertainer. The plan is for a Pairan to mutate into the form of Hikari Aozora. A Pairan leader, Ginko, volunteers herself. She gets in a circular device and slowly starts to mutate into a human form.
Sometime later, Isobe's son, Toru, find Ginko in the water. Sometime after she was rescued, she starts showing superhuman abilities such as jumping 10 feet high and appearing in different places without making any sound. She was also shown to completely understand Matsuda's work on a nuclear device, leading him to doubt is she's actually human. Later, scientists discuss her superhuman abilities and the ability to understand how a nuclear device works, Ginko levitates towards them and reveals her true identity. She explains to them that she is from Planet Paira and tells them that a rogue planet is about to hit the Earth. They appeal to the World Congress about the situation but are rejected. Not much after, the World Congress considered it real and a threat, they launch nuclear weapons at the rogue planet with hope to destroy it, but the missiles were proven ineffective.
Meanwhile, Matsuda is kidnapped by a group of spies who demand his formula for a nuclear device. Matsuda refuses to give it to them but is then tied to a chair and left in the building. Earth's atmosphere heats up and Ginko comes back to see that Planet R wasn't destroyed. Pairans use their technology to locate Matsuda, who was wearing a Pairan ring and gather the formula. Pairans then create a nuclear weapon of their own and destroy the rogue planet, saving the Earth. Ginko then returns to the ship and mutates back into a Pairan.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Koji Shima
- Written by Hideo Oguni
- Story by Gentaro Nakajima
- Produced by Masaichi Nagata
- Music by Seitaro Omori
- Cinematography by Kimio Watanabe
- Edited by Toyo Suzuki
- Art director Shigeo Mano
- Assistant director Noriaki Yuasa
- Director of special effects Toru Matoba
- Color design and Pairan design Taro Okamoto
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Keizo Kawasaki as Dr. Toru Isobe
- Toyomi Karita as Hikari Aozora / Ginko Amano
- Bin Yagisawa as Pairan No. 2
- Isao Yamagata as Dr. Eisuke Matsuda
- Shozo Nanbu as Dr. Naotaro Isobe
- Bontaro Miake as Dr. Yoshio Komura
- Mieko Nagai as Taeko Komura
- Kiyoko Hirai as Kiyoko Matsuda
- Fumiko Okamura as Madam Ohana
- Toshiyuki Obara as Kenichi Hideno, reporter
- Shiko Saito as Mystery man
- Sachiko Meguro as Tokuko Isobe
- Frank Kumagai as Astronomical observatory correspondent
- Kanji Kawara as Dr. Takashima
- Tetsuya Watanabe as Sankichi
- Akira Natsuki as Pairan No. 3
- Shunji Tsuda as Pairan No. 4
- Gai Harada as Sailor
- Seiji Izumi
- Yasuko Hanamura as Geisha
- Kenji Tani as Bouncer
- Ko Sugita as Reporter
- Yuji Hayakawa as Policeman
- Noriaki Yuasa as Lake Chuzenji onlooker (uncredited)
Titra Sound Studios English dub
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Jack Curtis as Pairan Leader[3]
- Bret Morison as Dr. Komura[2][3]
- Larry Robinson as Dr. Matsuda / Hideno[3]
- Peter Fernandez[3]
- Corinne Orr[3]
- Arianné Ulmer Cipes[3]
Appearances
Weapons, vehicles, and races
- Pairans
- Pairan saucer
- Pairan space station
- Pairan nuclear missile
Gallery
- Main article: Warning from Space/Gallery.
Alternate titles
- Spacemen Appear in Tokyo (literal Japanese title)
- Uchujin Tokyo Ni Arawaru (English Japanese Blu-ray title)
- Assault to the Earth (Asalto a la Tierra; Spain)
- The Mysterious Sattelite (Le Satellite Mystérieux; France)
- The Cosmic Man Appears in Tokyo (United States)
- Unknown Satellite Over Tokyo (United States)
Theatrical releases
- Japan - January 27, 1956
- Spain - November 11, 1957; May 16, 1970
- France - November 27, 1957
- United Kingdom - May 1958[4]
- Myanmar - 1958[3]
- Malaysia - 1958[3]
Video releases
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: Unknown
- Special features: Unknown
Kadokawa Blu-ray + DVD (2019)
- Region: A
- Discs: 2
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: Japanese
- Special features: Trailer, reprinted press sheet
- Notes: Packaged with a DVD of Tokyo Tower at Twilight.
Arrow Video Blu-ray (2020)
- Region: A or B
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese, English (both LPCM Mono)
- Subtitles: English
- Special features: Booklet containing essays on Taro Okamoto by Nick West and the English dub by David Cairns (first pressing only), audio commentary by Stuart Galbraith IV, teaser and theatrical trailer, image gallery
Unlicensed DVDs of the English-dubbed version of Warning from Space proliferated in the United States for years, as the film was presumed to be in the public domain. The companies behind these releases include Alpha Video, Digiview Entertainment, Miracle Pictures, and AFA Entertainment.
Videos
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Trivia
- Despite being benevolent, roughly human-sized characters in the film, the Pairans are depicted as giant rampaging monsters in some posters and stills for the film.
References
This is a list of references for Warning from Space. 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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