Atomic Rulers

However, it is pretty hokey even by Japanese standards. This is part of a Starman series of movies. I would rather watch "The Cisco Kid" (1950-1956).

Anyhow, we get gunfights and swordfights. We see broken furniture breaking but no real blood. Flying heroes. Even underwater fights.

Oh no the bad guys have the nuclear device and the dirty swine; they took Reiko Okamoto the High School Girl. Of what use can she possibly be? The bad guys drive a ford with whitewall tires. The film may be worth watching for the technology alone.

We can be assured if everyone else dies at least Starman will survive for the next movie. What is worse is there will probably be peace throughout the universe.

Atomic Rulers (2) (1965) -

There's no way that anyone could deny that this Japanese Superman was a terrible film. I didn't think that even one element of it was well done, especially for 1965. Take in to consideration that 'The Wizard Of Oz' was made in 1939 and its obvious that they weren't even trying to make a decent film and if they were, shame on them. Some films like 'Flash Gordon' (1980) can get away with a tongue in cheek stab at sci-fi with slightly questionable effects and acting, but it was as if the makers of this one hadn't even understood the filmmaking process or ever been to the cinema before.

But! But, it was funny because of that, although it was highly unlikely that was intentional.

There were so many flaws in it that I didn't even start to list them. I could nitpick all day and not just nits but big massive giant bugs too. Some of the translation and dubbing was really badly done though. I've noticed that with a lot of the modern stuff I've been watching so it really stood out here. That used to be a part of the charm of watching 'Godzilla' (1954) and so on as Larvell Jones (Michael Winslow) from 'Police Academy' (1984) used to take the mick out of, but this was just so bad.

The super alien planet that sent 'Starman' to Earth's rescue due to nuclear armament could have done a lot more to help and he wasn't even that clever as an individual. Also, the fight scenes were terrible and honestly I've seen better episodes of 'Thunderbirds' (1965-6).

I might have been semi entertained by this as a ten year old boy at a flea pit picture house back in 1965, however I think that even then my tastes would have been more refined by the other efforts that had been available at the time and even before.

I'm not gutted that I spent an hour and a half on it because Im interested in film and it's good to have balance. I do know that I won't be watching it again though.

420.11/1000.

"The Earth is threatened with atomic destruction if the people of Mirapolia (sic) are not allowed to rule the planet. Observers from a distant planet, fat off in space, have been observing Earth and see the peril it's (sic) facing. Hoping to offer aid to the citizens of Earth, the benevolent aliens send their champion Starman to face off against the leaders of Mirapolia (it's correctly spelled Merapolia) and take care of their atomic weapons," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Ken Utsui (as Sûpâ Jaiantsu, or Super Giant) must save the Earth from nuclear peril. This is the American (English edited and dubbed) version of the Japanese super-hero's earliest movies, Sûpâ jaiantsu (1957) and Zoku sûpâ jaiantsu (1957). Herein, Mr. Utsui is Starman of "The Emerald Planet". Considering the material, this is a sometimes surprisingly well-directed, by Teruo Ishii, piece of super-nonsense; the location scenes are most enjoyable. Otherwise, it's, at best, unintentionally funny.

Watch for the scene where Utsui goes to a church with some children, and meets a nun. She gives him a smile that shows she's attracted to him; then, the young nun looks down at Utsui's groin area, where he has positioned his gun. Oh, sister!

*** Atomic Rulers (1964) Teruo Ishii ~ Ken Utsui, Utako Mitsuya, Junko Ikeuchi

Ah, Starman. Clearly influenced by the b/w "Adventures of Superman"

series, and possibly the Republic serial "The Adventures of Captain

Marvel," these flicks are good, old-fashioned fun. The only bummer is

that this first installment is very, very dull and doesn't feature the

loony aliens that would make the later entries so memorable. Instead our

hero goes up against guys in suits and fedoras.

You can afford to miss this one, but don't miss "Evil Brain From Outer

Space" and the ultra-surreal "Invaders From Space," which features

Starman thwarting the salamander-men of the planet Pulimon (you will not

believe their modern dance troupe of doom). And the DVDs are loaded with

extra goodies, including episodes of the long-forgotten b/w Japanese

cartoon "Prince Planet" which is a hell of a lot more fun than I

remembered

We're all familiar with the man of steel who fights for truth and justice the American way! However, the infamous Starman is a different story. This is only one of the few movies that currently exist featuring the Japanese superhero who saves the world from certain doom. Now consider this: Starman is not in bold and brilliant form compared to those DC Comics you're reading. It is a vintage trip back about 40+ years ago when superheroes were meant to amuse proud audiences at a Saturday afternoon matinee. Today, a new generation of viewers who may ever get a chance to see this, will see how weird the costumes and sets appear, plus the way Starman fights evildoers. This is probably the best feature of Starman movies as an endless horde of bad guys creates long continuous battles that make it more fun-filled than Superman, but it has its repetition. The outcome is the same where a superhero struggles his way to the end and wins, and it's also ultimately repetitive when our hero does the same things over and over again in each film. This one, ATOMIC RULERS, is more campier than the other Starman movie, ATTACK FROM SPACE, which was close to instant sci-fi. Most of the time, it has nothing to do with saving Earth from peril. A lot of "B" movies such as this rely on useless stock footage to make for a full production. Since this was a Japanese creation, it stood out as fascinating for its time. Although it's still strange, it's no worse than THE PUMAMAN. I'm not certain if anyone is willing to accept movies like this today. Leave those up to the old coot crowd who saw them in their younger generations. The motion picture industry may not have changed, but the times sure have! Whether young or old, if you are in serious desperation for an outdatedly campy experience, then I, Jason, can't fully blame you for that!