thecutlers
Joined Feb 2011
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thecutlers's rating
I won't waste space repeating what other reviewers have so ably said already. This movie is dear to me as it is pure nostalgia for a Baby Boomer. In the 1960s, my brother and I would use our reel-to-reel audio tape to record the soundtrack of those dreadful Japanese movies they would play late at night on Sydney TV. (Channel 10, I think.) Those were the days well before VCR recorders. One night, we recorded Prince of Space and never tired of playing it back, howling of course at the ridiculous lost-in-translation dialogue. I don't remember a lot of the movie but certain lines and situations stand out strongly:
1. How absurdly timid Professor Macken was after being kidnapped by the Phantom of Krankor - always cowering. Whoever played him must have excelled at the Tokyo Academy of Overacting. 2. How long the fight scenes dragged on between Prince of Space and the bad guys. 3. The manic, sadistic look of glee on the Prince's face as he knocks the bad guys around; he's really enjoying the biff and pain he causes! 4. How the Prince king hits a bad guy who flies into the wall,when it is actually a limp dummy and the guide wire is laughably visible. 5.Professor Macken (cowering): "Where's my chauffeur?" Phantom: (disdainfully) "You can't expect me to keep track of your worthless servants. I shot him out of an air lock about an hour ago. By now, he's probably on a star!" (followed by sadistic false laughter) 6. A house-proud Phantom showing Professor Macken over his home planet: "I have many wonders to show you: my castle, cut from the living rock, my Giant Guardian, and so forth." (My brother and I still use that line when we want to show anything new.) 7. How the "giant guardian" looked like a punch drunk sumo wrestler needing a bit of extra cash, even appearing in a turkey like this. 8. The insufferable kids,dubbed with such squeaky annoying voices, and their immortal lines at the conclusion: Kid 1:"One day, I'll drive a car as fine as the one he drives". Kid 2: "And I'll make clothes that glow." Kid 3: "Big foe(?) too!"
All in all, I should thank the actors, writers and crew who brought us this delightfully awful and side-splittingly silly movie. Arigato!!
1. How absurdly timid Professor Macken was after being kidnapped by the Phantom of Krankor - always cowering. Whoever played him must have excelled at the Tokyo Academy of Overacting. 2. How long the fight scenes dragged on between Prince of Space and the bad guys. 3. The manic, sadistic look of glee on the Prince's face as he knocks the bad guys around; he's really enjoying the biff and pain he causes! 4. How the Prince king hits a bad guy who flies into the wall,when it is actually a limp dummy and the guide wire is laughably visible. 5.Professor Macken (cowering): "Where's my chauffeur?" Phantom: (disdainfully) "You can't expect me to keep track of your worthless servants. I shot him out of an air lock about an hour ago. By now, he's probably on a star!" (followed by sadistic false laughter) 6. A house-proud Phantom showing Professor Macken over his home planet: "I have many wonders to show you: my castle, cut from the living rock, my Giant Guardian, and so forth." (My brother and I still use that line when we want to show anything new.) 7. How the "giant guardian" looked like a punch drunk sumo wrestler needing a bit of extra cash, even appearing in a turkey like this. 8. The insufferable kids,dubbed with such squeaky annoying voices, and their immortal lines at the conclusion: Kid 1:"One day, I'll drive a car as fine as the one he drives". Kid 2: "And I'll make clothes that glow." Kid 3: "Big foe(?) too!"
All in all, I should thank the actors, writers and crew who brought us this delightfully awful and side-splittingly silly movie. Arigato!!
Even as kids, we thought this Japanese TV series was a laugh. Just so cheap and hokey. We changed the opening sequence to, "You shouldn't have shot him. Always remember, bullets cost two yen a piece". And their Leader, Phantom Agent Fantar, became Phantom Leader Fat Arse. 'Nuff said. Almost.
What do I remember? The crew of Phantom Agents, complete with the token female and apprentice child agent, (the latter being taught the gentle art of garroting, shooting, knifing etc.), their cheesy commando uniforms making them look like drop outs from the Israeli Army, motoring around Japan in their huge, lurching open top Yank Tank convertible. Lots of scenes shot in cold, flat, gravelly wilderness areas that looked like Tokyo garbage dumps. Clumsy in and out camera shots. (Maybe caused by frozen photographers' hands.)Interior shots (usually cheap,easy-to-find warehouses)where you can see the frost on the hapless actors' breath. Obviously heating was not in the budget. Nor a real studio. I wonder how many actors and extras had to be treated for hypothermia and frostbite.
If you want to see what a big budget home movie looks like, watch Phantom Agents. But unlike Peter Jackson's funny but ridiculously shoestring budget "In Bad Taste", this one actually tries to be taken seriously.
And the hokey theme tune that sounded like it was plagiarised from Paul Anka's theme for "The Longest Day". La la la, la la la la......
And who came up with the organization of evil called "Snig Zee", and its minions, the "Black Flags".
"The Samurai" TV series on Channel 9 attained cult status with us Aussie baby boomer kids, and it inspired a whole generation of us to fashion star knives from bottle tops, and fantasize about being ninjas. Eger ninjas, that is, not the evil Koga ninjas. But Phantom Agents? It came later when Channel 7 tried to cash in on "The Samurai"'s success, but even kids have standards.
What do I remember? The crew of Phantom Agents, complete with the token female and apprentice child agent, (the latter being taught the gentle art of garroting, shooting, knifing etc.), their cheesy commando uniforms making them look like drop outs from the Israeli Army, motoring around Japan in their huge, lurching open top Yank Tank convertible. Lots of scenes shot in cold, flat, gravelly wilderness areas that looked like Tokyo garbage dumps. Clumsy in and out camera shots. (Maybe caused by frozen photographers' hands.)Interior shots (usually cheap,easy-to-find warehouses)where you can see the frost on the hapless actors' breath. Obviously heating was not in the budget. Nor a real studio. I wonder how many actors and extras had to be treated for hypothermia and frostbite.
If you want to see what a big budget home movie looks like, watch Phantom Agents. But unlike Peter Jackson's funny but ridiculously shoestring budget "In Bad Taste", this one actually tries to be taken seriously.
And the hokey theme tune that sounded like it was plagiarised from Paul Anka's theme for "The Longest Day". La la la, la la la la......
And who came up with the organization of evil called "Snig Zee", and its minions, the "Black Flags".
"The Samurai" TV series on Channel 9 attained cult status with us Aussie baby boomer kids, and it inspired a whole generation of us to fashion star knives from bottle tops, and fantasize about being ninjas. Eger ninjas, that is, not the evil Koga ninjas. But Phantom Agents? It came later when Channel 7 tried to cash in on "The Samurai"'s success, but even kids have standards.