Audience Member
Movie about not judge other people books by covers. Make good sense in post-WWII, post-Hiroshima Japan.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Corny low-budget Japanese sci-fi delivers some campy fun. To be sure, this tale of UFOs flown by starfish shaped aliens (with a creepy giant eye at their center) terrifying the residents of Tokyo is incredibly silly, derivative, and just plain ridiculous. Are the starfish aliens friendly? Are they bent on world domination? Wait, did one of them take the form of a popular female lounge singer? (Yes. Yes, one did) It's completely gonzo (and not intentionally), but the films ridiculousness is it's charm. I also found the miniature sets being blown up real good highly entertaining. Overall, "Warning from Space" is a film best enjoyed ironically on a so-bad-it's-good level of entertainment, which was enough to keep my entertained.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Lately I find I have a special place in my heart for the Japanese disaster movie of days gone by. They are so much fun, and their filmmakers throw everything but the kitchen sink in, both so that there's something to please everybody and because they're frankly just so chock-full of bizarre yet interesting ideas. It seems like it would have been a great time to make movies there!
I enjoyed this a lot, though many aspects weren't understandable to me, like why as the meteor got ever closer to Earth it got so incredibly hot. I can understand, since the Moon influences tides through its gravitational pulls, why there could have been flooding, but the impact on temperature...I suppose it's simply one of those aspects of watching pre-manned space flight science-fiction films in which you have to approach simply with fun and acceptance, and turn off your disbelief, to simply enjoy the ride. I have no problem with that approach for these films.
Cool ideas I really liked were the way one of the aliens altered its appearance so that the warning would be listened to, so that both worlds could be saved, and the concept that when a world crisis occurs, different countries and cultures--and various planets, for that matter--can sit down and work things out together, that all is not lost for civilization and its discontents in 2016. It's thoughts like that that help me sleep at night.
This would make a great double bill with 'Melancholia'.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Lately I find I have a special place in my heart for the Japanese disaster movie of days gone by. They are so much fun, and their filmmakers throw everything but the kitchen sink in, both so that there's something to please everybody and because they're frankly just so chock-full of bizarre yet interesting ideas. It seems like it would have been a great time to make movies there!
I enjoyed this a lot, though many aspects weren't understandable to me, like why as the meteor got ever closer to Earth it got so incredibly hot. I can understand, since the Moon influences tides through its gravitational pulls, why there could have been flooding, but the impact on temperature...I suppose it's simply one of those aspects of watching pre-manned space flight science-fiction films in which you have to approach simply with fun and acceptance, and turn off your disbelief, to simply enjoy the ride. I have no problem with that approach for these films.
Cool ideas I really liked were the way one of the aliens altered its appearance so that the warning would be listened to, so that both worlds could be saved, and the concept that when a world crisis occurs, different countries and cultures--and various planets, for that matter--can sit down and work things out together, that all is not lost for civilization and its discontents in 2016. It's thoughts like that that help me sleep at night.
This would make a great double bill with 'Melancholia'.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
If I could describe it in one word, I would could it bizarre. It's weirder than the average sci-fi movie, but in a way, that's what makes it unique. As opposed to nearly every sci-fi movie of the time, where aliens were always hostile to humanity, the starfish-shaped aliens of this movie want to help humanity stop a rogue planet from colliding with Earth. It's not bad, but I find that there are serious issues with pacing. It takes quite a while to get to the point, which I think is quite surprising for a film that's 88 minutes long. Another surprise is the lack of eventful action scenes. It's not an action movie, but it certainly gets really boring, and the ending really isn't that great either. If you're a big fan of quirky sci-fi films from the 50's, you may want to check it out. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth your time.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/03/23
Full Review
Audience Member
For me this movie is largely unimpressive. It is actually unique to see a movie where the aliens actually end up helping the humans for a change, though I find it strange that there are lot of moments that are amusing for what, looking back, seem like the wrong reasons. It's mildly amusing for the first part of the movie and then it just stops getting interesting.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
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