Battle in Outer Space

Starring: Ryo Ikebe, Kyoto Anzai, Koreya Senda, Minoru Takada, Leonard Stanford
Directed by: Ishiro Honda
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Science Fiction
1959

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Earth bands together to fight off alien invaders.

Review:

Tim: The key to enjoying Battle in Outer Space is really to tap into your imagination. The effects are quite limited in their ability to inspire real awe in audiences (especially 5+ decades after this film's release). However, if you can sit back and let your imagination go, you'll find there is a lot to enjoy in this film.

The amount of destruction in this film is impressive. We see a railroad bridge lifted to cause a train to plummet into a gorge. We see ships destroyed, terrible flooding, the space station obliterated. We see New York and San Francisco completely destroyed (by Space Torpedoes, of course). This is all done in miniature, but it's still fun to see with a little imagination.

There is also a very impressive sequence that takes place on the moon. Forget actual science or realism for a moment (the way the lighter gravity is depicted on the moon is absolutely absurd). The moon sequences are actually quite impressive. While the moon doesn't really look like it is depicted here, the filmmakers still managed to create an alien, isolated landscape that will stick in your memory. Those scenes were among the highlights of the film. There are quite a few aerial battles, both on Earth and in the darkness of space. For the severe limitations placed on them, these sequences again were quite good. For those who can tap into their childhood imagination, they'll enjoy them. For the skeptical viewers, you'll be able to spot a surprising amount of wires holding the planes and other props up.

Besides the somewhat impressive action sequences, the story is slightly below average. An alien race has come to Earth. I honestly forget exactly why they were coming, but they were ready to pick a fight. They have the ability to control people's minds, and so some humans are actively working for them. That was pretty scary. However, as a whole, the story is clearly secondary to the effects. That is a major, major flaw. The other big issue is that none of the characters are well developed. I kept getting people confused because they weren't given enough of a personality to differentiate them from the other characters. I really don't understand why character development was so difficult, but apparently, it was.

Battle in Outer Space might not be a terrible movie, but it's a deeply flawed attempt at an epic science fiction film. If you can suspend disbelief and go along for the ride, you will enjoy stretches of this movie. However, even for the most forgiving among us, there's simply too many complaints about this movie. I love the attempt to tell this larger-than-life story, but the film is ultimately of a lower quality than it needed to be.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Independence Day, The H-Man