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'.

Another badly dubbed, statically moving and deliberately silly science fiction is a rip off of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with star-fish shaped aliens who can turn themselves into humans. These creatures which look the same as each other (assembly line costumes) have both female and male voices so at least the people who cast their dubbers were at least equal opportunity. This is another film expressing protest against nuclear power with the danger of a planet collision at the core of its conflict. While there are seconds running out, ruthless leaders strive to get their hands on a new nuclear formula. There are moments of incredible dullness followed by moments of incredible silliness, such as when a Japanese nightclub is shown with Japanese male and female tap dancers. Of course x there's the inclusion of children in danger, an obvious pre-requisite for all of these films.The creatures are shown almost immediately, lacking any surprise for what they look like. The more serious it tries to be, the more outlandish it becomes. If this was the Japanese government's attempt for atonement for their part in World War II, it would be not accepted. More likely revenge for the bombs we dropped on them that killed millions but did manage to end the war. The conclusion featuring some natural disasters thanks to the rising temperatures are pretty realistic and well done, but it seems to take forever to get there.

To make a change from the crap German SF I am reading at the moment (I have suddenly become addicted to the stunningly awful Perry Rhodan books) I thought I would see what the other former WW2 Axis power could throw at me in the way of bad SF. Synopsis:Giant Klu-Klux-Klan starfish, wanting to make contact with an eminent aged scientist, lurk about Tokyo and make people point at them and shout "Monster!" a lot before coming up with plan B.Plan B involves transformerising one of their number into the hefty showgirl who did the previously inexplicable and totally incongruous nightclub dance routine in reel 4.The transormerised alien is discovered floating in a pond by a bunch of assorted scientists out for a walk. They take her home with them and just as her lack of fingerprints, her ability to walk through locked doors, and tendency to leap 10 feet in the air to return tennis shots were arousing their suspicions, she destroys the only copy of one of the scientist's super-explosive formula, announces she is from Earth's twin counter-world and warns them about a rogue planet "from another galaxy" on a collision course, then inexplicably disappears until she is needed right at the end of the movie.The scientist leap into action and petition The World Congress to bomb "Planet R" to itty bitty bits. The World Congress refuses. Planet R heaves into view. Tokyo is evacuated except for a couple of dozen school kids who, for no apparent reason, take shelter in the the scientist's observatory basement. The scientists sit about getting sweatier and sweatier as Planet R gets closer and closer. The World Congress changes its mind and fires all its nukes at Planet R. Nothing happens. "If only we had some of that super-explosive old Wassisname invented" say the scientists. Old Wassisname meanwhile has been kidnapped by baddies, who want his formula, and has been left tied up in an abandoned building.After lots more getting hot and sweaty the aliens come back. "Hey, we're ready to blow up Planet R. All we need is Old Wassiname's formula. Where is he?""No idea." say the scientists, "Haven't seen him for a month.""No sweat," say the aliens, "He's wearing one of our rings which shows up really well on Radar." (Which is the first we've heard of it). The aliens appear in the abandoned building and rescue old Wassiname who has been bound hand and foot in a chair for a whole MONTH!Aliens blow up Planet R. Rabbits come out of burrows. Turtles crawl into ponds. Little children run into the arms of parents. The End.Great chunks of this film are insanely boring. Long shots of aged scientist peering into the business end of a very big telescope waiting for something to happen, inter-cut with long shots of not quite so aged scientists watching the first aged scientist waiting for him to say something. They must have shot hours of film of people peering into that telescope, hours and hours and hours, including, believe it or not, someone peering down it wearing sunglasses. And still the continuity goes to pot. In one cut towards the end chief aged scientist swaps eyes between shots.Having said that there are some nice things about this film. Some of the shots are nicely set up and the director gets a lot of value from a limited number of sets. Not bad enough to be good or good enough to be memorable, only worth watching if you are desperate.

Warning from Earth - you are on a collision course with your own sanity if you proceed past the opening scene. Wow, did you get a good look at those goofy starfish pajamas? We should be grateful that that was one Japanese import that didn't make it."Warning From Space" requires a certain something from it's viewers, in my case it was an hour and a half of nothing better to do. I can't honestly say I'm any better off for having seen it, but then again, I'm not any worse. I'll have to wait to see if those starfish pop up in a dream tonight, or a nightmare.At least there were some novel ideas advanced in the film for it's time. Japanese rockets were dispatched into space to get a picture of the luminous bodies resembling meteors, and the shape shifting Pairan had no fingerprint pattern. I got a kick out of the admirable attempt of the Pairan Ginko to transmute into a famous Japanese entertainer in order to make contact with humans. The first batch of Earthlings that pulled her out of the pond didn't recognize her.I wonder how much money 'Mobilgas' had to offer to get their sign in the film? It seems to me that "Warning From Space" is largely a forgettable movie. The lack of menacing monsters and a benign association of Japanese scientists with the Pairans made for a boring picture at times. But they should have given a prize to the person who came up with that cyclops starfish design; I don't think I'll ever be the same again.