Search - Prince of Space/Invasion of the Neptune Men on DVD

Damian M. (ratchet)
Reviewed on 3/11/2009...

Japanese sci-fi. Luckily I had two certain robots and and a space-bound funny man to help me through this nonsense. Trying to capitalize on those 50s alien invasion movies and I guess Japan wasnt pouring much Yen into the movie industry as they were busy rebuilding and surpassing us technologically.

More fun than I expected.

Christopher Carpenter | Iowa | 12/05/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After all the reviews I've read of the two movies that make up this DVD I expected them to be abysmal failures along the lines of Plan Nine From Outer Space. Well, yes, they are both in the "so bad it's good" category, and I haven't seen the MST3000 treatments (I imagine they are hilarious) but Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men are a hoot, and this DVD with vintage drive-in movie interstitials and trailers is a lot of fun. Honestly, I think if I had seen these when I was seven or eight years old, back in those pre-Star Wars days, I would loved them on their own terms as good old-fashioned space operas. Bonus points for a 21-year-old leotard-clad Sonny Chiba in Neptune Men.

"

"Prince of Spaaaaace"

Amaranth | Northern California | 03/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Prince of Space" is a hilariously madcap cheap Japanese drive-in flick about Wally the shoeshine boy whose secret identity is the eponymous masked "Prince of Space." While Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet, Bruce Wayne is a reclusive gazillionaire,and Peter Parker a nerdy guy... Wally shines shoes and acts as a "mother and father" to a couple of bratty kids. Soon, however, Wally finds himself in the battle to save the world from extremely aquiline-nosed aliens (with their obnoxiously chuckling ringleader,the Phantom) from the planet Krankhor. The dialogue is ludicrous. The "special" effects will have you in stitches. The acting is so bad is laughable. Prince of Space knows how to choose incompetent enemies (and equally incompetent allies). As he repeatedly says, "Your guns are useless!" With or without MST3K's snarky remarks,"Prince of Space" saves the day with its cheesy dialogue, ludicrous costumes, and sub-par acting. Enjoy!"

What if Insane People Made a Movie?

Nick Tropiano | Havertown, PA United States | 10/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This review is about Invasion of the Neptune Man. Prince of Space, I've seen before, boring, crappy, not worth watching despite some hilarious dialog and effects. Now to Invasion...



I'm embarrassed to admit, as someone who unabashedly loves 60's Japanese sci-fi - a guilty pleasure, and thought I've seen nearly all of them, and know the more obscure ones I've haven't seen, I've never seen or heard of this film. Well, it's great. Incredibly cheesy and - frankly, completely nuts from the first to the very last frame. It's hilarious.



Neptune Men - low rent "Robbie the Robot" inspired aliens from Neptune decide to conquer the earth in their super duper space ship, apparently controlled by some puppeteers back on their home planet, judging from the wires. Their master attack plan commences by screwing with a group of strangely dressed and annoying prepubescent boys playing in a field. The boys are saved by Sonny Chiba(!) who they name (get this) "Super Chief". "Super Chief" is a sight to behold. He has a cool flying car, a lazer gun, dig those crazy triangular shades, silver tights, silver cape, and metal helmet that looks like a soup tourine. (Sadly for me, the image of "Super Chief" has been etched in my subconscious forever.) After saving the annoying boys via an hilarious fight scene, and sending the aliens temporarily packing back to Neptune, Super Chief bids the boys adieu, takes off in his cool flying Datsan, and completely disappears from the film for - oh, about an hour...



What comes next is a bizarre film - each scene, each character, weirder and more surreal than the next... The film is some to-do about an "energy barrier" that defeats the aliens. When they eventually break through, "Super Chief" reappears in his flying car to destroy them in an aerial battle. Actually, the effects work in this one I found to be strangely above average with lots of composite shots and some surprisingly effective scenes of destruction.



Invasion of the Neptune men is completely nutty and highly entertaining. It's as if a bunch of insane people in the early 60's in Japan were allowed to make a sci-fi flick as some kind of therapy. Totally loopy and therefore fun."