The character of Starman’s greatest gift, however, is his wardrobe change — from suit to costume by simply ducking under the camera in suit, and leaping up in costume. Must have saved time searching for phone booths, although, since Starman makes no pretense of a double identity, one wonders why he’s ever in civilian duds. After all, at every opportunity he mentions he’s from the Emerald Planet. Other notable things about this film include a scene where the Zimarians threaten a convoy of ‘Arabs’ arriving by airplane. Seeing Japanese actors play Arabs was quite chuckle-inducing — especially seeing the elaborate makeup used to ‘un-slant’ their eyes. The two most vile mutants are one lizard-like creature with ‘cobalt nails’, who twice battles Starman, and a Japanese babe with a pointed nose, but no real apparent powers. Both succumb to Starman, as do the Zimarians and Balazar’s Brain, which fizzles once a killing liquid is dumped on it. Why this shriveled little brain needs to inhale and exhale is another mystery, but, when the liquid fries the brain, one would think the folk in the room would cover their mouths and noses as to not inhale the smile. No?
Then there is the great gift to bad films that lack resources and need to quicken action — the intonations of a solemn narrator. Here’s how the film opens:
On the planet Zimar, far within the Moveen Galaxy, a de-controlled robot assassinated the omnipotent Balazar, who is known to possess the most brilliant mind in the universe. So powerful was Balazar’s genius that as he lay dying, his brain ordered built a mechanism which would keep it alive even though his body was destroyed. And now Balazar’s Brain seeks universal conquest!
But here on the Emerald Planet, the Highest Council in the Marpet Galaxy considers the terrible, immediate menace to the solar system of Earth, and to the planet Earth itself. Balazar’s Brain leads the infiltration of Earth, preparing it for the attack forces which will follow. And that attack will be with nuclear weapons. The flood of radioactivity which inevitably will spill out into space, is what primarily concerns these Emerald Planet creatures. High radioactivity, the Emerald creatures realize, will poison even the distant reaches of outer space. As a result, it is possible that in time, others planets such as this will become uninhabitable. The Council now is deciding what must be done.
Not exactly The Day The Earth Stood Still, but, what the hell? After all, the film joyfully reuses the same shots of fight scenes from early in the picture later, as if one is not supposed to recall them. Regardless, I still wonder about some of the characters who appear within the film, then disappear after they have served whatever purpose they were created to serve. There are several evil doctors, a lab assistant who steals the brain in the film’s opening shots, a few local detectives from the Tokyo Police Department, but, most of all, an exceptionally nerdy pair of siblings — a four-eyed nerd girl about ten years of age, and her eight-year or so old snotty little brother-forerunner to the baseball cap wearing little punks of the Godzilla series. After the boy, naturally, penetrates the impenetrable defenses of the bumbling Zimarians, and is finally seen, we see him run away, get a cut, because the denuoement has obviously been left on the cutting room floor, and then never see his, nor his nerdy sister’s, sorry little ass again.
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