Planet Prince (1959)

Original title

遊星王子

Directed by

Eijirō Wakabayashi

Genre

science fiction film, superhero film

Country

Japan

Runtime

2h 01m

Rating

2.6 of 10 from 32 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A superhero from another planet defends Earth against aliens and monsters. He disguises himself as a friendly young man in everyday life.

retrocampylightheartedfast-pacedwhimsicalnostalgicaction-packedcheerful

What happens

Planet Prince (遊星王子, Yūsei Ōji) is a 1958 Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series created by Masaru Igami and produced by Senkosha, the series aired on NTV from November 4, 1958 to October 6, 1959, with a total of 49 episodes (comprising four separate adventures). It was created to capitalize on the success of Shintoho's Super Giant (Starman) movie series. In fact, the title hero (whose alter-ego was Waku-san, played by Toshio Mimura) bore a strong resemblance to Super Giant (known as "Starman" in the U.S.). The pair of Planet Prince theatrical featurettes, adapted from the Senkosha TV series, were produced by Toei Studios and filmed in black and white ToeiScope format. Toei produced two theatrical movies in 1959 that featured the Planet Prince character, but wearing a completely different, more streamlined costume (and goggled helmet) than the one worn in the tv series. The hero in these two movies was played by Tatsuo Umemiya. The movies were released a week apart. The films were titled: Planet Prince (遊星王子, Yūsei Ōji) Released: May 19, 1959 Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship (遊星王子 - 恐怖の宇宙船, Yūsei Ōji - Kyōfu no Uchūsen) Released: May 25, 1959 For TV release in America, these two Planet Prince movies were compiled into an 85-minute, English-dubbed movie entitled Prince of Space that was first shown in 1965. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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