Warning from Space

Warning from Space
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKoji Shima
Screenplay byHideo Oguni
Based onA novel
by Gentaro Nakajima[1]
Produced byMasaichi Nagata
Starring
  • Keizo Kawasaki
  • Toyomi Karita
  • Bin Yagasawa
  • Shozo Nanbu
  • Bontarô Miyake
  • Mieko Nagai
  • Kiyoko Hirai
  • Isao Yamagata
CinematographyKimio Watanabe
Edited byToyo Suzuki
Music bySeitaro Omori
Production
company
Distributed byDaiei
Release date
  • January 29, 1956 (1956-01-29) (Japan)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Warning from Space (Japanese: 宇宙人東京に現わる, Hepburn: Uchūjin Tōkyō ni arawaru, lit.'Spacemen Appear in Tokyo') is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction film directed by Koji Shima. Produced and distributed by Daiei Film, it was the first Japanese science fiction film to be produced in color and predates Daiei's most iconic tokusatsu characters, Gamera and Daimajin. In the film's plot, starfish-like aliens disguised as humans travel to Earth to warn of the imminent collision of a rogue planet and Earth. As the planet rapidly accelerates toward Earth, a nuclear device is created at the last minute and destroys the approaching world.

The film was one of many early Japanese monster films quickly produced after the success of Toho's Godzilla in 1954. After release, the film was met with negative reviews, with critics calling it "bizarre" and accusing it of using science fiction clichés. Warning from Space influenced many other Japanese science fiction films, such as Gorath. The film, along with other 1950s tokusatsu science fiction films, influenced director Stanley Kubrick, who would later direct 2001: A Space Odyssey.

  1. ^ Lee, Walt (Compiler) (1974). Reference Guide to Fantastic Films: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. Los Angeles: Chelsea Lee Books. p. 324. ISBN 0913974021. Retrieved April 28, 2011.