Today’s review of 1977’s The War In Space (Wakusei Daisensō: Za uō in Supēsu) is the result of two upcoming events that I’ll be attending soon. The first is Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert, a screening of George Lucas’s 1977 classic accompanied by a live rendition of John Williams’s incredible score conducted by Richard Kaufman and performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The second event is G-FEST XXV, a fan convention with a focus on the Godzilla films produced by the prolific Japanese production company Toho, along with many other tokusatsu franchises (by the way, last year’s G-FEST was a blast). Toho’s War in Space may be one of the earliest space opera films released in a post-Star Wars world but it also draws some of its inspiration from the studio’s own body of work.

Searching for a distant star/Heading off to Iscandar

The film’s centerpiece, the massive, drill-bearing starship Gohten, shares a design with the Gotengo, the warship that’s prominently featured in Toho’s 1963 sci-fi adventure Atragon, a movie that War in Space shares a few plot points with as well, including an evil invading empire that can only be stopped by a large and powerful vessel constructed in secret by a scientist who’s reluctant to use the vessel’s full strength out of fear of the damage it could cause. The movie even features several Toho veterans, most notably director Jun Fukuda (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla), Ryo Ikebe (Battle in Outer Space), and Akihito Hirata, best known as the most notable human character in the original Godzilla, Dr. Serizawa. The film wisely moves at a steady clip and utilizes a more grounded approach to its story by taking the time to establish its archetypal characters, especially Professor Takigawa who’s portrayed with an almost tragic authority by Ikebe, which helps to give a recognizably human side to a conflict involving aliens led by an intergalactic warlord who’s escorted by a horned, axe-wielding Wookiee facsimile and goes by the outrageous moniker of Commander Hell.

The War in Space may not have the manic energy of Toho’s Godzilla films or the deeper introspection of the Akira Kurosawa films they produced but I think it’s one of their most underrated genre films. For fans of tokusatsu, this is an enjoyable ride that has a bit more to offer than simple thrills.

Credit: Media Graveyard