Prince of Space (1959) User Reviews

Short pants make bad heroes

[SyxxNet · 2/10 · 11 January 2001]

Ok...here we have a japanese space epic set in the wonderful Japanese town of Beaver Falls.....BEAVER FALLS?

This is one of my favorite bad movies...it never fails to crack me up when we watch the MST3K version, although I could probably sit through it without the MST gang and still have fun doing the MST jokes myself.

I've seen worse...at least I can sit through this one...there are several movies I don't think I could stomach again, even on MST3K...most notably the horrible Red Zone Cuba and the equally absymal Future War...

Crank whore?

[Oosterhartbabe · 1/10 · 20 May 2004]

(spoilers) "he has no powers, but he can skip reasonably well!" The hero of this crappy Japanese film is one of the most effeminate that I have ever seen. He skips, he prances, he laughs in a high, girlish voice; he wears a skin tight white leotard as part of his superhero costume, and what looks like the top half of an Arab woman's head dress. His evil nemesis, 'the Phantom of Krankor', wears gauzy ruffles and appears at all times to be trying to pick up a Dodgers game on the antennae in his helmet. The costumes in this movie are just amazingly bad. The 'knee goiters' all the bad guys sport, the fact that none of them appear to be wearing underwear, and the glittery numbers sewn onto the henchmen's chest(why Z1-7? Are they prototypes of some kind?) combine to make up what has to be the worst costuming efforts ever shown on screen. The space ships are really bad, too-from Krankor's TurkeyMobile to the Prince of Space's electric flying shaver, these are the least convincing models ever. The plot of this movie is almost incomprehensible, since someone who has achieved space flight most definitely wouldn't need to steal a human scientist's recipe for rocket fuel. The kids in the movie are really annoying little creeps, who you sincerely wish that Phantom had wiped out any of the times that he held them hostage. And the most annoying bit of all-the endless repetitions by the Prince of Space to Phantom and his henchmen about how their weapons won't work against him-to which they listen not at all. They continue to fire at him long after it would be obvious to the most brain dead moron in the world that it's a useless activity. If Phantom had stopped laughing for even five seconds, he might have figured that out and had his men sneak up on the Prince and stab him to death instead.

Evil Plotters from outer space are stupid

[huemannus · 2/10 · 13 January 2008]

Title:Prince of Space Category:Japanese Schlock sci-fi Schlock Rating: 9.5 Overall Production: 4.5 Actors: Japanese Date produced:1959

Its no secret little Japanese boys with 10X telescopes are the best astronomers and outer space watch dogs. When the haw, haw, haw, hawwwww evil plotter, The Phantom, with the chicken beak nose, bristly eyebrows and mustache, wiggling chin pouch and jock-less pants shows up in a weedy field outside Tokyo in his "rotating augur" space ship, our intrepid junior space watchers have no trouble beating the clueless "old fart" authorities to the spot.

Soon the Earth (Japan ) finds itself in danger of conquest by Krankor, that well-known evil planet from somewhere out there in space. After a few quick zings from the Phantom's rotating glass eye ray gun let's the crowd know he ain't fooling around, another mysterious fire and smoke emitting "reversed wheel barrow" space ship shows up.

Enter Krankor's nemesis, the self-proclaimed Prince of Space wearing mask and spiffy satin cape. The strangely charitable but invulnerable Prince laughs at the Phantom's relentless and totally ineffectual ray gun zingers and blithely flies through the release of caustic vapors on his way to thwarting the evil one's stupid plans to steal secret rocket fuel plans and conquer earth.

Breathe easy Earth. Gout-kneed inept henchmen, X-radars in 54 Chevy station wagons, flaky pie dough bumbling giants, thorium bombs; nothing stops the mild-mannered, secretly disguised Prince from saving the day.

Chickens Without Underwear

[Bucs1960 · 18 February 2003]

"Your weapons have no effect on me" but this movie does. Want to laugh until you fall over? This is the one that tops the charts for the worst Japanese film of all times. The story appears to be that 7, or maybe 8, chickens try to take over the earth, or Japan, or something and a shoe-shine boy, who is really the Prince of Space, points a butane grill lighter at them and jumps around with a sinus mask over his face. The Phantom of Krankor, the head chicken (or is that rooster?), forgot his underwear much to our dismay (or delight),has drooping football pads under his tights, and laughs demonically every five minutes. His flock keep shooting at the Prince with their stick weapons, ignoring his statement that the "weapons have no effect on me". Maybe they should have just hit him over the head. To add to the confusions, small Japanese boys run around giving orders, having access to restricted government property and speaking with a variety of American accents. Somewhere along the line, a giant Pillsbury Dough Boy appears, guarding the planet Krankor, and is easily dispatched by the Prince. So much for giant guardians. The wimpy scientists, meeting in a room the size of the Metropolitan Opera, run the gamut of emotions from cowardice to boredom, which is probably what you will do as you watch this film. It all works out, I guess and the world is safe from Krankor and his flock of invading Rhode Island Reds. I wonder if the Prince went back to his shoe shine job?

Stoner Movie

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 16 May 2014]

Black and White Japanese film from the late 50s.

It's really strange.

The aliens are Japanese with hook noses!

Everyone talks like it's so normal for space aliens to land.

Is it a good film? Not in the slightest. But if you're a bit you know, you'll probably find it a hoot.

The plot A Group of space men from the planet Krankor who resemble chickens are led by their leader, Phantom to invade Earth.

But a strange superhero named Prince of Space (actually a bootblack in disguise) arrives to defeat the spacemen.

Although the weapons of the aliens cannot harm the Prince of Space, the Phantom continues to fight, and many plot twists (including capturing a group of elderly scientists) ensue.

Watch out for the Giant!

Putrid Kiddie Fodder

[DFischer · 2/10 · 14 August 2001]

Aimed strictly at the kiddie matinee crowd, this film features beak-nosed evil aliens who travel in a spaceship spaced like a trussed up turkey or chicken, while the hero never tires of endlessly proclaiming that the evil aliens' weapons cannot harm him (and indeed they don't, though that doesn't stop the bad guys from repeatedly attempting it again and again). The film also features one of the most pathetic giant monsters of any Japanese film, a hefty Japanese man in a sloppily put together mask, who guards the evil invaders' home planet. Instantly forgettable, but prime MST3K fodder.

It came from Hollywood...

[lambiepie-2 · 1/10 · 5 July 2003]

The first time I ever heard about this film existing was in the movie "It came from Hollywood" where they were just presenting snippets of gosh-awful films. In "It came from Hollywood", John Candy has the best line about "playtex-living gloves" as part of this guy's suit.

That should tell you something.

Then came MST 3000 which did this film the only justice it deserved. This is a top 10 list bad film where MST 3000 made it a "10" into one of the most absolutely funniest send-ups ever. There is no way you could get any other enjoyment out of this mess. The year had nothing to do with it. It's just plain bad, but MST 3000 makes it all worth the effort.

Go out and rent the MST 3000 version of this TODAY. You'll laugh your head off!

I kinda space out during this film. It was pretty bad. Yet somewhat good.

[ironhorse_iv · 1/10 · 10 March 2014]

Directed by Eijirō Wakabayashi, this movie was adapted from a tokusatsu superhero series known as Planet Prince. The series was a rip off of another show, call Super Giant AKA Starman. In fact, the title hero whose alter-ego was Waku-san AKA Wally is played by Toshio Mimura whom bore a strong resemblance to Super Giant. Instead of getting the same actor to play the hero in the film, they got Tatsuo Umemiya and got a new costume for him which kinda kill the whole fan base. In the edited US version, he is call Prince of Space and has no superpowers other than the invulnerability of his costume. He uses weapons like a wand-like laser gun that looks like a butane grill lighter and flies a small spaceship that looks a upside down wheel barrier. The company that produce the film, Toei: made two movies that featured this character titled Planet Prince and Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship. For release in America, these two movies were compiled into a TV movie titled Prince of Space. Depending what film, you watch, the incoherent plot is really hard to follows, but it goes something like this, Prince's enemy's Ambassador Phantom of Ginsei AKA Ambassador Dictator Phantom of the Planet Krankor (Joji Oka) is trying to conquer Earth for rocket fuel. The villain travels through space to the planet Earth, so that he can steal a formula for rocket fuel that will allow him to travel through space? This is even hand-waved in the film itself, by a group of journalists who ask the head scientist why such an advanced race needs Earth technology. The scientist's explanation is that their fuel technology lags behind ours, which is just explain anything. If The Phantom Of Krankor could observe the Humans from space, and peek into anywhere in the world, why didn't he just observe the creation of the formula and take notes? This movie makes you have a headache if you think too hard of the plot. Anyways, with his chicken-like alien henchmen, he kidnap the world leading rocket scientists to force the world's leader to give up their world to him. I'm sorry, but I can't take this villain serious even with the cartoony evil laugh. I can tell he is avoiding undergarments, because most of the film has him running around with his 'junk' visually showing through his sweat suit costume. Krankor sounds like crank whore in this film. He does look like one with drooping football pads under his tights looking like he's going to suck some Planet Prince's penis. The Phantom of Planet Krankor looks like Penguin from Batman mixed with Wario from the Mario Brother Video Games. He's so clumsy, and mismanage, that the whole alien invasion plot is so subverted. He also use the same weapons, time after time again on Prince of Space even after Prince of Space mention his weapons are useless. Even the bare fist fight scenes are laughable. Prince of Space can't really get hurt in the US version so there is little to no suspense. Having the hero have immortality doesn't make good story telling, as the hero is never put into any real danger. I know this was a translation error in the English dub. Prince of Space imply in the US version that he is invulnerable to all the weapons. In the Japanese version, this line simply had him implying that their weapons were useless because he was capable of dodging them. The English line leads to confusion as the Prince is constantly shown running away from the lasers that he is supposed to be invulnerable to. To add to the insult, there are plenty of scenes that are never explain Prince of Space is able to survive near disasters like Prince's ship getting shot down, and only to come back, a few minutes later in the film with the same ship not scratch. The model ships are so Ed Wood like, as it just awful to watch. The scene with his ship fighting a giant Ferengi Shrek on a planet surface is laughable. The whole scene looks like a man in bad make up on a soundstage. Also so the ray gun strips people from their clothing before oblivioning them is a bit off. Reminds me of 1953's Wars of the Worlds which had better special effects than this. You could think 1959 would have better effects than 1953, but no, this movie proves it. The sound effects are some of the most annoying sounds, I ever heard. I just couldn't stand hearing the turkey like Krankor ship leave and enter. My ears were bleeding because of it. Another thing, I found dumb is the fake nationality: Obviously, the movie try to make the Japanese people look American with English names and badly done English dubbing. It's weird to see New England and New Yorker accents in this film as it doesn't match the lips. I know the film was made for kids, but gees I hate the kids in this film. I really do. Small Japanese boys run around giving orders, having access to restricted government property and getting in danger. At less, the second part of the film got a little more serious. Overall: it's one of those movies, 'so bad, it's good'. The movie is a bit rare so it might be hard to find. If you can't find it, just look up Mystery Science Theater 3000K Season 8, Episode 18. Some people can find it, watchable, but most can't. Hints why there wasn't no sequel to this, and the producers went on to make a better show with Mirror Mask. I wonder if the Prince ever went back to his shoe shine job?!

And counting...

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 1/10 · 29 July 2004]

Man, how many times can one say "Your weapons have no effect on me"? LOL. "Prince of Space" is without a doubt one of the cheesiest movies on Earth. But it made a great MSTK3 episode. Probably one of my favorites. The villain has the most horrible make-up. He also has one of the most annoying laughs in movie history. If you hear it, your ears eventually feel like they're going to explode. Prince of Space is so beyond cheese, all of his lines get a laugh that were not intended. And the little kids run every where they go. You begin to wonder where their parents are as well. This is fun to watch though. I just love these old Japenese movies with the bad lip dubbing. I think a lot of people would agree too. Watch the MSTK3 episode, it's a good one. The movie is pretty bad, but it's a good bad that I think you'll have fun with. Remember, the weapons have no effect on the Prince of Space. :D

1/10 for the movie and 10/10 for the MSTK3 version

It's not that bad

[Big Bo · 4/10 · 14 April 2001]

I saw this movie on MST3K. Yes, the fx are weak, but it was 1959. Was Hollywood doing much better? I remember several films with fx equally weak. The dubbing is hilarious but that seems to be a common denominator in dubs. Overall, as a fan of the sci/fi genre I feel this film is not half as bad as all the other viewers claim. I give it 4 out of 10.

Nebulous nonsense

[jamesrupert2014 · 4/10 · 29 April 2018]

"Prince of Space" is an Anglicised condensation of two Japanese tokusatu films ("Planet Prince" and "Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship", both 1959) that were in turn feature length versions of a 1958 kid's television series. The film finds Earth being threatened by Dictator Phantom of the Planet Krankor, a beaked, gloating alien who never misses the opportunity for a sinister laugh, as he flies menacingly above our cities in his flagship (which also seems to be his only ship). Opposing him is the "Prince of Space", an apparently indestructible masked hero in a sub-compact flying saucer. Cheered on by the genre's ubiquitous kids, the Prince of Space retrieves stolen plans, battles Phantom's inept minions including a spongy looking giant with huge ears, and rescues a group of somewhat hapless Earth scientists. The special effects are limited to the two spaceships (Earth's ship never gets off the ground), Phantom's base on Krankor (and the eerie giant that defends it), and some limited pyrotechnics, all of which are pretty underwhelming. Silly fun if you're a fan of this sort of thing but neither as imaginative nor as entertaining as 1961's "Invasion from a Planet" (featuring 'Starman') or 1965's "Invaders from Space" (featuring 'Space Chief'), which have similar aetiologies. For viewers who can't take this kind of silliness straight-up, the film has been riffed on both 'MST3K' and 'Cinema Insomnia'.

This movie? I LIKE IT VERY MUCH!

[Big_Mike549 · 10/10 · 22 June 2003]

Let us see...None of the aliens seem to be wearing any underwear. All Prince of Space does is say how none of Krankor's weapons work on him, and all Krankor does is laugh. HA HA HA HA HA. And then we have those three kids with dubbed annoyingly. Well, not so annoying because I laughed my face off when this film or whatever you want to call it was featured on MST3K. It would be relitevly unknown if it wasn't for Mikey and the Bots.

But really, is this a film? Is it entertainment? Hell yeah! But I'm not sure if it is a film. Acctually, I heard it was two episodes from a Japanese show that was cancelled to low ratings or something, and later edited into a movie for America. Who knows?

I'm confused if I should give this movie a 10 or a 1. The MST3K version deserves a 10 but on its own this "movie" deserves crap. But I gave it a 10 since I'm such a nice guy.

Man. So horrible, it's worth the watch.

[DJEDI296-1 · 6/10 · 27 July 2005]

I saw this on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I've never laughed so hard in my life, and that's no exaggeration. This is 110% cheese, at it's very best. The overdubbing of English voices is hilarious. Everything about this movie is ridiculous, from the cheesy makeup, to the cheesy laughs, to the same lines used over....and over....and over. And I thought my eardrums were going to bleed after hearing that horrible 'spaceship' sound effect used nearly 1000 times throughout the film. This movie is so bad, it's hilarious. I was able to catch this on MST3K, and they do a wonderful job of just ripping it a new one. The children in this movie are so...so robotic. Horribly amusing. Or maybe just amusingly horrible. You be the judge.

Give it a watch.

Translation: Sucky Japanese movie

[Sterno-2 · 1/10 · 20 October 1999]

My wife HATES Japanese movies, and hates them with a passion. God bless her, because I've forced her to watch every Godzilla, Gamera, and cheesy space pic Japan has ever produced. This movie is the one that crystallized my wife's hatred of Japanese cinema.

The San Diego chicken stars as bad alien Krankor, who is attempting to steal a rocket fuel formula recently developed by Japan. Krankor is thwarted in his attempts by a common shoe-shine boy called "Prince of Space". Things must have been tough in Japan after the war when you can only afford to make shoe-shine boys heroes. Plus, throw in your usual assortment of ten year old boys with top security clearances, and you have a monster of a bad movie.

Prince of Space is dressed rather fey, and his gallantry while fighting Krankor is decent. Considering how badly Krankor's hostages wet their pants during the PoS-Krankor non-fight scene, I say PoS could've ruled Japan by week's end.

The Prince of Space only says, "Your weapons are useless against me!" 469 times. My wife says that line in her sleep when she is under stress. It must be helpful; I don't know.

Sterno says shoot Yusei oji into orbit.

Prince of So-Bad-They're-Good Movies

[divaclv · 14 March 2003]

Thoughts and comments on "Prince of Space":

~This movie tends to put me in mind of the "Sailor Moon" series. Both feature heros in silly costumes fighting villians in even sillier costumes, cheesy dialogue, half-baked schemes for world domination, and some very unconvincing secret identities. The difference is that "Sailor Moon" a) is in easier to take half-hour instalments, b) has better dubbing and c) has the additional attraction of pondering just how the heroine gets her hair to do that pom-pom thing. All we can ponder in "Prince of Space" is the aliens' lack of dance belt technology, the less said of which the better.

~Regarding those aliens, the beak-nosed men of the planet Krankor. A scientist-type fellow tells us they've come to Earth because they want a new rocket fuel he (the scientist) has developed. A reporter points out, rather logically, that the Krankorites (Krankorians? Krankish?) have already developed deep-space travel; why do they need our technology? The scientist helpfully explains that the Krankian fuel industry is well behind our own. How they manage space travel at all with second-rate fuel is anyone's guess.

~Then again, the Krankor mothership makes about four round trips to Earth in the course of the film. Maybe if they conserved gas, they wouldn't need our help.

~Both the Prince of Space (our, he-hem, "hero") and Phantom of Krankor (the leader of the aliens) seem to be wearing one of those vinyl capes you can get at Wal-Mart for five bucks. Both men also seem to be competing for the title of the World's Dumbest Laugh. Krankor's "Penguin from the old Batman series with asthma" imitation probably wins, but PoS's "I'm saying 'ha, ha, ha!' because that's exactly what's written in the script" is a noble effort.

~Speaking of voices, someone in the dubbing studio wasn't paying attention to pronunciation. The main scientist's name is pronounced at various times Makken, Macon, Marken, and Mackie.

~Much has been made of PoS' constant reminders to the Krankies that their weapons won't work against him. What gets me, though, is the point at which the Prince declares, "Your weapons are useless, let's try bare hands now!" Since the Kranks are perfectly happy firing their ineffective weapons, why challenge them to a fistfight? Not that it matters, as their melee skills are just as bad as their range weaponry.

~One of the kidnapped scientists bears a remarkable resemblance to Arthur Sullivan, except in one scene where the spirit gum has clearly worn off on one of his sideburns.

I realize that I have now, of course, put far more thought into "Prince of Space" than anybody in the cast or crew ever did. I know; it worries me too.

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Space

[zmaturin · 1/10 · 13 December 2002]

If you enjoy getting nine inch nails getting driven into your eyes you may enjoy this tale about The Phantom of Krankor, a lumpy chicken-like man who displays his drooping gentitals in his tight space-suit and is intent on conquering Earth despite his lack of any skills or world-dominating tools. His attempts to steal a formula of some sort are thwarted by gravely-voiced kids ("We Like It Very Much!") and their champion, Prince of Space, a hopping, effeminent guy with no powers other than being impervious to he Phantom of Krankor's weapons. This doesn't keep The Phantom from repeatedly shooting at The Prince, and The Prince from repeatedly telling The Phantom that his weapons don't work. This goes on for nearly five hours.

YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! Who does this movie appeal to? Chicken-fetishists? Japan-haters? Drooping-genital-enthuisiests?

If you need me, I'll be soaking in the tub.

A hero to cowards everywhere

[NateW · 1/10 · 10 December 1999]

Poor Japan. When they're not having their country destroyed by Godzilla or one of his numerous enemies, they have to deal with the idiotic nerve wrecking cackle of the idiotic Phantom of Krankor(or is it Krank-whore?)and his equally stupid minions who threaten to cause major havoc if their demands aren't met.

But, Japan is lucky this time around, for you see Krankor is neither dangerous nor intimidating, and he appears to be the sort of guy who, um, favors the company of men if you get my drift.

Nevertheless, the weakling Japs take this chicken look alike fop seriously and seem to be at his mercy. But, just when things look helpless, an almost as ridiculous looking superhero comes to the rescue of the sniveling bed wetting people of Japan. This mystery man simply refers to himself as Prince of Space(he spends most of his time on Earth however, but what the hell?)

Anyway, Krankor and his companions, er I mean troops, fight the strange hero in several humiliatingly unseccessful attempts to capture him. All along the way Prince of Space shoots back with his famous "Your weapons are useless against me!" line no less than 50 times. But do the bad guys learn? Nah, they're too stupid to remember a line repeated every 10 seconds, and they try over and over but just can't seem to get it through their heads that maybe their weapons really don't work afterall.

The fighting continues, Krankor continues to terrorize the cowardly people of Japan with his rather annoying laugh, and eventually Krankor is defeated and Japan and all of Earth is safe from this race of foolish, rather fey group of half human half chickens forever by none other than Prince of Space, but by that time you won't care and will probably be asleep if you have any sense.

If you didn't get my point by reading the above comment, this movie really sucks. I couldn't possibly describe how terrible it truely is. It's one of those movies that dares you to take it seriously, which you won't. If you ever get a chance to watch the MST3K version, do so. It's simply hysterical, and they do a better job of ripping it apart than I could.

Invulnerability: How?

[kilgore2345 · 2/10 · 9 August 2005]

Prince of Space, not much need to summarize the plot, since many people do a nice enough job of it.

There is a major dysfunction of this film that really bothers me. That dysfunction that is like a hair in my mouth is Prince's invulnerability to the same laser guns that fry other human beings. Never in this film is his ability to do this explained. We are led to believe that he is a simple man, which gets by on simple means. Yet, somehow he is a brilliant scientist with an extensive budget, the Japanese equivalent of mixing Alfred and Bruce Wayne together. No where in this film is any of this explain. I suppose the audience is to assume that an explanation or a background story to Prince's genius and development of the laser proof costume and spaceship would only drag this film out.

Direction is very poor; dubbing very poor, English translation of script is flat and typical for this type of movie. All in all, the film is fun just for the fact that it is poorly made.

a lot of fun, even without the Mystery Science Theater (though it helps)

[Quinoa1984 · 5/10 · 30 November 2007]

Prince of Space is made by a filmmaker I've never heard of with a cast that I'll probably never see in any other movie. As one of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys comments "it's one of Godzilla's days off." But for what it's worth, Prince of Space is a lot of fun, in the most undeniably cheesy way possible, like cheese-balls or cheese-whiz out of can with Mr. Sparkle on the cover. It's about aliens landing on Earth, taking some scientists, and plotting destruction- but Prince of Space, in an outfit designed by a blind leper, will come to the rescue! Granted, this is, in all intents and purposes from its home planet, or country, a kids movie. The kids are obviously the heroes for the little ones watching it, or would've watched it back in the 50s. It features space-ships made out of plastic spoons, blaster guns that showcasing the finest of Japanese special effects of the period (sorry for the sarcasm, it's deserved), and has an unlikely cheery ending.

The recommendation I would give- in a sort of classic bad-B-movie way, comes also by way of it being available through MSTK3. It's a little like a trade-off with a movie like this, which is pleasant. Instead of the only pleasure being derived by the wisecracks, puns, pop-culture references, brief sing-along, and the occasional "when will this movie frigging end" looks on a movie that is bad in an irredeemable way ala Monster-a-go-go, this has the laughs coming at both sides. You might laugh at the stupid noses of the aliens, or Prince of Space's costume itself, or at some random, stupid line "you're weapons cannot defeat me!", or at the commentary track. It makes for a fun viewing, even if the movie in and of itself has no artistic reason for being aside from a cheap cash-in on sci-fi flicks for kids. It's like eating a box of extra sugary cereal from a company that's about to go bankrupt- and with Tom Servo, Crow and Mike Nelson at the helm on the sidelines!

Not as bad as MSTK3000 would make you think.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 17 February 2019]

Some time ago, "Prince of Space" was on IMDB's infamous Bottom 100 list. It left the list when IMDB recently changed the minimum number of votes needed to make the list. Its ever being on the list is a bit odd, as other Japanese films aren't on the list and there certainly are worse Japanese movies...though this is hardly a glowing endorsement. So how did it get on the list? Most likely it was there because it was featured on "MSTK3000"...and when the mininum number of notes needed for inclusion, several other "MSTK3000" entries (such as "The Girl in the Gold Boots") dropped off the list as well.

The film was originally part of a kid's series...sort of like an old-time movie serial. It was pieced together and dubbed into English as a feature film.

The story begins with an intergalactic jerk arriving on Earth and doing nasty things...and he'll continue until everyone surrenders. And, since Earth weapons seem powerless against these invaders, everyone seems screwed...until The Prince of Space shows up to fight the evil Phantom! Can this do-gooder manage to thwart this invasion?

As I mentioned above, this really wasn't intended as a full-length film for adults but kids. It also is badly dubbed and hacked into pieces...which only makes it more unwatchable. But it also features ridiculous baddies with dopey noses and the usual annoying 1950s-60s annoying Japanese cliche...the kids who manage to communicate with a monster or flying space man...thus saving the planet. It's NOT a good film...no doubt about that. But Bottom 100 bad, certainly not.

Prince of Space is the hero we deserve!

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 13 May 2016]

This film is actually a serial in Japan and was later pieced together to form a movie here in America; however, it is not like an entire series like Time of Apes or Mighty Jack or Fugitive Alien as it only consisted of two one hour episodes. So while those other ones I mentioned can get confusing because they literally jump from one random plot point to another, this one is a bit more coherent. I saw this 'film' as it was featured on the cult hit show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. I am pretty sure that is how a good many people saw it the first time. Granted, these days a film like this can also usually be found in those sets of public domain films too. I would rather watch it with the riffing though. This one is better than another film they did featuring a space prolific hero called Invasion of the Neptune Men featuring Space Chief! Unfortunately, Space Chief's enemies made the ones in this film seem a lot better because at least they had some personality! The ones in that film never uttered a word other than a recording. Here we have the super chicken of Crankor and they want to take over the world!

The story, a family eats and discusses the awesome skill of boot blacking, when on the television comes a warning! A race of aliens is about to invade the earth and their technology is way beyond ours! They land and immediately begin to disintegrate all those who oppose them...everyone that is except for Prince Of Space! The enemies should have just left as time and time again, the Prince announces that the aliens' weapons cannot hurt him and they do not! Then again, if they had simply gone home there would not be all that much movie, which may have been a good thing as Phantom of Crankor laughs manically declaring that he has won only to get shown up by Prince of Space time after time! They fly to earth, fly back to their planet only to immediately fly back to earth again. They put a lot of unnecessary mileage on their flying roasted chicken ship!

This made for a very funny episode of MST3K. The riffs on the actual film were good as were the bumps. I just started watching the show when it began airing on SyFy as I did not have Comedy Central and so this was the first Japanese film I saw them riff. I was so delighted when I found they did a couple of Godzilla films! Sadly, though I got the Megalon episode, the one featuring the Sea Monster may never come on one of their volumes. This one though was one of the funnier Japanese films they did thanks to Phantom and that laugh of his. The dubbing is great too, "You Scum!"

So, not a good film by any means, but it was not too terribly bad. At least this one featured a somewhat decent plot. There is a lot of things that kind of are not explained like just how come Prince of Space is apparently immune to the enemies' ray guns, and I am guessing that it probably was not explained even when you add the 30 minutes they clipped out to make a film. Guess you are just supposed to accept it. Lot's of crazy stuff though as I do not know of too many films so devoid of underwear and that feature strange giants that burp fire!

Not as good as the Starman movies, but still entertaining.

[McFrogg · 5/10 · 20 May 2017]

With a title like "Prince of Space" you know it's not going to be Gone With The Wind or The Treasure of Sierra Madre.

The special effects are terrible, the writing (at least in the American dub) is laughable and the villains look hilarious with their fake noses. Phantom of Krankor is probably the worst and most ineffective movie villain ever. You almost feel sorry for him. Prince of Space tells him maybe five or six times that his weapons have no effect on him, but Phantom just won't listen. We never feel like Prince of Space (or the planet) is in any real danger.

For some reason, the krankorians look like birds. And the Krankorians' space ship looks exactly like a fried chicken. One of the funniest parts is at the beginning, where the children first see the spaceship on TV, and one of them says something like: "is it a commercial?" And the other one replies: "it can't be a toy commercial, because that looks like a real spaceship!" Ha...ha...ha...ha...!

The krankorians also have a seriously frightening monster that guards their HQ. It looks like a giant pig mixed with a bat and breathes fire. I wonder how many kids were traumatized by that scene. The scariest thing is that the villains forgot to wear underpants.

It's not a very good movie, but I have to admit that I kind of liked it. It's a fun movie to watch on a Saturday night. And to be honest, I would rather watch this three times in a row than any of the new Transformers movies.

Top rating for purely emotional reasons

[bjdeming · 10/10 · 16 October 2018]

I enjoyed some of the MST3K riffs on "Prince of Space," but found that I actually liked the movie for two emotional reasons:

1. SPOILER: The hero is a single dad. That's very cool. 2. I saw "Grave of the Fireflies," and now I want *every* Japanese child of that era to have a Prince of Space like this one.

Delightlfully silly space invasion movie

[a-twetman · 6/10 · 24 February 2013]

What we have here, is an old Japanese movie about alien invaders, that has been (poorly) dubbed to English. This is an excellent premise for a so-bad-it's-funny movie, which indeed turned out to be the case.

Prince of Space is a delightfully silly film about men in tight cloths (seemingly without underwear) and silly hats who land on earth with the purpose of obtaining some space ship fuel that we have on earth. The slightly less silly looking Prince of Space comes to our aid, skipping joyfully into battle.

The plot is rather simplistic and boring at times, especially when it just concerns the people of earth (a bunch of Japanese with very American sounding names like Walley and Mickey). However, as soon as the Evil Phantom of Krankor and the Prince face off, it immediately becomes hilarious. The Phantom laughs like a cartoon villain, while the prince proclaims that the phantoms weapons can not harm him, poorly choreographed fight ensues, repeat.

Look !! We're landing on Captain Picard's head !!

[CelluloidRehab · 3/10 · 26 September 2005]

As you can probably already tell, I saw this movie in the MST3k form. I don't think it is possible to watch this movie otherwise.

A crazed race of warmongering giant chickens (or men in chicken suits), from the planet Krankor come to Earth to conquer us. There is also some plot about stealing a new super fuel that we developed, that would help them conquer the universe. There is only one man who can stop this invasion force : The Prince of Space !! Yes, the Prince of Space, secretly disguised as a shoe-shine boy with two orphans fights the evil chicken-men from Krankor, who's weapons have no effect on him.

The plot loopholes develop early in the movie and are actually brought up in the script. Professor Mankin (creator of the super-fuel) is asked by a reporter : "Why would the Krankornians (???) need our fuel when they possess an obviously superior technology ??" Well, lets just the the Professor's "answer" is quite ridiculous. Unfortunately that can be said of the entire logic and science of the movie, not to mention the sets, costumes, ships and especially of the large giant Ferenghi who patrols the surface of Krankor in a studded belt and collar combination breathing fire and smoke on trespassers.

The movie is a combination of numerous encounters between the Prince of Space and the chicken-men of Krankor. They all end the same way. The Prince of Space, in his white tights, hooded shawl, white booties and mask, decimates the Krankornians with either a barbecue lighter or one half of a rabbit ear antenna. What makes these encounters even more ridiculous is that from the very first one, the Prince of Space warns them that their weapons have no effect on him. Needless to say, this never stops the Krankornians from shooting first.

The Krankornian's problem stems (I think) from their leader. The despot of Krankor is a slightly overweight chicken-man with ballet tutu's around his biceps and waist, knee-pads under his tights and an incredible sense of humor. He laughs constantly and at the most inopportune moments, but it is quite infectious. These are all his good qualities. His failure comes from his inability to clean our his ears or believe the Prince of Space when he says that "his weapons will have no effect on him."

This movie is truly bad. Without MST3k, this movie could become as bad as Orgy of the Dead. Nothing in this movie works. It even fails as a crappy sci-fi movie. The Outer Limits, along with hidden gems like Magnetic Monster, prove you could make crappy sci-fi that is good. This movie, with the horrible science, special effects, costumes, models (ships, cities,etc) and Manos-like scenes (scenes that are long lasting and go nowhere), combine into shotgun target practice. With MST3k the pain becomes communal and quite funny at times. I highly recommend this movie as a late-night laugher or when you are heavily doped up on cough medicine.