VOYAGE INTO SPACE (1970)
Label: Scorpion Releasing
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 98 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullcreen (1.33:1)
Director: Minoru Yamada
Cast: Mitsunobu Kaneko, Akio Ito, Bobbie Byers
Voyage Into Space (197) is a compilation made-for-TV movie assembled from the 26-episode TV series Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (known as Giant Robo in Japan) that takes five of those episodes and edited them down to a feature-length movie. In it an alien terrorist group the Gargoyle Gang led by Emperor Guillotine (who looks like a Power Rangers version of Cthulhu) have invaded Earth and created giant-sized creatures and robots to conquer the Earth. A secret peacekeeping organization called Unicorn have operatives around the world dedicated to defending the Earth against the alien invaders, and one such agent Jerry (Jūrō Minami) ends up shipwrecked on a remote island with a young boy named Johnny Sooko (Mitsunobu Kaneko) after a giant kaiji sea creature called Dakolar attacks the ship their travelling on. Both are captured by the Gargoyle gang who have a secret base on the island, they manage to escape and flee through the subterranean complex until they happen upon a 100-foot tall atomic-powered robot, where a kidnapped scientist gives Johnny the controller for the robot, which he can now control via voice commands using a wristwatch control device. In what might be every young kids fantasy Johnny is made into a Unicorn agent in the aftermath and joins Jerry in protecting the world from the alien menace and their Kaiju-sized creations with his newly acquired Giant Robo!
Voyage Into Space (197) is a compilation made-for-TV movie assembled from the 26-episode TV series Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot (known as Giant Robo in Japan) that takes five of those episodes and edited them down to a feature-length movie. In it an alien terrorist group the Gargoyle Gang led by Emperor Guillotine (who looks like a Power Rangers version of Cthulhu) have invaded Earth and created giant-sized creatures and robots to conquer the Earth. A secret peacekeeping organization called Unicorn have operatives around the world dedicated to defending the Earth against the alien invaders, and one such agent Jerry (Jūrō Minami) ends up shipwrecked on a remote island with a young boy named Johnny Sooko (Mitsunobu Kaneko) after a giant kaiji sea creature called Dakolar attacks the ship their travelling on. Both are captured by the Gargoyle gang who have a secret base on the island, they manage to escape and flee through the subterranean complex until they happen upon a 100-foot tall atomic-powered robot, where a kidnapped scientist gives Johnny the controller for the robot, which he can now control via voice commands using a wristwatch control device. In what might be every young kids fantasy Johnny is made into a Unicorn agent in the aftermath and joins Jerry in protecting the world from the alien menace and their Kaiju-sized creations with his newly acquired Giant Robo!
For a made-for-TV assembled from episodes of a TV show the film hangs together pretty well, the Kaiju action is pretty great even if the creatures don't look as polished as other similar stuff that I've seen from this era. There's some fun use of miniature and models jets, tanks and UFO's flying around on visible wires. I loved the scenes of young Johnny with a rocket-pack flying alongside the Giant Robo, which shoots fire from it's mouth, emits laser beams from it's eyes and fires missiles from it's fingers - it's pretty cool stuff and if I'd had seen it as a kid in the 70s I would have been hooked. If you love the idea of a giant 100-foot tall robot controlled by a kid yelling commands ("Giant Robot, Destroy That Thing!") into his wrist watch while kicking the ass of giant-sized kaiju monsters I know you're gonna dig on this 70's a-boy-and-his-giant-robot adventure hard, especially if you're dig stuff like Ultraman, Iron Giant and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.
Audio/Video: Voyage Into Space (1970) arrives ion Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing in 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1). The full frame image is pretty grainy looking, which makes me wonder if this was shot on 16mm. Overall this is a fairly pleasing , and while fine detail is a bit fuzzy and there's rampant print damage by way of speckling, tears and scratches, the image is well textured and primary colors look fantastic and are well-saturated. Audio comes by way of dubbed-English DTS-HD MA 2,o dual-mono with optional English subtitles. There's some noise and audio pops throughout, it's not the cleanest but it does the job, sounding appropriately boxy with it's vintage sound effects, which I loved. The dubbing is pretty decent, not so much in matching lip movement but in the wonderful array of verbal nuggets that are espoused. Unfortunately we do not get any extras for this one, with the single-disc release arriving in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Scorpion Releasing Trailers: The Time Travelers, Donovan's Brain, Dogs, Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes, Day of the Animals
Screenshots from the Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray:
