Here’s another film taken from the library of Mystery Science Theater 3000. A Japanese import that reeks of television production values, cheesy dubbing and a story that makes little sense, Prince of Space isn’t quite a so-bad-it’s-good flick but it does reach the level of so-bad-it’s-funny-so-I-don’t-mind.A group of alien meanies, who for some reason look like human-bird hybrids, plot an invasion of Earth. To their dismay, a mysterious hero known as Prince of Space appears and thwarts their evil intentions. He has a perfect alter ego as a benevolent shoe repairman and wins over the affections of many in and out of costume. The malicious and amusingly-named Ambassador Dictator Phantom will not rest until he is able to steal a new rocket fuel developed by Earth scientists and does all kinds of dastardly things to lure out and capture Prince of Space once and for all. Kidnappings, surprise attacks and sabotage lie in our heroes path.
Is this film lousy? Sure it is. Is it worth dumping on? Maybe, depending on your outlook on life. Right now I’m in a good mood. It’s clear from the start that Prince of Space is a piece of Japanese escapist fluff cinema. It succeeds in keeping the mood light but it fails in just about everything else. Then again, what more should we expect from a film that was assembled from two shorter films featuring the titular Prince?
Any time you dub a film you open yourself up to translation and dub actor issues. This is why I normally try to watch a foreign film in its original language. Sure, it may be an exhaustive process at times to read the dialogue but a good foreign film will grip you so that you either barely even read the words anyway or don’t even notice when you give them a peek. This is not the case here. The attempt to match up to the real actor’s lips and duration of speech either don’t go far enough or results in needless dialogue that sounds silly. Rarely do you get a happy medium.
Logical flaws also abound (then again, what campy 50s movie wasn’t full of them?). For instance, our hero, the Prince, constantly taunts Phantom and his lackeys with the fact that their weapons cannot harm him. If this really is the case, then it makes no sense for the conflict to labor on as long as it does. The Prince can just walk right up to them and snuff them out. Nor does it make any sense for the Prince to constantly dodge their laser blasts if he is, in fact, impervious to them.
That’s really all you need to know about this film. It is silly, not very good at all, and boasts only the scantest amount of actual story potential. But at least it’s funny in its awfulness. That alone makes up for sitting through over 90 minutes of imported stinky cheese. If only more bad American movies could be this funny the world might be a happier place.
Is this film lousy? Sure it is. Is it worth dumping on? Maybe, depending on your outlook on life. Right now I’m in a good mood. It’s clear from the start that Prince of Space is a piece of Japanese escapist fluff cinema. It succeeds in keeping the mood light but it fails in just about everything else. Then again, what more should we expect from a film that was assembled from two shorter films featuring the titular Prince?
Any time you dub a film you open yourself up to translation and dub actor issues. This is why I normally try to watch a foreign film in its original language. Sure, it may be an exhaustive process at times to read the dialogue but a good foreign film will grip you so that you either barely even read the words anyway or don’t even notice when you give them a peek. This is not the case here. The attempt to match up to the real actor’s lips and duration of speech either don’t go far enough or results in needless dialogue that sounds silly. Rarely do you get a happy medium.
Logical flaws also abound (then again, what campy 50s movie wasn’t full of them?). For instance, our hero, the Prince, constantly taunts Phantom and his lackeys with the fact that their weapons cannot harm him. If this really is the case, then it makes no sense for the conflict to labor on as long as it does. The Prince can just walk right up to them and snuff them out. Nor does it make any sense for the Prince to constantly dodge their laser blasts if he is, in fact, impervious to them.
That’s really all you need to know about this film. It is silly, not very good at all, and boasts only the scantest amount of actual story potential. But at least it’s funny in its awfulness. That alone makes up for sitting through over 90 minutes of imported stinky cheese. If only more bad American movies could be this funny the world might be a happier place.
RATING: 1 out of 5
