Arrow Blu-ray Film Review

Warning From Space (1956) • Blu-ray [Arrow Video]

An alien takes the form of a popular female singer to warn the citizens of Tokyo about a deadly meteor headed for Earth.

In the 1950s people thought mankind was on the verge of annihilation. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 offered a glimpse into nuclear armageddon; an attack so apocalyptic it remains the only use of nuclear arms in war.

Japanese cinema was incredibly reactive during the country’s early onset of grief and restoration, with their science fiction stories tackling the oppressive threat of further disasters. Toho achieved global success with Gojira (1954), released as Godzilla: King of the Monsters in the US, an unstoppable titan birthed from nuclear fallout and fuelled by the vengeful spirits of those lost to the bombing (in some canon). Toho is one of the ‘Big Six’ of Japanese cinema, but another company, Daiei, was competing with not only a more progressive message but the country’s first colour sci-fi feature.