Don't listen to the negative reviews

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

As an Anglicised compilation of episodes 1 and 2 of the Japanese children's adventure series"Super Giant", "Atomic Rulers of the World" is likely less than the sum of its parts. Despite a promisingly surreal (if cheap-looking) opening on the "Emerald Planet", in which the hero is introduced, the movie quickly degenerates into a repetitious sequence of chases and fights between 'Starman' (as the hero 'Super Giant' is renamed) and some generic foreign gangsters who are trying to take over the world (starting, of course, with Japan). The dubbing and the music in the English version I watched contributes to the impression that this is just a cheaply-made attempt to cash in on the then popular George Reeve Superman serial. The special effects are awful, and other than the aforementioned meeting on the Emerald Planet, consist of little beyond repeated shots of a flying Starman, silly film reversals, and extraordinarily bargain-basement looking sets and miniatures (such as the helicopter). As Starman, Ken Utsui is stuck in a flimsy caped-costume that becomes embarrassingly transparent when wet and includes the legendary stuffed crotch, an embarrassment with which the actor had to contend for the rest of his career. "Atomic Rulers of the World" was the first of four films adapting the "Super Giant" series, and is supposedly the worst, the next three having reputations for the delirious special effects for which most Japanese tokusatsu, no matter how cheaply made, are known. As such, while not much as stand-alone time-waster, the film may serve as an introduction to more entertaining fare.

Although "Atomic Rulers" is pretty bad at times, you cannot completely blame the filmmakers who created this. That's because originally, this consisted of two episodes from a children's TV show--and it was, naturally, in Japanese. Some American folks bought these TV shows, re-edited them and repackaged them as four different movies: EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE, ATOMIC RULERS, INVADERS FROM SPACE, ATTACK FROM SPACE. So, while in their original form this might have been a decent kids show when it debuted in the late 1950s, here in a different form and with dubbing, it loses something. Also, interestingly, in the original form the hero was not known as 'Starman' but 'Supergiant'.The film begins like the rest in this series. You get a look at the Emerald World--with its very goofy residents. Again, however, for a kids' show of the time, it wasn't as bad seeing these bizarre costumes. Anyway, these weirdos are worried that the nuclear radiation from Earth could somehow make it across the galaxy to infect their planet! While this sounds ridiculous, understand that Japan had, only a little over a decade earlier, been nuked. So, the proliferation of shows like this and the Godzilla movies make a bit more sense.In this installment of the series, the evil Magolians are planning on taking over the world thanks to their many secret agents and nuclear weapons. And, considering that Starman is definitely against nuclear proliferation, he's out to stop them. Seeing him in his adorable superhero outfit is a bit funny as he really looks a lot like Duck Dodgers of the 25th and a half century! And, being totally geared towards kids, you can understand the annoying cliché of adding a group of adorable orphans into the mix. It's full of silly children's helicopters, guns that fire in a bizarre manner and baddies who seem pretty lame. It's all pretty predictable kid's fare. Yet, oddly, in a kitschy manner, it's pretty fun to watch...and laugh. Not good but not 100% terrible.By the way, I was a bit confused, as two other films (PRINCE OF SPACE and INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN) are nearly identical and yet are NOT part of the Starman series. Confusing...and also very silly when seen today.

"The Earth is threatened with atomic destruction if the people of Mirapolia (sic) are not allowed to rule the planet. Observers from a distant planet, fat off in space, have been observing Earth and see the peril it's (sic) facing. Hoping to offer aid to the citizens of Earth, the benevolent aliens send their champion Starman to face off against the leaders of Mirapolia (it's correctly spelled Merapolia) and take care of their atomic weapons," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Ken Utsui (as Sûpâ Jaiantsu, or Super Giant) must save the Earth from nuclear peril. This is the American (English edited and dubbed) version of the Japanese super-hero's earliest movies, Sûpâ jaiantsu (1957) and Zoku sûpâ jaiantsu (1957). Herein, Mr. Utsui is Starman of "The Emerald Planet". Considering the material, this is a sometimes surprisingly well-directed, by Teruo Ishii, piece of super-nonsense; the location scenes are most enjoyable. Otherwise, it's, at best, unintentionally funny.Watch for the scene where Utsui goes to a church with some children, and meets a nun. She gives him a smile that shows she's attracted to him; then, the young nun looks down at Utsui's groin area, where he has positioned his gun. Oh, sister! *** Atomic Rulers (1964) Teruo Ishii ~ Ken Utsui, Utako Mitsuya, Junko Ikeuchi

Ah, Starman. Clearly influenced by the b/w "Adventures of Superman"series, and possibly the Republic serial "The Adventures of CaptainMarvel," these flicks are good, old-fashioned fun. The only bummer isthat this first installment is very, very dull and doesn't feature theloony aliens that would make the later entries so memorable. Instead ourhero goes up against guys in suits and fedoras.You can afford to miss this one, but don't miss "Evil Brain From OuterSpace" and the ultra-surreal "Invaders From Space," which featuresStarman thwarting the salamander-men of the planet Pulimon (you will notbelieve their modern dance troupe of doom). And the DVDs are loaded withextra goodies, including episodes of the long-forgotten b/w Japanesecartoon "Prince Planet" which is a hell of a lot more fun than Iremembered