Let’s Watch, Retro Edition: Prince of Space (1965)
Oh, here we go off to Beaver Falls, Beaver Falls, Beaver Falls.
This Week’s Film:
What They Say This Movie Is About:
When an alien force tries to invade Earth to steal a powerful new rocket fuel, a mysterious hero intervenes.
What This Movie Is Actually About:
Two films based on a 1950’s Japanese superhero TV series are handled by an editor with a pair of scissors and a serious cocaine problem, mashed together into one film about a bad guy who just can’t quit trying to invade Earth.
Why This Movie Is Actually Good:
If you’re looking for bad 50’s sci-fi with bad guys who don’t seem to wear underwear beneath their suits, then sure! This movie is “good” in the respect of having those things. Amazingly, two episodes and a prologue of the original TV series are available for viewing on Archive.org, if you want to see what this film was actually based on:
In any case, “Prince of Space” is an infamous episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, so we watched that film. And you too can watch it now on Tubi!
Plot Points by Point, With The Gang:
Our movie starts at a seemingly normal house in seemingly normal Japan. A pair of orphaned kids are under the care of Wally, a seemingly normal guy. The Japanese equivalent of NASA is here, along with a college professor and his young son, talking about rocket fuel. Apparently the ol’ professor (let’s call him Professor Papa) invented a new rocket fuel that’ll advance Earth’s space-faring technology.
This seemingly normal evening is interrupted by some aliens called the Krankors hijacking the TV. Led by some dude with a huge hook nose named Phantom, they’re going to invade Earth tomorrow.
The very next day, at a press conference no one asked for, Professor Papa claims the aliens are here for his precious secret rocket fuel formula. The press, in a rare moment of accountability, use critical thinking to point out that the Krankors, by way of their invasion, are already more advanced than we are. Professor Papa doubles down like a politician and presumes the Krankors are here to make their ships extra powerful with his secret rocket fuel formula.
Later that day, Phantom and the Krankors decide to land in Japan, specifically in the Japanese city of … Beaver Falls.
As some government agents arrive to investigate, they’re laser blasted out of existence by the Krankor. For some reason, one of Wally’s kids (Mickey) is here, along with his friend (Johnny), who’s the son of Professor Papa.
They’re watching all of this action from a distance. Another ship lands, but it’s our hero, the Prince of Space! He chases the invaders back into … space. The Prince looks suspiciously like Wally.
A couple of days later, the Krankor come back to Earth, having tracked the Prince to a run-down lab. It’s not explained as to why the Prince would be here. Maybe it’s a discarded Apple Airtag. But the Krankorians want to take this lab over as their base of operations on Earth.
For some reason, Wally’s kids are here at the run-down lab watching the Prince fight the Krankors. The Krankors reveal they really are here for Professor Papa’s precious secret rocket fuel formula, and they’re ready to throw down with the Prince.
The Prince declares he’s Earth’s protector, and follows up by running away, jumping on a ledge 30 feet up. The Phantom tracks him down and decides to jump up after him. What makes this part especially great, is that the FX team throws a small Phantom-like doll up alongside the wall.
What follows for the next 1/3 of the film is a series of situations where the Krankors try getting the precious rocket fuel formula, and the Prince stops them with his laser … sword … gun … I’m not sure what this thing is. Looks like a lighter for a grill.
Eventually the Krankors succeed in kidnapping Professor Papa (but not his formula?) and head back to their home planet, where a large giant is just casually chilling on the planet’s surface.
Phantom reveals to Professor Papa that he’s actually kidnapped several papas (father-figure status unknown) and holds a huge conference with them, and he cackles like an absolutely unhinged madlad.
Phantom threatens the professors to go back to Earth and convince everyone with facts and logic to let the Krankors take over, and his persuasive reasoning for this is that he has a camera spying on Professor Papa’s son.
They all refuse, so Phantom tells Earth via hijacked TV broadcast that he’ll blow up every major city in a day’s time if they don’t surrender.
While this is all happening, Phantom’s henchmen successfully figured out that the Prince of Space is Wally, so Wally leaves a note for his son Mickey before he runs away to hide in a graveyard. The Krankors pursue Wally into said graveyard and he transforms into the Prince, just in time to have a big laser explosion karate fight in the graveyard, destroying headstones all over the place. Phantom apparently has enough time to come down here and fire a giant laser at the Prince from the back of a hearse. I thought he was trying to take over the Earth?
Well, in the next scene, Phantom has returned to planet Krankor to hold a conference with the Professors, this time showing the huge giant living outside. There’s no follow-up to this, so I guess he was just showing the giant off. The professors are useless to him so he’s going to eject them across the galaxy in small space capsules. Instead of killing them.
The Prince of Space arrives on Krankor and laser blasts the surface giant right in the face. He invades Phantom’s headquarters to rescue the professors, dodging laser pew-pews and thorium bombs. Phantom actually captures him in a giant upside-down colander and electrocutes the crap out of Prince, but it has no effect.
Phantom runs away, and Prince tells the Professors to hijack Phantom’s ship and head back to the Earth. For some reason, the Krankor base is exploding, there’s smoke everywhere, and there’s a chase scene between the Phantom and the Prince and the Professors and the Phantom’s goons. Eventually, the Prince and Professors escape on two separate ships and head home, and the Krankor base blows up. That’s the end of it!
Should You Watch This Film?
Only if you’re watching it with Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary. This film on its own is an editor’s nightmare with no cohesive story flowing through it, and the English dub soundtrack is predictably awful.
Best Out Of Context Riff Of The Night:
