‘Idiot! Do you think Nuzo, the ruler of the universe, can lose to the Golden Bat?’
An amateur astronomer finds himself recruited to a secret UN Task Force after he notices anomalies in the orbit of strange new planet Icarus. Before long he is involved in the fight against alien forces, who plan to crash Icraus into the Earth and destroy the human race…
Juvenile Science Fiction hi-jinks from Japan featuring Õgon Bat, arguably the world’s oldest superhero and precursor to Batman. His origin story began even before the invention of moving pictures, as he first appeared as a character in ‘Kamishibai’ travelling shows, where a series of drawings would be accompanied by a storyteller’s narration! Although this type of entertainment eventually declined in popularity after World War II, the character survived and finally made his screen bow in ‘Õgon Bat: Matenro no Kaijin’ (1950) before getting a serious makeover with this project in the mid-1960s.
For a start, we have Sonny Chiba and his team of white-coated eggheads, who come over more as action heroes than serious boffins. Luckily, they have elderly inventor Andrew Hughes to provide some much needed gravitas, although involving his pre-teen granddaughter in proceedings seems a dubious parental decision at best. They all live in a secret HQ inside a Japanese alp and have a range of super vehicles at their disposal that resemble Gerry Anderson creations from TV shows like ’Thunderbirds’ and ‘Stingray.’
It’s fortunate we have these guys as they are the only ones who can stop Planet Icarus when it suddenly swerves onto a collision course with Earth. Their method? Use their ‘Super Destruction Beam Cannon’ (patent pending) of course! Unfortunately, it isn’t quite finished and they’re out looking for the final component when they come across a fragment of Atlantis (as you do!) which has somewhat unexpectedly risen from the sea. It brings with it the mummified remains of the Golden Bat, who returns every ten thousand years or so to help the human race in its hour of greatest need. He’s not looking too chipper until the prof’s granddaughter (sensibly along for the ride on this dangerous mission!) gives him a little drinkie of water. Then he’s raring to go; all death’s head mask, flowing cape and maniacal laugh. He might fly like ‘Turkish Superman’ (1978) (i.e. not in a tremendously convincing way) but he has super strength and is handy in a scrap with that silver baton!
And Earth needs the Golden Bat because Icarus isn’t trying to get friendly with the home world by accident. No, it’s been diverted by Nuzo, the ruler of universe. He’s a rather an odd chap too; looking like nothing so much as a mutant pantomime teddy bear. He also has a detachable metal claw for one hand, although it does looks suspiciously as if it’s made from silver cardboard. He’s out to destroy mankind simply because no-one else in the universe has the right to exist apart from him! Perfectly reasonable. It’s a policy he enforces close to home too; killing everyone who fails him in a stunning exhibition of excellent man-management and motivational skills. Who would want to work for him? Well, his three chief lieutenants are Keloid, Piranha and Jackal. Keloid (Youichi Numada) in particular enjoys his job a tad more than is strictly healthy for his mental wellbeing.
‘Idiots!’
Events move swiftly across the brief 72-minute running time, with the usual ration of last minute escapes, silly dialogue and unconvincing model work. The Prof’s granddaughter summons our superhero via a rubber bat that she wears as a brooch, avoiding a security beam means jumping in the air while the camera performs rapid sweeps so you can’t see what just happened, Icarus takes a chunk out of the moon (I think!), and the Golden Bat just can’t stop laughing. What a good sense of humour he has! Almost unhinged, you might say.
This is all harmless fun for the kiddies market and still holds up today as breezy, undemanding entertainment. Chiba went onto become a martial arts legend after his breakout role as ‘The Street Fighter’ (1974) and Quentin Tarantino was apparently thrilled when the old master accepted the prominent role of Uma Thurman’s teacher in ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1′ (2003). Hughes was a Turkish actor who appeared in many Japanese films in the 1960s and 1970s, including Toho Studio’s ‘Destroy All Monsters’ (1968) and ‘King Kong Escapes’ (1967).
But what of the Golden Bat himself? Well, he appeared in Manga and a 52-episode anime series followed on network television a year after this film. Comedy biopic ‘Õgon Batto ga Yattekuru’ (1972) seems to have been his final appearance on the big screen, however.
‘Where, where, where does he come from, the Golden Bat?’ asks the title song. Only the bats know, apparently…
Mark David Welsh 