Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Battle In Outer Space Promo

The promise of a battle in outer space was never more assured than in the hands of singular visionary, director Ishiro Honda.

I'm reminded of classic episodes of some of the best in science fiction television. Those that come to mind include classic Battlestar Galactica's Fire In Space, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century's Vegas In Space and Planet Of The Slave Girls, Star Trek: The Original Series' Mudd's Women, The Incredible Hulk's Terror In Times Square or A Child In Need, The Six Million Dollar Man's The Seven Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Boy, The Bionic Woman or Steve Austin, Fugitive, Land Of The Lost's Tar Pit and Stone Soup, and finally Lost In Space, well, there's too many to name beginning with Attack Of The Monster Plants. And no one nailed it better than Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds with titles like Pit Of Peril, Vault Of Death, Trapped In The Sky and City Of Fire.

Once upon a time, those titles were simple, straightforward and didn't lie. Little room was left to interpretation. Today's television often relishes ambiguity, the indefinable, the intentionally vague or the use of rhetorical devices and other colorful language or expressions to capture the intent or theme of a story. Back in the day, not the case, Battle In Outer Space! 'Nuff said. I'm probably exaggerating a touch here about today's television, despite its efforts to be relatively smart and clever. Sometimes the simplest titles make the most sense though.

One of the best visionaries with a clear, concise idea for his films was none other than director Ishiro Honda. Gojira, Rodan, Mothra and Battle In Outer Space. In fact, Toho never overcomplicated matters when it came to genre films whether kaiju eiga or science fiction. The War Of The Gargantuas, The War In Space, Son Of Godzilla, King Kong Escapes and anything in the Godzilla Vs. series. There was never a need to mince words or overcomplicate a good idea.

No comments: