Warning from Space (1956)

I'll admit I have a soft spot in my heart for this nifty little Japanese movie.  I saw it a few times growing up and it was a cool idea with benevolent aliens out to help humankind endure a runaway planet, very similar to When Worlds Collide and later Gorath.  Good ol' Channel 2 was the station, of course, that showed it.  It's not the most exciting of Japanese sci fi flicks, but like Varan I enjoy it for what it is.  The Paira Seijin are nifty looking, if pretty basic costumes (could be a fun Hallowe'en dressed as one of them.

Apparently it had some influence on Stanley Kubrick, or at least the aliens did.  It's those things that make Japanese movies back then so unique and interesting.

It must have been seen by someone who made Superman (1978) since those rings move just like the ones that send General Zod and his cronies to the Phantom Zone.  It's a great visual, I must say.

The US cut of this movie has fallen into the public domain, and sadly all those prints are washed out and terrible looking.  I finally found one that looks great, has both the English and Japanese language tracks along with subtitles, though it's a pretty straightforward translation.  Gonna ditch the old PD one, that's for sure!