''Atomic Rulers of the World'' (or just ''Atomic Rulers'') is a 1965 film edited together for American television from films #1 and #2 of the 1957 Japanese short film series '' Super Giant''.

Plot

The story involves the superhero Starman (Super Giant in Japan) who is sent by the Emerald Planet to protect Earth from the

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

threatened by the country of Metropol.

Principal cast

Ken Utsui (24 October 1931 – 14 March 2014) was a Japanese actor who worked on stage, film, and television from the 1950s to the 2010s. Career and death Born in Tokyo, Utsui entered the Haiyūza theatre troupe in 1952 and was soon selected to star in ...

as Super Giant a.k.a. Starman *

Reiko Seto Reiko (れいこ,　レイコ,　麗子, 怜子, 伶子, 玲子, 令子, 礼子, 禮子, 冷子) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese women's basketball player *Reiko Aylesworth (born 1972), an Ameri ...

as Reiko Okamoto * Shōji Nakayama as Detective Okamoto * Ryo Iwashita as Masao - Boy with Briefcase * Noriko Katsuma as Yoshiko - Orphan Girl * Yukihiko Ōsawa as Hiroshi - Kidnapped Boy *

Junko Ikeuchi is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Junko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean any of the following: *純子, "pure, child" *順子, "order, child" *淳子, "pure, child" *潤子, "rich/favor/wet, child" ...

as Sister Toshiko - Nun

Production

American adaptation

The 9 ''Super Giant'' films were purchased for distribution to U.S. television and edited into 4 films by Walter Manley Enterprises and Medallion Films. The 2 original Japanese films which went into ''Atomic Rulers of the World'' (''Super Giant'' and ''Super Giant Continues'') were 49 minutes and 53 minutes in duration. The two films were edited into one 83-minute film. The original films were two parts of a complete story, but a total of 19 minutes was cut during the re-editing, dropping elements from both films. Also, most of the original music was scrapped and replaced by library cues. The result was a product considerably different from the Japanese originals.

Release

Home media

''Atomic Rulers of the World'' is currently available on two DVD releases.

Something Weird Video Something Weird Video is an American film distributor company based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation B to Z films, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman and Herschell Gordon Lewis. I ...

with

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

released the film and another Starman film, '' Invaders from Space'' on a single disc on December 10, 2002. Alpha Video also released a budget-priced disc of the film by itself on June 22, 2004.

Sources

* Ragone, August. ''THE ORIGINAL "STARMAN": The Forgotten Supergiant of Steel Who Fought for Peace, Justice and the Japanese Way'' Originally published in ''Planet X Magazine'', included in

's DVD release.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atomic Rulers Of The World 1965 films 1960s science fiction films 1960s Japanese-language films Super Giant films 1960s Japanese films