The Golden Bat (1966)

A teenage boy Akira who is a keen amateur astronomer finds out that planet Icarus has deviated from it’s normal orbit and is heading for a collision course with the Earth by looking through his telescope. Scientists though don’t believe him. One day he is kidnapped by men in black and taken to a secret institute called The Pearl Research where the people there do believe his story. Founded by a foreigner named Dr Pearl, the institute has built a powerful weapon (Super Destruction Beam Cannon) with the power of 1000 H-bombs that can destroy Icarus before it hits the Earth but they have one vital component missing – a special mineral for the lens. This mineral is found on an island in the Pacific. A team from the institute led by Dr Yamatone along with Akira and Dr Pearl’s granddaughter Emily head for the island and discover the lost city of Atlantis in the process. They are suddenly attacked by a gigantic drill shaped ship piloted by an alien named Nazu. He is the one behind the scheme of wanting Icarus to slam into the Earth as he doesn’t want to share the universe with any human beings. He will do anything to stop the Pearl Research team getting their hands on the mineral. But help is at hand for mankind from a hero has been asleep for 10,000 years at Atlantis and is waiting for the right moment to save the Earth and it’s people.

I’m sure the majority out there are aware of Japanese superheroes such as Ultraman, Kamen Rider and the like but I’m certain not a lot know about Golden Bat. Golden Bat was probably Japan’s first superhero and he was created way back in 1930 by writer Ichiro Suzuki and artist Takeo Nagamatsu. There has been several movies to feature him over the years and he even had an anime series in 1967. Don’t make the mistake that because he’s not talked about in the same breath as the other famous Japanese superheroes named above that he might not be so popular because apparently that isn’t the case. So how can I describe this superhero? Facially he looks like The Red Mask from Captain America, he laughs maniacally, he flies, beats up the bad guys with his baton and does a lot of stupid poses……….as superheroes do!!! He’s also got a pet bat which turns into a pendant. Golden Bat gives this to Emily so whenever she’s in trouble she can call him up with this pendant.

This movie which is targeted towards kids is if I’m being honest rather silly and has a ridiculous villain named Nazu. Basically he looks like a rat with 4 eyes (that can shoot lasers), he has a metal claw for one hand and his costume is just some brown velvet curtains. Looks cheap, tacky and rather hilarious. Just for the look alone you can’t really take him seriously enough! He has a band of lackeys following him (a giggling idiot who enjoys torture and is Nazo’s second in command, a female shapeshifter and a werewolf man) plus some faceless goons dressed all in black. Just like the super sentai and tokusatsu shows of today, these faceless goons are the ones that are sacrificed first whenever their master is in trouble. Even though this movie is short at 73 mins, it packs a lot of action with plenty of fights and confrontations. I’m not sure if the director was inspired by those US serials that were broadcasted during the 30’s and 40’s which had a lot of cliffhanger moments but it somehow feels like one of them. The special effects is hit and miss but I was impressed with one scene which shows Nazo’s drill like tower ship bulldozing it’s way from underground to rise up into Tokyo’s skyline making it look rather threatening. Other visual wonders include a flying car (an idea from Gerry Anderson’s early 60’s Super Car series perhaps?) and a flying submarine similar to Atragon. For a kids movie it is surprisingly violent which shows children being choked by the villains and a scene with human hostages being thrown from a tall tower to their deaths. I’m sure this kind of thing wouldn’t have been shown to Western kids at the time!

Viewers will instantly recognize the face of a young Sonny Chiba in this movie. Back in the day before he became a tough bone-breaking action guy in Japanese movies during the 70’s, he starred in several low budget b-movie productions and this was one of them. Those hoping to see the great man kick some ass with his fists will be disappointed though. He hadn’t adopted that persona just yet, that was still to come. His character is relegated to being a bit part player though as it’s the Golden Bat that’s the main man here. I didn’t expect to see a Western actor have a role in this movie but Andrew Hughes performs as the founder of the Pearl Research Institute and has his lines dubbed into Japanese.

OK, so this movie isn’t going to win any awards for anything but I had a great time watching this fun movie with it’s weird crazy plot and a laughing superhero who hurries headlong into attacking his enemies. If you go into watching this movie with the right mind frame you’ll find it hugely entertaining.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 stars out of 5