Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 8, 2021

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Eureka! Entertainment's Ishirō Honda Double Feature: The H-Man + Battle in Outer Space.

Ishirō Honda lived a long and eventful life that saw him forge a really remarkable career in the Japanese film industry. Though being at least intermittently associated with such legends as Akira Kurosawa, Honda may forever be best remembered for his relationship with another “legend” of sorts: Gojira (note that the link points to a long ago release, because that’s one I personally reviewed). Honda was instrumental in developing what a lot of folks think of as the “modern” kaiju film, having not just helmed the first (and several subsequent) Godzilla outings, but also Rodan and the recently reviewed Mothra. While all of those kaiju entries probably at least flirted with a science fiction ambience, Honda also made films which were inarguably firmly within a sci-fi idiom, including The Mysterians, as well as both of the films Eureka! Entertainment’s Masters of Cinema series has aggregated together here in this release. This collection in fact mirrors the Mill Creek Entertainment The H-Man / Battle in Outer Space release put out for the North American market last year, at least in terms of the content of the features included.

As mentioned above, Battle in Outer Space received a release from Mill Creek Entertainment for the North American market last year, but it was actually an even earlier release by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that Martin Liebman for which provided a full Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray review. Marty's review provides a good plot summary, and also is a resource for screenshot comparisons. The commentary on the Sony disc would seem to be the same one included on this release.

Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Battle in Outer Space is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. While I'm scoring this at the same 3.5 level that Marty did for his review of the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray's video quality, in doing a cursory comparison of screenshots (which obviously has built in risks), to my eyes this presentation looks better, with less of a yellowish tint and improved brightness and clarity. There may be some slight fading on display again, as with The H-Man, but primaries tend to emerge largely intact and things look well suffused most of the time. The film has its fair share of opticals as well as old style composited effects, and so grain can get rather gritty at times, but I noticed no compression issues of any note.

Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Battle in Outer Space features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in Japanese and English. Marty wasn't especially thrilled with the audio presentation on the Sony Blu-ray, but I found the audio here to be very much in line with The H-Man. It's shallow and narrow, to be sure, and some of the effects in the mid- to low range aren't especially reverberant, but overall dialogue, score and effects are presented reasonably well, without any major problems. Optional English subtitles are available.

Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Japanese Version (1080p; 1:30:24) and International English Dubbed Version (1080p; 1:30:23) are offered.


• Audio Commentary by film historian David Kalat is available under the Play Menu for the Original Japanese Version.


• Isolated Music & Effects Track is presented in LPCM 2.0 Mono and is available under the Play Menu for the Original Japanese Version.


• Stills Gallery (HD)

While Eureka! only provided check discs for the purposes of this review, the press sheet accompanying the discs states that this is another nicely packaged release from the label which comes with a collector's booklet featuring essays by Christopher Stewardson and Jasper Sharp.

Battle in Outer Space Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Battle in Outer Space will probably strike younger viewers in particular as potentially silly, especially with regard to its use of miniatures and other now outdated special effects. This is nonetheless going to be of interest for Honda fans in general and those who love The Mysterians in particular. Technical merits are generally solid, and the David Kalat commentary very interesting, for those who are considering a purchase.