The Golden Bat

1966 1h 13m JA

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 18

Science FictionAdventureAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A teenage boy discovers that the planet Icarus is on a collision course with Earth by gazing through his telescope. Scoffed at by the scientific establishment, the boy is kidnapped and brought to a secret UN base in the Japan alps. He is immediately inducted into the secret program whose mission is to finish the Super-Destruction Beam cannon and destroy Icarus. The cannon is missing a special mineral for the lens. The team heads for a mysterious island in the middle of the Pacific. There they find ancient ruins of Atlantis but they are suddenly attacked by a strange drill shaped metal squid spaceship. It's commanded by the evil being Nazu who has engineered the collision with Icarus! He doesn't want to share the universe with humans and he really doesn't want the cannon finished. The action is on and the team discovers the Golden Bat who has been asleep for over 10,000 years awaiting this very moment to save the earth!

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

Shout! Factory Amazon ChannelSubscription

Cast

Sonny Chiba
Dr. Yamatone
Wataru Yamagawa
Akira Kazahaya
Hisako Tsukuba
Naomi Akiyama
Emily Takami
Emily Paird
Osamu Kobayashi
Ogon Bat (voice)
Andrew Hughes
Dr. Pearl
Hirohisa Nakata
Shimizu
Kosaku Okano
Nakamura

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hajime Sato
Writers: Susumu Takaku
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 73-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hajime Sato, shot by Yoshikazu Yamasawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Shunsuke Kikuchi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sonny Chiba and Wataru Yamagawa and Hisako Tsukuba carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0167320 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 18 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hajime Sato directs. Yoshikazu Yamasawa behind the camera. Shunsuke Kikuchi scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 73-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Hajime Sato, shot by Yoshikazu Yamasawa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Shunsuke Kikuchi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Sonny Chiba and Wataru Yamagawa and Hisako Tsukuba carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0167320 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 18 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.