History Film / PrinceOfSpace

* HandCannon[=/=]{{BFG}}: The closest thing Phantom does to learning from past encounters with Prince of Space is to get a bigger, four-barreled gun. Guess how well it works.

* AesopAmnesia: Despite the Prince [[BrokenRecord repeatedly saying]] that the Krakorians weapons are useless against him (and proving it's true), they just keep shooting at him. Even accounting for the AdaptationInducedPlotHole (they aren't useless because he can NoSell them, but because he's so good at dodging them,) you'd think they'd at least try something different eventually.

* AesopAmnesia: Despite the Prince [[BrockenRecord repeatedly saying]] that the Krakorians weapons are useless against him (and proving it's true), they just keep shooting at him. Even accounting for the AdaptationInducedPlotHole (they aren't useless because he can NoSell them, but because he's so good at dodging them,) you'd think they'd at least try something different eventually.

A group of chicken beak-nosed space men from the planet Krankor who refuse to wear underwear underneath their suits are led by their leader, Phantom, to invade Earth. But a superhero named Prince of Space (actually a bootblack in disguise) arrives to defeat the spacemen. His superpowers include a magical laser-proof grill lighter, reasonable skipping ability, and the knack for saying some variant of, "Your weapons are useless against me!", which is apparently quite accurate, although he dodges their laser blasts anyway, just to be safe. Although the weapons of the aliens are indeed useless against the Prince of Space, the Phantom continues to fight, and many plot twists (including capturing a group of elderly scientists) ensue.

Prince of Space was edited from [[TheFilmOfTheSeries two movies based on]] the 1958 {{tokusatsu}} series ''Series/YuseiOji'' -- "Planet Prince" and "Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship" -- which may explain why the plot is a bit wonky. (Creator/ToeiCompany, who adapted the films from the original series, made several changes, such as a new costume for the main character.) The original TV series was a follow up to the extremely popular ''Moonlight Mask'' superhero series, though it also borrowed liberally from the ''Super Giant'' film serials of the time. The television series even had the main character wearing a costume identical to Super Giant. The Prince of Space character is somewhat iconic in his home country. The two films actually retell a story arc from the television series featuring the Phantom of Krankor.

* CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth: Prince of Space is probably the oldest japanese variant of this.

* CompilationMovie: The US version of the film was cobbled together from two films covering the same material, leading to an even ''more'' incoherent plot.
* CoolShip: The prince and the Phantom.

* EvilLaugh: Phantom has a pretty good one. "Hyeh! Hyeh! Hyeeeeh!"

** The villain travels through space to the planet Earth, so that he can steal a formula for rocket fuel that will allow him to...travel through space. This is even [[HandWave hand-waved]] in the film itself, by a group of journalists who ask the head scientist why such an advanced race needs Earth technology. The scientist's explanation--their fuel technology lags behind ours--is wholly unconvincing. How could they master space flight with inferior fuel technology to 1950s earth? Then again, seeing as how they made four round-trips to earth throughout the film, maybe they are just not very fuel-efficient.

--> '''Crow:''' (After the alien invaders have been destroyed.) And a proud, noble civilization dies out. ...sometimes. This ''loser'' civilization, however, will not be missed!

[[quoteright:322:[[GivingSomeoneThePointerFinger https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PrinceOfSpace.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:322:"Your weapons are useless against me!"]]-]

* {{Superhero}}: As superheroes go, at least he has powers and knows how to use them. Unlike a certain [[Film/PumaMan Puma themed superhero.]]

Prince of Space was edited from two movies, "Planet Prince" and "Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship" which may explain why the plot is a bit wonky. The films were adapted by Toei from a live-action television series of the same name, though with many differences such as a new costume for the main character. The original TV series was a follow up to the extremely popular ''Moonlight Mask'' superhero series, though it also borrowed liberally from the ''Super Giant'' film serials of the time. The television series even had the main character wearing a costume identical to Super Giant. The Prince of Space character is somewhat iconic in his home country. The two films actually retell a story arc from the television series featuring the Phantom of Krankor.

* AliensAndMonsters: If by aliens you mean guys with chicken nose prosthetics and no undergarments and by monsters you mean weird lumpy guys with their zippers showing.

* UnfortunateNames: Krankor. It really sounds like "crank whore" or "crack whore" when one first hears this.

* DullSurprise: The kids (and adults) in the American version are at about the level you'd expect from a 60's TV dub, but the child actor dubbing Mickey takes it to a whole new level -- every one of his lines is delivered so flatly and loudly that he comes off as a belligerent, snide tough guy. His slight {{Joisey}} accent coming through doesn't help.

* UnusualEars: The giant man creature on the planet Krankor has ''enormous,'' Ferengi-like ears.