Astro Boy: Battle Among the Stars

Astro Boy: Battle Among the Stars, known in Japan as Tetsuwan Atomu: Daiuchū no Bōken (鉄腕アトム 大宇宙の冒険 Mighty Atom: Adventure of the Universe), is a 1965 Japanese animated sci-fi adventure film directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, it is the second film based on the Astro Boy anime series from 1963, the other being Astro Boy: Hero of Space (1964) however, in contrast to the other film which was basically a 3 episode compilation, this one is completely new footage, made completely in Color and was made Solely for the US market, the film was released in Japanese cinemas by Shochiku in Christmas 1965, however wasn't released in the US until March of 1968 by United Artists, who picked up the film for International distribution months prior.

Plot
in Metro City, rains of meteors come crashing down, causing damages, and a voice of a supposed alien dictator from the planet Cruelty named "Armon the Cruel" (Akuma in the Japanese version) from the sky is warning people of earth that that he will enslave all.

in response, Astro Boy meets a young scientist named Dr. Warhol (Professor Miyamoto in the original version) to go along with him and leave Elefun at earth due to his advancing age, they along with The team from Hero of Space, go in a rocket ship to space to fight off Armon.

more to be added soon.

Japanese

 * Mari Shimizu (Atom)
 * Hisashi Katsua (Professor Ochanomizu)

English Dub

 * Billy Lou Watt (Astro)
 * Ray Owens (Dr. Elefun)
 * Peter Fernandez (Dr. Warhol)
 * Paul Frees (Soviet Space General)

US Home Video releases

 * 1981 Magnetic Video VHS (by special arrangement from UA)
 * 1986 Playhouse Video VHS (Distributed by CBS/FOX Video)
 * 1990 MGM/UA VHS
 * 1997 MGM Family Treasures VHS
 * 2005 MGM DVD (Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
 * 2017 Shout! Factory Blu-Ray (Under license from MGM)

Trivia

 * Originally, Mushi Productions wanted Elmer Bernstein to compose the music, but he declined.
 * The Name Dr. Warhol in the English version is a play on the Photographer Andy Warhol.
 * The film was extended from the original's 89 Minute run to include a specially made prologue having Astro fight Evil Soviet space forces in order to appease the American Audiences, because Astro Boy is set in the future, the added scene is now considered Outdated since 1991.
 * The original Japanese version was accidentally destroyed in a fire after the US release, it has since been considered lost. However, a 35mm print of the original version was found in a private film collection in Hokkaido, Japan on February 1, 2017.
 * the reason why this was Solely made for US Audiences was that they want Astro Boy to be a movie franchise in the James Bond fashion, coincidentally also a UA property, the film however, was ignored upon release and those plans were cancelled.
 * the film was showcased on Turner Classic Movies twice, first during Friday Night Spotlight on Space Travel movies, the second during TCM's 100th Birthday Salute to Osamu Tezuka in 2028.