The Golden Bat (1966): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1966, The Golden Bat is an action, adventure and science fiction film directed by Hajime Sato, running about 73 minutes.

What it’s about. 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!

Who’s in it. The Golden Bat stars Sonny Chiba as Dr. Yamatone, Wataru Yamagawa as Akira Kazahaya, Hisako Tsukuba as Naomi Akiyama and Emily Takami as Emily Paird, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.8/10, The Golden Bat has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Golden Bat page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Golden Bat tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.