Video Rewind is a review of an avant-garde, cultish, or otherwise odd film that has a small or large following. That means, by its fans, it can be watched over and over with greater enjoyment. We will feature films that can be accessed either via Netflix, OnDemand, or other sites such as YouTube or Hulu.

”Voyage Into Space,” 1970, color, directed by Minoru Yamada, Toei Company, 98 minutes. Starring Jerry Berke as the narrator, Akio Itô as Jerry Mano and Bobbie Byers as Johnny Sokko. Schlock-meter rating: 6 out of 10.

“Voyage Into Space” is an absolutely bizarre 1970 or so Japanese monster-rama that involves a young boy, Johnny Sokko, having control over a crime-fighting, flying Giant Robot. Sokko and Giant Robot work for the Unicorns, a UN-type spy ring trying to save the world from the extraterrestrial evil, Guillotine, his various sidekicks, including “Spider” and Dr. Botanus. The “army” of Guillotine is “the Gargoyle Gang,” a group of military types who resemble Nazis.

This is a weird movie but unbelievably entertaining for young kids and nostalgic adults who recall seeing it when they were young kids. I saw this film when I was 7, 8 or 9 and we used to talk about it on the playground in school. It stars no one you ever heard of, the special effects are pretty bad, the acting terrible, the dubbing weak, but it’s strangely cool. There’s a 1960s’ counterculture aura to this film. Several of the baddies dress like they stepped out of a Roger Vadim film. Guillotine raises a whole host of monsters and some are pretty interesting. One is a giant plant; another is a giant eyeball (I kid you not).

But still, this film, released in the U.S. by American Independent Films to TV only, is woefully cheap. The battling monsters don’t match up to the same size in close ups and far-away shots. In one scene, Johnny Sokko and a Unicorn agent wash up on the beach with their clothes fully dry and pressed and their hair neat. The Giant Robot hero is very cool, though, and the film’s theme song is catchy.

Here’s the big secret to “Voyage Into Space.” It’s actually about four episodes, including the first and last, culled from a 30 or so-episode series from the late 60s called “Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot.” For more than a generation, you couldn’t find Voyage Into Space on VHS or DVD. I spent decades wondering what had happened to my favorite Japanese color monster film. Finally, Sinister Cinema http://www.sinistercinema.com/ started selling the film. Since that occurred the floodgates have opened and “Voyage Into Space,” a public domain film, has many sellers. And it’s all over YouTube as well.

It’s a great film, particularly if you have a fondness for the Japanese monster genre, and your kids will love it. And let’s face, it has one of the coolest opening music. See the whole film at Amazon Instant Video for $2.99 at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ZW7DSS?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_aiv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_aiv-20.