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We have always enjoyed the early Japanese Fantasy Films circa 1954-1963. During this time they took themselves and there subjects seriously. What ever their technical short comings were you could see they were in earnest. Basically after this period starting with KING KONG -vs- GODZILLA the slide down to kiddy fare began just a step above STARMAN.

Though we consider the original GORJIRA/Godzilla as the first and the best THE MYSTERIANS is the one (1) we enjoyed most. This is a SPACE OPERA on a grand scale. Watching it is like seeing the old pulp Science-Fiction magazine covers of the 1930's being brought to life. Basically the team that acted and made the original Godzilla are back plus the addition of Technicolor and WideScreen. They needed a big and splashy story and THEM -vs- US for the world was the canvas that well suited this first effort.

We first saw it on T.V. in the mid 1960s and were enthralled like any early teenagers by these scenes of action and massed destruction. But even then we (my brother and I) felt something was missing. It was not until the early 1990s that we saw a restored Japanese print in it's original format (WS) and subtitled in English that what happened on screen made sense. Best of all there were more scenes of destruction.

It is a pity that TOHO did not make a direct sequel and made BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE instead (still a fun film). Now that they are more technically adapt it would be nice to see this film remade. The one (1) thing I would keep though (other then the basic plot line) is the exceptional musical score.

There's something endearing about this movie. The plot is good, casting is good (with so many pretty faces, no wonder the Mystery guys wanted to come to earth), and even the score (by Akira Ifukube) remains in your head long after you see the movie. But above all there's a special atmosphere about this movie that won't let you forget it any time soon.

Mogera (Of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla fame almost 40 years later) makes its debut in this movie, and it started its career as weapon of the aliens not a giant UN transformer robot.

Once the fact that the Mysterians showed themselves, earth defense force ( thus the movie's Japanese title Chikyu Boeigun ) musters up all its plans for super weapons and goes on the offensive against the Mysterians (who've shacked up in Japan even before they got official permission from them ).

If military technology can catch up with the aliens so quickly as in this movie, we won't have any problems. In reality from what I understand, we're not even near parity.

Special effects are good, and weapons looks cool (Designed by famous Japanese sci-fi artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki. They have kind of a retro look which still works today) which all adds up to make this movie one of Toho's best.

It's one of a kind movie, and highly recommended to watch.

The Japanese tape begins with an overture. The music with the overture is the greatest film score ever written by Akira Ifukube. So this film concerns hooded aliens who come to Earth with plans to capture and have sex with Earth women. So they release a huge bird-like robot named Mogera (it later returned renovated in Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla) to prove they mean buisness. The army manages to defeat it by booby trapping the bridge and blowing it up while the monster is using it. Then the battle for the cosmos begins with the Mysterians and their ray firing ships and the humans and their markalite lasers. This is another film I believe inspired the film Independence Day. It's certainly the most colorful of any of the fifties invasion flicks. A must. Eiji Tsuburaya also did an exellent job with his marvelous miniatures and special effects.

For the first fifteen minutes of "Chikyu Boeigun" (known in USA as "The Mysterians"), nothing happens. Scientist poking around a forest fire site comes face to face with a giant, metallic bird like monster. Then this film takes off, becoming more and more exciting. After the monster ravishes a village, the military kills it. We discover it's from the planet Mysteriod, and citizens of that planet are setting up a base here on Earth. The rest of the film concerns the battles betwen the Earth and The Mysterians. A bunch of Inoshira Honda's touches abound. There's a doomed hero (Ahikio Hirata) literally going on a kamikaze mission through the alien base, the plea for all nations to drop their petty squabbles and join forces to save the Earth, and wall to wall giant monster/spaceship excitement. Musician Akira Ifukube's score is militaristic, throbbing, and perfect. While "Gojira" is the best Japanese sci-fi classic, "The Mysterians", a candy coated treat is a close second, being the most fun.

Trivia note: Musician Akira Ifukube invented the famous Godzilla roar.

This is one of the earlier sci-fi movies from Toho studios. Respectable Toho actors and actresses are in this movie including Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura-all actors that appeared in the original Godzilla and Rodan movies. This story involves a group of cool looking aliens called the Mysterians, who want to possess a huge chuck of land in Japan and marry Earth women. The suspense builds when the Earth people resists the Mysterians' demands, which results in a battle for Earth action. Just to note, the actor playing the Leader of the Mysterians was Yoshio Tsuchiya. He also played the Vapor Man in 'The Human Vapor,' Controller of Planet X in 'Godzilla vs. Monster Zero,' and Businessman Shindo in 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.'

Eiji Tsuburaya's advanced special effects highlighted a spectacular battle of fire, lasers, rockets, tanks and flying saucers between the humans and space aliens. A slow and mysterious, but sometimes militaristic and moving music score by Akira Ifukube. A dramatic and somber story by Takeshi Kimura. Directing was once again done by the great Ishiro Honda.

The downside, though, was that the story lacked a solid plot and the female leads weren't emphasized enough. There were too many scenes that depicted meetings held by the officials, discussing what to do about the aliens. These meetings were important in a way, but kind of boring. And, the robot monster, Moguera, was a terrific-looking monster, but wasn't utilized enough. But overall, a pretty cool feature for a sci-fi film made in the 1950s.

Grade B