Ataragon

Nothing particularly special, so don't have a lot to say, but it wasn't a bad watch. It involves another group of non-humans threatening to take over the world, there's some slow-moving parts in the first half, and there's a bit monster too (but you don't see it much).

It was directed by Ishiro Honda, who directed a number of classic early Godzilla films, including the original. He was always reliable when it came to non-Godzilla science-fiction/horror/adventure films, even if they don't quite live up to Godzilla, the gold standard.

The credits weren't translated but I could still tell the music was done by Akira Ifukube, who is as the main composer behind the Godzilla music for many years. It sounds pretty similar here, almost like Ifukube kept brushing up against familiar Godzilla themes, but I guess what's not really broken shouldn't be fixed too much.

There's something about this film that I can't help but like.

Everything is just one step beyond plausible. The bad guys have all sorts of powers that are used once and then never used again. The flying submarine Atragon has been built completely in secret by an Japanese Navy unit, in self-imposed exile, that is preparing to win World War 2 for Japan in 1963! There's a giant pet serpent that attacks the submarine. An entire city is destroyed in a way I won't describe but is completely wacky.

Silly and lots of fun. The special effects go from great to cheap to unbelievably weird. The movie is slow at points but when the sub finally takes off, it's non-stop action. You'll recognize the actors from many of the Godzilla films.

I remember seeing this movie as a preteen-ager at a drive-in in the early-mid 1960's. I watched it again years later on DVD and still found it entertaining. I would consider it a Japanese retelling of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

An eccentric ultra-patriotic World War II Japanese naval genius has built a super sub in secret to restore the glory of the World War II Japanese Empire. However a new enemy has now emerged; an aggressive underwater kingdom called Mu and it's giant monster god.

This is a good movie with a decent plot and some very attractive Japanese women! The bikini shot of Akemi Kita early in the movie definitely wins the award for "The Best Bikini in a Japanese Movie". The Captain's daughter and the Mu Empress definitely rate a 9+ on the "hotness" scale as well. ;)

This movie is classic TOHO made during the heyday of Japanese science fiction. Although the special effects doesn't stand up to today's standards, for it's time they were above average. I remember watching this movie as a kid and being mesmerized by it. The musical score is very good as well.

The American release DVD quality is excellent. It is dubbed in English and about 89 minutes long. The colors are rich and vibrant. A very good presentation for this very good movie.

Definitely worth a look. I recommend it.

This is one of Toho's gem that has gone unnoticed for many years. The original story was written by a Japanese science fiction writer Oshikawa Shunro in 1900, which was then heavily modified for this movie adaptation by Shinichi Sekizawa. Casting is good, and the plot is very original.

During WW II, Japan created three largest submarines in the world the I 400 class which housed 3 bomber planes with plans to covertly bomb the Panama Canal. The story's premise is that a 4th variation of this sub I 403 was made by the Japanese, commanded by Capt. Jinguji (Jun Tazaki). It was thought that this sub sank off the coast of Saipan with all hands lost, but Jinguji and his crew survived and created an underground base in an uncharted island. There Jinguji also being an engineer, puts into action his plan to build a flying battleship/submarine called the Gotengo. The year is 1964 and there're few mysterious kidnapping of scientists in Japan and sitings of a strange submarine. The culprit (Akihiko Hirata) tries to kidnap ex-Lt. Admiral Kozumi (Ken Uyehara) and Jinguji's daughter Makoto (Yoko Fujiyama) but fails, and reveals that there's a plan for the Muans from the lost continent of Mu to return to the surface for world conquest. Kozumi now aware of Jinguji's survival and his creation the Gotengo, is asked by the UN to convince Jinguji to use it against the Muans. During their excursion to Jinguji's island, Muan spy (Kenji Sahara) kidnaps Makoto and her fiancée Hatanaka (Tadao Takashima). Jinguji's original idea was to use Gotengo to win the war (WW II that is) for Japan, but is now convinced he will have to fight the Muans.

The star of this movie is the outrageously cool looking flying battleship/submarine (Designed by notable Japanese science fiction artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki) that's armed to its teeth. This submarine comes with a drill at its nose and can drill through earth where the enemy has their lair. The Muans who are the race of people from the legendary continent Mu which sank in the pacific 12000 years ago (There are three lost continent legend if you're not familiar with Mu. One is Atlantis, other is Mu in the Pacific, and third is Lemuria in the Indian ocean which all sank around the same time ) are planning to return to the surface, and take over the world. Gotengo (the name of the sub) challenges Muans in their world to stop their invasion plan. As director of special effects Shinji Higuchi once said, Japanese might be the only people who have fetish for a flying battleship. This story, and Uchu Senkan Yamato is a prime example.

The American title of this movie "Atragon" which is also the American name for Gotengo is an abbreviation of the words "Atomic Dragon".

When I first saw the picture of this submarine, I long waited for the day I could see the movie. I saw a badly dubbed version on TV which was disappointing, but now a DVD is available with original Japanese dialogs. This is a movie worth watching.

The evil empire of Mu had sunk to the depths of the Pacific around 10,000 B.C., but, as the 1963 Japanese film "Atragon" shows us, by the year 1965 its people were alive and well, surviving on the ocean floor and ready to conquer the surface lands once again. After Hong Kong and Venice are destroyed, it seems that only the supersub Atragon might be able to save the nations of Earth from the Mu menace, and so a team is dispatched to locate its renegade Capt. Jinguji, a superpatriot for whom World War II has never ended.... Anyway, "Atragon" is a very fine example of a "tokusatsu" (Japanese special FX movie), and the ship itself, with its drilling bow, cold-air cannon and ability to fly through the air, is quite a pleasing creation. The film reunites director Ishiro Honda, composer Akira Ifukube and FX master Eiji Tsuburaya from 1954's "Gojira," the original Godzilla picture, as well as that earlier film's Akihiko Hirata, the inventor of the Oxygen Destroyer, here playing Mu Agent #23. "Atragon" also dishes out some impressive-looking sets (such as those gigantic royal chambers in Mu) and rousing battle sequences (the Mu sub, with its serpent-shaped cannon, destroying a Japanese fleet, looks especially awesome). Although not a "kaiju eiga" (monster movie), the film still offers us one "daikaiju" (giant monster) in the form of Manda, a snaky serpent creature that gives the folks on the Atragon a rough moment or two. The picture packs quite a bit of story--perhaps too much story--into its 96-minute running time and probably would have benefited from an extra half hour for a more leisurely exposition. Still, the film is undeniably fun, and the Mu empress really is something to see. The DVD that I just watched, by the way, from Media Blasters' Tokyo Shock series, looks very fine, and really is everything one could ask for.