Prisonnières des Martiens

How many American science fiction movies have conceived of survivors of the lost 10th planet (source of the asteroid belt) occupying a small chunk of territory before being attacked? NONE! Although "The Mysterians" uses some logical lapses to make the invaders clearly the bad guys (just WHY did they send the giant robot BEFORE attempting peaceful coexistance) and progresses WAY too quickly to its rousing finale (the world had these plans for superweapons just laying around), "The Mysterians" is an exciting, entertaining addition to any one's collection of "space invader movies." Well photographed, beautifully scored, decently executed (for the 50s) special effects" and freshly conceived, "The Mysterians" is better, in many ways than later films such as "Independance Day" and "V". Too bad Toho didn't make it longer and make a sequel (though it appears, that's what "Battle in Outer Space" was originally supposed to be.) See it.

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.

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

Although best known for their Godzilla series, Japan's Toho Studios made many other sci fi and fantasy films. This was the first of many that would be about aliens from another world invading Earth {that idea would be later incorporated into quite a few Godzilla films}. It's dated in some respects but still pretty good fun and must have seemed quite impressive at the time of it's western release. Before that the only major film that dealt with alien invasion on a "full scale,open war" kind of level was The War Of The Worlds, and The Mysterians attempts even more, if not quite succeeding, in the way of spectacle.

The first half hour is terrific, the characters are briefly introduced, strange things happen and a large bird-like robot goes on the rampage in Godzilla fashion. After this,things go downhill a little bit, too much time is taken up with meetings and the lengthy battle scenes between the aliens and the humans are a bit static and go on a little too long. Nevertherless there is a charming toy-like nature to these scenes, as various futuristic weapons are employed against the invaders.

Special effects are occasionally poor {watch out for the awful superimposed explosions} but generally better than most Hollywood sci fi films of the time. Filmed in very garish colour {which particularly highlights the alien's costumes} and with a tremendous main march theme by Akira Ifikube, the Mysterians has it's dull bits, but is still worth watching for some childish fun. Toho would perfect the alien invasion idea two years later with the incredible Battle In Outer Space.

I just rented "The Mysterians" which seems to be called "Earth Defence Force" in the Japanse version. The movie holds up well because it seems that the people involved treated the story seriously. When I was young I remember that the "Marcolights" were pretty cool and the music was very dramatic. The music still sounds good today but the sound quality on the tape wasn't that good.

I am glad to see the writers took the job seriously and had the characters ask the questions we asked from the audience. Can the Mysterians be trusted even though they say they are peaceful? Should we ask for a nuclear strike? The Marcolights have a limited range, how can we get around that? Should we wait for the Electronic Cannon or attack right now with the giant airships and Marcolights?

There were a few flaws. For example one of the characters mentioned that a fixed base was a weakness. I assume that is because you can't depend only on a defensive shield. A base must be defended by mobile fighter craft as well. The flying saucers performed that function until they unexpectedly retreated to the base during the climatic battle. The other weak point was the giant airships Alpha-1 and Beta-1. They moved like zeppelins and the standard cannon seemed weak. I guess their plot purpose was to be shot down so that Beta-2 could built for a second attack on the Mysterian base.

If you saw this movie as a kid it is still enjoyable as an adult. If you've never seen it then it is probably only of interest to those who want to see the early days of Japanese monster movies. You may be pleasantly surprised to see the leader of the Seven Samurai as the head scientist.