Rodan (1956)
"Sora no daikaijû Radon" (original title)

Mutant pterosaurs and prehistoric insects terrorize humanity.

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

David Duncan (U.S. version), Takeshi Kimura,

Stars:

Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata

Cast

Credited cast:
Kenji Sahara	...	Shigeru Kawamura, colliery engineer (as Kenji Sawara)
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Kiyo, Shigeru's lover
Akihiko Hirata	...	Professor KYUichiro Kashiwagi (biology)
Akio Kobori	...	Police Chief Nishimura
Yasuko Nakata	...	Female Honeymooner
Minosuke Yamada	...	Colliery Chief Osaki
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou
Kiyoharu Onaka	...	Male Honeymooner, Sunagawa's friend (as Kiyoharu Ohnaka)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ichirô Chiba	...	Chief of police station
Mike Daneen	...	American Soldier Typing
Tazue Ichimanji	...	Haru, Kiyo's neighbor
Saburô Iketani	...	News Reader
Saburô Kadowaki	...	Sunagawa's colleague
Tateo Kawasaki	...	Tsunesan, miner
Kanta Kisaragi	...	Suteyan, miner

Storyline

In the Japanese mining village of Kitamatsu, miners ares starting to disappear deep inside shaft number 8. Some of the men sent to investigate are killed but one who has managed to escape brings back a tale of a giant insect. Soon, the giant prehistoric insects are attacking the village. Not long after, something traveling faster than the speed of sound is found flying in the sky. It is Rodan, a giant flying prehistoric reptile that has come to life. It spreads terror throughout Japan and is seemingly invincible to any weapon they may throw at it.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | rodan | miner | pterodactyl | giant insect | 

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Taglines:

Never a Horror Like It!

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Mandarin Tagalog

Release Date:

6 August 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rodan! The Flying Monster

Filming Locations:

Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min 70 min (16 mm television syndication prints) 72 min (English dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Among the people doing the voice over work for this film are Paul Frees, Keye Luke and a young George Takei.

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Goofs

During the initial Air Force pursuit of Rodan, Dog Squadron is shown with four planes. Two are destroyed and the remaining pilot reports both wing men down. The fourth jet is never referred to.

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Connections

Referenced in Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005)

User Reviews

One of the early movies with great special effects

I think this was the second movie I've seen as a child that had special effects (first was King Kong vs Godzilla). The idea of super sonic flying reptile was pretty original and the special effects were very believable with roof tiles flying off houses when Rodan passed above them. The movie looks dated now because the houses and buildings looks like vintage '50s, but the quality of production was very high (if you compare it to the U.S. made "The Giant Claw" of the same era it's obvious these people knew what they were doing), and probably set the bases of Toho as the only surviving Japanese movie studio in the '90s.

I wish the honeymooner Yasuko Nakata had bigger roles in this movie and on subsequent Toho movies. She was a better actor than the leading lady Yumi Shirakawa (but Shirakawa was a big star back then) and could have brought more goods to the franchise.