Atragon (1963)
"Kaitei gunkan" (original title)

Several strange occurrences are taking place all over the world including the disappearance of two engineers. Also, former admiral Kosumi is nearly kidnapped along with his secretary, and ... See full summary »

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Shigeru Komatsuzaki (novel), Shunro Oshikawa (novel),

Stars:

Tadao Takashima, Yôko Fujiyama, Yû Fujiki

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tadao Takashima	...	Commercial Photographer Susumu Hatanaka
Yôko Fujiyama	...	Makoto Jinguji, the Captain's Daughter
Yû Fujiki	...	Yoshito Nishibe
Ken Uehara	...	Retired Admiral Kosumi
Jun Tazaki	...	Captain Hachiro Jinguji
Kenji Sahara	...	Journalist / Mu Agent
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Detective
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Tome 'Amano' Amanoshome
Akihiko Hirata	...	Mu Agent #23
Hideyo Amamoto	...	High Priest of Mu
Tetsuko Kobayashi	...	Empress of Mu
Hisaya Itô	...	Shindo, Kidnapped Scientist
Minoru Takada	...	Government Official
Susumu Fujita	...	Defense Commander
Ikio Sawamura	...	Taxi Driver

Storyline

Several strange occurrences are taking place all over the world including the disappearance of two engineers. Also, former admiral Kosumi is nearly kidnapped along with his secretary, and goddaughter, Makoto Jinguji. The kidnap attempt is thwarted by photographer Susumu Hatanaka and his assistant Yoshito Nishibe. It is later revealed the Mu Empire, which disappeared 12,000 years earlier, are responsible for all the occurrences and are planning to invade the surface world to reclaim their supposed colonies. Also, the Muans manage to steal the I-403 submarine from embittered Captain Jinguji, Makoto's father, and in the process steal the plans for and even greater sub, Atragon (aka Gotengo). As the attacks by the Muans increase the world anxiously asks Jinguji for his help, even his daughter Makoto makes an impassioned plea for him to join the fight against Mu. Unfortunately, Jinguji is still bitter about the defeat of Japan in World War II and won't help. However, the fight becomes ...

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | flying sub | battleship | sunken continent | u boat | 

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Taglines:

See! The Exotic Rites and Groitesque Passions of the Kingdom of Mu

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 March 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atragon

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 89 min (English dubbed)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Jinguji was written for Toshirô Mifune, but his prior commitment to Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard made it impossible for him to participate.

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Goofs

In some of the scenes were Atragon (aka. Gotengo) is flying, the strings holding the model are visible.

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Quotes

Captain Hachiro Jinguji: Let her go. Let her die with her nation.

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Connections

Featured in City in the Sea (1965)

User Reviews

Intriguing Submarine and Serpent Kaiju Film!

This is a great kaiju movie from Toho Studios. Right off the beginning of this film, we see an already intriguing scene when a scientist gets kidnapped by a creature from under the sea. The suspense builds when the creatures reveal themselves to be habitants of the Undersea Kingdom of Mu, and that they have come to Earth to reclaim its land (of course the Earth people do not accept that, so it's the super-submarine Atragon to the rescue). The scenes where it show the origin and the places of the Mu Kingdom are very entertaining. We actually get to see what the Mu Kingdom looks like. The scene where the Mu people sing and dance and worship is a real charmer. For this movie, the special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya are spectacular and the screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa is exciting, spellbinding, and full of suspense and drama. The plot is solid and perfect and Ishiro Honda's directing is superb. The music by Akira Ifukube is excellent and fantastic. The main title music is full of melody and harmony and is probably my favorite Akira Ifukube music score. And, virtually everybody is in this movie: Tadao Takashima, Yoko Fujiyama, Yu Fujiki, Ken Uehara, Jun Tazaki, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yoshifumi Tajima, Akihiko Hirata, Eisei Amamoto, and Susumu Fujita.

The scenes where the Earth humans and the Mu people battle each other is inspiring. Manda, the giant sea serpent, is an awesome-looking monster. He is the protector of the Mu Kingdom. From the sounds of the worships, Manda seems to be a powerful creature. However, he is actually pretty weak since he hardly put up a descent battle with Atragon and he appeared only briefly during its appearances. That sort of disappointed me. More scenes of Manda would of make this an even better movie. But overall, this film is not the typical monster and alien on-the-loose movie. It has story and a very intriguing plot.

Grade B+