Atragon
(1963)
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Atragon
(1963)
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| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Tadao Takashima | ... |
Commercial Photographer Susumu Hatanaka
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Yôko Fujiyama | ... |
Makoto Jinguji, the Captain's Daughter
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Yû Fujiki | ... |
Yoshito Nishibe
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Ken Uehara | ... |
Retired Admiral Kosumi
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Jun Tazaki | ... |
Captain Hachiro Jinguji
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Kenji Sahara | ... |
Journalist /
Mu Agent
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Hiroshi Koizumi | ... |
Detective
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Yoshifumi Tajima | ... |
Tome 'Amano' Amanoshome
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Akihiko Hirata | ... |
Mu Agent #23
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Hideyo Amamoto | ... |
High Priest of Mu
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Tetsuko Kobayashi | ... |
Empress of Mu
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Hisaya Itô | ... |
Shindo, Kidnapped Scientist
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Minoru Takada | ... |
Government Official
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Susumu Fujita | ... |
Defense Commander
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Ikio Sawamura | ... |
Taxi Driver
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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 ... Written by Brian Washington <Sargebri@att.net>
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+