Uchu daikaijû Dogora (1964)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Jojiro Okami (story)
Shinichi Sekizawa (writer)

Release Date:

11 August 1964 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

SOS From Earth. It Devours Buildings and People.

Plot:

The Earth is attacked by a giant jellyfish monster from outer space that, for some reason, has a sweet tooth for diamonds.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Jellyfish | Monster | Gangster | Tokyo Japan

Cast

Yosuke Natsuki	...	Inspector Kommei
Yôko Fujiyama	...	Masayo Kirino
Hiroshi Koizumi	...	Kirino
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Dr. Munakata
Robert Dunham	...	Mark Jackson (as Dan Yuma)
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Hamako - Gangster Moll
Jun Tazaki	...	Chief Inspector
Susumu Fujita	...	General Iwasa
Seizaburô Kawazu	...	Gangster Boss
Eisei Amamoto	...	Maki the Safecracker
Haruya Kato	...	Sabu the Small Fry
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Gangster
Nadao Kirino	...	Gangster
Akira Wakamatsu	...	Gangster
Hironobu Wakamoto	...	Nitta

Also Known As:

Dagora, the Space Monster (USA)
Space Monster Dogora

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:12

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

Even though Robert Dunham spoke nearly perfect Japanese throughout most of the film, he did get away with one phrase of English. In the scene where the mob breaks into his hotel room and Hamako (Moll) snatches the key to the safe, he says in perfect English, "Hey, you can't take that!"

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scenes featuring the smaller Dogoras, the strings holding them up are clearly seen.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gojira Fantajî: SF Kôkyô Fantajî (1984)

Pure cinema gold!

A classic of 60s Japanese imported filmmaking. Really beautiful special effects almost make up for the goofy diamond-heist-complicated-by-flying-jellyfish plot, the choppy dubbed-in sound and the less-than-resolved ending.