Uchû daikaijû Dogora (1964)

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

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Jôjirô Okami (story), Shin'ichi Sekizawa

Stars:

Yôsuke Natsuki, Yôko Fujiyama, Hiroshi Koizumi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yôsuke 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
Hideyo Amamoto	...	Maki the Safecracker
Haruya Katô	...	Sabu the Small Fry
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Gangster
Nadao Kirino	...	Gangster
Akira Wakamatsu	...	Gangster
Hironobu Wakamoto	...	Nitta

Storyline

Several satellites have been destroyed without explanation. A few days later, a group of diamond thieves are thwarted when the gems they are after suddenly disappear. Strangely enough, the two incidents are connected when scientists discover that a giant jellyfish like creature, which was mutated due to a high amount of radiation hovering over Japan, is drawing up all carbon based matter, including coal and diamonds. Soon the creature is also attacking bridges and ships. Can anything be done to destroy the creature before he begins drawing up all mankind?

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | jellyfish | coal | scientist | monster | 

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Taglines:

SOS From Earth. It Devours Buildings and People.

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Genres:

Crime | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 August 1964 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Dagora, the Space Monster

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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!"

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Goofs

In the scenes featuring the smaller Dogoras, the strings holding them up are clearly seen.

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Crazy Credits

The U.S. English dubbed version, released by American International under the title "Dagora, The Space Monster," has all of the cast and credits removed. The picture and sound contain an awkward jump from the main title to the first scene. It is believed that American International, for unknown reasons, physically cut the cast and credits from their initial release prints.

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Connections

Referenced in Godzilla: Monster of Monsters (1988)

User Reviews

Avoid the English language versions!!

In the US, this is probably the least well known of the classic kaiju eiga. Sure, "Dogora" may not be a very good movie overall, but in my opinion it has one of the very best monsters in film history. Dogora is an enormous space jellyfish, vast, mindless, and cosmically terrifying. It floats through the atmosphere, draining the Earth of life-giving carbon. The full-grown Dogora is only on screen for five minutes (!!), but it's still an awe-inspiring sight as this huge, transparent creature, the size of a small town, sucks up buildings, vehicles, bridges and minerals.

The remainder of the movie is mostly an uninspired detective spoof, with two inept policemen and an enigmatic American agent hot on the trail of a gang of jewel thieves. It seems the monster has been getting to the diamonds first... With such an incredible monster, and such well-executed effects, it's a real shame the rest of the film is so mundane.

It's SUPPOSED to be a comedy. Unfortunately, the US television version dubbed the movie as a serious monster film, with disastrous results. Worse, though, is the Toho "international" version -- it may be more accurately translated, but it's performed by the most inept readers you'll hear outside of a Sandy Frank production. Anyway, even if you don't know Japanese, watching "Dogora" in the original language with no subtitles is still probably more enjoyable than suffering through the English versions.