Rodan (1956)

A large mining accident sets loose prehistoric Insects and giant pterosaur's on Japan.

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

David Duncan (english 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 Nakada	...	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
Tsurue Ichimanji	...	Haru, Kiyo's neighbor (as Tazue Ichimanji)
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:

kaiju | tokusatsu | japan | monster | miner | 

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Taglines:

Most horrifying hell creature that ever menaced all mankind!

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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

Filming Locations:

Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$500,000, 4 August 1957

Gross USA:

$500,000

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

George Takei was the first Japanese-American actor to do voice-overs for Toho's movies. Previously, Chinese-American actors, including James Hong, Sammee Tong and Keye Luke, were used. At the time, Chinese actors had filled a niche in Hollywood, portraying Japanese soldiers and civilians in war movies.

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Goofs

When the Japanese Air Force attacks Rodan at the bridge, the shadows of the planes can be seen against the backdrop of the sky.

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Crazy Credits

In the U.S. version, special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya's name is misspelled "Eiji Tsuburya."

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Alternate Versions

In the American version, the name of the volcano is changed from Mount Aso to Mount Toya.

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Connections

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996)

User Reviews

For an early monster movie--it does a decent job

Rodan is one of the early successors to Godzilla... two years later actually. While it was nowhere as successful or as interesting, it still holds up on its own by having fairly good visuals and greater than bland main characters.

Probably the best and worst thing about Rodan is that it is incredibly short. It has a running time of little over an hour; which means not much happens during the film. The premise is that Rodan is a giant flying reptile that was stuck in an underground chamber filled with prehistoric insects. The insects escape due to a mining incident and Rodan's wrath is sure to follow. Other than that, there isn't much to the movie. There are a couple nice military action sequences against Rodan and the building destruction is cool to watch. However, the movie doesn't have much to it. The characters aren't incredibly interesting and there isn't too much to talk about.

Overall, it is good for people with shorter attention spans or people who don't want to invest much into an older monster classic.