The Mysterians (1957)

Aliens arrive on Earth and ask permission to be given a certain tract of land for their people to live on. But when they are discovered to be invaders, responsible for the giant robot that ... See full summary »

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Takeshi Kimura, Jôjirô Okami (story)

Stars:

Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Momoko Kôchi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenji Sahara	...	Joji Atsumi
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Etsuko Shiraishi
Momoko Kôchi	...	Hiroko Iwamoto
Akihiko Hirata	...	Ryoichi Shiraishi
Takashi Shimura	...	Dr. Tanjiro Adachi
Susumu Fujita	...	Gen. Morita
Hisaya Itô	...	Capt. Seki
Yoshio Kosugi	...	Cmdr. Sugimoto
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Dr. Nobu Kawanami
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Leader of the Mysterians
Minosuke Yamada	...	The Secretary of Defense Hamamoto
Tetsu Nakamura	...	Dr. Koda
Heihachirô Ôkawa	...	Person at Board Meeting
Takeo Oikawa	...	Announcer on TV
Haruya Katô	...	Doomed Villager

Storyline

Aliens arrive on Earth and ask permission to be given a certain tract of land for their people to live on. But when they are discovered to be invaders, responsible for the giant robot that is destroying cities, the armed forces attempt to stop them with every weapon available.

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Plot Keywords:

running for one's life | army | helicopter | giant robot | alien | 

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Taglines:

Space Monsters Abduct Earth Women!

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Genres:

Action | Family | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-Y7

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

15 May 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mysterians

Box Office

Gross USA:

$975,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 70 min (1978 Toho Champion Festival)

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording) Mono (US prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Japan's Self-Defense Forces gave assistance to this production and allowed the filming of military equipment and personnel. Through them, the production was also allowed to shoot TôhôScope-wide footage, especially of military aircraft, at United States Military installations in Japan.

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Goofs

One of the bicyclist firefighters has a very southern-US accent, when the on-screen actors are obviously Japanese. This occurs is the second English dubbed version done for U.S. DVD release, not the version shown in U.S. theaters starting in 1959.

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Quotes

Dr. Tanjiro Adachi: Some escaped. The nations of the world must now stay united in the struggle against unknown forces instead of fighting each other.

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Alternate Versions

Scenes deleted from the American version:

• During the final assault on the Mysterian Dome, a second Mogera tunnels up beneath a Markolite cannon causeing the weapon to crash down on the mecha, takeing out both machines.
• When the Mysterians summon up a tidal wave, a shot of the wave swamping another Markolite cannon is excised. This leaves only one Markolite remaining on the battlefeild. The American version gives the impression that there are two.
• After the Mysterians are defeated there is brief shot of retreating saucers returning to the satelite station.
• The final shot in the film is of the American satelite in orbit above the earth. In the distance we can see the Mysterian satelite station recedeing into deep space.

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Connections

Referenced in Mars Attacks! (1996)

User Reviews

Japan's Fantasies Finest Hour

We have always enjoyed the early Japanese Fantasy Films circa 1954-1963. During this time they took themselves and there subjects seriously. What ever their technical short comings were you could see they were in earnest. Basically after this period starting with KING KONG -vs- GODZILLA the slide down to kiddy fare began just a step above STARMAN.

Though we consider the original GORJIRA/Godzilla as the first and the best THE MYSTERIANS is the one (1) we enjoyed most. This is a SPACE OPERA on a grand scale. Watching it is like seeing the old pulp Science-Fiction magazine covers of the 1930's being brought to life. Basically the team that acted and made the original Godzilla are back plus the addition of Technicolor and WideScreen. They needed a big and splashy story and THEM -vs- US for the world was the canvas that well suited this first effort.

We first saw it on T.V. in the mid 1960s and were enthralled like any early teenagers by these scenes of action and massed destruction. But even then we (my brother and I) felt something was missing. It was not until the early 1990s that we saw a restored Japanese print in it's original format (WS) and subtitled in English that what happened on screen made sense. Best of all there were more scenes of destruction.

It is a pity that TOHO did not make a direct sequel and made BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE instead (still a fun film). Now that they are more technically adapt it would be nice to see this film remade. The one (1) thing I would keep though (other then the basic plot line) is the exceptional musical score.