The Mysterians (1957)

Shortly after a giant robot destroys a village, aliens from outer space arrive offering friendship. Will stupid Earth creatures tie these two events together?

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

running for one's life | army | helicopter | psychotronic film | giant robot | 

---

Taglines:

Join humankind's most treacherous battle for survival!

---

Genres:

Action | Family | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-Y7

Did You Know?

Trivia

There are in fact two runs of The Mysterians. The original dub was released by RKO/MGM in 1959, and corresponded to the 3 minutes of edits in the American cut. This dub was released on VHS a few times, panned and scanned with warbly sound. For the DVD release, Media Blasters created a new dub which corresponds to the Japanese cut. This dub is generally regarded by the fandom as poorer, and is responsible for the goof mentioned in the Goof section, wherein it's mentioned that one of the firefighters has a Southern accent. This is an error only present in the DVD dub

---

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.

---

Quotes

Ryoichi Shiraishi: The tragedy of the Mysterians is a good example for us! Don't use science in the wrong way!

---

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.

---

Connections

Featured in Gojira Fantajî: SF Kôkyô Fantajî (1984)

User Reviews

Good Invasion Flick From Toho

This is a pretty decent invasion film. This time around, Honda seems to have been inspired by the films "War of the Worlds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and does a good job in conveying a lot of themes that pretty much permeate a lot of his films, fear of nuclear war and the world unifying for a common cause. Also, Akihiko pretty much built on his portrayal of the tragic hero that sacrifices himself at the end to save humanity and did his usual good job.

The only complaint I have about the film is the fact that the appearance of Moguera takes place too early in the film and his destruction is much too early. They do return him to the end, but I would have preferred to see him as the weapon of last resort that the aliens use to try to deliver the crushing blow. Other than that, this is a pretty good movie.

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