Atragon: my review
Since people seemed to like the last Toho review...
Here's one for my current favorite among the non-kaiju Toho flicks: Atragon!
First the trailer:
The movie itself is rather straightforward. Basically, Japan and all other nations with a coastline are ordered to put themselves under the rule of the 'Mu Empire', a Hollow Earth style kingdom beneath the Pacific Ocean. The Muvians once ruled the entire world and they want to restore their domination over the 'barbarians who have risen to rule in their absenc. Attempts to fight back lead to submarines being sunk and great ports being utterly destroyed (we're told that Venice, London, and NYC are all devastated). A Japanese reporter and his sidekick get tangled up in all of this as they search for a missing super-submarine that was supposed to have been made at the end of WW2, the Atragon (called the Gotengo in the original Japanese cut). Aided by the daughter of the sub's captain and by his former superior (now running a shipping company), they learn that the Muvians want the sub too!
The intrepid group, joined by a seconbd, somewhat sleazy reporter, eventually find the island upon which the Atragon and its hidden, never-agreed-to-the-surrender crew are hidden. The sub is as amazing as the trailer suggests: it can drill through the ground, go to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, and even fly. Unfortunately its captain refuses to use the sub for any reason other than to restore the Japanese Empire. "I made that ship for Japan, not the world!"
Then we find out that the sleazy reporter is a Muvian spy. He seizes the heroic reporter and the girl with his otherworldly powers, dragging them off to Mu after making an attempt to destroy the Atragon. The Empress of Mu is delighted with these new slaves, promising to feed them to Manda to celebrate the return of her empire. Manda is the living god of the Muvians -- a 150-foot long Chinese dragon, and man is he hungry.
Meanwhile the Muvians have been attacking Japan. Their troops make a land attack out through an active volcano, using fire bombs and flying saucers to devastate port cities and the Japanese Army. The cities are hollowed out from below, with entire buildings collapsing into the Earth. And those who attempt escape by sea are destroyed by the Muvian subs. These parts are all especially well handled by Tsubaraya. The man and his crew knew how to stage their mass devastation.
The Atragon is finally repaired. They head for Mu, coincidentally arriving just as the hero frees himself and the other Japanese slaves and takes the Empress hostage. However, she frees Manda to attack the Atragon. The dragon is swiftly dealt with in a scene reminiscent of the electrified squids from Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The Atragon then drills its way into the caverns of Mu and destroys their massive power generators, leading to the patented earth-shattering kaboom. The Muvians are destroyed, Japan has saved the world, and the last we see of the Empress is of her swimming back into the sea of fire that is consuming her kingdom.
My feelings about the film are mixed. On one level it is an amazingly well-done gee-whiz SF flick, with the usually amazing SFX to be found in Toho tokusatsu films of the period. The matte work and miniatures done in setting shots of the Mu Empire are especially amazing, giving the impression of vast size. At the same time the whole impression I got is that the Muvians are the Chinese (everything from the general feel to even Manda reinforces this), and that it's only because America defeated Japan in WW2 that all of this trouble ever happened. Japan has had a lot of trouble coming to grips with the reality of their actions in WW2, and patriotic rah-rah-rah for the Empire films like this don't help. Espoecially when you know just how the Japanese Empire behaved in China, their gleeful destruction of all of Mu feels just plain unsettling.
That said, Atragon is a very well-done and entertaining movie, and can be enjoyed just for that. Indeed, the sub became so popular that it showed up years later in Toho's 'everything and the kitchen sink' Godzilla film Godzilla: Final Wars. I'd recommend this movie over even The Mysterians as a fun filmic romp. Five fire-spitting Muvian subs out of a potential five.
Here's one for my current favorite among the non-kaiju Toho flicks: Atragon!
First the trailer:
Click to viewThe movie itself is rather straightforward. Basically, Japan and all other nations with a coastline are ordered to put themselves under the rule of the 'Mu Empire', a Hollow Earth style kingdom beneath the Pacific Ocean. The Muvians once ruled the entire world and they want to restore their domination over the 'barbarians who have risen to rule in their absenc. Attempts to fight back lead to submarines being sunk and great ports being utterly destroyed (we're told that Venice, London, and NYC are all devastated). A Japanese reporter and his sidekick get tangled up in all of this as they search for a missing super-submarine that was supposed to have been made at the end of WW2, the Atragon (called the Gotengo in the original Japanese cut). Aided by the daughter of the sub's captain and by his former superior (now running a shipping company), they learn that the Muvians want the sub too!
The intrepid group, joined by a seconbd, somewhat sleazy reporter, eventually find the island upon which the Atragon and its hidden, never-agreed-to-the-surrender crew are hidden. The sub is as amazing as the trailer suggests: it can drill through the ground, go to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, and even fly. Unfortunately its captain refuses to use the sub for any reason other than to restore the Japanese Empire. "I made that ship for Japan, not the world!"
Then we find out that the sleazy reporter is a Muvian spy. He seizes the heroic reporter and the girl with his otherworldly powers, dragging them off to Mu after making an attempt to destroy the Atragon. The Empress of Mu is delighted with these new slaves, promising to feed them to Manda to celebrate the return of her empire. Manda is the living god of the Muvians -- a 150-foot long Chinese dragon, and man is he hungry.
Meanwhile the Muvians have been attacking Japan. Their troops make a land attack out through an active volcano, using fire bombs and flying saucers to devastate port cities and the Japanese Army. The cities are hollowed out from below, with entire buildings collapsing into the Earth. And those who attempt escape by sea are destroyed by the Muvian subs. These parts are all especially well handled by Tsubaraya. The man and his crew knew how to stage their mass devastation.
The Atragon is finally repaired. They head for Mu, coincidentally arriving just as the hero frees himself and the other Japanese slaves and takes the Empress hostage. However, she frees Manda to attack the Atragon. The dragon is swiftly dealt with in a scene reminiscent of the electrified squids from Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The Atragon then drills its way into the caverns of Mu and destroys their massive power generators, leading to the patented earth-shattering kaboom. The Muvians are destroyed, Japan has saved the world, and the last we see of the Empress is of her swimming back into the sea of fire that is consuming her kingdom.
My feelings about the film are mixed. On one level it is an amazingly well-done gee-whiz SF flick, with the usually amazing SFX to be found in Toho tokusatsu films of the period. The matte work and miniatures done in setting shots of the Mu Empire are especially amazing, giving the impression of vast size. At the same time the whole impression I got is that the Muvians are the Chinese (everything from the general feel to even Manda reinforces this), and that it's only because America defeated Japan in WW2 that all of this trouble ever happened. Japan has had a lot of trouble coming to grips with the reality of their actions in WW2, and patriotic rah-rah-rah for the Empire films like this don't help. Espoecially when you know just how the Japanese Empire behaved in China, their gleeful destruction of all of Mu feels just plain unsettling.
That said, Atragon is a very well-done and entertaining movie, and can be enjoyed just for that. Indeed, the sub became so popular that it showed up years later in Toho's 'everything and the kitchen sink' Godzilla film Godzilla: Final Wars. I'd recommend this movie over even The Mysterians as a fun filmic romp. Five fire-spitting Muvian subs out of a potential five.