Atragon (1963)

The evil empire of Mu had sunk to the depths of the Pacific around 10,000 B.C., but, as the 1963 Japanese film "Atragon" shows us, by the year 1965 its people were alive and well, surviving on the ocean floor and ready to conquer the surface lands once again. After Hong Kong and Venice are destroyed, it seems that only the supersub Atragon might be able to save the nations of Earth from the Mu menace, and so a team is dispatched to locate its renegade Capt. Jinguji, a superpatriot for whom World War II has never ended.... Anyway, "Atragon" is a very fine example of a "tokusatsu" (Japanese special FX movie), and the ship itself, with its drilling bow, cold-air cannon and ability to fly through the air, is quite a pleasing creation. The film reunites director Ishiro Honda, composer Akira Ifukube and FX master Eiji Tsuburaya from 1954's "Gojira," the original Godzilla picture, as well as that earlier film's Akihiko Hirata, the inventor of the Oxygen Destroyer, here playing Mu Agent #23. "Atragon" also dishes out some impressive-looking sets (such as those gigantic royal chambers in Mu) and rousing battle sequences (the Mu sub, with its serpent-shaped cannon, destroying a Japanese fleet, looks especially awesome). Although not a "kaiju eiga" (monster movie), the film still offers us one "daikaiju" (giant monster) in the form of Manda, a snaky serpent creature that gives the folks on the Atragon a rough moment or two. The picture packs quite a bit of story--perhaps too much story--into its 96-minute running time and probably would have benefited from an extra half hour for a more leisurely exposition. Still, the film is undeniably fun, and the Mu empress really is something to see. The DVD that I just watched, by the way, from Media Blasters' Tokyo Shock series, looks very fine, and really is everything one could ask for.

This movie is unbelievably good - regarding the time it was made. The SFX are really spectacular and everything looks visionary and good. Sure you can see that their capabilities were limited and they worked with drawings or matte paintings which is also well visible. But the story is quite straight forward and contains no flaws. YES, there is a story. The movie focuses on the post WW II world of Japan and how it changed from the end of the war until the mid sixties. It also discusses the issue of war orphans and interweaves it with the story of a - presumably - lost captain who handed his daughter over to his former admiral, she works now for. The 'lost captain' secretly build a hidden base where he has constructed the ultimate submarine to be used to restore 'Japans glory' after the lost war. But his former admiral and his now adult daughter can change his mind to fight for the world against the thread of the MU people - something like Atlantis, just located in the Pacific. As you may notice, this is pretty much of a story, you might not expect with such kind of movie. The movie also lives from many atmospheric shots on the tropic island. Don't forget, this movie was made during the sixties. I own the DVD from Tokyo Shock and I can only recommend it, transfer and sound are very good for an over 40 years old movie. For people interested in this kind of story plus some SF action, I can highly recommend this movie.

*SPOILER WARNING* Sort of a Japanese Captain Nemo story, ATRAGON has to do with a super submarine that can do damn near anything and the part that it plays in saving the world from invasion by the evil forces of the Mu empire. When the Mu invaders show up, they boast of their superiority, yet they request that we not use Atragon (the super-sub) against them. Those wussies...Anyway, much butt is kicked and the serpent monster Manda makes its debut here. Manda is probably best known for the train derailment scene from DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, and is kind of cool since it looks like a traditional Asian dragon. As Toho flicks go, this has more plot than usual, but I still think it only rates a **1/2 out of a possible ****.

ATRAGON (1963, aka KAITEI GUNKAN) is a fun, fast paced sci-fi action thriller by the Japanese makers and stars of the Godzilla series. It seems the undersea kingdom of Mu wants to reclaim their rule on Earth. It's up to a plucky cheesecake photographer (Tadao Takashima) and a self-exiled WW2 Japanese Naval officer (Jun Tazaki) to stop them. There are laps of logic, which kind of add to the fun, and some well staged sequences. Film gets especially silly when the undersea Mu empire sends the Japanese Government an 8mm film explaining Mu's history and plans. This little film has optical titles, a narration, the works. Does this undersea kingdom have a film production unit complete with a film processing lab? Giddy fun here. ]