TALKBACK: The Mysterians
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2012 9:24 pmThis movie has nostalgic value for me, even though I didn't see it until I was 16, all of seven years ago. Aside from Rodan, I never saw any of the non-Godzilla Toho SFX films from the golden age as a child, but I was aware of their existence thanks to books like The Official Godzilla Compendium. In the late '90s, if they weren't at any local video stores, as far as I knew they weren't on video at all, so to me those movies were always things of wonder, the mysterious first appearances of many of the monsters I knew from Godzilla films, lost to time, never to be seen.
Then in 2005, out of nowhere comes Media Blasters with a quartet of obscure Toho classics on DVD, starting with The Mysterians. The moment the menu screen came up and I heard Akira Ifukube's "Preparing to Attack" cue, it dawned on me what I was in for. For some reason it had never clicked in my head before then that these elusive Showa era SFX films were cut from the same cloth as the Godzilla classics I grew up watching, with the same kind of look and style that all felt so familiar to me. That was when I really started to appreciate the unique sensibility that Ishiro Honda, Akira Ifukube, Eiji Tsuburaya et al. brought to the table, as well as the recurring actors that pop up in so many of these classics. Realizing that the total number of Showa Era movies was more than double what I had thought was exciting to say the least.
I really like The Mysterians. Rewatching it now, it's clear that there isn't all that much of a story here. It's not as thin on plot as Battle In Outer Space, but after the first 40 minutes or so it's really just a series of escalating action sequences. What makes it work is the intrigue the movie builds up in the first act. The mystery of Shiraishi's disappearance, his incomplete report on Mysteroid, disasters in the form of a forest fire and a giant robot, and strange activity on the moon all lead up to the sudden revelation of the Mysterian dome.
I like how Mogera is handled. Unlike Godzilla and Rodan, the giant monster (or robot in this case) is a precursor to the film's main conflict, appearing early and unexpectedly. The outstretched arms, lumbering gate and lack of a voice make Mogera effectively ominous and the nighttime attack on the town is wonderfully shot. The brief appearance of the second Mogera toward the end of the movie is hilarious.
There is really bizarre scene in which a U.S. official speaks in English and a translator repeats the message in Japanese to the Japanese characters. Then when they all sit down, the American suddenly speaks Japanese, so why did he ever need a translator? I think the white actors were probably native Japanese speakers with no idea what they were saying in English. I wonder why Honda had them speaking Japanese in the film at all, though I guess he figured Japanese audiences at the time wouldn't be bothered by that inconsistency.
The miniature effects are just spectacular. Combined with the dynamic rotoscoping and Ifukube's riveting score they make for some unforgettable sequences of the Earth Defense Force fighting the Mysterians. This is the ultimate 1950s alien invasion movie.
Then in 2005, out of nowhere comes Media Blasters with a quartet of obscure Toho classics on DVD, starting with The Mysterians. The moment the menu screen came up and I heard Akira Ifukube's "Preparing to Attack" cue, it dawned on me what I was in for. For some reason it had never clicked in my head before then that these elusive Showa era SFX films were cut from the same cloth as the Godzilla classics I grew up watching, with the same kind of look and style that all felt so familiar to me. That was when I really started to appreciate the unique sensibility that Ishiro Honda, Akira Ifukube, Eiji Tsuburaya et al. brought to the table, as well as the recurring actors that pop up in so many of these classics. Realizing that the total number of Showa Era movies was more than double what I had thought was exciting to say the least.
I really like The Mysterians. Rewatching it now, it's clear that there isn't all that much of a story here. It's not as thin on plot as Battle In Outer Space, but after the first 40 minutes or so it's really just a series of escalating action sequences. What makes it work is the intrigue the movie builds up in the first act. The mystery of Shiraishi's disappearance, his incomplete report on Mysteroid, disasters in the form of a forest fire and a giant robot, and strange activity on the moon all lead up to the sudden revelation of the Mysterian dome.
I like how Mogera is handled. Unlike Godzilla and Rodan, the giant monster (or robot in this case) is a precursor to the film's main conflict, appearing early and unexpectedly. The outstretched arms, lumbering gate and lack of a voice make Mogera effectively ominous and the nighttime attack on the town is wonderfully shot. The brief appearance of the second Mogera toward the end of the movie is hilarious.
There is really bizarre scene in which a U.S. official speaks in English and a translator repeats the message in Japanese to the Japanese characters. Then when they all sit down, the American suddenly speaks Japanese, so why did he ever need a translator? I think the white actors were probably native Japanese speakers with no idea what they were saying in English. I wonder why Honda had them speaking Japanese in the film at all, though I guess he figured Japanese audiences at the time wouldn't be bothered by that inconsistency.
The miniature effects are just spectacular. Combined with the dynamic rotoscoping and Ifukube's riveting score they make for some unforgettable sequences of the Earth Defense Force fighting the Mysterians. This is the ultimate 1950s alien invasion movie.
