by Giganfan » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:02 pm
The Mysterians is my favorite of all Toho's fantasy films. To me, it contains all of the hallmarks of what a classic Toho science fiction epic is supposed to be; the ecclectic use of colors, the wildly imaginative costumes and weaponry, Ishiro Honda's universal theme of international unity against a common threat, the INTENSLEY blue skies (you gotta love Toho's backdrops in those days!) and a ROUSING Akira Ifukube score. When considering The Mysterians I cannot help comparing it to another of my all-time favorite films, Tod Browning's Dracula with Bela Lugosi, in terms of it's basic construction. In both films, you are immediately drawn in by the expository action. In Dracula the opening moments in Transylvania are often regarded as some of the finest of horror cinema that's ever been filmed, while in The Mysterians, the carefully paced and brilliantly moody "act one" with Moguera is simply one of the best sequences that the Honda/Tsuburaya/Ifukube trio ever conceived. However, in the case of both films, it seems the popular consensus is that everything that follows is considerably inferior. With Dracula, it becomes the victim of an extemely stage-bound script and a notoriously un-flashy director who was finding it difficult to adjust to the dawn of the talking picture era. In The Mysterians, with the exception of the effects sequences, most fans and critics feel that the story bogs down and Honda directs at a somnambulistic pace (that's just the feeling I have gotten from reading reviews and opinions of fans over the years; I could be wrong). To me, even though both movies are admittedly flawed, and not perfect, The Mysterians and Dracul are still great films, and are highly effective because they hook you from the start. Honda, Tsuburaya and co. start out with a loud "BANG" and they instantly get you interested. For me anyway, that's all they really needed to do to have me invested in whatever story they were trying to tell. The brilliant opening moments are what elevate the rest of the material beyond their imperfections. And besides, Ishiro Honda was, respectfully, an economy-minded and deliberately methodical director, sometimes to the benefit of a movie, sometimes not. Howard Hawks once said that a good movie consists of two or three great scenes, and no bad ones. Now, whether or not you agree with that statement (I do), I think it's safe to say that The Mysterians has three great scenes, atleast two and, atleast to my liking, no bad ones.
"EVERYONE FORGET YOUR TROUBLES! ENJOY YOURSELVES!THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!" - Gigantis The Fire Monster
"It was HUGE...It was...IT WAS LIKE A MONSTER!!! Suddenly the rocks rose...ALIVE!" - Godzilla 1985