Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

Why do you guys think of those films? I saw them and I thought the effects were subpar compared to kaiju films like Godzilla and Rodan.

I think that the Mysterians had the strongest effects out of the three. It also had the better score, story, and acting.

The special effects in "The Mysterians", while technically good, seem to drown out the rest of the movie. The battles I thought were a bit too long and (at least in the U.S. version) we really don't get a chance to know much about the main characters, especially Kenji Sahara.

"Battle in Outer Space" starts out slowly, but does have a rousing finale.

"Gorath" IMO, is the best of the three. There, you do have a movie with great special effects and much more involving human interest stories. Ryo Ikebe does give a sincere performance and I thought it was one of Yumi Shirakawa's best roles (this and in "The Last War"). Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Takashi Shimura and Jun Tazaki gave very reliable performances as well.

THE MYSTERIANS was produced as an science fiction war movie, nothing more, and makes no apologies for it. It is the single most iconoclastic Toho science fiction movie ever made (the saucers, the superweapons, the robot). The sight of the 600 foot tall Markalite Flying Heat Ray Projectors battling it out with the Mysterian Dome, backed by Ifukube's thundering score is unforgettable.

A serious mark up, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE is probably the best science fiction space movies made in this era -- clearly more an action film than the stiffer American counterparts -- and pays off in spades. The imagery is staggering and Ifukube's score is rousing.

GORATH is the ultimate Toho science fiction film, chock-full of space adventure, cosmic danger, earth-bound disaster, and more. This is the most lavish genre picture ever produced by Toho, and it shows from the fantastic set design, large cast, incredible miniature work and overall gloss. This film sets Toho's genre production to a fine polish, which would last through the 1960s, and set the tone for films to follow. Kan Ishii's ominous score is impressive.

These are three of my most favorite Toho science-adventure movies.

As the others have said, Gorath is by far the better of the 3 films with regard to plot and character development. When I first picked up a copy of Gorath, I wasnt quite sure what to expect, suffice it to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Not only were the characters developed and interesting but the sci-fi plot, while a bit out there (afterall, there are kaiju), was actually somewhat believable...as much as can be expected. I havent seen Battle in Outer Space so I cant comment. The Mysterians I have seen also and, as already stated above, is by far the most "sci-fi ish" of the bunch. As you may know, The Mysterians marks the first appearance of Mogera. Unfortunately, Mogera isnt in the movie for more than a couple a minutes (at least in my version, anyway)...so that was a bit of a letdown, IMO

Lastly, if you have the chance to pick up any of these movies, go for it....remember, ladies like guys who have a large Japanese 60's sci-fi movie collection

Too bad that's a movie from Daiei, not Toho...

Oh well, I never really pay attention to that sort of thing anyway. You might say I was in a "Toho" frame of mind

WHAT? That's like saying that MARS NEEDS WOMEN is better than THE MYSTERIANS! ;P

If I want to watch a good version of THE WAR IN SPACE, I'll just watch ATRAGON!