Toho Kingdom

Atragon



The 1963 war/science fiction hybrid production.

When i first watched this movie i didn't really liked it i just mainly wanted to watch it because of Manda but that was a few years ago ill probably give this movie another watch.

A good entry in the Toho canon, if nothing else, it has one of Ifukube's most fist pumping themes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNg7D4GFxz4

I like Atragon. It had a fantastic musical score and some really good special effects. I also loved Jun Tazaki's performance as well. I thought he did a great job with his character. The Atragon ship itself had a really design too. It has a nice "retro" feel to it. I actually prefer this design over the GFW one.

One of my favorites...

Jun Tazaki kicks total ass in his role and the SPFX are some of Toho's best from that period, no doubt. Finding out how Tsuburaya did the explosion of Mu at the end of the film is a perfect example of the man's ingenuity. If I had to have any qualms with it, it's that Manda feels TOO obviously tacked on. It's not quite as noticeable as Maguma's role in Gorath, but he is still pretty out of place.

It's a fun film, and I enjoy watching it every time I plop it in.

BUMP

Atragon is easily my favorite non-Kaiju fantasy film from Toho. It's a shame this film doesn't get more attention; it's just a fantastic adventure film, perfectly balancing a light-hearted tone with a poignant theme and message. Jun Tezaki was always a favorite of mine as far as supporting Toho actors go and it's a treat seeing him take centre stage as the enigmatic Captain Jinguji. Seeing Takashima and Fujiki return to play off each other like in King Kong vs. Godzilla is also a great surprise.

The Gotengo is an amazing machine. If Godzilla isn't the icon of Toho Fantasy Cinema, it's the Gotengo for sure. A sleek Cold War update of a Jules Verne style machine. Makes me wonder why a Undersea Battleship tai Gojira film was never made.

My opinion isn't too popular, but I thought Atragon was quite boring. Major actors were given minor roles, and amateur ones were given major roles. The props were also obvious toys, and many plot holes stood out. The most noticeable one: a primitive civilization with nothing but earthquake-inducing machines, a serpentine dragon, and spears to fight with. This is a war that any modern civilization would dominate.

I have yet to see this film. Hopefully when I get the DVD, its good.

Showa Gyaos wrote:My opinion isn't too popular,

Neither will your face once I break it over this minor disagreement over the following points.

Major actors were given minor roles, and amateur ones were given major roles.

I see nothing wrong with that; shaking up the status quo and putting some fresh faces on screen.

The props were also obvious toys

I didn't find them to be any more obvious then the usual early to mid-sixties Toho films. I thought the sets for Mu and the prop for the Gotengo looked utterly fantastic.

and many plot holes stood out. The most noticeable one: a primitive civilization with nothing but earthquake-inducing machines, a serpentine dragon, and spears to fight with. This is a war that any modern civilization would dominate.

I don't see them as plot holes, so much as lapses in logic; but those abound throughout these films, considerably worse ones from this same era even. They're films about style, not making sense.

Also they had submarines with laser cannons. And an Earthquake machine would be devastating.

Atragon is probably my favorite non-Godzilla Toho sfx movie. Tadao Takashima is, next to Akira Takarada, my favorite Toho actor. The movie opens a really exciting, it has a solid plot. It had some amazing matte painting, a great score. I don't really see what there is to hate about this movie.

cool movie, great music, and MANDA!!
one of the better non Kaiju centered movies.

rytheman wrote:A good entry in the Toho canon, if nothing else, it has one of Ifukube's most fist pumping themes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNg7D4GFxz4

Apparently Toho claimed copyright...

Love this film. It ties with The Mysterians and Space Amoeba as favorite non-Godzilla Toho sci-fi films for me. If there was one film I wish Toho would have a re-make with (without the cheap Final Warts "modernization") it's this. The Atragon submarine/rocket/battleship is possibly one of the most iconic images in Japanese sci-fi history.

I ordered the Tokyo Shock disc of this in December. 3 months later, it finally came and I almost couldn't stand to wait an hour before I watched it. I can honestly say, I was dissapointed. But...BUT, a couple of weeks ago, I popped it in just for shitzungiggles, and I've watched it twice since then. It was like that with Space Amoeba, too. I come back to them a month or so later and they are awesome. Anyway, my opinion of it changed drastically. I hate that some people bitch because Manda wasn't in most of it. The rest of the film was okay, too. The miniatures looked fake...blah, blah. It could've been worse...

I don't really own Atragon outside my VHS AIP dub copy. I really hope to see the Japanese version soon.

The Dark Uniter wrote:I don't really own Atragon outside my VHS AIP dub copy. I really hope to see the Japanese version soon.

Amazon has the Tokyo Shock DVD for a decent price now, which is what I have. I don't know what your opinion of these discs are, but I think they are good. If you're willing to pay 16 or 17 bucks, I think it's worth it.

therealmccoy wrote:

The Dark Uniter wrote:I don't really own Atragon outside my VHS AIP dub copy. I really hope to see the Japanese version soon.

Amazon has the Tokyo Shock DVD for a decent price now, which is what I have. I don't know what your opinion of these discs are, but I think they are good. If you're willing to pay 16 or 17 bucks, I think it's worth it.

I think its 10 dollars now from a third party merchant so I'll probably go with that.

The Dark Uniter wrote:I think its 10 dollars now from a third party merchant so I'll probably go with that.

You should jump on it, then. When I first started looking at it, apparently that particular copy was hard to find. Guys were charging anywhere from 60 to 80 bucks for it, and I'm not joking. I bought it for 19.99 with prime, and the only reason I bought it for that was because it was the lowest I saw it in probably 3 months. I couldn't say if that would happen again, but just runnin' it by you.

I love this film!

I enjoyed the fact that the actors took prominence over the effects in this movie and Akira Ifukube's music is superb!

Pretty good movie. Some complain about it not being much of a monster movie but this movie really wasn't about it.