Japan Release: 1956
Running Time: 82 minutes

Rodan

空の大怪獣 ラドン
[Sora no Daikaiju Radon]

In a mining village, strange deaths have been occurring. The victims are assumed murdered and an investigation is launched. The true culprit is discovered: Meganulon, an ancient insect species. The creature briefly ravages the village before venturing back into the mine. Realizing what they are up against, troops with machine guns enter the mine after it. However, their weapons have no effect, and it requires a mine cart ramming into the beast to kill it. Victories are cut short as more Meganulon appear after the first is killed. A resulting cave-in forces a retreat as the insects are believed killed. Shortly afterwards, a supersonic terror is seen in the skies, as another prehistoric terror was awoken from the cave-in...

Live Action Science Fiction Kaiju

Titles

Rodan

Rodan! The Flying Monster
US Distributor: DCA (1957) / Time: 72 Minutes

Rodan, Monster of the Sky
[Literal translation]

Rodan: Death Bird
[Polish]

Monsters

Aliens, SDF & Misc.

Staff

Cast

Posters

DVDs and Blu-rays

CD Soundtracks

Background and Trivia

• Toho submitted the film to the US copyright office on January 6th, 1983 with the registration number of PA0000172644. The title on the copyright claim was listed under its interantional title of Rodan and the Romaji title of the monster itself: Radon. An alternate title of Sky Monster Rodan was also listed.
• Both of the main stars of the film were relatively unknown when cast in the production. Consequently, they were promoted in trailers as "our great hopes for 1957" in an attempt to position them for successful careers afterwards. This information is located in the book Age of the Gods (self-published).
• Director Ishiro Honda has occasionally noted Rodan as being his favorite of all the monster films he has made. This detail is found in Age of the Gods (self-published).
• In 1976, the movie was re-released with Godzilla (1954) and Mothra (1961). The three film re-release was called "Eiji Tsuburaya's World of Dreams." The concept was revisited on November 28th, 1982 with the same three films re-released. However, the 1982 billing no longer carried the 'World of Dreams' title.
• The climatic battle in Fukuoka in the movie was changed to "Sasebo" in the American version.
• Distributions Corporation of America (DCA) hired their own staff to dub the film into English after acquiring the rights. Among the cast was Paul Frees and also a young George Takei, nearly a decade before he would work on Star Trek. This information is located in the book Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo (ISBN: 0922915474).
• Footage from the movie was used in the 1961 US film Valley of the Dragons. The movie converts the footage to black and white, to match the 1961 production, and uses scenes of Rodan to stand in for a winged dinosaur.

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