ferbs54 The evil empire of Mu had sunk to the depths of the Pacific around 10,000 B.C., but, as the 1963 Japanese film "Atragon" shows us, by the year 1965 its people were alive and well, surviving on the ocean floor and ready to conquer the surface lands once again. After Hong Kong and Venice are destroyed, it seems that only the supersub Atragon might be able to save the nations of Earth from the Mu menace, and so a team is dispatched to locate its renegade Capt. Jinguji, a superpatriot for whom World War II has never ended.... Anyway, "Atragon" is a very fine example of a "tokusatsu" (Japanese special FX movie), and the ship itself, with its drilling bow, cold-air cannon and ability to fly through the air, is quite a pleasing creation. The film reunites director Ishiro Honda, composer Akira Ifukube and FX master Eiji Tsuburaya from 1954's "Gojira," the original Godzilla picture, as well as that earlier film's Akihiko Hirata, the inventor of the Oxygen Destroyer, here playing Mu Agent #23. "Atragon" also dishes out some impressive-looking sets (such as those gigantic royal chambers in Mu) and rousing battle sequences (the Mu sub, with its serpent-shaped cannon, destroying a Japanese fleet, looks especially awesome). Although not a "kaiju eiga" (monster movie), the film still offers us one "daikaiju" (giant monster) in the form of Manda, a snaky serpent creature that gives the folks on the Atragon a rough moment or two. The picture packs quite a bit of story--perhaps too much story--into its 96-minute running time and probably would have benefited from an extra half hour for a more leisurely exposition. Still, the film is undeniably fun, and the Mu empress really is something to see. The DVD that I just watched, by the way, from Media Blasters' Tokyo Shock series, looks very fine, and really is everything one could ask for.

Michael A. Martinez Toho was totally on fire for a brief period in the early to mid 60's. Though even later they sporadically came up with something great like WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS or BATTLE OF THE SEA OF JAPAN, most of their best film were actually non-Godzilla films.ATRAGON is one of the first and best examples of 60's Toho lunacy and excellent Tsuburaya special effects, combined with excellent acting. There's plenty of absurd science, ridiculous ideas like flying subs, massive destruction, fast-paced action, and even a giant monster to keep anyone's attention.The only thing weighing this film down is the pacing being totally off. There is waaaay too much time devoted build-up and fleshing out too many 1-dimensional characters. A lot of sequences (like finding the legendary lost captain on an uncharted island) are way too drawn out and sap the film of a lot of excitement. The monster "Manda" is poorly animated and underutilized.That said, the city destruction presented toward the end is some of Toho's best, with a massive crater opening up under the city and sucking buildings down several hundred feet, presumably killing thousands! Another highlight comes with the Mu sub going nuts on Tokyo bay destroying several merchantmen over and over again. It's colorful fun all the way which refreshingly can appeal to children and adults alike. Toho's later scifi films tended to try too hard to stay kid-friendly.With a little editing and a few script rewrites, this could have been Japan's definitive sci fi epic. As it is, a flawed but enjoyable romp through Godzilla territory sans atomic lizard.

mabuse786 This movie is unbelievably good - regarding the time it was made. The SFX are really spectacular and everything looks visionary and good. Sure you can see that their capabilities were limited and they worked with drawings or matte paintings which is also well visible. But the story is quite straight forward and contains no flaws. YES, there is a story. The movie focuses on the post WW II world of Japan and how it changed from the end of the war until the mid sixties. It also discusses the issue of war orphans and interweaves it with the story of a - presumably - lost captain who handed his daughter over to his former admiral, she works now for. The 'lost captain' secretly build a hidden base where he has constructed the ultimate submarine to be used to restore 'Japans glory' after the lost war. But his former admiral and his now adult daughter can change his mind to fight for the world against the thread of the MU people - something like Atlantis, just located in the Pacific. As you may notice, this is pretty much of a story, you might not expect with such kind of movie. The movie also lives from many atmospheric shots on the tropic island. Don't forget, this movie was made during the sixties. I own the DVD from Tokyo Shock and I can only recommend it, transfer and sound are very good for an over 40 years old movie. For people interested in this kind of story plus some SF action, I can highly recommend this movie.

Ian Martyn (mooglepower) This is an awesome film that is worth seeing if you like sci-fi films about evil civilizations trying to take over the world. The films music (Akira Ifukube) is one of his best scores (my opinion) and is well acted. Before I first saw it, I thought it would be like the corny Godzilla films of the seventies featuring kids or kid themes, but it wasn't. This is a drama and not a comedy. Even if you have never seen this type of movie before, it is definately worth your time seeing.