Ooh! Just got a theory pop into my head. Seatopia was a splinter/vestigial kingdom from the fall of Mu. Smaller, weaker, never an equal but left with enough of the former ruler's prestige, technology, and power to have some kaiju and leave their mark on things.
I can tell you one thing. I wasn't bored a single minute when I first saw this as a 9 year old kid on July 10th, Saturday 1965. That still holds true in 2022.
A city attack by the giant serpent deity would’ve been a spectacle to behold. But alas, since Manda was another last-minute addition by Tomoyuki Tanaka, the crew had little time to add additional effects shots for the film, minus a brief undersea clash between the titan and the warship.
Shin Godzilla 1987 Yep, he had a strange habit of insisting to Honda that their movie, long after the script had been finished, needed a monster in it to be marketable: The Mysterians, Gorath, and now Atragon.
@@tyrantgregcagkaiju71 lol I remember reading about how he wanted Ghidorah to originally have 8 heads like a hydra he saw in a book. No wonder kg regenerated in kotm 2019 xD
Same. I think Manda is one of the most under used monsters within the Godzilla franchise. I feel that they can do a lot more with him and make him a more celestial being among the lines of Mothra and King Ceaser. For example give him more powers that are weather based like the ability to generate hurricanes at will, create a smoke screen using fog, spit water from his mouth at such a high speed to the point that it cuts things in half like a water-jet machine, etc.
One of my favorite things about this channel is getting to see the array of Toho movies I've missed over my decades long obsession with kaiju. Always look forward to these man. Keep em comin. And you deserve way more subs
@@KiddingCell Really?! I hadn't heard that before. Damn, why is that everything I hear about that this version sounds better than the already great _GMK!_ I want this version so bad! Urgh. LOL
If you liked this movie, then the anime "Super Atragon" is an absolute must see. Different story, but it's an incredible job of animation with an equally great soundtrack.
I saw this movie as a child on Saturday afternoon Creature Features. For many years I never knew what it was and only really remembered the Mu submarines attacking ships on the surface with the weapon on the front shaped like Manda. As you can imagine, trying to Google "Japanese movie submarine snake weapon" wasn't too helpful. At times I thought it might be Atragon, but none of the screenshots I saw had the Mu subs in them. It wasn't until a few years ago when I got a copy of the film that I realized that it WAS the movie I remembered.
Aw yeah, Atragon! Probably my favorite of all of the non Godzilla Toho movies. Most of that love is directed towards Manda, but the film itself is pretty enjoyable as well.
Surprised you didn't touch more on the legacy of this film, from the appearance of the _Gotengo_ in other films, perhaps most notably Godzilla: Final Wars, to the anime sequel, Super Atragon.
I have always been curious about this one. But I have never seen a copy of this in stores and haven't remembered to even look it up on the web. lol. I hope Manda gets to be another movie someday.
Manda was the 60s popular era Japanese Kaiju who was used both as a sea Dragon in Atragon and renamed as Kai Dragon the pet of weird girl Ohitome in Ultra Q series as well being used as a amphibious snake in the Godzilla film Destroy all monsters.
This reminds me of that scene in Godzilla Final Wars where a similar ship like the one in the film also fights an eastern dragon. wonder if there's a connection?
Love how you have grown so much within a small amount of time and you keep finding content to upload from even the lesser heard of Toho titles, keep up the awesome work!
I saw this film when I was 8, in 1963, a double feature, Sunday matinee, along with "Crab Island" or something. I missed all of the nuances, but have always wanted to see it again nonetheless.
You know 6 days ago I would not have been able to search for this video but by random chance I really wanted to see if you had made a review for the atragon movie and well here it is. Keep up the good work
I remember when I was younger I would watch a lot of Showa Godzilla movies but every once in a while they would mention manda and for the longest time I was so confused about what he was so or if he even had a movie
Having finally seen the origin of Manda Im surprised the dragon has been in more Toho movies than Megalon. They hail from similar origins but IMO Megalon has more personality and unique design than Manda.
In the English version of this movie the ship is called Atragon. But in the Japanese version, it's called the Gotengo or in Japanese as Kaitei Gundan (Undersea Battleship).
It was the US title of the movie, "Atragon" being a contraction of "Atlantic Dragon", possibly in reference to Manda (which is dumb, the whole thing takes place in the Pacific ocean). If that seems stupid and pointless, keep in mind that such needless changes and butcheries were the norm for bringing foreign films to the West back then (look at what was done to a lot of the older Godzilla movies, good lord).
I always thought Manda should not have been revealed so soon, and instead just appeared as statues that the Mu worshiped. The heroes wouldn't have taken it seriously until it rose up to life for the final battle.
Yeaaaah there’s lots more 😅 After consulting my obsessive nerd list of daikaiju & tokusatsu films, in the Showa era alone there’s about two dozen films just from Toho, plus at least another four dozen kaiju & tokusatsu films by other Japanese & Korean studios that he hasn’t covered 😁 And that’s not counting US & EU giant monster films (aside from Kong & Monsterverse films), TV series like Zone Fighter or the Ultra series, or more obscure sources like the shogun-period films with giant monsters from Taiwan 🤓
Atragon, or Kaitei Gunkan, was released during the Year of the Dragon according to the audio commentary on the DVD. Old grudges are something to be aware of. This was Manda’s only solo outing. But, he and Goutengo meet again in Godzilla:Final Wars. I enjoyed Atragon.
I haven't watched this movie, but I watched Manda in Destroy All Monsters and Final Wars. I think a redesign for Manda would be great, so he could appear again.
The one other interesting character (I thought) was the Empress of Mu, who more or less, mirrored Jinguji's nationalistic approach, but unlike Jinguji, who had a change of heart, it ending up becoming her downfall. Jun Tazaki is great at Captain Jinguji. However, as I understand it, the role was originally meant for Toshiro Mifune, which would have been his first Toho sci-fi. Unfortunately, his work on Kurosawa's "Red Beard" was taking forever, and thus Mifune was not available. :(
I watched this movie today and I was thinking about how Manda could have been used better, given that it's believed he was a mandate by Tomoyuki Tanaka/Toho and he deserved better. I would have had it explained in the backstory that when Mu sank he helped the Muans survive, doing things like bringing them materials to enhance their technology and in turn they worshiped him as their new God. And throughout the movie I would have had Manda take part in the destruction scenes (specifically the ones in the ocean, so for example the submarine isn't destroyed by water pressure, it's destroyed by Manda) I'd even give him the Mu Submarine's ability to fire red lasers (which he would do from his mouth) and the Mu submarines are there to guide him to specific areas. And in the climax instead of the Empress releasing him Manda confronts the prisons as he's coming back to Mu and so the Gotengo distracts him with the torpedos as happens in the movie. Where things would differ is Manda moves out of the way and keeps his eye on the Gotengo, seemingly let it burrow into the Mu, thats when he would attack it again, which I think would of added tension as I thought the Gotengo crew going in and destroying Mu seemed almost too easy. So when the crew comes back on board that's when they electrocute Manda to get him off and finally Manda would take the place of the final Mu submarine firing the red laser at the Gotengo which is finally frozen by the flying warship
Another nice post. Really enjoy your channel and LOVE the title. Reptilicus would seem to be the Danish version of Manda. Any plans for for reviewing that movie?
Can you review The H Man and Battle in Outer Space? Just bought those from Eureka, watched 'em, loved 'em, but would really like to hear your opinion...
I just showed this movie to my buddy (a South Park animator) last night. He was not impressed at all. I have to admit that it was even slower and narratively choppier / uninspired than I remembered... but I'm still a huge fan of the final 15 minutes of the film. That earthquake scene, the submarine attack on the harbor, and then the ending with the Gotengo smashing into the heart of the city all hold up extremely well.
I'm almost sure I've never seen Atragon. And I'm somebody who's seen Mutango, The Mysterians, and the movie with the giant jellyfish and the diamond thieves. It does look worth checking out though.
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment of Atragon, some interesting ideas in a bland package. Hmm, you seem to be doing these in date order, does that mean you're not covering Gorath at this time? It's technically a kaiju movie, and even contributes something to Godzilla Final Wars, so I'd have expected it to be worth looking at.
It’s fairly good, probably close in quality to Atragon, but with more of a disaster movie plot (actually its basic storyline is very similar to “Warning from Space”, but without the alien starfishes 😅), and Maguma is just as incidental to the plot as Manda is here. Unfortunately there’s no official US release, but there are decent graymarket versions in both sub & dub 👍🏽
Does anyone know a good consolidated place online where I can watch the original Godzilla/casual movies with English subtitles and their reedited American counterparts or do we just have to order all the DVDs from different places? I own a lot of the classic media cuts which are great because they have both versions but then for other movies I have to order the original with subtitles from Japan and then I have to order the reedited American version on Amazon and I’m just wondering if there’s one consolidated place where we can do this
There’s no one single license holder for all of Toho’s films in the US so you won’t find them all in one place, but with very few exceptions all of their kaiju films have been released in the US in both sub & dub at some point on either dvd or bluray, so you really shouldn’t have to order from Japan. IIRC the only kaiju exceptions are King Kong Escapes (only the dub released in the US) and neither Gorath or Daigoro vs Goliath have had official US releases. Or Half-Human, but that will likely **never** receive any official release anywhere ☹️
I just ordered most of the Tokyo Shock line of Toho DVDs that came out between 2005-07 from various sellers on eBay. The Mysterians arrived first. It’s a counterfeit. The packaging looks really good except for some close details that are off like the printing on the top of the disc not being very sharp and the overall printing being slightly dull. After doing some research, I’ll be shocked if I get one real disc from the batch. If you feel like going the eBay route, get some DVD ripping software like MakeMKV to see if there is any copy protection. If there isn’t, it’s a fake. It will also say the authoring date and what program authored it. If it’s another dvd ripping app on a date way later than the release of the disc, it’s a fake. From info on forums I’ve now read, most of the discs sold on eBay are fakes. But if you just want to see the movies and know what you’re most likely ordering, they’re on there to be had.
@R Huber Bummer, sorry to hear that 🙁 The gray market these days is definitely a double-edge sword. You can get otherwise-unavailable-in-your-country titles with far higher production value than the crappy fan sub videotapes or unmarked burned DVDs in photocopy sleeves of the past, but that also opens the door for shenanigans like this to occur, where just because a domestic release is out of print they feel it’s fair game to pass off copies for original merch 😑
It's not a kaiju franchise but you should review the jurassic park franchise I would like to see what you think of the series and you loved the lost world and the original as a kid
Wandered into this movie on amazon prime video (monster B movie goldmine over there right now), glad to see the insight here. Definitely missed the Mu as a symbol of the worst of imperial japan, seems so obvious in hindsight.
A shame that the sole monster in the film was puppeted, designed and shot so poorly. Some of the production values were truly spectacular, surprisingly so. (Some shots from this film were incorporated into the AIP British co-production, THE CITY IN THE SEA, aka WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP.)
Manda looked fake in all shots. The submarine was the star of the show for me when I was a kid. The movie was enough of a spectacle to keep my attention for most of the time.
"I'm Manda, I was in Atragon"
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Manda... we were in Destroy All Monsters together...
...Nothing?” 🐉
Love the MIB reference
the Seatopians: who are you?
the Mu Empire: we're you, but stronger
Ooh! Just got a theory pop into my head. Seatopia was a splinter/vestigial kingdom from the fall of Mu. Smaller, weaker, never an equal but left with enough of the former ruler's prestige, technology, and power to have some kaiju and leave their mark on things.
I can tell you one thing. I wasn't bored a single minute when I first saw this as a 9 year old kid on July 10th, Saturday 1965. That still holds true in 2022.
Atragon's theme is epic! I liked the film but I wish Manda got more screen time.
A city attack by the giant serpent deity would’ve been a spectacle to behold. But alas, since Manda was another last-minute addition by Tomoyuki Tanaka, the crew had little time to add additional effects shots for the film, minus a brief undersea clash between the titan and the warship.
@@tyrantgregcagkaiju71 That would have been great! Lol good ol Tanaka always with the great ideas
Shin Godzilla 1987 Yep, he had a strange habit of insisting to Honda that their movie, long after the script had been finished, needed a monster in it to be marketable: The Mysterians, Gorath, and now Atragon.
@@tyrantgregcagkaiju71 lol I remember reading about how he wanted Ghidorah to originally have 8 heads like a hydra he saw in a book. No wonder kg regenerated in kotm 2019 xD
Same
Behold the first appearance of Manda, my favorite obscure Toho Kaiju!
Wish he'd have more appearances
Same. I think Manda is one of the most under used monsters within the Godzilla franchise. I feel that they can do a lot more with him and make him a more celestial being among the lines of Mothra and King Ceaser. For example give him more powers that are weather based like the ability to generate hurricanes at will, create a smoke screen using fog, spit water from his mouth at such a high speed to the point that it cuts things in half like a water-jet machine, etc.
Titanus Mamosuda
Note: Mamosu Da was going to be Manda's original name before Atragon was going to be released.
Yeah I'm still pissed the Gotengo kills him
I love manda to
Manda needs more lovin’ nuff said.
The submarine that drilled its way into my childhood memories,
I love this movie. I remember watching it all the time as a little kid.
One of my favorite things about this channel is getting to see the array of Toho movies I've missed over my decades long obsession with kaiju. Always look forward to these man. Keep em comin.
And you deserve way more subs
I'm glad you pointed out the political themes of Atragon that most review missed.
They made a good decision to bring gotango back in final wars!
It was gonna be in Godzilla x Baragon Anguruis and Varan giant monsters all out attack
@@KiddingCell Really?! I hadn't heard that before.
Damn, why is that everything I hear about that this version sounds better than the already great _GMK!_ I want this version so bad! Urgh. LOL
Definitely cool that the Gotengo also fought Manda in that film. Nice nod to Atragon.
🎶Ohh, Manda, you came and you destroyed a city, isn’t that just a pity ..? Oh, Manda.... 🎶
I'm amazed that after all this time, this film is still so elusive. It's never on TV and it's never on RUclips. I wonder why.
If you liked this movie, then the anime "Super Atragon" is an absolute must see. Different story, but it's an incredible job of animation with an equally great soundtrack.
The soundtrack for this movie is godlike.
I've never seen any of the films you review, but maybe the modern ones. Yet your videos are so entertaining to watch. I love your work! Keep it up!
I saw this movie as a child on Saturday afternoon Creature Features. For many years I never knew what it was and only really remembered the Mu submarines attacking ships on the surface with the weapon on the front shaped like Manda. As you can imagine, trying to Google "Japanese movie submarine snake weapon" wasn't too helpful. At times I thought it might be Atragon, but none of the screenshots I saw had the Mu subs in them. It wasn't until a few years ago when I got a copy of the film that I realized that it WAS the movie I remembered.
This review is longer than Manda's screen time in the movie
😢😭😞😖😔
Features one of the best special effects scenes when a huge portion of Tokyo’s city caves in from a Mu empire midnight attack
I know, it's a small moment but it's really impressive.
I can't wait for you to cover Space Amoeba!
The Gotengo is a masterpiece in vehicle design.
One of my favorite movies. I love the Gotengo's design.
Aw yeah, Atragon! Probably my favorite of all of the non Godzilla Toho movies. Most of that love is directed towards Manda, but the film itself is pretty enjoyable as well.
Surprised you didn't touch more on the legacy of this film, from the appearance of the _Gotengo_ in other films, perhaps most notably Godzilla: Final Wars, to the anime sequel, Super Atragon.
So that scene from Godzilla final wars between the Gotengo and Manda was a call back to this movie.
I have always been curious about this one. But I have never seen a copy of this in stores and haven't remembered to even look it up on the web. lol. I hope Manda gets to be another movie someday.
Manda was the 60s popular era Japanese Kaiju who was used both as a sea Dragon in Atragon and renamed as Kai Dragon the pet of weird girl Ohitome in Ultra Q series as well being used as a amphibious snake in the Godzilla film Destroy all monsters.
One of the best score
I know it's not a Toho property but I do hope you feature Guilala down the line.
This reminds me of that scene in Godzilla Final Wars where a similar ship like the one in the film also fights an eastern dragon. wonder if there's a connection?
Probably, considering Godzilla Final Wars is virtually a remake of Destroy All Monsters.
Love how you have grown so much within a small amount of time and you keep finding content to upload from even the lesser heard of Toho titles, keep up the awesome work!
This makes me wonder what if that underwater civilization in King Of The Monsters was the continent of Mu?
Most likely a reference to that or seatopia
moro gaki true
I saw this film when I was 8, in 1963, a double feature, Sunday matinee, along with "Crab Island" or something. I missed all of the nuances, but have always wanted to see it again nonetheless.
Nice to see Jun Tazaki, a fixture of usually side characters in 60's toho, in the leading role here
Damn that line “do you know what it’s like to be a child orphaned by war?” really hits you right in the gut.
You know 6 days ago I would not have been able to search for this video but by random chance I really wanted to see if you had made a review for the atragon movie and well here it is. Keep up the good work
This movie was the best role of the late Jun Tazaki.
I remember when I was younger I would watch a lot of Showa Godzilla movies but every once in a while they would mention manda and for the longest time I was so confused about what he was so or if he even had a movie
This brings a whole new meaning to final Wars, how did I not know about this movie?
Gotengo needs to appear in the Monsterverse.
Imagine it leading a fleet of Super X's & Garudas.
Having finally seen the origin of Manda Im surprised the dragon has been in more Toho movies than Megalon. They hail from similar origins but IMO Megalon has more personality and unique design than Manda.
Cool videos! Waiting for your review of “The Magic Serpent “
There's an anime sequel to this called Super Atragon. Does not come recommended though btw.
Please review one of the weirdest of them all, "The X from Outer Space" Those film makers dropped a lot of acid while making that one!!!
Personally I’ve always had a soft spot for this film idk why
It seems this film has much more to it than I thought, and I never knew that awesome OST was the Atragon theme song. I feel like I should watch it.
I never understood why the movie is called Atragon when that's not even the name of the warship in the film.
In the English version of this movie the ship is called Atragon. But in the Japanese version, it's called the Gotengo or in Japanese as Kaitei Gundan (Undersea Battleship).
It was the US title of the movie, "Atragon" being a contraction of "Atlantic Dragon", possibly in reference to Manda (which is dumb, the whole thing takes place in the Pacific ocean). If that seems stupid and pointless, keep in mind that such needless changes and butcheries were the norm for bringing foreign films to the West back then (look at what was done to a lot of the older Godzilla movies, good lord).
Atragon is a much forgotten toho film but a gem nun the less
I always thought Manda should not have been revealed so soon, and instead just appeared as statues that the Mu worshiped. The heroes wouldn't have taken it seriously until it rose up to life for the final battle.
I thought you reviewed every kaiju film ever. WELL I’M WRONG
He still has not done Dogora, Space Amoeba,Gorath, and many more.
Uh oh
Yeaaaah there’s lots more 😅 After consulting my obsessive nerd list of daikaiju & tokusatsu films, in the Showa era alone there’s about two dozen films just from Toho, plus at least another four dozen kaiju & tokusatsu films by other Japanese & Korean studios that he hasn’t covered 😁 And that’s not counting US & EU giant monster films (aside from Kong & Monsterverse films), TV series like Zone Fighter or the Ultra series, or more obscure sources like the shogun-period films with giant monsters from Taiwan 🤓
Atragon, or Kaitei Gunkan, was released during the Year of the Dragon according to the audio commentary on the DVD.
Old grudges are something to be aware of.
This was Manda’s only solo outing. But, he and Goutengo meet again in Godzilla:Final Wars.
I enjoyed Atragon.
I haven't watched this movie, but I watched Manda in Destroy All Monsters and Final Wars. I think a redesign for Manda would be great, so he could appear again.
Kaitei Gunkan is one of my favorite Toho films and the Gotengo should definitely be included in a future Legendary Pictures monster film.
YAY!
The one other interesting character (I thought) was the Empress of Mu, who more or less, mirrored Jinguji's nationalistic approach, but unlike Jinguji, who had a change of heart, it ending up becoming her downfall.
Jun Tazaki is great at Captain Jinguji. However, as I understand it, the role was originally meant for Toshiro Mifune, which would have been his first Toho sci-fi. Unfortunately, his work on Kurosawa's "Red Beard" was taking forever, and thus Mifune was not available. :(
Can you do a review on the classic Daimajin movies? 😁
I love Manda he looks super cool and I think he is underated *same for titanosaurus* I probs misspelled that.
I love manda I'd watch this movie just for him
Maybe that movie inspires Yoshinobu Nishizaki to create the Space Battleship Yamato.
I watched this movie today and I was thinking about how Manda could have been used better, given that it's believed he was a mandate by Tomoyuki Tanaka/Toho and he deserved better.
I would have had it explained in the backstory that when Mu sank he helped the Muans survive, doing things like bringing them materials to enhance their technology and in turn they worshiped him as their new God. And throughout the movie I would have had Manda take part in the destruction scenes (specifically the ones in the ocean, so for example the submarine isn't destroyed by water pressure, it's destroyed by Manda) I'd even give him the Mu Submarine's ability to fire red lasers (which he would do from his mouth) and the Mu submarines are there to guide him to specific areas. And in the climax instead of the Empress releasing him Manda confronts the prisons as he's coming back to Mu and so the Gotengo distracts him with the torpedos as happens in the movie. Where things would differ is Manda moves out of the way and keeps his eye on the Gotengo, seemingly let it burrow into the Mu, thats when he would attack it again, which I think would of added tension as I thought the Gotengo crew going in and destroying Mu seemed almost too easy. So when the crew comes back on board that's when they electrocute Manda to get him off and finally Manda would take the place of the final Mu submarine firing the red laser at the Gotengo which is finally frozen by the flying warship
It's strange that they never managed to fit Atragon into the Hollow Earth of the recent Legendary Monsterverse. Personally, I would pay to see that.
Manda appears in the movie, but Gotengo steals the show!
Another nice post. Really enjoy your channel and LOVE the title.
Reptilicus would seem to be the Danish version of Manda. Any plans for for reviewing that movie?
U2000 - Tauchfahrt des Schreckens (German Title)
For a sec I though that was Manda
I wonder if the Godzilla: Final Wars ship, Gotengo paid homage to the Atragon movie. It looks very similar.
hey that ship from Godzilla: Final Wars
"Oh hi manda *sweats* I'm gonna get eatten:;"
they did my long boye dirty , happy hes coming back in Godzilla Singular Point
Where can I find this movie with such high quality video?
Can you review The H Man and Battle in Outer Space? Just bought those from Eureka, watched 'em, loved 'em, but would really like to hear your opinion...
You should review gorath
I just showed this movie to my buddy (a South Park animator) last night. He was not impressed at all. I have to admit that it was even slower and narratively choppier / uninspired than I remembered... but I'm still a huge fan of the final 15 minutes of the film. That earthquake scene, the submarine attack on the harbor, and then the ending with the Gotengo smashing into the heart of the city all hold up extremely well.
I'm almost sure I've never seen Atragon. And I'm somebody who's seen Mutango, The Mysterians, and the movie with the giant jellyfish and the diamond thieves. It does look worth checking out though.
I’m sorry but Atragon is easily one of Toho’s greatest films.
I don’t know if you’d review anime, but would you review Super Atragon?
『海底軍艦』高島忠夫、藤山陽子、小泉博、上原謙、藤木悠、佐原健二、田崎潤、小林哲子、天本英世、平田昭彦
Why don`t you make the Atlantis version?
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment of Atragon, some interesting ideas in a bland package.
Hmm, you seem to be doing these in date order, does that mean you're not covering Gorath at this time? It's technically a kaiju movie, and even contributes something to Godzilla Final Wars, so I'd have expected it to be worth looking at.
Donde consigo estas películas, son casi iguales a las peliculas de culto del Santo enmascarado de Plata!!
Is Gorath any good? Always forget about that one
I think there's a good chance that he'll review that at some point soon
It’s fairly good, probably close in quality to Atragon, but with more of a disaster movie plot (actually its basic storyline is very similar to “Warning from Space”, but without the alien starfishes 😅), and Maguma is just as incidental to the plot as Manda is here. Unfortunately there’s no official US release, but there are decent graymarket versions in both sub & dub 👍🏽
Для того времени неплохая история👍
Thats manda manda manda
Does anyone know a good consolidated place online where I can watch the original Godzilla/casual movies with English subtitles and their reedited American counterparts or do we just have to order all the DVDs from different places? I own a lot of the classic media cuts which are great because they have both versions but then for other movies I have to order the original with subtitles from Japan and then I have to order the reedited American version on Amazon and I’m just wondering if there’s one consolidated place where we can do this
Check out the Godzilla Showa era set from Criterion.
There’s no one single license holder for all of Toho’s films in the US so you won’t find them all in one place, but with very few exceptions all of their kaiju films have been released in the US in both sub & dub at some point on either dvd or bluray, so you really shouldn’t have to order from Japan. IIRC the only kaiju exceptions are King Kong Escapes (only the dub released in the US) and neither Gorath or Daigoro vs Goliath have had official US releases. Or Half-Human, but that will likely **never** receive any official release anywhere ☹️
I just ordered most of the Tokyo Shock line of Toho DVDs that came out between 2005-07 from various sellers on eBay. The Mysterians arrived first. It’s a counterfeit. The packaging looks really good except for some close details that are off like the printing on the top of the disc not being very sharp and the overall printing being slightly dull. After doing some research, I’ll be shocked if I get one real disc from the batch. If you feel like going the eBay route, get some DVD ripping software like MakeMKV to see if there is any copy protection. If there isn’t, it’s a fake. It will also say the authoring date and what program authored it. If it’s another dvd ripping app on a date way later than the release of the disc, it’s a fake. From info on forums I’ve now read, most of the discs sold on eBay are fakes. But if you just want to see the movies and know what you’re most likely ordering, they’re on there to be had.
@R Huber
Bummer, sorry to hear that 🙁
The gray market these days is definitely a double-edge sword. You can get otherwise-unavailable-in-your-country titles with far higher production value than the crappy fan sub videotapes or unmarked burned DVDs in photocopy sleeves of the past, but that also opens the door for shenanigans like this to occur, where just because a domestic release is out of print they feel it’s fair game to pass off copies for original merch 😑
Is there any way to watch this legally in the U.S. besides the DVD? I’ve been interested in seeing it for a while.
It's not a kaiju franchise but you should review the jurassic park franchise I would like to see what you think of the series and you loved the lost world and the original as a kid
3 stars = Okay.
Wandered into this movie on amazon prime video (monster B movie goldmine over there right now), glad to see the insight here. Definitely missed the Mu as a symbol of the worst of imperial japan, seems so obvious in hindsight.
please review gorath
5:08 sus
A shame that the sole monster in the film was puppeted, designed and shot so poorly. Some of the production values were truly spectacular, surprisingly so. (Some shots from this film were incorporated into the AIP British co-production, THE CITY IN THE SEA, aka WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP.)
Manda.
That’s a weird looking Whiplash
Can you do the movie the giant mojin
Gorath next?
Lol... Maguma
NO no no.THis is 4stars.
Manda looked fake in all shots. The submarine was the star of the show for me when I was a kid. The movie was enough of a spectacle to keep my attention for most of the time.
No llega al nivel de king kong vs Godzilla
I'm early
I've been reluctant to see this one. I hear it's boring AF.
Manda another barely on screen and used monster with potential, neglected, like Varan and Baragon