Dogora (1964)

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Image gallery for Dogora (film)
Credits for Dogora (film)
Dogora (film) soundtrack


Dogora
The Japanese poster for Dogora
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, Yasuyoshi Tajitsu
Written by Jojiro Okami (story),
Shinichi Sekizawa (screenplay)
Music by Akira Ifukube
Distributor TohoJP,
American International TelevisionUS
Rating Unrated
Running time 81 minutesJP
(1 hour, 21 minutes)
79 minutesUS
(1 hour, 19 minutes)
Aspect ratio 2.35:1
Rate this film!
3.45
(11 votes)

Dogora (宇宙大怪獣ドゴラ,   Uchū Daikaijū Dogora, lit. Giant Space Monster Dogora) is a 1964 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd. It was released to Japanese theaters on August 11, 1964.

Plot

Meanwhile, Inspector Komai's investigation of these strange events led him to the crystallographer Dr. Munakata. In the process of tracking down the self-proclaimed diamond broker Mark Jackson. He finds him in Dr. Munakata's home but knocks him out and escapes from Komai. He is then picked up by the gangsters for questioning. Komai wakes up and is greeted by Dr. Munakata and his lab assistant Masayo Kirino. He tells them about the case he is working on and shows them pictures of the melted safe the gangsters were at that night. Komai then learns that the diamonds the Mark stole were synthetic and worth nothing.

The gangsters bring Mark Jackson to their boss and find a bag containing the stolen diamonds. However they too find out that they are fake and keep him as a prisoner but outwits them and escapes. The gangsters are then given word of a shipment of raw diamonds will arrive in Yokohama. Meanwhile, Inspector Komai escorts Masayo to her home. Along the way they meet Kirino, Masayo's brother who works at the Electric Wave Laboratory. They witness a strange invisible force suck up coal into the sky from a nearby the factory as well as flaming sparks from the clouds. They meet back with Dr Munakata who tells them that the flaming sparks might be from some form of carbon.

Later, the professional thieves took advantage of this ripe opportunity and attempted a heist on an armored car carrying the raw diamonds. But a nearby coal truck passing by is lifted off the ground by some unknown force and disappears into the atmosphere and is dropped back down to the ground. Unfortunately for them, they were fooled and escaped with nothing but candy.

The police came to learn of the mysterious events of the armored car heist. Inspector Komai tells them of the possibility of a creature that caused the coal truck to list up in the air, but no one believes him. He is then called by Masayo a that Mark Jackson is at Dr. Munakata's house. Komai and the police surround the house to catch him. But he reveals himself that he is an investigator dispatched from the World Diamond Insurgence association to find out what has been steeling diamonds worldwide. Just then Masayo's brother comes in and tells them that the identity of the monster was reported from the Space Planning Committee at the U.N. that the monster is a space cell that has been mutated by massive amounts of radiation from the satellites. Suddenly, Dogora appears and eats its way through Dr. Muanakata's safe to eat the diamonds inside.

The creature from outer space is deemed to be the culprit, an alien beast that draws its energy from carbon-based minerals. Dr. Munakata, confident in a remarkable scientific discovery, left for the coal mines near northern Kyushu, where it was proposed that the strange being would make its next appearance. Mark Jackson also took leave for Kyushu, as the realization was finally made that the candy recovered at the heist was likely his doing. It was probable that he had, in truth, absconded with the true gems. Hamako, one of the gangsters responsible for the failed heist, prepared to double-cross her comrades and retrieve the diamonds for herself.

As Dr. Munakata arrived at Dogora's next likely target, unidentified objects began to show on radar. A swarm of wasps was attacking Dogora in retaliation for the disturbance of their hives in the mines, and as they attacked, solid crystal sections of the monster began to fall to the city below.

Over Dokaiwan Bay, as night fell, evacuation orders were put into effect as the jellyfish-like monster began to descend from the sky. The self-defense force fired, to no avail. The monster continued to absorb carbon-based materials wherever they could be located, and the abomination even destroyed the Wakato Bridge in the process. The military continued to unleash their artillery at the alien creature, and succeeded in momentarily silencing their foe. Unfortunately, the creature was only undergoing mitosis.

It is later found out that when Dogora is stung by the wasps, the venom causes a chemical reaction that crystallizes the space cell. Analysis of the crystallizing effects of the wasp venom on Dogora at the Medical Substance Laboratory proves successful, and mass production was soon ordered all around the world for the creation of a similar toxin.

The gangsters, still desperate for a successful heist, tracked Mark Jackson and Inspector Komai and almost immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mark had hidden the real diamonds in a safe-deposit box. Hamako left to retrieve the stash, but instead fled solo with the stolen goods. The thieves left Jackson and Komai tied and doomed to death-by-dynamite, but the two men joined forces and only barely managed to escape.

Meanwhile, Dogora attacked once again, but this time, powerful artificial wasp venom quickly ate away at the creature. The robbers and the police clashed at the beach, and in the heat of a vicious gunfight, the gang was completely wiped out by a falling crystal boulder, once a section of Dogora's extraterrestrial flesh.

The wasp venom finally took full effect, and Dogora was no more. It was soon discovered that the diamonds Hamako had retrieved from the safe-deposit box were, in fact, synthetic. As this truth came to light, Dr. Munakata and his secretary left for the UN to discuss the peaceful potential of the Dogora incident with the world.

Staff

Main article: Dogora (film)/Credits.

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Yosuke Natsuki   as   Komai
  • Yoko Fujiyama   as   Masayo Kirino, Dr. Munakata's assistant
  • Hiroshi Koizumi   as   Kirino
  • Akiko Wakabayashi   as   Hamako, Diamond thief
  • Nobuo Nakamura   as   Dr. Munakata
  • Seizaburo Kawazu   as   Chief Diamond thief
  • Robert Dunham (as "Dan Yuma")   as   Mark Jackson
  • Susumu Fujita   as   Defense Force Executive Officer Iwasa
  • Jun Tazaki   as   Police chief
  • Yoshibumi Tajima   as   Tada, Thief
  • Hideyo Amamoto   as   Maki, Thief
  • Nadao Kirino   as   Gen, Thief
  • Akira Wakamatsu   as   Matsu, Thief
  • Haruya Kato   as   Sabu, Thief
  • Jun Funado   as   Detective Nitta
  • Yasuhisa Tsutsumi   as   Ginza policeman
  • Koji Iwamoto   as   Dr. Munekata's assistant
  • Mitsuo Tsuda   as   Defense Corps executive
  • Takuzo Kumagai   as   Defense Corps executive
  • Chotaro Togin   as   Coal truck driver
  • Shoichi Hirose   as   Thermal power plant staff
  • Yutaka Nakayama   as   Coal truck assistant
  • Yoshiyuki Uemura   as   Diamond transport, passenger
  • Shiro Tsuchiya   as   Thermal power plant staff
  • Jiro Tsuzukawa   as   Thermal power plant staff
  • Haruya Sakamoto   as   Diamond transport, driver
  • Hideo Shibuya   as   Journalist
  • Yutaka Oka   as   Transport company manager
  • Ichiro Chiba   as   Tenpodo staff
  • Shinjiro Hirota   as   Tenpodo staff
  • Toku Ihara   as   Drunk
  • Tadashi Okabe   as   Ginza policeman
  • Wataru Omae   as   Radio lab researcher
  • Koji Uno   as   Thermal power plant worker

Appearances

Monsters

Weapons, vehicles, and races

Gallery

Main article: Dogora (film)/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Dogora (Soundtrack).

Alternate titles

  • Giant Space Monster Dogora (Uchū Daikaijū Dogora, literal Japanese title)
  • Space Monster Dogora (English Japanese title)
  • Dagora, the Space Monster (United States)
  • X 3000 - Phantoms Against Gangsters (X 3000 - Fantome gegen Gangster, Germany)
  • Dogora: The Monster from the Great Swamp (Dogora: Il Mostro Della Grande Palude, Italy)

U.S. release

Toho had an English-language version of Dogora prepared[1] in Hong Kong by Ted Thomas's Axis Productions.[2] Because Robert Dunham primarily spoke Japanese for his role in the film, his voice was dubbed into English by another actor.[3]

In April 1965, Dogora played at the Toho Theatre in Honolulu, Hawaii, in Japanese with English subtitles. A newspaper ad in the Honolulu Advertiser referred to it as Space Monster Dogora.[4]

Dogora was licensed for U.S. release to American International Pictures. Its television unit, American International Television, first offered the film to television stations as Dagora, the Space Monster in the "Amazing '66" syndication package starting in 1965.[1] It would later be included in AITV's "SciFi 65" package.[1] Dogora was not re-dubbed for AITV's release; this version featured no on-screen credits of any kind, only the new opening title.[1]

As Dagora, the Space Monster, the film was never officially issued on home video, although unlicensed copies from Video Yesteryear were produced in the 1980's and 90's.[5] Media Blasters released the film on DVD on July 15, 2005 under its Tokyo Shock label; audio options on the disc included the original Japanese audio with removable English subtitles and the original Toho international dub.[6]

Video releases

Tokyo Shock DVD (2005)

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese, English (Mono 1.0)
  • Special Features: Original trailer, production gallery, previews for other Tokyo Shock kaiju releases
  • Notes: Out of print. Picture is slightly cropped.[7]

Toho DVD (2005)

  • Region: 2
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese (Mono 1.0 and Surround 5.1)
  • Special Features: Audio commentary by Yosuke Natsuki, original trailer, interview with Teruyoshi Nakano and Keizo Murase (26 minutes), photo gallery, booklet
  • Notes: Does not include English subtitles.

Though Dogora is not available on Blu-ray, an HD version can be rented or purchased on the Japanese versions of Amazon Video and iTunes.

Videos

Japanese Dogora trailer
German Dogora trailer
American Dagora, the Space Monster title card
American Dagora, the Space Monster end title

Trivia

  • Originally, Dogora was titled "Space Mons" (スペース・モンス,   Supēsu Monsu) and was meant to be released in 1962.[8]

References

This is a list of references for Dogora (film). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 109, 429. ISBN 9781476666310.
  2. MAN OF A THOUSAND VOICES! Hong Kong Voice Actor Ted Thomas on His Prolific Dubbing Career!
  3. Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. p. 187. ISBN 9781550223484.
  4. Fullscreen capture 5172017 42925 PM.bmp.jpg
  5. 1997-11-25 Monsters on the March Video Yesteryear ad.png
  6. DVD FIRST LOOK: Media Blasters' VARAN and DOGORA
  7. DVD: Dogora (Tokyo Shock)
  8. [1]

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