The Mysterians (1957)
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Earth Defense Force (1957)
- For the alien race, see Mysterians.
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Space weapons mobilize! A great battle between Earth forces and the gruesome mystery planet people, the Mysterians! (宇宙兵器総動員！ 地球軍対
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— Japanese tagline |
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— American tagline |
The Mysterians (地球防衛軍 Chikyū Bōeigun, lit. Earth Defense Force) is a 1957 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho. It was released to Japanese theaters on December 28, 1957 and to American theaters on May 15, 1959.
A forest fire suddenly consumes a village near Mount Fuji, followed by a violent landslide that completely wipes out a second village. Authorities investigating the incidents are suddenly attacked by a huge robot, which makes its way to another village where the JSDF finally stops it. The robot is revealed to be of extraterrestrial origin, just as a huge dome surfaces from the ground near Fuji. The occupants of the dome, calling themselves Mysterians, claim to come in peace and only desire a small tract of land and the ability to marry Earth women. However, humanity sees through the Mysterians' seemingly innocuous requests and realizes they are mobilizing a war machine capable of wiping out human civilization so they can conquer the Earth. All of the planet's militaries combine their efforts into the Earth Defense Force and begin a desperate war against the Mysterians. But can even the most advanced weapons of mankind stand up to the Mysterians' incredible technology?
Staff
- Main article: The Mysterians/Credits.
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Ishiro Honda
- Written by Shigeru Kayama, Takeshi Kimura, Jojiro Okami
- Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Music by Akira Ifukube
- Stock Music by Hector Berlioz and Edvard Grieg
- Cinematography by Hajime Koizumi
- Edited by Koichi Iwashita
- Production design by Teruaki Abe, Akira Watanabe
- Assistant directing by Koji Kajita
- Special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Kenji Sahara as Joji Atsumi
- Yumi Shirakawa as Etsuko Shiraishi
- Momoko Kochi as Hiroko Iwamoto
- Akihiko Hirata as Ryoichi Shiraishi
- Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kenjiro Adachi
- Susumu Fujita as General Morita
- Hisaya Ito as Captain Seki
- Yoshio Kosugi as Commander Sugimoto
- Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Nobuo Kawanami
- Tetsu Nakamura as Dr. Koda
- Harold Conway as Dr. Immelman
- George Furness as Dr. Richardson
- Heihachiro Okawa as Director of Foreign Affairs
- Takeo Oikawa as Saburo Nozawa, TV commentator
- Toyohiko Sata as Miyamoto, police inspector
- Haruya Kato as Villager
- Senkichi Omura as Villager
- Yoshio Tsuchiya as Mysterian Leader
- Haruo Nakajima as Moguera / JSDF officer / soldier leaping from tank / Mysterian
- Katsumi Tezuka as Moguera / villager
Peter Riethof and Carlos Montalbán English dub
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Anthony La Penna as General Morita / Director of Foreign Affairs
- Bret Morrison as Dr. Koda
- Earl Hammond as Police Chief Togawa
- Ralph Bell as Dr. Svenson
Bang Zoom! Entertainment English dub
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Alfred Thor as Commander Sugimoto
- Chris Kent as Yamamoto
- Dave Mallow as Mysterian Leader
- David Lelyveld as Joji Atsumi
- Doug Stone as Dr. Nobuo Kawanami
- Erik Blackthorn as Immerman
- Joey Capps as Commander
- John Smallberries as Miyamoto
- Lesli Todd as Etsuko Shiraishi
- Melodee M. Spevack as Etsuko's Mother
- Michael McConnohie as Dr. Kenjiro Adachi
- Michelle Ruff as Hiroko
- Sparky Thornton as Ryoichi Shiraishi
- Steve Kramer as General Morita
- William Frederick as Hanamoto
Appearances
Gallery
- Main article: The Mysterians/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: The Mysterians (Soundtrack).
Alternate titles
- Earth Defense Force (literal Japanese title)
- The Barbarians Invade Earth (Los bárbaros invaden la Tierra; Argentina, Os Bárbaros Invadem a Terra; Brazil)
- Space Beasts (Weltraum-Bestien; Austria, Germany)
- Prisoners of the Martians (Prisonnières des Martiens; France)
- Mysterians (French video title)
- Mars vs. Earth (Άρης εναντίον Γης Áris enantíon Gis; Greece)
- Invasion of the Moon (Εισβολή από τη Σελήνη Eisvolí apó tu Selíni; Greece)
- Flying Saucers Hit Earth (Ιπτάμενοι δίσκοι χτυπούν τη Γη Iptámenoi thíokoi chtipoón ti Gi; Greece)
- The Unknown (De ukjente; Norway)
- Earth is Under Attack (Jorden angripes; Norway, Jorden anfalles; Sweden)
- Mysterious Strangers (Tajemniczy przybysze; Poland)
- Space Monsters (Monstros do Espaço; Portugal)
- Phantom 7000 (Germany; re-issue title)
- The Extraterrestrials (Los extraterrestres; Spain)
- Mysteries of Space (Misterios del Espacio; Mexico)
Theatrical releases
- Japan - December 28, 1957; March 18, 1978 (Toho Champion Festival)
- United States - May 15, 1959
- United Kingdom - 1959
- Brazil - October 12, 1959
- France - December 2, 1959
- Yugoslavia - 1959
- Sweden - February 1, 1960
- West Germany - February 5, 1960
- Portugal - July 29, 1960
- Belgium - 1960
- Norway - 1960
- Denmark - March 2, 1961
- Mexico - 1960s
- Italy - 1973 (re-release)
Foreign releases
A November 1, 1957 report states that Southeast Asian distribution rights to The Mysterians were sold to Shaw & Sons of Hong Kong for the highest amount paid for a Japanese film of that time. Rights to other parts of the world were sold for a record price for a Japanese film to Topaz Film Corporation in February of 1958.
U.S. release
The Mysterians was prepared for American theatrical release by RKO Radio Pictures.[3] The English-dubbed version was recorded in New York under the supervision of Peter Riethof and Carlos Montalbán. Notably, it was the first Toho science fiction film to receive an English version without extensive re-editing. Only small edits were undertaken, and the English dialogue remains faithful to the Japanese script.[4]
By 1959, however, RKO's studio had closed and all yet-unreleased films were sold off to Hollywood's other studios. Thus, the American version of The Mysterians was released theatrically in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May of 1959[3], advertised as "The greatest science-fiction picture ever conceived by the mind of man." RKO's version was subsequently distributed in European territories by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation.
The American version of The Mysterians was twice released on VHS in the United States, by VCI Home Video in 1983[5] and by Star Classics in 1989.[6] On January 25, 2005, Tokyo Shock released the full Japanese version of The Mysterians along with a new English dub by Bang Zoom! Entertainment on DVD in the U.S.[7] This release also included various special features ported from Toho's region 2 DVD, including an audio commentary by Koichi Kawakita and Shinji Higuchi.[8]
Reception
In the United States, despite its successful theatrical run, The Mysterians was reviled by critics. The New York Times criticized the film as a generic alien invasion film with "runny color" and poor acting.
Nevertheless, The Mysterians proved to be an influential and important entry in Toho's library of science-fiction films, inspiring several more alien invasion and space-related films from director Ishiro Honda, including a sequel, Battle in Outer Space, and Gorath. Koichi Kawakita, later known as the special effects director for the Heisei Godzilla series and the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, said he was thrilled when he saw this film while in junior high and it inspired him to work in special effects. Fans of the tokusatsu genre often praise the film for its special effects, the introduction of the monster Moguera, and its score from Akira Ifukube.
Sequel
- Main article: Battle in Outer Space.
Toho produced a sequel to The Mysterians, Battle in Outer Space, two years later in 1959. The film is set in 1965 and features some returning characters from The Mysterians, most of whom are played by different actors. This film features a new invading alien race, the Natarls, who engage in a war with humanity in outer space. Another sequel was planned, but was changed into a standalone film called The War in Space.
Video releases
- Region: 2
- Audio: Japanese
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono), English (5.1 Surround, Bang Zoom! dub), Spanish (2.0 Mono)
- Special features: Audio commentary by Koichi Kawakita and Shinji Higuchi (subtitled), "backround music only" audio track, photo gallery, concept art, trailers
- Notes: Out of print. A 2007 release packages it with Varan and Matango.
- Region: 2
- Audio: Japanese
- Region: A/1
- Audio: Japanese (LPCM Mono, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Remix)
Videos
Trailers
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Miscellaneous
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Trivia
- The Mysterians was theatrically released in Japan on a double bill with Sazae-san no Seishun.[12]
- The Mysterians is notable for being the first tokusatsu filmed in TohoScope and the first Toho film to use Perspecta stereophonic sound.
- It is also known for its use of color, in particular its heavy use of day-for-night shots and bright alien costumes.
- The Mysterians was the first Toho film to feature an alien race, as well as the first to feature a mecha.
- In an interview conducted just before his death, Ishiro Honda stated that The Mysterians was his favorite film that he directed.[13]
- In Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, special effects director Koichi Kawakita redesigned the giant robot Moguera into an anti-Godzilla mecha for the later film, called "MOGUERA" (Mobile Operations Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aerotype).
- The Earth Defense Force is also featured in Godzilla: Final Wars.
- Moguera's inclusion was a last minute idea as producer Tomoyuki Tanaka felt the film needed a monster.
- Moguera was originally conceptualized as a living breathing monster, however director Ishiro Honda reworked it into being a robot as a way to further demonstrate the technological power the Mysterians possessed.
- Moguera's original concept can still be seen in story board stills, which depicted him as a half-mole half-reptilian monster. Though the design was never used, some key details were later used in the monster Baragon for the film Frankenstein vs. Baragon. Most notably was the monster's burrowing ability, heat ray, and a ridged back.
External links
References
This is a list of references for The Mysterians. 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]
Bibliography
- Motoyama, Sho; Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro; Asai, Kazuyasu; Suzuki, Nobutaka; Kato, Masashi (28 September 2012). Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works (1st ed.). villagebooks. ISBN 978-4864910132.CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
- Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (3 October 2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819577412.CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
- Warren, Bill (1986). Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties. Volume II: 1958-1962. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0786404795.CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
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