After losing his battle with King Kong, Godzilla swam off to lick his wounds in shame. So, while he's gone, let's take a look at a couple of movies which feature some other slimy critters from the depths of the ocean -
Atragon (1963)
Long, long ago, in the center of the Pacific Ocean, there existed a vast continent called Mu. The people of Mu were very powerful and their influence could be felt across the entire globe. They also like to dance around in grass skirts and create elaborate musical numbers. Then, one day, the entire continent was swallowed up by the ocean, and Mu was no more. Traces of their civilization could still be found here and there (like the statues of Easter Island, or Stonehenge, or the home of Mothra - Infant Island) but, for all intents and purposes, they were extinct.
Cut to the present day (of 1963). A couple of doofus photographers (played by Tadao Takashima and Yu Fujiki, the wacky duo who captured Kong in "King Kong vs Godzilla") are shooting a sexy bikini model alongside the harbor when suddenly a weirdo pops out of the sea wearing a scaly black diving suit. Then, suddenly, a taxi cab drives off the pier and sinks beneath the waves. Turns out there was a geologist in the backseat of the cab - lots of prominent scientists in the field of geology and vulcanology (the study of Mr. Spock) have been disappearing lately. Then the government of Japan receives a cheap looking audio tape - it's an ultimatum, sent by the people of Mu. They survived the sinking of their continent and have kept their civilization running by using geothermal power. Now they want to rise to the surface and enslave mankind. Their ultimatum - surrender, or they will sic their giant serpent god, Manda, on the good people of up-top! Well, we refuse their demands, so they destroy Venice and Hong Kong - without using Manda, funnily enough. Oh, and they want one other thing on their list of demands - stop the construction of Atragon, or else! "What the shit's an 'Atragon'?" asks the U.N.
Glad you asked. . .
(clears throat) Ahem. Near the end of World War II, when Japan's defeat seemed imminent, a highly respected submarine captain named Jinguji hightailed it to the high seas in order to build, in secret, a powerful new submarine-like weapon called Atragon (it's also called Gotengo, which roughly translates as "Roaring Heaven") which will turn the tide of the war to Japan's favor. Unfortunately for him, Japan surrendered to the West, so Jinguji hid in shame, keeping Atragon well hidden from the world. Okay, not that well hidden - Mu captured his original sub, which contained blueprints for the construction of Atragon, and something about Atragon scares the Mu-ians to death, so they want it destroyed.
An old friend of Jinguji steps forward and reveals to the U.N. what the shit Atragon is. So they send him, Jinguji's daughter, the two previously mentioned doofus photographers, and some other guys to find the lost captain and use Atragon/Gotengo against Mu. They also send along an odd reporter who threatens to break the Atragon story to the public if they don't let him come along. He always wears sunglasses, has a freaky beard and likes to stand around looking suspicious all the time. Yeah, take him along suckers. That's a great idea.
So they find Jinguji but are unable to convince him to give up the super sub. He thinks that Japan has lost its way and doesn't deserve to be saved. Then his daughter steps forward, accuses him of being a prideful old codger who can't let go of the past, and yells at him. He is shamed, again, and decides to use Atragon for the good of all mankind. HOWEVER - the shifty looking reporter reveals himself to be an agent of Mu (say it ain't so!), then blows up the submarine dock and kidnaps the daughter and the doofus reporters, taking them to Mu. Immediately afterward, Mu kamikaze drones and ships with laser beams begin ravaging the cities of the world.
Let me take this moment to offer up a theory I have regarding the motivations of the people of Mu. It's never explained in the movie why Mu wants to conquer the world, but, using clues from the movie, I have come up with my own explanation for their actions. During the scenes set in Mu, we see lots of tremors and minor geologic events. Clearly, the environment of their underground world is unstable. Also, they've been kidnapping geologists and whatnot from the surface. Why? To help figure out why they're underground world is collapsing, I think. This being a Japanese kaiju movie from the 1960's, it seems safe to assume that the instability of their kingdom was caused by atomic testing in the Pacific. They need a new home, quickly, so they have no choice but to force their way onto the surface. That's my theory, anyway.
So Atragon, being the powerful machine that it is, busts its way out of the destroyed sub dock. Not only is it a submarine, but it can fly, it has a front-mounted drill for digging underground, and can fire a powerful freeze ray. The people of Mu have extremely high temperatures, so they are not fans of freeze rays, hence the request for the destruction of Gotengo.
Jinguji heads off to Mu, defeats their serpent god Manda (easily), rescues the kidnapped surface dwellers, and destroys Mu's power source, blowing up the entire sunken continent and killing millions of innocent Mu children. Yay!
"Atragon" was based on a popular Japanese adventure novel, which was heavily inspired by Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". It was a huge hit in Japan, and the Gotengo itself would become one of the most famous "mecha" (high tech weapon vehicles) in Japan movie history. Gotengo would make many appearances in film and T.V. over the decades, but would not reappear in the movies of Toho Studios until "Godzilla: Final Wars" in 2004, where it would practically be the main character (after Godzilla, of course). The sea serpent Manda (kind of a wuss), would return in "Destroy All Monsters" (1969) and also "Godzilla: Final Wars".
This movie was made by the same team who made almost all of the movies I've reviewed so far - Honda/Ifukube/Tsuburya, and featuring another appearance by Akihiko Hirata (Dr. Serizawa) as Mu Agent 23. All said, I find this movie to be rather slow. The first hour really drags for me. It picks up a bit in the movie's final third, however. Funny side note - there's a sequence in the movie featuring a U.S. submarine which is named - get this - "Red Satan".
Space Amoeba (1970)
I love that title! "Space Amoeba!" How great! The original Japanese title actually translates as "Gezora, Ganime, Kamoeba: Decisive Battle! Giant Monsters of the South Seas". Just rolls off the tongue, huh. But it's also a cheesy/cool title. "Space Amoeba", though - way cooler.
The American title is "Yog - Monster From Space".
Yog? Really, America? That's the best you can do?
A space probe heading for Jupiter is hijacked by a sentient glowing blob from outer space - the SPACE AMOEBA! The probe does a 180 and crash lands in the South Seas, witnessed by Japanese photographer Kudo (Akira Kubo) from his window seat on a commercial airplane. When he gets back to his office, Kudo (who comes across as a world-weary slacker) is assigned by his boss to take some PR pictures for a construction firm who are building an "underwater hotel" on distant Selgio Island. Selgio Island is where Kudo saw the probe crash - what a coincidence!
Kudo heads out with a lady who works for the hotel company and a scientist who's been to the island before. On the transport ship, they hook up with supposed scientist Obata, a shifty looking guy who always wears sunglasses, has a freaky beard, and likes to stand around looking suspicious all the time. Yeah, do it!
When they reach the island, they discover that one of the construction engineers has been killed by "something large" from the ocean, and the natives claim that it's their island god Gezora, come to kick out the outsiders. Gezora (a giant cuttlefish) soon shambles out of the sea, kills another engineer, and is driven off by a random swarm of bats. Native guide Rico sees this and is promptly knocked unconscious, waking up with a bad case of memory loss. His GF, a highly cute native girl named Saki, shows up and escorts our heroes into the village. It's here that shifty Obata is revealed to be (gasp!) a jerk - he's a corporate spy for the hotel company's rival, and thinks that the whole "giant monster" thing is fake.
The scientist and the reporter head underwater to find Gezora. They run across the crashed probe. Gezora attacks, but is driven off by a pod of helpful dolphins. Gezora, pissed off, attacks the village. With the help of the outsiders, they burn Gezora with gasoline, who wanders into the ocean and dies - the SPACE AMOEBA leaves its body to find another host.
The good guys explore the island, feeling safe, and discover an old Japanese ammo depot from WWII. The scientist concludes that Gezora was controlled by a parasite from outer space who wants to conquer the Earth. How he comes to make such a bold (yet correct) leap, given what little evidence he's actually obtained, is beyond me. He's just that good.
Obata makes his move and tries to escape, but his dinky canoe is capsized by new monster Ganime, a giant rock crab, who then goes after our heroes. After an exciting game of cat-and-mouse, Kudo blows up the Japanese ammo depot to kill Ganime, blowing him into little crab chunks. The SPACE AMOEBA leaves Ganime and takes over Obata, who's still alive. The SPACE AMOEBA reveals his evil plot to Obata - it wants to assassinate all the leaders of Earth and conquer the planet. Why, you ask? I have no theory this time. The SPACE AMOEBA is just a downy-clowny. It used to be a humanoid life form, so maybe it's just jealous of our limbs.
Cute native girl Saki thinks that marriage cures amnesia, so she marries Rico. Whaddaya know, it works! He remembers that Gezora was driven off by bats, and the scientist concludes that ultrasound is the key to defeating SPACE AMOEBA. The good guys round up all the islanders and hide them in nearby caves, hoping the bats will protect them from any further monster menaces. Unfortunately, OBATA AMOEBA has been using gas to burn up all the bats. Two more monsters appear - another Ganime, and Kamoeba, a giant Matamata turtle with a super extend-o neck. SPACE AMOEBA, in human form, is apparently able to mutate and control other life forms. Alright, I'm just making excuses now.
OBATA AMOEBA is about to burn up the last of the bats, but the hotel employee woman appeals to Obata to fight the alien creature within him, and he runs off like a scared child. The good guys release the bats, which cause Ganime and Kamoeba to go crazy and fight each other. At one point, Ganime hock a big fat loogie on Kamoeba, for no reason. It's pretty funny.
A volcano conveniently erupts nearby. Gamine and Kamoeba tumble into it and fry. Obata, still possessed by the alien, but in control, leaps into the volcano as well, killing the SPACE AMOEBA. Our heroes then pause and reflect quietly while a volcano erupts about ten feet away from where they're standing.
We've jumped ahead a little bit (to 1970). Godzilla was pretty much the only giant monster in town at the time, but Toho wanted to try and make a Godzilla-less kaiju movie - hence "Space Amoeba". It didn't do so well at the box office back then, but has gained a rabid cult following over the years, primarily because it's such a bat shit crazy movie. It's colorful, extremely fast-paced, and makes absolutely no sense - it's a big slice of campy fun. Akira Ifukube also contributed a weird, but memorable score to this one. This is one of Ishiro Honda's last kaiju films, and special effects master Eiji Tsuburya had died not long before, so his apprentice Sadamasa Arikawa took over the job, doing a fine job.
This is the only appearance of the monster Ganime, and ugly but memorable critter. Turtle Kamoeba (who, I think, was supposed to be Toho's answer to Gamera, the giant monster star from their rival studio, Daiei) would appear, albeit as a corpse, in "Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." (2003). Cuttlefish Gezora would make a cameo in "Godzilla: Final Wars" and have a prominent role in the "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" video game for the classic Nintendo Entertainment System.
In "The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 6", witness as the world's greatest villain becomes the world's greatest hero!
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