Atragon was released in 1963, and despite it's popularity with fans of Godzilla movies, it really doesn't fit into their kaiju eiga (monster movie) genre. Atragon does come from director Ishiro Honda and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, it did feature music from Akira Ifukube and Special Effects from Eiji Tsuburaya, and it did indeed feature a larger than average monster, but no, there is no city-smashing goodness here, Atragon is a straight up Sci-Fi adventure.

While I can't tell you anything about it, the movie credits a fellow named Shigeru Komatsuzaki for writing the book 'the Undersea Kingdom', which this must be at least partially based on.

The legend of the movie is that there is an advanced race of people living underwater in what is known as the Mu Empire. Mu was a continent that ruled the world, but like Atlantis it sunk into the ocean, this time the Pacific, but somehow the people survived, and have lived their for centuries after harnessing the power of the Earth's core. These people are ruled by the High Priest(Eisei Amamoto - Godzilla's Revenge) and the Empress(Tetsuko Kobayashi - Samurai Rebellion). They worship a giant serpentine god known as Manda, who lives in a cave next to the Empire's base of operations thousands of miles below the surface.

We are introduced to photographer duo Susumu(Tadao Takashima - Son of Godzilla) and Yosheeto*(Yu Fujiki - Godzilla Vs Mothra). They are trying to get some photos of a model for a magazine cover at the beach, when a mysterious creature emerges from the water and a taxi drives past them and straight into the sea. Naturally they report this to the police, lead by a sceptical detective(Hiroshi Koizumi - Mothra).
However, Susumu catches sight of a beatiful girl named Makoto(Yoko Fujiyama - Dogora), who evades him, but he gets a hold of her licence plate and sends Yosheeto out to find out who she is, he wants her for their magazine shoot. However, a scientist goes missing, a scientist in the same field as a man who went missing that night at the sea, and the witnesses give the same description of the creature emerging from the sea to the police. Also roped into the investigation is a former army Admiral(Ken Uehara - Gorath), who happens to be the guardian of Makoto. You see, her father disapeared during WW2, when she was 3, and he took her in.
The Admiral was next on the Mu hitlist, but he was rescued by Susumu, who was tracking down Makoto when he found her and the Admiral being lead into the sea by a man who revealed himself as Mu Agent #23(Akihiko Hirata - Gojira), and Susumu saved the pair.

Contact with the men is made from the Mu Empire, who reveal that if the men do not stop Makoto's father, long believed dead, from completing a super-sub marine named Atragon, they will destroy the Earth.They also claim that it is their intention to conquer the Earth again anyway, but they are adamant that Atragon must not be completed. Naturally this sparks off a hunt for her father, who is found via one of his soldiers who he sent to spy on Makoto.

When they go to an off-chart island, they meet the enigmatic Captain Jinguji(Jun Tazaki - King Kong Vs. Godzilla), who has finished Atragon, but refuses to use it against the Mu Empire, declaring it is only to be used for the purpose of Japan's welfare. He remains adamant on this point until an undercover Mu Agent plants a bomb at his base and kidnaps Makoto and Susumu and takes them to Mu. This spurs him into action, and he activates the Atragon, a gigantic flying submarine equiped with a giant drill and freeze ray. Will the Mu Empire be ready for the Atragon?

The first thing that needs said about the Atragon plot is how convuluted it is. Elements are coming at all angles, and it doesn't always add up to make all that much sense. Why is Jinguji so cold towards his daughter?why did he have a spy on her? and the the less said about his argument over not using Atragon the better. The World is going to be destroyed, that includes Japan, the Mus weren't going to just miss out Japan, so surely acting would actually be in Japan's interests. The fact that the Mu Empire plans on destroying the surface world with one submarine and a few flying blokes with grenades is also quite laughable. Manda also seems introduced just for the sake of having a Kaiju there. When the Mu Empire attacks Tokyo, I was expecting Manda to play a part, instead he appears for around ten minutes and is defeated in a woefully simple manner.
The film isn't exactly action packed either. So much time is wasted on Jinguji refusing to use Atragon, that we rarely get to see it do anything.

The dubbed version Im reviewing (shown on the UK Sci-Fi Channel) isn't the best dub job I've seen. The voices never have any emotion, and Im sure some of the phrases are taken on literal translations instead of what they should be said like(I would imagine the 'Red Satan' submarine was meant to be 'Red Devil'). It wasn't unwatchable, but it certainly could have been better.
With that said, assessing the acting is tough, but nobody seems to overperform, and I have seen the majority of the cast enough in other films to have faith that they are putting in at least a respectable show.

Certain expectations come from a movie score by Akira Ifukube, but I can't help but find his work here pretty disappointing. While the music all has his trademark grand scale sound, it just lacks any sort of memorable theme that sticks in your head. It's better a score than any Sci-Fi movie at the time that didn't sport his music, but in comparison to his work in the Kaiju movies, this score is a little unimpressive.

The same goes for the effects of Eiji Tsuburaya. While the Atragon looks great, and Manda isn't the best looking effect, but it's ambitious and works well enough to be worthy of applause, there are backgrounds that are blatantly painted cardboard, and the scenes where the Mu people are frozen and turn into drawings is also laughable, especially from a man capable of so much better. Once again, not the worst effects ever, or even in a Toho Science Fiction movie, but Im used to so much better from the man that I can be nothing but disappointed.

With all this said, Im sure you are expecting me to give Atragon a pretty low score, but for some reason, and I honestly can't put my finger on what it is, there really is something likeable about it. While it's silly, and nowhere near the best product of the Tsuburaya/Honda/Tanaka/Ifukube team, nor action packed, it still manages somehow to be entertaining and keep the viewer interested enough to watch. So, Im going to settle on 3 Stars and a recommended. While there is no doubt it will be disappointing for fans of the team responsible if you go into it with expectations of a movie on the scale of their previous work, if you are just looking for an enjoyable piece of silly 60's Sci-Fi, Atragon is most certainly not a displeasure to watch. Sadly, tracking down a copy of the movie may be tough, as I am unaware of there being any official release outside of Japan, but I would like to see a DVD release sometime, if only for my Toho Sci-Fi collection.

*Replace 'ee' with 'i'

Year: 1963
Titles: Kaitei Gunkan
Atragon

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4