Manda sea serpent vs. Atragon submarine The plot tells about the underwater empire of Mu, who once inhabited all corners of the earth, establishing their colonies there, and now dream of gaining power back. They arrange cataclysms, kidnap various scientists, but one day their plan fails because of the photographer and his assistant.
The core of history is the clash of morals of military patriotism and peacekeepers who refused military action. But, in the end, it all boils down to the fact that only a top-secret weapon can stop the terrible plans for world domination - the Gotengo submarine, it is also Atragon (from the phrase "Atomic Dragon") - a kind of "nautilus". And her captain, considered dead, is practically "Captain Nemo."
Underwater empire, super-powerful ship and much more – definitely written off from the work of Jules Verne, repeatedly filmed just in the sixties. The peak of adventure fiction unfolded in the cinema at full speed, and the Japanese are not far behind.
Honda, as before, lovingly shoots detailed catastrophes and scenes of destruction, demonstrates, like a parade of military equipment, the full power of the Japanese army, alternating real shooting with the action of miniature models, (this time was in order to save a number of borrowings of footage from Motra, Mysterious Aliens, etc.), and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka again managed to insist on a giant monster.
Yes, as in the case of Mysterians and Horas, the plot did not involve any monster. For the marketing of the picture in honor of the upcoming Year of the Snake, the monster Manda was created (a delight on the first “A”, and not as you want) - a sea snake, more like a Chinese dragon, given the shape of the muzzle and the presence of paws.
Manda is a kind of servant of the deity Mu, a monster who is fed unwanted by the harsh empress. In the film, he is hardly more than Maguma in “Horasa” or Orochi in “The Birth of Japan”, but in the future this kaiju will appear in several films about Godzilla, becoming his rival.
The monster is very well made, especially for the sixties. But only to reveal its potential, the film, unfortunately, fails. The same Maguma at least actively destroyed the human base, and with Manda there is only one significant episode, where he confronts, in fact, the same flying submarine.
In fact, the first appearance of the monster is much earlier than it is set on the latest weapons. It can be seen through the window in the prisoner's cell, where all Japanese slaves are thrown (not Japanese here, however, is not noticed at all, except for one of the scenes with an American submarine crushed by the ocean depths). But it still happens after the first hour, towards the end of the picture.
And since the monster shows quite a bit - it does not even attack the underwater city itself, the plot focuses on the interaction of bright characters. A photographer with his assistant, the captain’s daughter, a mysterious ubiquitous journalist, tough agent 23, a harsh empress, an admiral and a detective investigating all mysterious abductions and accidents.
Almost all the participants in the film are somehow connected with many Kaiju films. In the main role (the same detective) - was already the main character of "King Kong vs. Godzilla", and then many more where he will play from genre paintings. Captain Gotengo is played by Jun Tazaki - literally in all Kaiju films with his participation receiving the role of military chiefs - police chiefs, generals, now here's the captain.
Yu Fujiki, Ken Uehara, Hisaya Ito, Kenji Sahara, Hiroshi Koizumi, Hideyo Amamoto, Susumu Fujita, Ikio Sawamura, Yoshifumi Tajima, Minoru Takada, and others are associated with participation in Kaiju films. And Agent 23 here and does play the same Akihiko Hirata – Serizawa from “Godzilla” and many others from different other films, the guest of the genre is no less than the director Ishiro Honda.
Yes, and the composer again Akira Ifukube, and in the powerful and pompous melodies of the picture, echoes of the soundtrack of the first Godzilla are recognized - a lot in common, as if made on successful, but unlearned sketches. Or again, in order to save money, it was decided not to bother. But the song of praise of the monster managed to come up with a very specific one. Any dances to the ancient deity already took place in Godzilla and Varana, but most of all remembered in Motra (here the music was not written by Ifukuba) and the theme of Kong from King Kong vs. Godzilla.
With all the fact that the filmmakers clearly somewhere cheated, most of the special effects look great – especially Gotengo himself, armed with various saws, drills, able to swim, fly, and drill the ground, and at the same time various walls and buildings. But the submarine Atragon is equipped with everything else and a weapon of freezing.
If you like old adventure films like “Mysterious Island”, “Leaders of Atlantis”, “To the Earth’s Core”, “Journeys to the Center of the Earth” and so on – then “Atragon” will be received with hurrah. The film is good, but all the above pictures usually contained still more monsters and monsters, and one sea snake for a couple of scenes, albeit quite spectacular, there is not enough.
And with an abundance of characters - many of them still turned out too clumsy, for example, the same Empress with all her tragic ending only does that screams and frowns eyebrows. Although the same mechanical coldness for many villains goes with a hurrah, remember at least Bondian of the 60s. The script does not require much, the actors do not demonstrate anything beyond measure. Just a good movie with a spirit of adventure and a lot of spectacular fantastic elements.
7 out of 10
Original