Sora no daikaijû Radon (1956)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

David Duncan (U.S. version)
Takeshi Kimura (writer)

Release Date:

August 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Never a Horror Like It!

Plot:

When a village is besieged by giant caterpillars, a more horrifying discovery is made in their underground home...

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Rodan | Pterodactyl | Miner | Creature Feature

Cast

Kenji Sahara	...	Shigeru Kawamura, colliery engineer (as Kenji Sawara)
Yumi Shirakawa	...	Kiyo, Shigeru's lover
Akihiko Hirata	...	Professor KYUichiro Kashiwagi (biology)
Akio Kobori	...	Police Chief Nishimura
Yasuko Nakata	...	Female Honeymooner
Minosuke Yamada	...	Colliery Chief Osaki
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Izeki, reporter of Seibu Nippou
Kiyoharu Onaka	...	Male Honeymooner, Sunagawa's friend (as Kiyoharu Ohnaka)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ichirô Chiba	...	Chief of police station
Mike Daneen	...	American Soldier Typing
Tsurue Ichimonji	...	Haru, Kiyo's neighbor (as Tsurue Ichimanji)
Saburo Iketani	...	News Reader
Saburo Kadowaki	...	Sunagawa's colleague
Katao Kawasaki	...	Tsunesan, miner
Kanta Kisaragi	...	Suteyan, miner
Jiro Kumagai	...	Policeman Tashiro (as Jirô Kumagai)
Saeko Kuroiwa	...	Nurse
Tsuruko Mano	...	Osumi, Kiyo's neighbor
Mitsuo Matsumoto	...	Professor Isokawa
Hideo Mihara	...	Commander of JASDF
Kiyomi Mizunoya	...	Otami, Yoshizo's wife
Junichirô Mukai	...	Military officer
Toshiko Nakano	...	Kiyo's neighbor
Rinsaku Ogata	...	Goro, miner, Kiyo's older brother
Keiji Sakakida	...	Tahei, miner
Yasuhiro Shigenobu	...	Sabu, miner
Junnosuke Suda	...	Coroner
Shigemi Sunagawa	...	F-86F pilot
Jiro Suzukawa	...	Yoshizo, miner
Masaaki Tachibana	...	Policeman
Bontaro Taira	...	Laborer
Kiyoshi Takagi	...	Dr.Minakami (colliery)
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	Policeman of the crime laboratory
Mitsuo Tsuda	...	Staff officer Takeuchi
Akira Yamada	...	Radio operator on jeep

Also Known As:

Radon
Radon, Monster from the Sky (literal English title)
Rodan
Rodan! The Flying Monster (USA)
Die fliegenden Monster von Osaka (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
Radon (West Germany) [de]
Rodan (France) [fr]
Rodan il mostro alato (Italy) [it]
Rodan, tuntematon vihollinen (Finland) [fi]
Rodan. Los hijos del volcán (Spain) [es]
Skräck över Japan (Sweden) [sv]

Runtime:

82 min | USA:70 min (16 mm television syndication prints) | USA:72 min (English dubbed version) | USA:74 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Mandarin | Tagalog

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Fukuoka, Japan

Company:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

According to George Takei's autobiography, this was his first professional acting job, and all dialogue voices were provided by himself, Keye Luke, "another man" (Paul Frees), and one woman.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Shigeru and Kashiwagi are in the helicopter searching for Rodan, Kashiwagi is wearing a tie and his head isn't bandaged, but when they go to see the planes bombard Rodan's lair Kashiwagi is no longer wearing a tie and the bandage mysteriously reappears. However, the scene of Kashiwagi and Shigeru in the helicopter was actually from later in the picture and was rearranged by the producers of the American version so that it would make it look as if they were starting the search.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Valley of the Dragons (1961)

The Japanese Them

This film is one of the best of the kaiju eigas that Toho ever made. The reason for this is that it is played much like the movie that in a way inspired it, "Them". The way the film begins plays almost like them did, the police and mine workers wondering who, or what, is responsible for the deaths of four men. The tension builds and builds from the first appearance of the giant insects to the destruction of Fukuoka (for some reason called Sasebo in the American version). Even though Rodan the monster did not become as successful as Godzilla, the film is more of a thrill ride and definitely should be hailed as a great science fiction film.