Post by tomishereagain on Nov 4, 2021 12:47:07 GMT -6
Rodan (1956) k sahara y shirakawa, rodan, meganulon
(空の大怪獣 ラドン Sora no Daikaijū Radon?, lit. Giant Monster of the Sky Rodan)
is a tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho Company Ltd.
The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 26, 1956 and to American theaters on August 6, 1957.
The first film to feature Toho's famous kaiju Rodan, the film begins with a series of savage murders taking place in the coal mines beneath Kitamatsu, Kyushu. The authorities soon learn the murders are the work of giant prehistoric dragonfly nymphs called Meganulon. A mission to exterminate the creatures causes engineer Shigeru Kawamura to become trapped in a huge underground cavern, where he witnesses the titanic pterosaur Rodan hatch from its egg and feed on the Meganulon surrounding it. When Rodan begins a supersonic campaign of destruction around the Far East, the JSDF scrambles to find countermeasures against the beast. But the situation becomes even more dire when a second Rodan appears and joins its mate in an assault on Fukuoka.
6.30 Rating
74 min
In the small town of Kitamatsu, strange things begin to happen when one of the shafts at the coal mine goes deeper than any other shaft they have there. First, a flood happens and when safety engineer Shigeru Kimura goes to investigate, he is horrified to find one miner dead and his friend Goro missing. Soon more bodies turn up and the main suspect is Goro. However, one night while Shigeru is visiting his fiancée Kiyo, Goro's sister, a giant caterpillar like monster crashes through her house. Immediately, the authorities realize that Goro is not to blame but the monsters are. Shigeru and the authorities then go back in the mine and track down the monster. While in the mine, they also find Goro's body and while they attempt to free Goro's body, a landslide occurs trapping Shigeru in an adjoining cavern. A few days later Shigeru is found but he is in a state of shock caused by the fact that he saw an even more terrible creature, a flying reptile called Rodan, hatch from its egg. Soon the world finds out about the creature and the world is now on alert as they await for this terrible monster to attack.
Country: Japan
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, Horror
Release: 1956-12-26
Director: Ishirô Honda
Cast: Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, Yoshifumi Tajima, Minosuke Yamada, Saburô Iketani, Tateo Kawasaki, Yumi Shirakawa, Akio Kobori, Yasuko Nakada, Kiyoharu Onaka, Ichirô Chiba, Mike Daneen, Tsurue Ichimanji, Saburô Kadowaki, Kanta Kisaragi
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Adventure, Action, Horror
Release: 1956-12-26
Director: Ishirô Honda
Cast: Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara, Yoshifumi Tajima, Minosuke Yamada, Saburô Iketani, Tateo Kawasaki, Yumi Shirakawa, Akio Kobori, Yasuko Nakada, Kiyoharu Onaka, Ichirô Chiba, Mike Daneen, Tsurue Ichimanji, Saburô Kadowaki, Kanta Kisaragi
Trailer:
On Youtube (While it Lasts)
Rodan
Nov 18, 2021
Nov 18, 2021
YouTube Movies & Shows
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144M subscribers
RODAN (1956) English Version
by
TOHO / DCA
by
TOHO / DCA
There's much more production statistics on this page along with the video
(lots of details)
Rodan
by
ultragoji2
Language
English
Goro, a miner who is employers at the Kitamatsu Mines, is wanted for murder. His sister, Kyo, is engaged to one of the mine's firemen, Shigeru. The body of the man Goro was seen having a dispute earlier was found... torn to shreds. Then more bodies start turning up in the same fashion. It is soon discovered that prehistoric insects, known as Meganulon, are responsible for the horrible crimes that have taken place. The authorities try their best to stop these larvae - but with little success. To make matters worse... for digging too deep in the mines a giant egg is exposed. It hatches and out comes a giant, fully grown species of pteranodon called RODAN!!! The huge bird eats the insects and chooses mankind to be its next choice of food? Can this menacing monster of the past be stopped?
Addeddate
2016-11-13 17:52:25
Identifier
Rodan_201611
Scanner
Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3
archive.org/details/Rodan_201611
by
ultragoji2
Language
English
Goro, a miner who is employers at the Kitamatsu Mines, is wanted for murder. His sister, Kyo, is engaged to one of the mine's firemen, Shigeru. The body of the man Goro was seen having a dispute earlier was found... torn to shreds. Then more bodies start turning up in the same fashion. It is soon discovered that prehistoric insects, known as Meganulon, are responsible for the horrible crimes that have taken place. The authorities try their best to stop these larvae - but with little success. To make matters worse... for digging too deep in the mines a giant egg is exposed. It hatches and out comes a giant, fully grown species of pteranodon called RODAN!!! The huge bird eats the insects and chooses mankind to be its next choice of food? Can this menacing monster of the past be stopped?
Addeddate
2016-11-13 17:52:25
Identifier
Rodan_201611
Scanner
Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3
archive.org/details/Rodan_201611
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Written by Takeshi Kimura, Takeo Murata
Based on a story by Ken Kuronuma
Executive producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Music by Akira Ifukube
Cinematography by Isamu Ashida
Edited by Koichi Iwashita
Production design by Tatsuo Kita
1st assistant director Jun Fukuda
Director of special effects Eiji Tsuburaya
Written by Takeshi Kimura, Takeo Murata
Based on a story by Ken Kuronuma
Executive producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Music by Akira Ifukube
Cinematography by Isamu Ashida
Edited by Koichi Iwashita
Production design by Tatsuo Kita
1st assistant director Jun Fukuda
Director of special effects Eiji Tsuburaya
Cast
Kenji Sahara as Shigeru Kawamura, mine engineer
Yumi Shirakawa as Kiyo
Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Kyuichiro Kashiwagi, paleontologist
Akio Kobori as Nishimura, police inspector
Yoshibumi Tajima as Izeki, journalist
Minosuke Yamada as Osaki, mine director
Ren Imaizumi as Sunagawa, seismologist
Fuyuki Murakami as Professor Minami, physicist
Koji Uno as Journalist
Akio Kusama as Suda, chief engineer
Fumindo Matsuo as Hayama
Mitsuo Matsumoto as Professor Isokawa
Kiyoshi Takagi as Minakami
Rinsaku Ogata as Goro
Jiro Suzukawa as Yoshizo
Katao Kawasaki as Tsunesan
Kanta Kisaragi as Suteyan
Ichiro Nakatani as Senkichi
Keiji Sakakida as Tahei
Hideo Mihara as Air Self-Defense Force commander
Yoshio Katsube as Self-Defense Force signaler
Mitsuo Tsuda as Takeuchi
Ichiro Chiba as Chief constable
Jiro Kumagai as Tashiro
Saeko Kuroiwa as Nurse
Yasuko Nakada as Female honeymooner
Seiji Onaka as Nakagawa, male honeymooner
Kiyomi Ichinoya as Otami
Shoichi Hirose as Fighter pilot / Meganulon
Haruo Nakajima as Rodan / Meganulon
Katsumi Tezuka as Hotel manager / Rodan / Meganulon
Tokio Okawa as Meganulon
Kenji Sahara as Shigeru Kawamura, mine engineer
Yumi Shirakawa as Kiyo
Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Kyuichiro Kashiwagi, paleontologist
Akio Kobori as Nishimura, police inspector
Yoshibumi Tajima as Izeki, journalist
Minosuke Yamada as Osaki, mine director
Ren Imaizumi as Sunagawa, seismologist
Fuyuki Murakami as Professor Minami, physicist
Koji Uno as Journalist
Akio Kusama as Suda, chief engineer
Fumindo Matsuo as Hayama
Mitsuo Matsumoto as Professor Isokawa
Kiyoshi Takagi as Minakami
Rinsaku Ogata as Goro
Jiro Suzukawa as Yoshizo
Katao Kawasaki as Tsunesan
Kanta Kisaragi as Suteyan
Ichiro Nakatani as Senkichi
Keiji Sakakida as Tahei
Hideo Mihara as Air Self-Defense Force commander
Yoshio Katsube as Self-Defense Force signaler
Mitsuo Tsuda as Takeuchi
Ichiro Chiba as Chief constable
Jiro Kumagai as Tashiro
Saeko Kuroiwa as Nurse
Yasuko Nakada as Female honeymooner
Seiji Onaka as Nakagawa, male honeymooner
Kiyomi Ichinoya as Otami
Shoichi Hirose as Fighter pilot / Meganulon
Haruo Nakajima as Rodan / Meganulon
Katsumi Tezuka as Hotel manager / Rodan / Meganulon
Tokio Okawa as Meganulon
English Dub
Keye Luke as Shigeru Kawamura / policeman
George Takei as Dr. Kyuichiro Kashiwagi / Izeki / male honeymooner
Paul Frees as Nishimura / Suda / Dr. Tanaka / Air Force officer / Kitahara, pilot / newsreader
James Yagi as Osaki / Professor Minami / hotel manager / farmer
Keye Luke as Shigeru Kawamura / policeman
George Takei as Dr. Kyuichiro Kashiwagi / Izeki / male honeymooner
Paul Frees as Nishimura / Suda / Dr. Tanaka / Air Force officer / Kitahara, pilot / newsreader
James Yagi as Osaki / Professor Minami / hotel manager / farmer
Monsters
Rodan
Meganulon
Weapons, vehicles, and races
M24 Chaffee Tank
MGR-1 Honest John
F-86F Sabre
Sikorsky H-5
24 Twin Rocket Car
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (stock footage, U.S. version)
Weapons, vehicles, and races
M24 Chaffee Tank
MGR-1 Honest John
F-86F Sabre
Sikorsky H-5
24 Twin Rocket Car
Boeing B-29 Superfortress (stock footage, U.S. version)
The original story for Rodan was penned by novelist Ken Kuronuma. He was inspired by the death of Captain Thomas F. Mantell of the Kentucky Air National Guard, who blacked out and crashed his P-51 Mustang while pursuing a UFO in 1948. Takeo Murata and Kaoru Mabuchi, the latter making his genre debut under the pen name Takeshi Kimura, wrote the script, adding the Meganulon and the Rodans' Fukuoka rampage. Their first draft called for a single Rodan, who would be injured by American planes above Okinawa and killed at Mt. Aso by a dynamiting team led by Shigeru. Initially, the monsters were based on the winged dinosaur Archaeopteryx, but the final design was closer to Pteranodon.
Rodan was Toho's first tokusatsu kaiju film filmed in color, though Toho's first color tokusatsu film, The Legend of the White Serpent, was released earlier in 1956. Kenji Sahara played mine engineer Shigeru Kawamura in his first major role. He took his character's amnesia seriously: he studied the condition's causes, practiced making his eyes go out of focus, and at one point worked himself into such a state that he "kicked a table, suffered bumps and bruises, and ripped his pants". Director Ishiro Honda took an immediate liking to the actor, and would cast him in his films over and over again.
Haruo Nakajima played Rodan, his first kaiju role after Godzilla, with Katsumi Tezuka as a backup. The cables lifting up Nakajima during the scene where one Rodan bursts out of Harioseto Strait gave out during a take, when he was 20 feet off the ground. Fortunately, the suit's wings and the water broke his fall. A slew of scale flying models and Rodan's upper half puppets helped bring the pair to life. Nakajima and Tezuka were also among the actors who inhabited the massive six-legged Meganulon suit, along with Shoichi Hirose and Tokio Okawa.
Haruo Nakajima played Rodan, his first kaiju role after Godzilla, with Katsumi Tezuka as a backup. The cables lifting up Nakajima during the scene where one Rodan bursts out of Harioseto Strait gave out during a take, when he was 20 feet off the ground. Fortunately, the suit's wings and the water broke his fall. A slew of scale flying models and Rodan's upper half puppets helped bring the pair to life. Nakajima and Tezuka were also among the actors who inhabited the massive six-legged Meganulon suit, along with Shoichi Hirose and Tokio Okawa.
Alternate Titles
Giant Monster of the Sky Rodan (Literal Japanese title)
Mach Monster Rodan (マッハ怪獣ラドン Mahha Kaijū Radon, Japanese 8mm title)
Rodan! The Flying Monster! (United States, poster only)
Rodan: Bird of Death (Rodan: Ptak Smierci; Poland)
Rodan!... The Space Monster (Rodan!... O Monstro do Espaço; Brazil)
Flying Monster Vulture (飛天怪鷲 Fēitiān Guàijiù; Taiwan)
Bloodthirsty Hawk (Taiwanese English title)
The Sons of the Volcano (Los Hijos del Volcán; Spain; Els Fills del Volcà; Spain (Catalonia))
Invasion 2034 (French video title)
Horror over Japan (Skräck över Japan; Sweden)
U.S. release
"We were each assigned eight or nine different characters to do. With oversized earphones that made us look like science fiction characters ourselves, we stared up at a gigantic screen on a wall across which passed silent images: the prehistoric monstrosity, Rodan, soundlessly swooping down on panicked crowds, fleeing noiselessly; close-ups of bug-eyed faces in mute, open-mouthed terror; shots of sober-faced officials gravely moving their wordless lips. We listened for three clicks in our earphones, which were coordinated with a flickery line that danced across the screen. The third click sounded just as the flickery line reached the right side of the screen, and that was our cue to speak the line—when the lips started moving or the chest heaved for the gasp. The sounds we uttered had to match the movement on the screen precisely, or else the lips would continue moving silently or our dialogue would persist over a closed-mouth face."
The English version overseen by the King Brothers is a complete overhaul with innumerable editorial and creative differences. It runs 10 minutes shorter than its Japanese counterpart. The story is now presented as an account told from the perspective of its protagonist, Shigeru, much in the same vein as the role of the character Steve Martin in the earlier Americanized Toho film, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. Additions include unused Toho special effects footage and a prologue made up of American nuclear test footage to transparently link the monsters' emergence with the Atomic Age. U.S. newspaper ads for the film highlighted the presence of American-made Sabre jets and Honest John rockets.
In 2002, Classic Media released the American version of Rodan to DVD for the first time. Six years later, they released the original Japanese version of the film to DVD, along with the American edit, packaged with The War of the Gargantuas and the documentary Bringing Godzilla Down to Size.
Some of the changes made for the American release of the film include:
Some of Akira Ifukube's music was replaced with stock music.
Some of Akira Ifukube's music was replaced with stock music.
A prologue showing footage of American nuclear tests was added.
Extensive narration by Shigeru was added throughout the film.
A brief shot showing mine cars travelling up a mine shaft was taken out.
A scene of miners names being called was cut short.
The scene leading up to when Meganulon kills a cop and two miners is shortened.
The scene where the Meganulon attacks the village is cut short. A brief shot showing a Meganulon walking through people's backyards was taken out for the American version.
When Shigeru and the soldiers walk up the incline, it shows the setting through Shigeru's eyes. He looks up the incline, and then the camera moves to the left showing the mountain, and then sees the Meganulon. A shot of Meganulon escaping afterwards is also cut.
The scene where Professor Kashiwagi analyzes a photo of the yet-unnamed monster's wing was cut short. Kashiwagi matches the wing in the photo to that of a picture of a Pteranodon, which he truncates to "Radon" to name the monster.
A brief scene showing doctors walking Shigeru into the hospital after he is recovered was taken out.
The scene where the honeymooners are eaten is much shorter, with about 30 seconds of footage removed, including a shot of Rodan's shadow passing overhead.
The American version makes the second Rodan appear more throughout the movie. In the original Japanese version, the second Rodan does not show up until late during the attack on Fukuoka.
A scene of fighter jets taking off was added.
The King Brothers changed the name of the city destroyed by Rodan from Fukuoka to Sasebo because the U.S.A. had a lot of diplomatic facilities there.
The scene of Rodan emerging from his volcanic lair was altered in the American version to make it look as if he was provoked to emerge by the air force. In the original version, he emerged without any sort of provocation.
The scene where a helicopter investigates the Rodans' lair was re-arranged. In the Japanese version, the scene appears after the assault on Fukuoka by the Rodans and just before they are killed by the volcanic eruption caused by the JSDF. In the US version, the scene is shown shortly before Rodan first emerges from Mount Aso.
Trivia
The giant insects featured in this film, the Meganulons, would later go on to appear in the 2000 film Godzilla vs. Megaguirus.
In this film, Rodan is able to emit a concentrated jet of air from its mouth as a weapon, an ability that has not been seen since. The inclusion of this seemingly tangential ability was most likely meant to answer the popularity of Godzilla's radioactive heat ray.
In the original Japanese version of the film, Rodan is called "Radon," a truncation of "pteranodon." While it is commonly believed that the Japanese Radon became "Rodan" for the international release due to a translation error, it is likely that the name was deliberately changed to avoid confusion with the chemical element radon (pronounced "Ray-don"). The name Radon is however, preserved in the English-dubbed version of Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2.
Rodan was Toho's first tokusatsu kaiju film filmed in color, though Toho's first color tokusatsu film, The Legend of the White Serpent, was released earlier in 1956.
Rodan was theatrically released in Japan on a double bill with Nemuri Kyoshiro Burai Hikae.