Back in the early 60s Toho not only started its Gojira franchise but made a lot of other Science Fiction and Fantasy films. One such film is the 1963 classic "Atragon" (also known as Kaishei Gunkan) directed by Ishiro Honda of Gojira fame. He also created films such as "The Mysterians" and "Gorath" (which I would love to score a copy of).
Atragon is at its essence a story paralleling two characters:
First, we have Captain Jinguji who at the close of WW2 took a group of men to a secluded island with a secret base. There he built the titular vessel, which is a super advanced submarine (think flying/undersea battleship in essence):
The central character conflict in the film is between Jinguji's fierce patriotism, pride and desire to use his creation to restore Japan to its former glory and his former superior officer and his daughter's desire that he use the ship to defend not only Japan but the world from...
The Mu Empire (yes, THAT Mu Empire - the Pacific Atlantis) who have reemerged and want the nations of the Earth to submit to them.
The second parallel character is the Empress Mu. She is every bit as stubborn and patriotic as Junguji and she wants Mu restored to its former glory.
Suffice it to say one of these two ultimately changes their ways and the other is stubborn to the point of total destruction.
So, is it good? Overall yes. The model work and other SFX are typical Honda 1960's work which means superb. The acting is better than one would expect as well, and the pacing while deliberate is not too slow. Honda was one of the all time great directors (he studied under and was a close friend of Akira Kurosawa) and his craftsmanship shows here.
If the film has a weak point, it is that once Jinguji decides to act to stop the Mu Empire with Atragon (called Gotengo in some dubs) the Mu Empire is just totally overmatched. Nothing they have (and they have some cool stuff, even a Kaiju) ever feels like an actual threat to the ship and it triumphs with an almost contemptuous ease. In a way, however, the totality of the victory does serve to punctuate the tragedy of the Empress Mu and her refusal to pursue any sort of path short of total domination.
If you like Honda's work and like a solid piece of SciFi with a Kaiju in it (Manda), Atragon may be for you.
Atragon is at its essence a story paralleling two characters:
First, we have Captain Jinguji who at the close of WW2 took a group of men to a secluded island with a secret base. There he built the titular vessel, which is a super advanced submarine (think flying/undersea battleship in essence):
The central character conflict in the film is between Jinguji's fierce patriotism, pride and desire to use his creation to restore Japan to its former glory and his former superior officer and his daughter's desire that he use the ship to defend not only Japan but the world from...
The Mu Empire (yes, THAT Mu Empire - the Pacific Atlantis) who have reemerged and want the nations of the Earth to submit to them.
The second parallel character is the Empress Mu. She is every bit as stubborn and patriotic as Junguji and she wants Mu restored to its former glory.
Suffice it to say one of these two ultimately changes their ways and the other is stubborn to the point of total destruction.
So, is it good? Overall yes. The model work and other SFX are typical Honda 1960's work which means superb. The acting is better than one would expect as well, and the pacing while deliberate is not too slow. Honda was one of the all time great directors (he studied under and was a close friend of Akira Kurosawa) and his craftsmanship shows here.
If the film has a weak point, it is that once Jinguji decides to act to stop the Mu Empire with Atragon (called Gotengo in some dubs) the Mu Empire is just totally overmatched. Nothing they have (and they have some cool stuff, even a Kaiju) ever feels like an actual threat to the ship and it triumphs with an almost contemptuous ease. In a way, however, the totality of the victory does serve to punctuate the tragedy of the Empress Mu and her refusal to pursue any sort of path short of total domination.
If you like Honda's work and like a solid piece of SciFi with a Kaiju in it (Manda), Atragon may be for you.
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About Manda...I always thought of it as a "her", and she seemed the least threatening of all the Kaiju. No awesome powers, no cool energy weapons or abilities...just a big worm! Not even as threatening as a rattlesnake. Can you imagine a kaiju spitting cobra? 
