Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

bensonmum2 Japan and the rest of the world are under the threat of attack from the mysterious underwater kingdom known as Mu. Their plan is to turn the land into their colonies and enslave the surface dwellers. The people of Mu fear only one thing – Atragon, a super-secret (so secret in fact that no one knows about it) flying submarine that has the potential to defeat the Mu. But Atragon is being built by a Japanese officer from WWII who is unaware of his countries surrender. He's reluctant to use his new submarine for anything but the greater glory of Japan. But when the Mu kidnap his daughter, he softens his stance and finally agrees lead the charge against the Mu.Overall, I can't help but be very disappointed by Atragon. The movie sounded so good – a flying submarine, a mysterious underwater kingdom called Mu, and a giant snakelike creature named Manda. What could go wrong? Well, the plot is what went wrong. Nothing much happens during the first ¾ of the movie. I don't know how many times I found myself waking up and reversing the movie. There's not enough flying submarine, Mu kingdom, or Manda to make Atragon exciting. It's not until the finale that something exciting finally happens.And it's a shame because I find I usually go for the more offbeat of the Toho movies that stray from the usual Godzilla storyline. For example, movies like Matango or The Mysterians are among my favorite Toho films. And Atragon had Ishiro Honda directing and a cast that included several familiar and solid actors. Atragon also features the standout Toho miniatures I always enjoy. But in my opinion, everyone involved was letdown at every opportunity by a less than stellar screenplay. I just expected (or at least hoped for) better.

ebiros2 This is one of Toho's gem that has gone unnoticed for many years. The original story was written by a Japanese science fiction writer Oshikawa Shunro in 1900, which was then heavily modified for this movie adaptation by Shinichi Sekizawa. Casting is good, and the plot is very original. During WW II, Japan created three largest submarines in the world the I 400 class which housed 3 bomber planes with plans to covertly bomb the Panama Canal. The story's premise is that a 4th variation of this sub I 403 was made by the Japanese, commanded by Capt. Jinguji (Jun Tazaki). It was thought that this sub sank off the coast of Saipan with all hands lost, but Jinguji and his crew survived and created an underground base in an uncharted island. There Jinguji also being an engineer, puts into action his plan to build a flying battleship/submarine called the Gotengo. The year is 1964 and there're few mysterious kidnapping of scientists in Japan and sitings of a strange submarine. The culprit (Akihiko Hirata) tries to kidnap ex-Lt. Admiral Kozumi (Ken Uyehara) and Jinguji's daughter Makoto (Yoko Fujiyama) but fails, and reveals that there's a plan for the Muans from the lost continent of Mu to return to the surface for world conquest. Kozumi now aware of Jinguji's survival and his creation the Gotengo, is asked by the UN to convince Jinguji to use it against the Muans. During their excursion to Jinguji's island, Muan spy (Kenji Sahara) kidnaps Makoto and her fiancée Hatanaka (Tadao Takashima). Jinguji's original idea was to use Gotengo to win the war (WW II that is) for Japan, but is now convinced he will have to fight the Muans. The star of this movie is the outrageously cool looking flying battleship/submarine (Designed by notable Japanese science fiction artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki) that's armed to its teeth. This submarine comes with a drill at its nose and can drill through earth where the enemy has their lair. The Muans who are the race of people from the legendary continent Mu which sank in the pacific 12000 years ago (There are three lost continent legend if you're not familiar with Mu. One is Atlantis, other is Mu in the Pacific, and third is Lemuria in the Indian ocean which all sank around the same time ) are planning to return to the surface, and take over the world. Gotengo (the name of the sub) challenges Muans in their world to stop their invasion plan. As director of special effects Shinji Higuchi once said, Japanese might be the only people who have fetish for a flying battleship. This story, and Uchu Senkan Yamato is a prime example.The American title of this movie "Atragon" which is also the American name for Gotengo is an abbreviation of the words "Atomic Dragon".When I first saw the picture of this submarine, I long waited for the day I could see the movie. I saw a badly dubbed version on TV which was disappointing, but now a DVD is available with original Japanese dialogs. This is a movie worth watching.

EL BUNCHO *SPOILER WARNING* Sort of a Japanese Captain Nemo story, ATRAGON has to do with a super submarine that can do damn near anything and the part that it plays in saving the world from invasion by the evil forces of the Mu empire. When the Mu invaders show up, they boast of their superiority, yet they request that we not use Atragon (the super-sub) against them. Those wussies...Anyway, much butt is kicked and the serpent monster Manda makes its debut here. Manda is probably best known for the train derailment scene from DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, and is kind of cool since it looks like a traditional Asian dragon. As Toho flicks go, this has more plot than usual, but I still think it only rates a **1/2 out of a possible ****.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) THE MYSTERIANS was about a big battle with aliens that takes place on Earth, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE was about a big battle with aliens in outer space. So I suppose following that logic, it was inevitable that Toho would follow up those films with one that takes place beneath the sea. This time Earth is threatened by inhabitants from beneath the sea who are descendants of the lost continent of Mu. Much of what is "known" about Mu comes from the speculative works of William Churchwald. Mu is said to be a lost continent like Atlantis, except Mu was in the Pacific. Like Atlantis, Mu was according to Churchwald at least, the home of an advance race that perished eons ago beneath the waves when world wide disaster struck. ATRAGON (Aka KAITEI GUNKAN) is a fairly entertaining science fiction from Toho, but its one of their lesser efforts. There is not as much spectacle as can found in THE MYSTERIANS and BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE. The special effects and miniatures are not as colorful and detailed as in previous Toho epics. The big world threat promised by the Muians never materializes, about all they do is sink a Japanese merchant vessel and sink an American navel sub. They also try to kidnap a few surface people, but all that is hardly a reason to destroy a whole civilization. When the submarine Atragon attacks Mu, the Muians make a feeble attempt to protect themselves. Overall, the Muians bark is worse than their bite.THE MYSTERIANS and BATTLE IN OUTERSPACE are very well paced and exciting films and are recommended to fans of Japanese science fiction. ATRAGON however, was a film I sat through with only mild interest and little enthusiasm.