8mm Forum: Atragon 400 feet

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Posted by Andreas Borutta (Member # 2311) on December 07, 2010, 05:46 AM:

This is my first try to write a review on this forum .I have chosen Atragon,because I belive,that this release is almost unknown in the english speaken world. Yes this wunderful title came out on Super 8 mm in Germany in the year 1973. In this early Super 8 time every color title was released to in black and white. So be sure to find really the color version. And don´t forget to look at the cover artwork. You will find it in the toppic "Early Marketing releases"
Content:
The digest starts at about the second half of the film.
The heroes of the story has made a trip to an island to find atragon there. At the beach they are expecting the submarine.
It cames out of the water and flys. At the evening a spy from the Mu people takes two of the movie heroes as a hostage and brings them to the empres Mu. She decided to offer them to manda,a giant underwater sea snake.Meanwhile Captain Shinguzi
starts a saving mission to save his daughter and her engaged
husband. Bevore she was taken at a hostage,she tells her father ,that she hates him because she was told ,that he was dead. Now he know,he has a young daughter,who is in danger,he will help her and so Atragon is on the way to save the world.
In beetween Tokyo is atacked by the Mu people. The film shows great szenes of disaster. Meanwhile our young couple has turned the game. With stolen Dynamite there a taking the empress of mu as a hostile and try to find their way out of the land of Mu.
They find Underwater suits,and after fill the room with water ,they leave Mu. Manda is waiting for them,but also Atragon. They enter the submarine and are in safety. The empress of Mu refuges to cooperate,and so atragon will destroy the underwater energy plant. But before they have to kill Manda. They do it with a deep frozen canon. After they had reach the underwater plant,they frooze everybody with their handguns. After preparing the explosion,Atragon comes back to our world. They see giant explosion clouds,and the empress of Mu jump into the water to die with their people. The world is saved.
This is really one of the best science fiction films from Japan.
Made in 1963 in color and tohoscope, it is a classic from director Inoshiro Honda,special effects man Eiji Tsurubaya and composer Akira Ifukube. And the print is not so bad. They offered the print in letterbox or in full frame,but both versions are great in color.I have never seen a faded print. The Super 8 quality is really good. I prever the full frame print. Maybe because it suits good to the other japanese science fiction submarine film,Latitude Zero,that came out in Germany as a 800 feet digest. And don´t forget. The german title of Atragon is
U 2000 Tauchfahrt des Grauens.
Andreas Borutta

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on December 07, 2010, 08:34 AM:

Excellent and well written review! I agree with you. They always had a skill for miniature sets and effects.

Posted by Andreas Chmielewski (Member # 2208) on December 07, 2010, 09:09 AM:

I have this title..and it´s a very great digest from Marketing

Nice Andreas !!!!!

Posted by Andreas Chmielewski (Member # 2208) on December 07, 2010, 02:31 PM:

Here the Cover

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on December 09, 2010, 10:49 AM:

Thanks for that great review Andreas!

That looks like a really fun movie. I'm surprised there was no English-language variation of this released for T.V. back in the 70's. These type of cheezy monster movies have held up well in time, with good entertainment value.

James.

Posted by Andreas Borutta (Member # 2311) on December 10, 2010, 07:23 AM:

Hello James
I only know,that Atragon was released theatrical during the sixties in the american cinema.
But there were other japanese Monster movies,witch are not shown in american Cinemas.One of them was Gappa,the triphian monsters,original shot in 1967.
In Germany this film was released 1971 in the movies and I was lucky to get a 35mm print of Gappa. It was one of my most beloved film during my childhood.
Greetings
Andreas

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