Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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Terasawa
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by Terasawa »

LSD Jellyfish wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:15 pm One stand out moment is when the female lead is in the bathtub and we sort of see Moguera in the background.
Yeah, that's a really effective shot! There are similar perspective shots in Gamera 2 and GMK but it's a kind of rare shot in these movies.

Haven't seen this in a year, so those popping up in my mind instantly speak to how great it is.
I was seven or eight the first time I saw The Mysterians and those first few disasters leading up to Mogera's reveal really freaked me out then (especially with Ifukube's subtly lurching music). I've seen the movie I dunno how many times since, but it's one of the few I saw that young for which I can recall my initial reaction. The first 15 minutes are a great, unsettling build up.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by GODZILLA2877 »

I would love for them to release this movie on bluray in the US even though I have never seen it.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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LSD Jellyfish wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:15 pm
Moguera has a fantastic design of being an alien robot but also being really unique. I sort of wish Showa Moguera, as an alien invader could make a comeback. The Heisei Moguera has completely overshadowed the original design in the fanbase.
Agreed. I love the design of Moguera (and the film overall)

I so want a blu-ray of it.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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Terasawa wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:32 pm
LSD Jellyfish wrote: Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:15 pm One stand out moment is when the female lead is in the bathtub and we sort of see Moguera in the background.
Yeah, that's a really effective shot!
How much of it is the cinematography and how much is the female lead in the bathtub? :P
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Did you like "The Mysterians" (1957)?

Post by GodzillandEnthusiest »

What did you like or what did you not like about it? if you could change anything about it, what would it be? do you hope the mysterians get remade?

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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For Toho's first alien invasion epic, and the first one to incorporate futuristic military hardware AND a giant robot, this movie is a lot of fun. The human drama is pretty dry but the effects and DEFINITELY ifukube's great score make this worthwhile.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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It's a good sci fi film with a memorable music score.

I wouldn't want a remake of this one unless they can bring a compelling human story to compliment the alien plot and effects.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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I think The Mysterians suffers from the same issues that both Rodan and GRA have; Moguera is excellent, and then there's a large shift to the alien invaders. However, the film is still one of my personal favorites and I want to rewatch it now. I think it easily might be one of the most underated SF films in film history, because it pretty much predates all other big SF Earth Vs. Aliens movies. The only other comparable film is 1953's War of the World's, and I think the Mysterians is definitely "on the same playing level". But it's a very different story, and I love how humanity comes together in the end. It's super amibitous and it's a shame that it was followed by lackluster sequels. Crazy how it predates many other SF War films by many many years.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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LSD, here's something from Wikizilla that you probably didn't know about The Mysterians. It's from their thread "List of Godzilla film continuities".

In the Toho book Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla Super Complete Works (1994), it says that MOGUERA was built using records of the original Moguera left behind from the Mysterians' unsuccessful 1957 invasion of Earth. This means that it's possible that there are two vintage tokusatsu films that are included in the 1984-1996 Heisei Godzilla Series: Godzilla (1954) and this film from 1957.

Just thought you'd like to know.
Last edited by mikelcho on Sat Nov 12, 2022 3:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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I love Toho not including details like that in the movies where it actually counts but then including them in books. It's such a Toho thing to do.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

@mikecho, that's fascinating, and I think I've heard of that before, but that doesn't really affect my interest in either the original Mysterians or Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla. It's also as Legion1979 brings up, completely pointless, nonsensical, and creates big problems for the Heisei continuity.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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I first saw this on TV at a very young age, probably about 1962 at age 5, and I have to say Moguera scared me quite a bit.
We lived in rural western Virginia, very hilly coal country.

After I saw it I had a dream where Moguera was coming out of the hill between our town and the next one and we were trapped in our car. I woke up and ran to my parents' bedroom!

Needless to say it is one of my favorites to this day, and I'm grateful to be able to see it in widescreen and color these days...
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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Legion1979 wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 4:15 pm I love Toho not including details like that in the movies where it actually counts but then including them in books. It's such a Toho thing to do.
Sort of like an afterthought, you'd say?

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by sam33 »

I just watched a good reconstruction of this (Toby 21's - thanks!) and I have to say that it makes all the difference.
I'm a pretty new person here, and an oldster. I saw quite a few Tohos on original US release.

You HAVE to see this big and widescreen to fully appreciate it. While I was too young to originally see this one that way, I finally saw a well-worn print in scope and somewhat pinkish faded color at a Sci-Fi marathon around 1993 (also BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE at an earlier one).

Scale makes all the difference. AND as a fan of original dubs, I have to say if you also like to watch in English, NEVER watch the Media Blasters dub! It's an insult to the genre. In the RKO cut you do miss a bit of Mogera at the end, but it's mostly intact.

So now I feel blessed to be able to watch this projected in my basement widescreen and in great color, WITH the dub I grew up with.
If you are on the fence on this one, try and see it big and bright sometime, you may like it more.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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LSD Jellyfish wrote: Sat Nov 12, 2022 9:21 pm @mikecho, that's fascinating, and I think I've heard of that before, but that doesn't really affect my interest in either the original Mysterians or Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla. It's also as Legion1979 brings up, completely pointless, nonsensical, and creates big problems for the Heisei continuity.
I didn't want to do that at all, I was just relating what was probably a little-known factoid about the film.

Wouldn't it be funny, however, if it was true, as Toho says? I mean, it's not every day a non-Godzilla film gets a status like this, especially in the Heisei story line, where everything is pretty much written in stone when it comes to actual content.

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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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If you ignore that Moguera was based on the remains of MKG, then it is an interesting idea. Two different invaders inspired a robot meant to protect humanity.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by Gailah 1966 »

edgaguirus wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:18 pm If you ignore that Moguera was based on the remains of MKG, then it is an interesting idea. Two different invaders inspired a robot meant to protect humanity.
Moguera was not based on MKG. This was Mecha-Godzilla from 1993.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Gailah 1966 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 9:11 am
edgaguirus wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:18 pm If you ignore that Moguera was based on the remains of MKG, then it is an interesting idea. Two different invaders inspired a robot meant to protect humanity.
Moguera was not based on MKG. This was Mecha-Godzilla from 1993.
BUT wasn't MOGUERA built with the remains of Mechagodzilla and Garuda? So like, transitive property, it's kind of accurate.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

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I've seen different sources and references explain that Mogeura 1994 was designed seperately from Mechagodzilla, but incoporated some elements from the Heisei Mechagodzilla. How direct of a continuation MG the Mougera project is varies.

In any case, Moguera (and definitely Mechagodzilla) would not exist without MKG being salvaged. Leftover technology in MKG's salvaged middle head lead to the direct ability to construct MG, and most likely by proxy, the ability to make Moguera. That's one thing I do like about the Heisei series. I like how a technologically advanced weapon from the future randomly being discarded was a catalyst for future events and just instantly discarded.
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Re: Talkback: The Mysterians (1957)

Post by Gailah 1966 »

Well, this is wierd. This would mean that Moguera was the more advanced machine. But MG was way more effective in battle, killing Rodan and Godzilla (nearly)
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