Dogora (1964)

[ProfessorBeats]

Anyone out there seen Dogora? My wife and I have been watching all of toho's Kaiju films and so far we're at Spacegodzilla I think? But my favorite of the bunch thus far honestly has been Dogora. That movie is just endless fun. It's like a jewel heist movie where they tossed in some monsters as an after thought, meaning that the human element is actually super interesting- and this is largely due to what I seriously think is the Showa era's best human character: Mark Jackson.

This guy does it all! He's like one of those robbers who is always one step ahead of the cops. He always has a plan or a trick up his sleeves. Like James Bond had a kid with The Joker! He's awesome, playing all the sides, and probably best yet- this guy played ONE other role in these movies: Antonio- Emperor of SeaTopia! If this isn't a man's man I don't know who is (AND a lady's man for sure). Anyone else experienced the fun of Mark Jac- er, I mean, Dogora?

[edgaguirus]

I don't watch Dogora often, but I find the character fun.

[ProfessorBeats]

It totally did, but I guess adding it to the Dogora thread keeps things neat

[Godzillian]

Because of movies like The Mysterians and Atragon, I didn't have high hopes for this film. Bought it, and it is one of my top 50 favorite Toho films.

Top 50? That's a lot a movies dude

[Showa Gyaos]

Because of movies like The Mysterians and Atragon, I didn't have high hopes for this film. Bought it, and it is one of my top 50 favorite Toho films.

Top 50? That's a lot a movies dude

Three years ago, I said some very strange things.

[Missingno.]

Not sure how old this thread is... But I found this thread on Google Images so instead of making a new one, I'm just going to reply here...

Anyway, I just got this one on DVD a couple days ago (Japanese version, of course) and watched it for the first time. It's great, despite the fact that Dogora in its mature form only appears for like 5 minutes of the whole movie, and kinda just floats around when it does... The human element in this one is nothing short of amazing, with characters like that of Mark Jackson make the film engaging, and the detectives are also very interesting, using ninja skills to spy on people for one. I was also surprised to see Akiko Wakabayashi in this one, and when she first appeared on screen, I was like "Hey, that's the princess from GTTHM!" The soundtrack is also great in this film, especially the "The Air Corps Begin Their Strike" track, but go figure: it's Akira Ifukube's composition. The "super weapon" of this movie is a little anti-climatic, being four super-sized Spray Tanks together mounted on tank treads, though it is an interesting concept nonetheless. However, I feel this film does suffer the same problem as the H-Man from 1958: there is almost so much lack of a monster in it's own movie, the side plot of a large mystery should've been the focus of the film and had better potential for a mystery movie. Because of this, this movie begs for a remake, and if it is with more screen time for the monster and keeps the original story, I'm all for it. Besides that, it is definitely one worth checking out

[Kaiser]

I saw it once a few years ago. Never really felt the need to revisit it. It's your average sixties heist film with a kaiju thrown in and the two genres never really mesh well. Still, it'd be neat to watch it again since I now recognize who Nobuo Nakamura is after seeing several Kurosawa and Ozu films and he plays the main scientist.

[20th Century Boy]

The first time I saw it five years ago, I found it somewhat boring. I really need to see it again, though. The bizarre appeal of the monsters has really grown on me over the years.

[he-ba]

Never seen it, really REALLY want to. This, Matango, and Atragon.

[Kaiser]

Never seen it, really REALLY want to. This, Matango, and Atragon.

Atragon I found to be rather disappointing and dull, beyond the special effects. However, not enough people have seen Matango and REALLY should. If it wasn't for Gojira, it would be the best film Toho's made.

I'd like to point out that Akira Kurosawa spent the majority of his career working for Toho. Just saying. Agree about Atragon though, although that movie appears to be really popular in its home country for some reason. Probably because its themes of patriotism and duty are more relevant over there.

[Godzillian]

Just got the DVD of this film for a good deal. I had pretty low expectations going in but was defiantly impressed. The effects are top-notch especially the Dogora prop. The way it floats through the air is amazing and completely believable. The diamond thief story was pretty cool. Mark Jackson rules haha The female member of the thieves was also probably the best looking woman in any Toho film

[Breakdown]

Watched a few clips of this and I'm very impressed with the FX for the Dogora creature itself. They managed to make it float and move very convincingly, almost like a real jellyfish or cephalopod. Any idea as to how it was done??

[Godzillian]

Watched a few clips of this and I'm very impressed with the FX for the Dogora creature itself. They managed to make it float and move very convincingly, almost like a real jellyfish or cephalopod. Any idea as to how it was done??

They put the Dogora prop in water and had it move with wire work from above the tank

[miguelnuva]

So I have never seen Dogora am I not missing anything or should I check it out?

[edgaguirus]

You should see it at least once. Reactions are mixed about the film, but you might enjoy it.

[LSD Jellyfish]

So I have never seen Dogora am I not missing anything or should I check it out?

Yes. Any scene with Dogora is great, however it plays a small role, which is a bummer.

I'm always bittersweet about Dogora. On one hand the monster itself is absolutely awesome. It's sad that he's one of the TOHO kaiju that never got intergrated into the Godzilla series (though he's cannon in GVM and T:SOS). He had so much potential, the fights with him would be amazing because he's probably the largest kaiju to ever exist.

I don't normally read the fanfiction on this site but one of the ones I did and actually really loved was the one where Godzilla fought Dogora. It was pretty awesome but made me more sad poor Dogora will never see the light of day.

[Young Guy]

So I have never seen Dogora am I not missing anything or should I check it out?

Yes. Any scene with Dogora is great, however it plays a small role, which is a bummer.

I'm always bittersweet about Dogora. On one hand the monster itself is absolutely awesome. It's sad that he's one of the TOHO kaiju that never got intergrated into the Godzilla series (though he's cannon in GVM and T:SOS). He had so much potential, the fights with him would be amazing because he's probably the largest kaiju to ever exist.

I don't normally read the fanfiction on this site but one of the ones I did and actually really loved was the one where Godzilla fought Dogora. It was pretty awesome but made me more sad poor Dogora will never see the light of day.

I think Dogora also appeared in that crappy Godzilla Island TV show.

[LSD Jellyfish]

But are we even going to really count that as an appearance?

[Kaiju no Kami]

I watched this for the first time today and it was really really good. It was like watching a diamond heist movie with kaiju in it. I also loved that they got the actor back from Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster to play the main cop, but it was weird that he was just playing a new instead. Overall, I give the movie an 8 because it was really enjoyable to watch and Dogora was a unique idea. My only complaint is that it does drag in parts, which is a little problematic when the movie is only 80 minutes long. Oh, but man, this movie is in need of a serious remaster. Media Blaster's video quality looked like it was frankensteined from various sources.

[DoctorMafune]

This film is an oddball, for sure, but I loved the scene in which Dogora attacked the city, taking anti-aircraft fire, funneling in coal, looping tentacles around that bridge (in some less than convincing animation), and finally, ending up on the wrong side of some Frontier Missiles. Quirky nature of the rest of the film (which is fun) aside, that scene was a vividly realized nightmare... with mankind at the mercy of a truly enormous being. And Ifukube's scoring (as usual) was brilliant... it really drives home the unearthly sense of awe and shock.

By the way, it's been awhile since I've seen more than clips, but I think those things falling on the gangsters were supposed to be the bloblets Dogora had split into, hardened into rock by a chemical barrage. Right?