The Mysterians

The Mysterians (地球防衛軍, Chikyū Bōeigun, lit. Earth Defense Force) is a 1957 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda. It stars Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura.

Synopsis

Following a raging, unnatural forest fire, a giant fissure destroys an entire village. This leads to an investigation whereby the cause is discovered to be Moguera, a giant robot, who is then destroyed by the military. Its remains are analyzed and discovered to be of extraterrestrial origin. Shortly after, an alien race known as the Mysterians make their presence known, declaring they have taken some Earth women captive and that they demand both land and the right to marry women of Earth. Developing an arsenal of super weapons, the nations of the world unite against the common threat.

Dubbing History[]

Following the Japanese theatrical release, the Anglophone and European distribution rights to The Mysterians were purchased in February, 1958 by Paul Schreibman and Edmund Goldman's Topaz Film Corp., and like Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Joseph E. Levine of Embassy Pictures became involved in some manner concerning finance. The American distribution rights were eventually sold to RKO Radio Pictures, and an edited English-language version running 85 minutes was commissioned through Peter Riethof's American Dubbing Co., with Carlos Montalbán directing a talent pool of New York-based actors, many of whom would later appear in Titra Studios' English dubs. RKO's mounting financial problems led the film to be shelved, before the distribution rights were sold in turn to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who released the film in May, 1959. After the American release, The Rank Organisation distributed the film in the UK and other European territories. The film entered U.S. television syndication starting in 1981 through Gold Key Entertainment, and video releases in the 1980s licensed through VCI Entertainment. As these re-releases used the initial version of the edited film crediting RKO's involvement, the 85-minute English version has become known colloquially as the "RKO dub".

Media Blasters' Tokyo Shock label released the original Japanese version on DVD in 2005, which included a newly recorded English dub commissioned through Bang Zoom! Entertainment.

Cast[]

Image	Character	Original Actor	Dub Actor
Image	Character	Original Actor	American Dubbing Co. Dub	Bang Zoom! Dub
	Joji Atsumi	Kenji Sahara	George Gonneau	Dave Wittenberg
	Etsuko Shiraishi	Yumi Shirakawa		Lesli Todd
	Hiroko Iwamoto	Momoko Kochi		Michelle Ruff
	Ryoichi Shiraishi	Akihiko Hirata		Kirk Thornton
	Dr. Kenjiro Adachi	Takashi Shimura		Michael McConnohie
	General Morita	Susumu Fujita	Anthony La Penna	Steve Kramer
	Captain Seki	Hisaya Ito
	Commander Sugimoto	Yoshio Kosugi		Michael Forest
	Dr. Nobuo Kawanami	Fuyuki Murakami		Doug Stone
	Dr. Kōda	Tetsu Nakamura	Bret Morrison
	Mysterian Leader	Yoshio Tsuchiya		Dave Mallow

Additional Voices (American Dubbing Co. Dub)[]

Additional Voices (Bang Zoom! Dub)[]

Notes[]

The Director of Foreign Affairs' dialogue is handled differently in the two dubs; in the RKO/MGM/Rank version, his lines that were originally his interpretation to the Japanese officials have been changed to further explications of relevant details, while his English interpretation of General Morita's statement at the Earth Defense Force assembly has been cut. In the Bang Zoom! dub, his interpretation to the Japanese officials has been directly dubbed into English, while his English interpretation of Morita's statement retains Heihachiro Okawa's original on-set performance, giving the character two voices.

External Links[]

The Mysterians at the Internet Movie Database