Good concept, poorly executed.

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I'm sorry, but for me, this movie was certainly not one of Toho's gems. I found the film to be quite frustrating actually. I watch these films because I love the amazing creatures and monsters that the humans have to battle. In this movie, the monster did not make its appearance until over halfway through the film. What's worse is that it did not break free and begin attacking anyone until nearly the last 20 minutes of the film. Given that fact, the battle lasted less than 5 minutes with Manda being taken down by the crew of the Atragon very quickly, with no real "battle" as you would have thought there would be. I don't want to say this film was a complete flop however, it seems to me that this film is more of a Japanese patriotism propaganda film in some instances, and a monster flick in others. But to each their own!

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.

I remember seeing this movie as a preteen-ager at a drive-in in the early-mid 1960's. I watched it again years later on DVD and still found it entertaining. I would consider it a Japanese retelling of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.An eccentric ultra-patriotic World War II Japanese naval genius has built a super sub in secret to restore the glory of the World War II Japanese Empire. However a new enemy has now emerged; an aggressive underwater kingdom called Mu and it's giant monster god.This is a good movie with a decent plot and some very attractive Japanese women! The bikini shot of Akemi Kita early in the movie definitely wins the award for "The Best Bikini in a Japanese Movie". The Captain's daughter and the Mu Empress definitely rate a 9+ on the "hotness" scale as well. ;)This movie is classic TOHO made during the heyday of Japanese science fiction. Although the special effects doesn't stand up to today's standards, for it's time they were above average. I remember watching this movie as a kid and being mesmerized by it. The musical score is very good as well.The American release DVD quality is excellent. It is dubbed in English and about 89 minutes long. The colors are rich and vibrant. A very good presentation for this very good movie.Definitely worth a look. I recommend it.

ATRAGON (1963, aka KAITEI GUNKAN) is a fun, fast paced sci-fi action thriller by the Japanese makers and stars of the Godzilla series. It seems the undersea kingdom of Mu wants to reclaim their rule on Earth. It's up to a plucky cheesecake photographer (Tadao Takashima) and a self-exiled WW2 Japanese Naval officer (Jun Tazaki) to stop them. There are laps of logic, which kind of add to the fun, and some well staged sequences. Film gets especially silly when the undersea Mu empire sends the Japanese Government an 8mm film explaining Mu's history and plans. This little film has optical titles, a narration, the works. Does this undersea kingdom have a film production unit complete with a film processing lab? Giddy fun here. ]