This technically gets counted as a Kaiju movie, because it has the serpentine Manda in it for a few scenes. But Manda largely seems like an afterthought. Toho was trying to make other films, but realized that pretty only had one star, and that was Godzilla.
The story is the lost Mu Empire lives under the sea and wants to reconquer the Earth. The only thing standing in their way is an eccentric Japanese sub commander who started building a super-submarine on an uncharted Island. This sub can fly, drill through the earth, shoot a freezing ray, and makes a darned nice cup of sake. Okay I made that last part up.
A large portion of the film is modern characters trying to convince the captain to use his sub for the benefit of the world rather than the greater glory of the Japanese Empire. Like many Toho films of the 50's and early 60's, World War II is still very much in the rear-view mirror, and it shows here.
At the end, the Mu Empire is defeated and the Mu Empress chooses to die with her people, perhaps a commentary on imperialism that had about as much subtly as Godzilla being a stand in for nukes.
The copy I saw was on Amazon Prime and it wasn't a very good copy, scenes were blurry. This is a film that could do with a good remastering.
The story is the lost Mu Empire lives under the sea and wants to reconquer the Earth. The only thing standing in their way is an eccentric Japanese sub commander who started building a super-submarine on an uncharted Island. This sub can fly, drill through the earth, shoot a freezing ray, and makes a darned nice cup of sake. Okay I made that last part up.
A large portion of the film is modern characters trying to convince the captain to use his sub for the benefit of the world rather than the greater glory of the Japanese Empire. Like many Toho films of the 50's and early 60's, World War II is still very much in the rear-view mirror, and it shows here.
At the end, the Mu Empire is defeated and the Mu Empress chooses to die with her people, perhaps a commentary on imperialism that had about as much subtly as Godzilla being a stand in for nukes.
The copy I saw was on Amazon Prime and it wasn't a very good copy, scenes were blurry. This is a film that could do with a good remastering.