Rodan (film)

Rodan is a 1956 kaiju film made by Toho and directed by Ishiro Honda. It features the debut of Rodan.. It was one of the last serious kaiju films made by Toho.

Synopsis Rodan follows in the footsteps of other Japanese monster movies, such as Godzilla, which involve a giant monster being awoken from an ancient hibernation by human beings. In Rodan, miners digging far into the earth stumble across a clutch of giant, prehistoric insects called Meganulons, which viciously attack several of the miners and prompt a government investigation into the matter in the year 1957. The giant bugs turn out to be little more than food for two gigantic flying beasts called Rodans, similar to pteranodons but far larger and more powerful, who hatch from giant eggs and proceed to terrorize the entire world.

Rodan is notable for its action scenes, which are surprisingly well-filmed and still excite audiences today. Unlike most of the Toho monster movies, which featured "action" scenes consisting of roaring monsters lumbering across the landscape at a stupefyingly slow pace, the battle scenes and monster rampage in Rodan are thrilling, exciting, and fast-paced; it is much easier for the audience to suspend disbelief and accept the low-tech special effects here. The emphasis on action and thrills, and willingness to scare the audience, has made Rodan one of the more enduring entries in daikaiju eiga.

In the original Japanese version this daikaiju is called "Radon", a truncation of "pteranodon"). While it is commonly believed that the Japanese Radon became Rodan for the international release due to a translation error, it is likely that the name was deliberately changed to avoid confusion with the chemical element radon. The name Radon is, however, preserved in the English-dubbed version of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993).

[edit] U.S. release Lobby card to the 1957 US release of RodanThe King Brothers' theatrical release of Rodan was quite successful in its first run in the United States. It was the first Japanese movie to receive general release on the West Coast to make a strong showing at the box-office.1 It later received the biggest TV advertising campaign given to a film to that date on New York's NBC flagship station WRCA-TV. 10-, 20- and 60-second commercials were shown for a week before the film's opening.2

It grossed an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 during its opening weekend at 79 theaters in the New York City metropolitan area. Several theatrical circuits, including RKO, announced that Rodan broke the records for a science-fiction film.3

George Takei, better known as Lt. Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series, was one of the many voice actors employed for this film. The only other Kaiju film for which he performed voice work was Godzilla Raids Again. The main narration provided by the character of Shigeru was voiced by actor Keye Luke with additional voices provided by veteran voice actor Paul Frees.

Classic Media's 2008 DVD release of Rodan (paired with War of the Gargantuas) includes both the original Japanese version (with optional English subtitles) and the English-dubbed King Brothers version.

Changes to the Japanese version :

Some of Akira Ifukube's music was replaced with stock music. A prologue showing footage of American nuclear tests was added. Extensive narration was added throughout the film. A brief shot showing mine cars traveling up a mine shaft was taken out. The scene where the Meganulon attacks the village is cut short. A brief shot showing a Meganulon walking through people's backyards was taken out for the American version. When Shigeru and the soldiers walk up the incline, it shows the setting through Shigeru's eyes. He looks up the incline, and then the camera moves to the left showing the mountain, and then sees the Meganulon. The scene where Professor Kashiwagi analyzes a photo of the yet-unnamed monster's wing was cut short. Kashiwagi matches the wing in the photo to that of a picture of a Pteranodon, which he truncates to "Radon" to name the monster. A brief scene showing doctors walking Shigeru into the hospital after he is recoverd was taken out. The American version makes the second Rodan appear more throughout the movie. In the original Japanese version, the second Rodan does not show up until the attack on Fukuoka. A scene of fighter jets taking off was added. The scene were a helicopter investigates the Rodans' lair was re-arranged. In the Japanese version, the scene appears appears after the assault on Fukuoka by the Rodans and just before the are killed by the volcanic eruption caused by the JSDF. In the US version, the scene is shown shortly before Rodan first emerges from Mount Aso. The King Brothers changed the name of the city destroyed by Rodan from Fukuoka to Sasebo because the U.S.A. had a lot of diplomatic facilities there.