Uncle Oscar called me the other day and invited me over to Witchwood Cemetery to see all the new spring flowers. The cemetery was in full bloom, he said, and presented a lovely sight.
I headed on over there and he was right. Bright colors were everywhere and presented a glorious picture. It was quite the contrast from the usual dreary and bland landscape the late fall and winter seasons presented. It was quite cheerful.
We walked around, enjoying the beauty and saying hello to old friends who were actively engaged in some much-needed spring cleaning. We made our way to the back part of the cemetery and came across The Radio Reaper’s large crypt. The Reaper greeted us as he swept out a large pile of trash.
“Greetings, Granny and Uncle Oscar,” he said. “How are you two? Beautiful day for cleaning out the cobwebs.”
“Yes it is,” I said. “What have you been up to?”
“Oh, just cleaning, rearranging, and sprucing up. In fact, I’m glad you came by. I found something you might be interested in,” he said.
He went into his crypt and soon reappeared, a large record in hand.
“Here,” he said. “See if you can use this.”
He handed it to me and I was surprised. It was a radio spot record for the movie The Mysterians.
“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t even know this existed. And look at all the spots! They really went all out.”
“Indeed,” Reaper said. “I guess they really wanted to promote their first science fiction film. It seems odd now because it’s one of their lesser-known productions. But, the spots are really good.”
“I can’t wait to hear them,” I said. I’ll get them on next week’s installment.”
Uncle Oscar and I thanked him and we said our goodbyes.
That Reaper is always coming up with a surprise for me. The Mysterians: Toho’s first excursion into science fiction, and in widescreen TohoScope, too. Funny. The Mysterians is a movie I never can remember much about. I always get it confused with Battle In Outer Space. When I think of The Mysterians I get two visual images: the fact that it was colorful and that it featured a neat giant robot that shot rays out of its eyes. I knew I had to go home and watch it to refresh my memory and I did.
Well, I can now honestly say why I didn’t remember much about it. It is a rather uneven movie overall with too much talking and not enough action. What action there is is quite good, although repetitive, and, despite having a cast of familiar faces from Godzilla and Rodan, the movie was an effort to sit through. There’s only so many scenes of weapons blasting the Mysterians’ dome base to no avail that a viewer can take.
Are there any redeeming factors that save the movie? The Mysterians’ costumes and dome power plants are colorful, using yellow, gold, orange and blue to advantage, so it is a “pretty” movie to view. Eiji Tsuburaya’s special effects are quite good, as usual, although I felt they were not as developed as in previous movies. There are several good matte paintings, the military weapon models are excellent, and the melting tanks and equipment caused by the Mysterians’ heat ray are well done. Animation artwork for the rays appears too “arty” though. The best part of the movie is the appearance of the giant robot early on and the havoc it wreaks. There are several great scenes but its screen time is limited. Split screens are used to good effect but the sequences seem too rushed. Miniatures, of course, are top notch. However, the best scene in the movie, I thought, was the earthquake near the beginning that swallows up an entire village. Excellent miniature work and realistic foliage.
If you watched The Mysterians sandwiched between Godzilla and Battle In Outer Space you would think that it was from an entirely different production team. Whether it was a question of budget or lack of vision I don’t know. Listening to the radio spots makes the listener think that the movie is going to deliver quite the spectacle, but it falls short in comparison. If the ray gun battles were shortened and more time spent on the giant robot, the movie would place higher up in Toho’s hierarchy of feature films, I think.
So, give a listen and see if you agree.
Do you have any radio spots you would like to share? Contact Gary (Granny’s nephew) at [email protected].