page_title: Rodan (film)
section_title: Changes to the U.S. version
hierarchical_section_title: Rodan (film) / Changes to the U.S. version
caption_attribution_description: English: 1956 Japanese movie poster for 1956 Japanese film Rodan (空の大怪獣 ラドン Sora no Daikaijū Radon).
context_page_description: Rodan is a 1956 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Toho Studios and Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film, which stars Kenji Sahara and Yumi Shirakawa, was Toho's first kaiju film to be shot in color, and is one of several giant monster films that found an audience outside Japan. In the United States, it was released in 1957 as Rodan! The Flying Monster!, before receiving a 1959 re-release on a double bill with Gigantis the Fire Monster.
context_section_description: Some of Akira Ifukube's music was replaced with stock music.
  A prologue showing footage of American nuclear tests was added.
  Extensive narration by Shigeru was added throughout the film.
  The fight between Goro and another miner is shortened.
  A brief shot showing mine cars traveling up a mine shaft was taken out.
  A scene of miners names being called was cut short.
  The scene leading up to when Meganuron kills a cop and two miners is shortened.
  The scene where the Meganuron attacks the village is cut short. A brief shot showing a Meganuron 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 Meganuron. A shot of the Meganuron escaping afterwards is also cut.
  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.
  The name "Radon" was anagrammed into "Rodan" for the English audience, so as not to confuse the fictitious monster with the actual atomic element radon (which is also spelled the same in Japanese).
  A brief scene showing doctors walking Shigeru into the hospital after he is recovered was taken out.
  The scene where the honeymooners are eaten is much shorter, with about 30 seconds of footage removed, including a shot of Rodan's shadow passing overhead.
  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 late during the attack on Fukuoka.  In the scene where Shigeru and the others see Rodan up close for the first time, the second one emerges immediately thereafter, with Shigeru saying, "It has a mate!"  It is this second Rodan that then causes the Jeep to crash.
  A scene of fighter jets taking off was added.
  The scene where a helicopter investigates the Rodans' lair was re-arranged. In the Japanese version, the scene appears after the assault on Fukuoka by the Rodans and just before they 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, though one of the places Rodan flies over before Fukuoka is attacked is called Sasebo station in the Japanese version.
  The scene of Rodan emerging from his volcanic lair was altered in the American version to make it look as if he was provoked to emerge by the air force.  In the original version, he emerged without any sort of provocation.
caption: Japanese theatrical release poster
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