Earth Defense Force

The Mysterians also Known as Earth Defense Force is an 1957 Toho kaiju film.

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## Plot

The astrophysicist Ryoichi Shiraishi is acting peculiarly. He has called off his engagement to Hiroko Iwamoto and moved to a small village near Mount Fuji, estranging himself from his friends and colleagues. Prior to his seclusion, Shiraishi had been working on a series of fantastic reports for his mentor, Dr. Adachi, on a former planet he calls Mysteroid. According to this theory, the asteroid belt beyond Mars was once a singular planet. Adachi notes that the latest report surprisingly is incomplete at the time of its submission. Mystery follows Shiraishi to his new home: one summer night, a forest near the town erupts in a brilliant blaze in which the source of the radioactive flames is underground. Within days of this event, tragedy again strikes the village as a sudden and violent landslide annihilates the small town and seemingly all of its residents, including Ryoichi.

Joji Atsumi, a fellow scientist, joins the official investigation. Atsumi and several policemen are investigating radiation levels in the vicinity of the former village when a giant monster emerges from the side of a hill. The survivors of the attack retreat to alert the authorities, but by nightfall the monster has already reached the nearby city. The Defense Force is summoned to help evacuate the populace and defeat the kaiju. During this evacuation, Atsumi and Etsuko –his lover, and Ryoichi's sister– observe what appear to be flying saucers in the night sky, although the advance of the monster gives them little time to process this. Despite the creature's incredible destructive force, it's killed in the JSDF's destruction of the Koyama Bridge.

An analysis of the creature's remains determines it to be a robot, although the presence of unknown elements suggests its origin is extraterrestrial. After reevaluating the Mysteroid report, Adachi's observatory sights alien activity near the moon, and after hearing Atsumi's testimony about the saucers over Fuji, the doctor publicly announces the findings. A team of scientists, including Atsumi and Adachi, investigate the region highlighted in Shiraishi's report. A large artificial dome rises from the ground and an alien voice greets and requests the presence of the scientific party. Inside the Dome, the aliens introduce themselves as Mysterians, the last survivors of the planet Mysteroid, annihilated in an atomic war hundreds of thousands of years ago. Fearing retaliation would lead to another nuclear war on Earth between man and Mysterians, they launched their robot, Moguera, to demonstrate that man's technology was no match for their own. They request to immigrate to Earth and occupy the three kilometers surrounding their dome. Furthermore, the fallout from their wars has poisoned their bodies, resulting in 80% born with severe abnormalities. In the hopes of continuing their race, the leader also appeals for the right to intermarry with human women. Five have already been chosen, he says, and Etsuko and Hiroko are among them.

The Ministry of Defense officially declines these requests, citing the Mysterians' hostile acts, and prepares countermeasures against the Dome. Police protection is arranged for Etsuko and Hiroko, and during a visit with Atsumi, the three are contacted by Ryoichi over the television. He declares that he had joined the Mysterians prior to his disappearance to study their sciences, and he asks Atsumi to have the impending attack cancelled, suggesting it will only lead to useless bloodshed. The attack ultimately proceeds on schedule, however, and the JSDF forces are predictably eliminated by the alien invaders.

The Japanese government requests foreign aid and the United Nations is called to session to establish an international coalition against the threat. An electron gun is developed and equipped to the airships Alpha and Beta for a test. Although the weapon proves successful in combat, the Dome's heat ray results in the destruction of the Beta. In retaliation to this attack, the Mysterians announce the occupation of a 120-kilometer radius, and privately, the alien leader tells Ryoichi that they will soon be capable of controlling all of Japan. The United States introduces a new technology, dubbed the Markalite F.A.H.P., which has the ability to reflect the Mysterian heat ray to its source. A decisive assault is planned using the new weapon in concert with the Alpha.

Etsuko and Hiroko are kidnapped on the eve of battle and taken to the Dome. Incapable of convincing Dr. Adachi to stall the offensive to mount a rescue effort, Atsumi, having previously found an obscured underground tunnel to the Dome, descends into the alien base. The Alpha, shielded by the new technology, distracts the Mysterians while the Markalite Cannons are dropped via rocket into the battlefield. With the heat ray's destructive effects now mostly neutralized, the tide of the war turns in favor of humanity. In a final effort, the Mysterians induce a tidal wave to destroy one Markalite, while a second Moguera is sacrificed to destroy another cannon from below. Meanwhile, Atsumi is captured and silently led back to the cave where the earth women are waiting. His captor reveals himself to be Ryoichi Shiraishi. Finding himself in disagreement with the Mysterians' plans for conquest, he allows his friends to escape with his final report while he heroically returns to the Dome to sabotage the invaders' efforts from inside.

Now facing certain defeat, the Mysterian leader orders a retreat to their orbiting space station. The Dome explodes, ending the alien occupation. The Alpha pursues the escaping saucers, destroying three, but the U.N. forces allow the rest to disappear into the cosmos. Dr. Adachi notes that humanity must not repeat the Mysterians' mistakes. The groundwork has been laid for a united world: now its nations must continue working together to achieve lasting peace.

## Cast

* Kenji Sahara   as   Joji Atsumi
* Yumi Shirakawa   as   Etsuko Shiraishi
* Momoko Kochi   as   Hiroko Iwamoto
* Akihiko Hirata   as   Ryoichi Shiraishi
* Takashi Shimura   as   Dr. Kenjiro Adachi
* Susumu Fujita   as   General Morita
* Hisaya Ito   as   Captain Seki
* Yoshio Kosugi   as   Commander Sugimoto
* Fuyuki Murakami   as   Dr. Nobu Kawanami
* Tetsu Nakamura   as   Dr. Kōda
* Yoshio Tsuchiya   as   Mysterian Leader
* Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka   as   Moguera

### Bang Zoom! Entertainment English dub

* Alfred Thor   as   Commander Sugimoto
* Chris Kent   as   Yamamoto
* Dave Mallow   as   Mysterian Leader
* David Lelyveld   as   Joji Atsumi
* Doug Stone   as   Dr. Nobu Kawanami
* Erik Blackthorn   as   Immerman
* Joey Capps   as   Commander
* John Smallberries   as   Miyamoto
* Lesli Todd   as   Etsuko Shiraishi
* Melodee M. Spevack   as   Etsuko's Mother
* Michael McConnohie   as   Dr. Kenjiro Adachi
* Michelle Ruff   as   Hiroko
* Sparky Thornton   as   Ryoichi Shiraishi
* Steve Kramer   as   General Morita
* William Frederick   as   Hanamoto

## Staff

* Directed by   Ishiro Honda
* Written by   Shigeru Kayama, Takeshi Kimura, and Jojiro Okami
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Music by   Akira Ifukube
* Stock Music by   Hector Berlioz and Edvard Grieg
* Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
* Edited by   Koichi Iwashita
* Production Design by   Teruaki Abe and Akira Watanabe
* Assistant Directing by   Koji Kajita
* Special Effects by   Eiji Tsuburaya

## Titles

* Earth Defense Force (Literal Japanese Title)
* The Barbarians Invade Earth (Los bárbaros invaden la Tierra; Argentina, Os Bárbaros Invadem a Terra; Brazil)
* Space Beasts (Weltraum-Bestien; Austria, Germany)
* Prisoners of the Martians (Prisonnières des Martiens; France)
* Mars vs Earth (Άρης εναντίον Γης Áris enantíon Gis; Greece)
* Invasion of the Moon (Εισβολή από τη Σελήνη Eisvolí apó tu Selíni; Greece)
* Flying Saucers Hit Earth (Ιπτάμενοι δίσκοι χτυπούν τη Γη Iptámenoi thíokoi chtipoón ti Gi; Greece)
* The Unknown (De ukjente; Norway)
* Earth is Under Attack (Jorden angripes; Norway, Jorden anfalles; Sweden)
* Mysterious Strangers (Tajemniczy przybysze; Poland)
* Space Monsters (Monstros do Espaço; Portugal)

## Releases

A November 1, 1957 report states that Southeast Asian distribution rights to The Mysterians were sold to Shaw & Sons of Hong Kong for the highest amount paid for a Japanese film of that time. Rights to other parts of the world were sold for a record price for a Japanese film to Topaz Film Corporation in February of 1958.

### U.S. release

*The Mysterians* was released theatrically in the United States by RKO Radio Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May of 1959. The film was advertised as "The greatest science-fiction picture ever conceived by the mind of man." The film was later re-released in July. The English-dubbed version was recorded in New York under the supervision of Peter Reithof and Carlos Montalbán. The U.S. version is notable, as it was the first Toho science fiction film to receive an English version without extensive re-editing. Only small edits were undertaken, and the English dialogue remains faithful to the Japanese script. This shortened 85 minute cut of the film was later distributed in European territories by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

After multiple VHS releases over the next half-century, Tokyo Shock released the full Japanese version of *The Mysterians* along with a new English dub by Bang Zoom! Entertainment on DVD in the U.S. This release also included various special features, including audio commentary from Koichi Kawakita and Shinji Higuchi.

## Sequel

Toho produced a sequel to *The Mysterians*, *Battle in Outer Space*, two years later in 1959. The film is set in 1965 and features some returning characters from *The Mysterians*, most of whom are played by different actors. This film features a new invading alien race, the Natarls, who engage in a war with humanity in outer space. Another sequel was planned, but was changed into a standalone film called *The War in Space*.