This is the voice of the Mysterians

Mysterians. Mysterons. Do you see what I did there? No, probably not, if you're a normal person.

I didn't quite get round to my promised "favourites of 2006" blog entry (you're all really surprised, I know) and probably won't get round to it until the weekend now. But just to keep things ticking over, I thought I'd make another brief posting just to give you more pointless movie nonsense to read over in the meantime.

Do you remember my enthusiastic ranting about how great the original GODZILLA movie is? Well, if you don't, you could probably just click on that link to remind yourself. Then come back here and read this post, since I decided to take a look at THE MYSTERIANS, another old Japanese sci-fi classic from the same folks who brought us the aforementioned big guy in the rubber suit.

THE MYSTERIANS tells the tale of a technologically superior alien invasion force (yep, the guys in the title of the movie) who travel to Earth on a sinister mission.

While GODZILLA seemed to be inspired by specific events (Japan's fate in the second world war and a particular incident involving bomb tests and the crew of a Japanese fishing vessel), THE MYSTERIANS is painted in broader strokes. This movie is more of a lesson on the nuclear arms race and the dangers of science being used to wage ever more threatening levels warfare.

The aliens, being so many years ahead of us poor Earthlings, have (naturally enough) destroyed their own planet thanks to those good old nukes and have come here to get what they need to replenish their race (as well as affording the filmmakers, through the aliens themselves, to lecture us on the dangers of our atomic folly).

Unfortunately for a few of the locals, what the Mysterians need are a bunch of Earth women with which to breed, since their own women keep giving birth to deformed children as a result of the radioactive atmosphere on their own planet.

Okay, so I lied, it looks like the movie probably is partly inspired by real events. Aside from being an allegorical look at the cold war arms race and the rivalry of America and Japan, the shadows of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also visible across the movie. There are numerous references to radiation and H-bombs and once again, like GODZILLA, there are scenes such as the evacuation of Japanese cities that closely resemble the scenes that were appearing on the news not so very long before this movie was made.

As the humans put up more and more of a fight with bigger and bigger weapons, the arms race allegory is hammered home and the moralising is laid on thickly (the old guy who provided the conscience of the GODZILLA movie is present again, playing a very similar role here - sorry, I forget his name and I'm too lazy to look it up). For all the lessons the movie seeks to impart however, the ending is a touch ambiguous, leaving you to wonder whether there is a happy ending to this story or not - and perhaps that's exactly what many people wondered about the nuclear arms race too.

While THE MYSTERIANS obviously covers very similar thematic ground to GODZILLA (and yes, there's even a giant monster attack - rejoice!) the appearance is quite different. Gone is the grim black and white foreboding of GODZILLA, giving way to a technicolour marvel of multicoloured monsters and silver-suited aliens. Think GODZILLA, but more disco.

It's fair to say that the special effects have not aged well, though they were surely very impressive at the time. However, when you look at many Japanese sci-fi films a couple of decades later (mainly the GODZILLA sequels, upon which THE MYSTERIANS clearly had a huge influence) the effects haven't really improved by any great margin. Sure, the GODZILLA sequels didn't have huge budgets but I'd still like to think that it's a reflection of the impressive job Honda and his crew did on THE MYSTERIANS.

Both THE MYSTERIANS and GODZILLA are available on DVD in their original form now, thankfully, so I advise you to pop down your nearest DVD shop or rental store and check them both out. Well, unless you're one of my friends who happens to be reading this, in which case just ask and you can borrow them from me. Whatever. Just make sure you see them - especially GODZILLA.

Coming soon (again) - The Freakpit's favourite movies of 2006!