Dogora

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Dogora
Dogora 1964.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byIshirō Honda[1]
Written byJojiro Okami (story)[1]
Shinichi Sekizawa[1]
Produced byYasuyoshi Tajitsu
Tomoyuki Tanaka[1]
StarringYosuke Natsuki
Yōko Fujiyama
Hiroshi Koizumi
Nobuo Nakamura
Robert Dunham
Akiko Wakabayashi
Jun Tazaki
Susumu Fujita
Seizaburô Kawazu
Hideyo Amamoto
CinematographyHajime Koizumi[1]
Edited byRyohei Fujii[1]
Music byAkira Ifukube[1]
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • August 11, 1964 (1964-08-11) (Japan)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Dogora (宇宙大怪獣ドゴラ, Uchū Daikaijū Dogora, lit.'Giant Space Monster Dogora') is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, the film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Nobuo Nakamura, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Akiko Wakabayashi, along with American actor Robert Dunham. The film tells the story of a huge jellyfish-like carbon-eating creature from space that attacks Japan.

Dogora was released theatrically in Japan on August 11, 1964. It was released directly to television in the United States in 1966 by American International Television, under the title Dagora, the Space Monster.

Plot[edit]

When several TV satellites launched by the Electric Wave Laboratory go missing above Japan, people later discover that they collided with unidentified protoplasmic "space cells" of unknown origin.

Meanwhile, Inspector Komai's investigation of unexplained disappearances of diamonds across the globe leads him to the crystallographer Dr. Munakata. While tracking down self-proclaimed diamond broker Mark Jackson, Komai finds him in Munakata's home, but gets knocked out while Jackson is taken by gangsters for questioning. Komai awakens to find Munakata and his lab assistant Masayo Kirino, and tells them of his case before learning the recently stolen diamonds were worthless synthetics. Komai escorts Masayo home and meets Kirino, Masayo's brother who works at the Electric Wave Laboratory. All three witness sparking clouds and a strange invisible force pulling coal from a nearby factory into the sky. They return to Munakata, who theorizes the sparks might be a form of carbon.

Meanwhile, the gangsters bring Jackson to their boss and find the stolen diamonds. Upon realizing they are fake, they attempt to keep Jackson prisoner, but he outwits them and escapes. The gangsters receive word that a new shipment of raw diamonds will arrive in Yokohama and later attack the armored car carrying the diamonds, only to learn that they are also fake. As a result, one of their number, Hamako, schemes to steal the real diamonds for herself. Nearby, the invisible force lifts and drops a nearby coal truck.

When the police learn of the heist, Komai suggests that a creature grabbed the coal truck, but no one believes him. Masayo calls to tell him that Jackson is at Munakata's home again. Komai and the police surround the building, but Jackson reveals he is an investigator sent by the World Diamond Insurance Association to determine the diamond thief's identity. Kirino arrives soon after and tells everyone that the United Nations' Space Planning Committee determined the space cells were mutated by the satellites' radiation into a jellyfish-like monster, later named Dogora. Suddenly, Dogora attacks and eats through Munakata's safe to eat the diamonds inside.

Scientists determine Dogora is drawing energy from carbon-based minerals. Munakata, confident in a remarkable scientific discovery, leaves for the coal mines near northern Kyushu, theorizing it will be the monster's next target. Jackson joins him as well. As Munakata arrives at the mines, unidentified objects begin to show up on radar. In retaliation for their nests being disturbed, a swarm of wasps attack Dogora, causing a chemical reaction that crystallizes sections of its body and fall on the city below. The humans later discover what happened and order artificial wasp venom be mass-produced worldwide.

As night falls over Dokaiwan Bay, evacuation orders go into effect as Dogora descends from the sky and absorbs carbon-based materials from various sources. The military fires artillery at the alien and seemingly succeed in silencing it. However, it undergoes mitosis and targets various global sources.[2]

Desperate for a successful heist, the gangsters track Jackson and Komai, assuming the former hid the real diamonds in a safe-deposit box. Hamako retrieves the box, but later learns it also contained synthetic diamonds. The gangsters leave Jackson and Komai to die bound to dynamite, but the two manage to escape. Dogora continues its attacks, but the military use the artificial venom to quickly eat away at the creature. The gangsters and police clash at the beach, with the former crushed by a crystalline boulder. Soon, the venom successfully kills Dogora and Munakata leaves for the U.N. to discuss the potential of the Dogora incident with the world.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

The film is unusual for Toho's giant monster series in that the creature is non-anthropomorphic and not portrayed by an actor in a costume. For scenes of it in its full form, a Dogora prop was placed in a small vat of water and puppeteered by people holding wires; this gave it the impression of floating like an airborne jellyfish.

Originally, Dogora was titled Space Monster (スペース・モンス, Supēsu Monsu) and was meant to be released in 1962.[3]

The monster's name was changed to "Dagora" in English-dubbed prints.

Dogora's roar was reused for the monster Bullton in episode 17 of Tsuburaya Productions' T.V. series Ultraman, "Passport to Infinity".

There were plans to feature Robert Dunham in a series of films based on the "Mark Jackson" character he played in Dogora. However, they never came to fruition.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
  2. ^ "Dogora". www.tohokingdom.com. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  3. ^ Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. villagebooks. 28 September 2012. pp. 84–85. ISBN 9784864910132.

External links[edit]