After the success of "Gojira"
and "Gojira No Gyakushu" (the return of Godzilla), Toho decided to experiment
with other creatures. The first of these was "Rodan".
The story is set in Japan
in the 1950's in the prosperous village of Kitamatsu, a mining community.
Atomic tests had fractured
the earth's mantle, causing problems for the miners that worked there.
The mining cavern had flooded with dirty water!
The workers were constantly
made uneasy by everything that was taking place. FIghts broke out. Later,
one of the participants would be found dead floating face down in the cavern...
It seemed that his coworker
was responsible for his death and while they are searching for him, the
dead man's widow tries to beat down the suspects door where his sister
Kiyo is living. Kiyo weeps in her boyfriend Shigeru's arms...until their
tender moment is rudely interrupted by a strange creature coming in the
door!
It is found that the creature
is in fact responsible for all the slashings that have taken place in the
mine, and Shigeru has had enough. He leads the miners into the cavern to
face the Meganuron.
It is found that there is
more than one. During the course of the battle, Shigeru finally finds the
body of his friend Goro. While Shigeru is attempting to extricate him,
the mine collaspes.
After this, a series of strange
occurences takes place all over the Eastern Hemisphere. Numerous reports
of UFO's begin to pour in.
Shigeru is finally found
by a band of searchers; completely amnesiac, he is hospitalized. The doctors
attempt to help him regain his memory, but it's no use.
One day, Kiyo is puttering
about while Shigeru is absent mindedly doodling on a pad of paper. She
shows him the bird's eggs within the nest that begin to hatch while he
is looking on.
Suddenly, the memory hit
him like a tidal wave:
In the cold darkness of the
depths of the collasped mine, he looked at the huge egg that began to crack.
Suddenly there was an explosion.
Out from the egg popped
a monstrous Pteranodon-like monster! It was so big, it gobbled the Meganurons
for a snack!
Shaking, sweating, sick,
he realized his forehead was bleeding profusely. As he turned back to look
at the new horror one more time, he blacked out....
....and came to in this
hospital; his concerned fiancee was looking at him with anxiety in her
eyes. He told her what had happened.
By now, the world was thoroughly
alarmed by the events taking place: a fighter pilot blown out of the sky
by an incredibly strong, fast unknown force; a couple carried away and
their bleached bones the only thing remaining of them to be found; all
hell was breaking loose. Suddenly, the mighty Rodan made himself known
to the world. And not only that, but there was also a female Rodan!
The two Rodans attacked Sasebo.
They left two cities burning. Fighters trying to attack them to repel them
were ineffective. Finally, they flew away.
It was decided to bombard
the volcano where the two Rodans were determined to be hiding. Shigeru
and Kiyo watched.
Bomb after bomb, missile
after missile struck the volcano. Eventually, the lava began to flow. One
Rodan escaped.
The other wasn't fast enough
to escape the boiling lava, and it succumbed to the poisonous hot gases.
The other refused to live without its mate. It returned, and both creatures
ended up dying in the lava at the movies' end.
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