is a 1970 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

, written by Ei Ogawa, and produced by

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, best known as the creator of Godzilla. He produced most of the installments in the ''Godzilla'' series, beginning in 1954 with ''Godzilla'' and ending in 1995 with '' Godzilla vs. Destoroyah''. He was one of the mo ...

and Fumio Tanaka, with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa. Produced and distributed by

Toho Studios is a Japanese film studio and production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. One of the most successful films produced by Toho Studio is the live-action film ''Godzilla Minus One'' (2023), which generated more than $100 million at t ...

, the film stars Akira Kubo, Atsuko Takahashi, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kenji Sahara,

Yoshio Tsuchiya was a Japanese actor who appeared in such films as Toshio Matsumoto's surreal ''Bara No Soretsu'' (a.k.a. '' Funeral Parade of Roses'') and Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'' (as the firebrand farmer Rikichi) and '' Red Beard'', and Kihachi Okam ...

, and Yu Fujiki, with

Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor and stuntman. A pioneer of suit acting, he is best known for playing Godzilla in 12 consecutive films, starting from the original ''Godzilla'' (1954) until '' Godzilla vs. Gigan'' (1972). Nakajima also played various other ...

portraying both Gezora and Ganimes. ''Space Amoeba'' tells the story of an alien

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by ...

that hijacks a

space probe Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input, such as remote control, or remote guidance. They may also be autonomous, in which th ...

and, after crash landing on an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, creates gigantic monsters from native lifeforms (a kisslip cuttlefish, elbow crab and

mata mata Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which tak ...

) for the purpose of conquering the Earth. The film was released theatrically in Japan on 1 August 1970, and received a theatrical release in the United States in 1971 by

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

, under the title ''Yog: Monster From Space''.

Plot

The ''Helios 7''

is sent on a mission to study the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. While on its outward journey to the

gas giant A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" was originally synonymous with "giant planet". However, in the 1990s, it became known that Uranu ...

, the probe is overtaken by the Space Amoeba, an amorphous parasitic extraterrestrial. The probe returns to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and crashes into the South Pacific, where the Amoeba leaves the device and inhabits the body of a cuttlefish, causing it to mutate into what is called "Gezora". The tentacled

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

begins attacking ships and islands in the area. A photographer named Kudo and his entourage land on Selgio Island for a photoshoot, but their camp is attacked by Gezora. Because of its mutation, the creature can create extremely cold temperatures with its body. When the survivors discover that Gezora is vulnerable to high temperatures, Kudo and his friends use a leftover Japanese

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

munitions bunker to set fire to the monster. Severely burned, the creature retreats to the water, where it dies. Later, the Space Amoeba possesses a stone crab, mutating it into "Ganimes" and attacks the surrounding islands. Luckily the humans manage to lure Ganimes into a pit and destroy it with explosives. The Amoeba survives a second time and flees into the surrounding jungles, plotting its revenge. The Space Amoeba decides to control two Earth creatures this time: another Ganimes and a mata mata named "Kamoebas". The two monsters raid the human camp. Luckily Kudo realizes the two monsters' weakness: supersonic waves. By releasing a storm of bats, the Amoeba loses control of its creations. Ganimes and Kamoebas, no longer under control, go berserk and begin to battle one another. The humans, using more explosives, cause the volcano to erupt, engulfing the Space Amoeba and the two monsters.

Cast

* Akira Kubo as Taro Kudo * Atsuko Takahashi as Ayako Hoshino　 * Yukiko Kobayashi as Saki * Kenji Sahara as Makoto Obata *

as Dr. Kyouichi Miya * Yu Fujiki as the promotion division manager * Noritake Saito as Rico * Yuko Sugihara as Stewardess * Sachio Sakai as the magazine editor * Chotaro Togin as Engineer Yokoyama * Wataru Omae as Sakura *

as Gezora / Ganimes * Haruyoshi Nakamura as Kamoebas *

Ichiro Murakoshi , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years w ...

as Space Amoeba * Tetsu Nakamura as supplicator Ombo

Production

Writing

Ei Ogawa wrote the original script for this film in 1966 as a proposed joint production between Toho and UPA, under the title ''Great Monster Assault'' (怪獣大襲撃, Kaiju Daishūgeki). This script was considerably more ambitious than the finished product, featuring alien monsters invading the Earth and submerging entire continents. Production on the film did not begin until three years later in 1969, when the project first appeared on Toho's production lineup, still under its original title. Ogawa's script was heavily altered, removing the global scope of the original story and moving the setting entirely to the fictional South Seas island of Sergio Island. Producer Fumio Tanaka later said he believed the film went through three drafts, and stated that the original draft featured the alien invaders being attacked with nuclear weapons. Despite his failing health, Toho's longtime special effects director

Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director, filmmaker, and cinematographer. A co-creator of the ''Godzilla (franchise), Godzilla'' and ''Ultraman'' franchises, he is considered one of the most important and influential figures in the history o ...

expressed his desire to be involved with the production and as such was to be credited as the film's special effects supervisor, while his former pupil Sadamasa Arikawa acted as the director of special effects. However, Tsuburaya died just two days after the start of filming on January 25, 1970, and is only credited in early promotional materials for the film. Toho rejected a proposal by some staff members to dedicate the film to Eiji Tsuburaya. Arikawa was especially angered, refusing to talk about the film later in his life.

Filming

The film's script was finalized in January, and shooting began that same month. Assistant director Seiji Tani remarked that ''Space Amoeba'' was burdened by constant pressure from the studio to minimize the budget, and that as a result the staff was forced to rush through filming.

Ishiro Honda Ishiro may refer to: * Chamacoco language, or Ishiro, a language of South America * Chamacoco, or Ishiro, an ethnic group of South America * Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decade ...

originally planned to shoot the film in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, but due to aforementioned budget restrictions shooting was relegated to Hachijo Island, located about 700 miles south of Tokyo. The film was shot in the middle of winter, even though the cast was dressed for a tropical location. Underwater scenes were shot in one of Toho's studio pools and Yomiuriland's Ryugu Palace. Producer Fumio Tanaka recalled that he had to personally transport the film negatives back to Tokyo on a prop plane. While Fumio Tanaka officially co-produced the film with Tomoyuki Tanaka, the latter was busy with Expo '70 at the time and as a result had very little to do with the production. ''Space Amoeba'' was the last science-fiction film made under Toho's studio system. Facing declining profits, Toho took several steps to reduce the power of labor unions: establishing a subsidiary called Toho Eizo to specialize in tokusatsu films, releasing most of its actors from their contracts, and dissolving Tsuburaya's special effects department. It would also be Honda's last film under contract with Toho, although he returned in 1975 to direct '' Terror of Mechagodzilla''.

Release

''Space Amoeba'' was released in Japan on 1 August 1970 where it was distributed by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

. The film was released theatrically in the United States as ''Yog: Monster From Space'' in 1971. The film was distributed by

with an English-language dub and had a running time of 81 minutes. The film was released to home video in 2006 as ''Space Amoeba'' in its Japanese language with English subtitles.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

*
''Space Amoeba''
at tohokingdom.com {{Ishirō Honda 1970 films 1970 horror films 1970 science fiction films 1970s monster movies Films about cephalopods Films directed by Ishirō Honda Japanese science fiction films Kaiju films Japanese natural horror films Giant monster films Toho tokusatsu films American International Pictures films Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Films scored by Akira Ifukube Films set in Oceania Films set on fictional islands Films shot in Tokyo 1970s Japanese films Films about crabs Jupiter in film Films about alien invasions