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

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...

, written by Ei Ogawa, and produced by

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer. He is best known for co-creating the ''Godzilla'' franchise and its associated spin-offs. Early life Tanaka was born on April 26, 1910, in Kashiwara, Osaka. As a child, he would often walk miles to the nearest th ...

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

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

, the film stars

Akira Kubo is a Japanese actor who has appeared in over 70 films since 1952. He starred in the film ''Arashi'', which was entered into the 7th Berlin International Film Festival. Selected filmography * ''Arashi'' (1956) as Saburo Mizusawa * ''Snow Coun ...

, Atsuko Takahashi, Yukiko Kobayashi,

Kenji Sahara Kenji Sahara (佐原健二 ''Sahara Kenji'') (born 14 May 1932) is a Japanese actor. He was born in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa. His birth name is Masayoshi Kato (加藤正好 ''Katō Masayoshi''). Initially he used the name Tadashi Ishihara befo ...

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

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudop ...

-like

extraterrestrials Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

that hijack a

space probe A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ...

and, after crash landing on an

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

in the

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

, create gigantic monsters from native lifeforms (a kisslip cuttlefish, stone 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 takes ...

) 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 (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

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

Plot

The ''Helios 7'' space probe is sent on a mission to study the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

. While on its outward journey to the

gas giant A gas giant is a giant planet composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are also called failed stars because they contain the same basic elements as a star. Jupiter and Saturn are the gas giants of the Solar System. The term "gas giant" ...

, 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 harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

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 begins attacking ships and islands in the area. A photographer named Kudo and his entourage land on Selgio Island for a

photoshoot A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location. A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken ...

, 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

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

as Taro Kudo * Atsuko Takahashi as Ayako Hoshino　 * Yukiko Kobayashi as Saki *

as Makoto Obata *

as Dr. Kyouichi Miya * Yu Fujiki as the promotion division manager *

Noritake Saito , commonly known as "Noritake," is a tableware and technology company headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. History In 1876, Ichizaemon Morimura VI and his brother Toyo founded Morimura Gumi with the intent of establishing overs ...

as Rico * Yuko Sugihara as Stewardess *

Sachio Sakai , born , was a Japanese actor. In 1947, he made his film debut with Akira Kurosawa's ''One Wonderful Sunday''. He often worked with Akira Kurosawa and Kihachi Okamoto. Filmography Films * ''One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947) as Ticket seller * '' Dr ...

as the magazine editor * Chotaro Togin as Engineer Yokoyama * Wataru Omae as Sakura * Haruo Nakajima as Gezora / Ganimes * Haruyoshi Nakamura as Kamoebas * Ichiro Murakoshi as Space Amoeba *

Tetsu Nakamura , also known as Kaka Murad (Pashto: , transl. "Uncle Nakamura"), (15 September 1946 – 4 December 2019), was a Japanese physician and honorary Afghan citizen who headed Peace Japan Medical Services (PMS), an aid group known as ''Peshawar-kai'' ...

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 and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ...

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 passed away 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 (1911–1993), Japanese film director See also * Ichirō , also written Ichiro, Ichirou ...

originally planned to shoot the film in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, 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 is a 1975 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda (his final film as a director), written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and pr ...

''.

Release

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

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

. 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 1970s science fiction films 1970s monster movies Films about cephalopods Films directed by Ishirō Honda Japanese science fiction films Kaiju films 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