Space Amoeba

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ishirō Honda directs. Taiichi Kankura behind the camera. Akira Ifukube scores. Masahisa Himi cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 184 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 256 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Ishirō Honda, shot by Taiichi Kankura. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Akira Ifukube. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Masahisa Himi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Akira Kubo and Atsuko Takahashi and Yukiko Kobayashi carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "An alien aiming for the Earth transforms monsters to attack!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0065776 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 56 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 10Classified under 14 themes, including "spacecraft", "island", "monster", "giant monster".
• 11Released under 23 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Taiichi Kankura

Original score

Akira Ifukube

Editing

Masahisa Himi

Production design

Takeo Kita

Costume design

Teizô Toshimitsu

Runtime

84 min · 1h 24m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

JA

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

Space Amoeba (1970) ↗

IMDB rating

5.4/10 · 1,630 votes

MPAA

G

Also by

Ishirō Honda

• 
  Night School

  1956 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Adolescence Part II

  1953 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Man Who Came to Port

  1952 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Song for a Bride

  1958 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Godzilla Fantasia

  1984 · ★ 9.7
• 
  People of Tokyo, Goodbye

  1956 · ★ 9.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2023-06-03
  ★ 5/10

  This is certainly not one of Ishiro Honda's better efforts; but it does kind of work. Some would-be alien invaders hitch a ride on a probe returning to the Earth that lands on a Pacific atoll. They set about creating supersized monsters bent on humanity's destruction so they can take over the world. Nothing new so far, nor indeed anywhere really, as a team of human hoteliers and local islanders try to fight off this threat. The visual effects are OK - the monsters; explosions and acting are low budget, but together keep this fun yarn moving along fine. The dubbing actors are way over the top and the music grates but it's still just about worth watching - for some reason really bad Japanese films of this genre are not as bad as anyone else's!

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  TOHO

  JP

• TO

  Toho Eizo Bijutsu

  JP

• 

  Tokyo Laboratory

  JP

Key crew

• Sound RecordistKanae Masuo
• Visual EffectsSadamasa Arikawa
• VFX Lighting ArtistFumiyoshi Hara
• Visual Effects DirectorTeruyoshi Nakano
• Production ManagerYasushi Sakai
• Visual Effects Art DirectorJiro Shirasaki
• Special Effects AssistantJiro Shirasaki
• Stunt DoubleHaruo Nakajima
• Still PhotographerKazukiyo Tanaka
• Visual Effects DirectorSadamasa Arikawa
• Visual Effects Art DirectorMutsumi Toshima
• Special Effects AssistantMitsuru Toriumi
• Visual Effects CameraMitsuru Toriumi
• Visual EffectsTakeharu Ikebuchi
• First Assistant DirectorSeiji Tani
• Lighting TechnicianFumiyoshi Hara
• Special Effects AssistantTeruyoshi Nakano
• Special EffectsTakao Tsurumi
• Special EffectsTakeharu Ikebuchi
• Special EffectsYoshio Tabuchi
• Sound EffectsSadamasa Nishimoto
• Visual Effects Art DirectorHiromasa Shirai
• ModelingYasuei Yagi
• Special EffectsTakeshi Yamamoto

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• spacecraft
• island
• monster
• giant monster
• satellite
• tropical island
• kaiju
• space monster
• giant squid
• giant crab
• monster island
• native village
• space probe
• tokusatsu

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1971-06-09G· American International Pictures (AIP) release titled "Yog, Monster from Space". 81 minutes. Dubbing directed by Helen Gary, produced by Salvatore Billitteri, edited by Eli Haviv, recorded by Titan Productions.
• Theatrical1972-06-01· Toho Theatre, Honolulu, Hawaii. English subtitles. Exact date unknown.
• Physical2006-02-21· Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock DVD. Features international written and directed by Bob Toole.

Also known as

International titles

• Monsters from SpaceUS
• Yog: The Space AmoebaUS
• Les Envahisseurs de l'espaceFR
• Gezora, Ganime, Kamēba: Kessen! Nankai no DaikaijūJP
• Les envahisseurs attaquentFR
• Los monstruos del marES
• Yog, Monster from SpaceUS
• Gezora, Ganimes, Kamoebas: Battle! Giant Monsters of the South SeasJP
• Gezora, Ganimes, and Kamoebas: Decisive Battle! Giant Monsters of the South SeasJP
• 怪獣大襲撃JP
• Kaijū DaishūgekiJP
• Great Monster AssaultJP
• 海の大怪獣 大襲撃JP
• Umi no Daikaijū DaishūgekiJP
• Attack of the Giant Sea MonstersJP