There's something endearing about this movie. The plot is good, casting is good (with so many pretty faces, no wonder the Mystery guys wanted to come to earth),and even the score (by Akira Ifukube) remains in your head long after you see the movie. But above all there's a special atmosphere about this movie that won't let you forget it any time soon.

Mogera (Of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla fame almost 40 years later) makes its debut in this movie, and it started its career as weapon of the aliens not a giant UN transformer robot.

Once the fact that the Mysterians showed themselves, earth defense force ( thus the movie's Japanese title Chikyu Boeigun ) musters up all its plans for super weapons and goes on the offensive against the Mysterians (who've shacked up in Japan even before they got official permission from them ).

If military technology can catch up with the aliens so quickly as in this movie, we won't have any problems. In reality from what I understand, we're not even near parity.

Special effects are good, and weapons looks cool (Designed by famous Japanese sci-fi artist Shigeru Komatsuzaki. They have kind of a retro look which still works today) which all adds up to make this movie one of Toho's best.

It's one of a kind movie, and highly recommended to watch.

This is one of the earlier sci-fi movies from Toho studios. Respectable Toho actors and actresses are in this movie including Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Momoko Kochi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura-all actors that appeared in the original Godzilla and Rodan movies. This story involves a group of cool looking aliens called the Mysterians, who want to possess a huge chuck of land in Japan and marry Earth women. The suspense builds when the Earth people resists the Mysterians' demands, which results in a battle for Earth action. Just to note, the actor playing the Leader of the Mysterians was Yoshio Tsuchiya. He also played the Vapor Man in 'The Human Vapor,' Controller of Planet X in 'Godzilla vs. Monster Zero,' and Businessman Shindo in 'Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.'

Eiji Tsuburaya's advanced special effects highlighted a spectacular battle of fire, lasers, rockets, tanks and flying saucers between the humans and space aliens. A slow and mysterious, but sometimes militaristic and moving music score by Akira Ifukube. A dramatic and somber story by Takeshi Kimura. Directing was once again done by the great Ishiro Honda.

The downside, though, was that the story lacked a solid plot and the female leads weren't emphasized enough. There were too many scenes that depicted meetings held by the officials, discussing what to do about the aliens. These meetings were important in a way, but kind of boring. And, the robot monster, Moguera, was a terrific-looking monster, but wasn't utilized enough. But overall, a pretty cool feature for a sci-fi film made in the 1950s.

Grade B

A rural town gets completely destroyed. The military investigates and discovers a giant bird-like robot that levels everything in its lethal path. The robot belongs to the Mysterians, an alien race who want a piece of land and human women to mate with. The military refuses to comply with the aliens' requests and declares all-out war on the Mysterians. Director Ishiro Honda, working from a compelling script by Takeshi Kimura, relates the engrossing story in a pleasingly straightforward and unpretentious manner. Moreover, Honda does a fine job of maintaining a steady pace and effectively creates a serious tone. The thrilling action set pieces and impressively prodigious sequences of mass destruction really hit the stirring spot. Akira Ifakube's robust, rousing, full-bore orchestral score, Hajime Koizuma's vibrant, expansive cinematography, and the nifty special effects are all likewise solid. The cast all contribute sound and credible performances, with especially praiseworthy work by Akihiko Hirata as diligent tragic hero Ryoichi Shiraishi and Takashi Shimura as the wise scientist Dr. Tanjiro Adachi. Essential viewing for fans of Japanese science fiction.