The second major addition to Toho Studios' giant- monster cast after Gojira (1954) was Rodan (or Radon), a giant pterodactyl whose wings create massive, destructive winds as it flies by. There are actually two of them in this film, mates who finally get together (after the traditional destruction of various Japanese cities) and die in an oddly touching lovers' death-swoon into an active volcano. The film's best sequence is the chilling opening, in which Rodan's egg is discovered in a cave by doomed miners. The first color film in the series, Ishiro Honda's effective thriller features some interesting special-effects work by Eiji Tsuburaya and was dubbed into English by actors including Keye Luke and future Star Trek crewman George Takei. — Robert Firsching