Known in Japan as Giant Phantom Monster Agon, this four-part TV miniseries was shot in black & white for Nippon Television in 1964, but Toho Studios blocked its broadcast until 1968, claiming that Agon was a ripoff of their Godzilla. And by 1968, color television was taking off, so the black & white series seemed dated. However, Toho later bought the rights and edited the four episodes into a feature film for a 1990s international home video release under the title Agon: Atomic Dragon.
Agon is seen here laying waste to an atomic energy facility. It's not hard to see why Toho thought he was based on Godzilla (see also Mitsubishi Jeeps vs. Godzilla on CJ3B.info) but the rubber suit here is perhaps even less convincing than in the Godzilla films.
Rather than the usual bunch of military Jeeps racing to confront the monster, Agon: Atomic Dragon features a nice example of a Mitsubishi civilian CJ3B-J3 with one interesting detail: rear-view mirrors on long arms mounted on the front of the Jeep instead of on the fenders or cowl.
Riding around in the Jeep, a scientist, a detective and a reporter are investigating the disappearance of a vehicle carrying uranium, and the appearance of what they believe is a long-dormant mutated dinosaur.
The plot is long and complicated, but the sequence of most interest to Jeep fans involves a Willys station wagon from the "National Atomic Energy Center".
The plan cooked up by the military involves using a load of uranium in the station wagon as bait to lure Agon back out of the sea so they can attack him with tanks and F-86 Sabre jet fighters.
The station wagon has a two-way radio, so our trio of heroes soon finds out that the military has been unsuccessful, and they decide to head down to the beach.
This shot confirms that the station wagon is in fact a Willys rather than one of the Mitsubishi models, which all have the front grille and hood of a CJ-3B (see Mitsubishi Jeeps in Japan.)
Everybody arrives at the beach just in time to see Agon knock the top off a lighthouse for no apparent reason.
The scientist decides to distract the monster by letting the station wagon full of uranium roll into the sea.
Agon grabs the radioactive Willys for a snack, and heads back into the ocean.
But this is only about halfway into the story, which continues with fishermen, gangsters, boats, helicopters, a suitcase of narcotics, and more destruction. There is a synopsis on Wikipedia and the 90-minute film is available on YouTube.
Thanks to Federico Cavedo for spotting the Jeeps in Agon: Atomic Dragon. -- Derek Redmond
See more of The CJ-3B in the Movies, including some Godzilla films.
See more Mitsubishi Jeeps on CJ3B.info.
Visit CJ3B.info on Facebook.
CJ3B Home | Contents | History | Photos | Toys | Links | 3A and 3B Community