Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Ebirah, a giant lobster, is, apparently, a horror of the deep. At least that is the premise of the movie titled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. Directed by Jun Fukuda, this is the first film in the mainline Godzilla canon to not be directed by Ishirō Honda so hopefully some distinctions in their direction style will be clear here. Haruo Nakajima is once again Godzilla, with newcomer (?) Hiroshi Sekita playing the titular Ebirah. Writing this without having seen it yet, I am dubbing this current era of Toho releases "the dark times" due to my general underwhelming response to the last couple of movies we have seen. Hopefully Ebirah breaks this streak, but word on the street is this is not one of the beloved films of the Showa era. Crossing fingers!

Also, humorous (or foreboding?) side note: this movie was originally supposed to start King Kong against the dreaded Ebirah. But when the rights owners of Kong rejected the concept Toho gladly took up the task and cast their homegrown monster in the role. Word on the street is that the script was changed very little given this change of concept, so we might see some reverberations of that through this film.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Searching for his missing brother whom he is certain is alive, Ryota steals a boat from a dance marathon competition and goes searching.

- Things do not go well, as he and his companions come across the giant lobster Ebirah and nearly die.

- Stranded on an island, they come across a native woman from Infant Island and make friends. She tells them that the terrorist organization Red Bamboo has kidnapped some of her people and forced them produce a special yellow liquid to help control Ebirah.

- Meanwhile, the people still left at Infant Island pray to Mothra in the hope she will awaken and rescue their kidnapped brethren.

- The gang finds Godzilla sleeping in a cave. They wisely try to avoid waking him up.

- Moving on, they sneak into a Red Bamboo building by hiding behind a movable bush they've made in an effort to defeat Red Bamboo so they can escape.

- When that goes predictably poorly, one of the men accidentally floats away on a giant balloon which takes him to Infant Island.

- Deciding to wake up Godzilla as a weapon against Red Bamboo and their dastardly desires, they make a lightning rod which awakens Godzilla from his resting state just as Ebirah attacks them.

- Still on the run from Red Bamboo, the remaining core cast barely escapes Red Bamboo before Godzilla appears and puts the fear into them. He is distracted/infatuated by the woman the boys met earlier, apparently a plot holdover from when this was a Kong movie.

- Interrupting Godzilla longingly looking at her, a giant bird and then some planes attack Godzilla only to be soundly and easily defeated.

- Godzilla destroys the Red Bamboo base after they empower him using high voltage electricity (not how Godzilla works) and the humans find out that the entire island is going to be completely destroyed in a mere two hours.

- Godzilla and Ebirah rematch, this time taking the fight underwater where Ebirah may have the advantage.

- Godzilla wins anyway, easily.

- With 6 minutes runtime remaining, Mothra finally leaves Infant Island to retrieve her people.

- Godzilla and Mothra fight, briefly, despite being allies in their last meeting, before Mothra runs away with her Infant Island people in tow.

- Godzilla jumps off the island just as Red Bamboo's plan to destroy the island comes to fruition, narrowly escaping the giant explosion and swimming off into the ocean.

Kaiju Notes

- Ebirah's introduction is as nothing more than a giant claw destroying the boat our human leads are on. Outside of the very fake lightning effect, this introduction is very well done. Menace and mystery but without too much uncertainty about what it was: a giant claw.

- Ebirah's screech is one of the more effective roars we've heard so far.

- On his reintroduction, Ebirah literally spears two men floating near him, making it very clear that he's giant and red because of the fiery rage inside him.

- Godzilla is awaken by lightning in this movie, apparently recovered from his injuries by it. This is not a power Godzilla has ever had, and in fact appears to be a holdover from when this movie was Kong-centric.

- Ebirah and Godzilla play giant rock volleyball on multiple occasions when they first fight, it's cute and also ridiculous.

- Godzilla vastly outpowers all of his enemies in this movie except Mothra. Even his Atomic Breath is used only sparingly because it would clearly decimate all of his foes. His fights are much more human than normal, using rocks, his tail, and even kicking objects over either because it's fun or to use as weapons. 

- Godzilla continues to adopt human-like mannerisms: examples being the aforementioned volleyball squence and most notably when he rips off Ebirah's claw and claps it together in a taunting fasion.

- Mothra is perhaps at her most majestic, appearing larger than before and with more realistic colors. The closeup shots allows a better look at the "fur" on her face better than ever before.

First thing to note: this movie is much more comical than almost any of kaiju flicks we've seen thus far. While comedy is not an unexpected element in the series thus far, the first 60 minutes are almost entirely farce. The humans are bumbling even when competent, and the plot comes together almost as a series of unfortunate events, including one man accidentally floating away on a balloon. The humans using a mobile bush to infiltrate the Red Bamboo stronghold is hilarious to watch even if you think it's a good idea. It reminds me of Metal Gear Solid's Ultimate Weapon, even if this movie did come decades before the cardboard box of doom was invented.

Perhaps due to budget cuts, this movie focuses much more on the human story than any kaiju movie we've seen thus far. While I will almost always argue for more monster focus, this movie in particular gets the note as it spends a huge percentage of its time building up to Godzilla's awakening. With Ebirah being a mostly unseen force until he and Godzilla face off, the movie crams all of it's kaiju into the last 3rd or so of runtime, limiting how much they really feel like part of events even when they finally show up. While one argument could be made that the human characters are getting the kaiju tops into place before releasing them and letting them spin toward each other, another argument could be made that a Godzilla movie should have Godzilla wake up from his slumber before the 3rd act.

A few notes on the direction, things I think I noticed being different between Fukuda and Honda. Long, extended shots of the entire kaiju, showing off more detail of the suits than previous entries in the series. Scenes of destruction and the consequences are now back in the series, not truly being focused on since the original Gojira. There are also significantly more shots of human characters interacting in the same space as the kaiju, helping to create a greater sense of scale. This is one of the highlights of this movie, making the giant monsters seem giant and monstrous in a way we haven't really seen before.

Strangely, this movie comes in almost opposite of Invasion of Astro-Monster. While I found it a bit more interesting from a storytelling perspective it ultimately didn't work for me for some intangible reason. This is the opposite: an empty headed comedy that I still somehow enjoy despite the lack of time for my favorite part of any monster movie, the monsters. As you can see by me ending here, this movie isn't exactly the most intriguing (versus the paragraphs I wrote on the previous post), but I somehow enjoyed it nonetheless. Maybe I just like my monster movies stupid and think I like them smart because it makes me feel better about myself.

Next: King Kong Escapes!

Invasion of Astro-Monster

Today is the day for the 1965 movie Invasion of Astro-Monster, the second appearance of one legendary kaiju: King Ghidorah, having another showdown with Godzilla. Rodan also makes an appearance, but they cut out my girl Mothra from this one. Once again directed by Ishirō Honda, Haruo Nakajima and Shoichi Hirose reprise their roles as Godzilla and King Ghidorah, respectively. With Gamera, the Giant Monster in the past, we are now gaining a little perspective on the differences in both suit performance and direction of kaiju movies, and better still the next movie in our series has a different director! We're hitting the big time!

Invasion of Astro-Monster has some significant downsides to it: primarily a lower budget and reusing previous shots. Rodan's scenes are particularly noticeable as rehashed footage. Honda himself reflected on this period with "If we recycled scenes from previous movies, we could cut the effects budget. But then we received complaints from our fans saying, 'It looks weird, it's not fresh.' We could fool the audience for a little while, but eventually they would know the trick and stop coming to see the shows. Then the studio would think that special effects film don't sell anymore. It's no wonder we could not make anything good around that period... It is a sad story."

I am hoping that several good ones are still to come, but if this movie and Honda's own words are to be believed then we may be in for some rocky times while we journey through the history of kaiju movies. Let's talk about the movie first and then possibly revisit some of this.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- Two astronauts, Fuji and Glenn, arrive on Planet X.

- They meet aliens, Xiliens, who hide them from a rampaging King Ghidorah and explain that he is the horrible Monster Zero who is destroying their planet.

- In exchange for "borrowing" Godzilla and Rodan to fight Monster Zero, the Xiliens offer humans the cure for cancer. They make the exchange. Big G, Rodan, Glenn, and Fuji all head to Planet X.

- Once on Planet X, Godzill and Rodan succeed in driving away King Ghidorah.

- Glenn and Fuji realize something funky is going on after suspecting the Xiliens of ill-intent for most of the movie so far, and are briefly taken prisoner before being released due to their status as guests of the Xiliens.

- Leaving the monsters behind and with the cure for cancer in hand, the astronauts return to Earth.

- The tape the astronauts were given is revealed to be an ultimatum and not a cure, calling for Earth to surrender to Planet X or be destroyed by all 3 monsters they now have control over.

- Under the control of the Xiliens, Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah begin destroying the world before the invention is broadcast from every available radio on the planet

- Glenn is formally imprisoned by the Xiliens later, and meets another man who apparently has invented a device which interrupts the Xiliens' electronics. They use this to escape prison and also free Rodan and Godzilla from Xilien control.

- After being set free from mind control, Godzilla and Rodan decide to turn their energy toward King Ghidorah in a final, utterly unspectacular battle.

- All three monsters fall off a cliff, into the water. Ghidorah retreats to space while the human propose that Godzilla and Rodan could still be alive.

- Fuji and Glenn are made ambassadors to Planet X. END

Kaiju Notes

- All of the suits for the monsters look pretty much the same as they did for King Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. King Ghidorah's necks may be just a bit shorter, but my memory may be trash. He also appears to be somewhat less golden, the more muted color making him seem perhaps more dangerous but also less SPECTACULAR. Godzilla's eyes are noticeable in this again, after spending some time not being an obvious feature.

- Godzilla is beginning to transition into full "hero" mode. After cross bodying King Ghidorah, knocking him down and making him flee, Godzilla leaps into the air no less than four times doing a victory pose. It's strange, but undeniably entertaining to see the usually lumbering Godzilla doing cheerleader moves.

- The kaiju are much more human in this movie generally. At one point Godzilla, under the control of the Xiliens, even does the "cut throat" gesture when Earth is threatened with total destruction by him and the other two big bois.

- Godzilla does boxing moves in this one! No more Atomic Breath for this guy, he throws some jabs and crosses alongside some fancy foorwork before throwing King Ghidorah off a cliff (alongside himself and Rodan).

Let's start with the bad: I don't enjoy this movie. I find it plodding, a bit strange, and the monster action pretty disappointing. But the strange thing to consider is that there are also some significant highlights: the Xiliens, the inventive plot, the team-up shenanigans. For some odd reason the cohesive movie doesn't come together for me despite enjoying many aspects of the movie itself. It's also nice to compare this to Gamera, the Giant Monster as two films made on a tight budget and indulging their strangest desires. Comparatively, I think Gamera did a better job between the two despite it's obvious disadvantages.

Let's start by talking about the Xiliens: I love these guys. And I do mean guys, as apparently all of the female Xiliens are... clones of each other? It was unclear. But either way, the Xiliens come up with this entirely wild plan to kidnap Godzilla and Rodan so they can turn them against the Earth. But if they had the technology couldn't they simply do this anyway? They could just go grab them, brainwash them, and come back for conquest. But they decide to use subterfuge and deception, I think, because it amuses them. They never seem to have fun or smile as they represent themselves as beings of pure logic, but you look at that plan and tell me what part of it makes any logical sense.

Doubling down here: I think part of this movie is about the value of human emotions over pure logic. While arguing about the Xiliens attempting to take over Earth, one of the lady Xiliens has fallen in love with Glenn and expresses her desire to be a human like him: "A man is immortal. A material machine can be destroyed." Even the kaiju of this movie, still giant animals and monsters, seem a bit more human-like in contrast to the Xilien villains. It's not a necessarily well-developed theme, but one that I found myself unable to shake.

Related: despite their relative humanity compared to previous appearances, when the kaiju conflict with human forces they seem more brutal than normal, wasting little time and just wrecking havoc. Perhaps this is because they are under control of aliens to destroy rather than the more base instincts that typically drive them. Or perhaps it is destruction that is the base instinct, and thus they are now more effective at it? Either way, all 3 kaiju in this movie are forces of utter destruction in a way that hasn't been seen since Godzilla's first appearance. Even in recycled footage, humans take an absolute beating in this movie compared to almost everything since the 1954 original, as in most of the films the kaiju typically try to ignore humans for the sake of their own objectives. But when that objective becomes "destroy all humans," they are shockingly good at it.

In the end, this movie is a bit of a lesson in the importance of all pieces of a piece of art working together. Despite enjoying the wacky plot and human story (a rarity for me when it comes to kaiju movies), something about this just didn't click for me. If I had to guess it would be the relative lack of agency on the part of the kaiju: almost all of their time in this movie is spent being manipulated or controlled by the humanoid characters rather than being themselves forces of nature that humanoids have to operate around. Even the end of the movie doesn't bother to truly establish whether Rodan and Godzilla even lived, instead spending more time on the human elements and making our two main human characters into ambassadors to a planet that tried to conquer them not 20 minutes ago. While I think the human and monster pieces of a good kaiju movie have to work together, something about letting the monsters be subsumed by the other side of things seems counter to the point of the genre. It could work, I am sure, but I don't personally think it did here. I wish I liked this more, but if you're into wild rides and wacky notions, this might still be the kaiju movie for you!

Next: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep!

Gamera, the Giant Monster

Today we discuss Gamera, the Giant Monster. Sometimes considered the sibling (maybe cousin) series to the Godzilla series, the Gamera series began in 1965 under strained circumstances. Let's start there. This film (and many of the movies in the series) was directed by Noriaki Yuasa only after several other directors at the studio refused to make it. Apparently considered a "wash-out" by his bosses at Daiei, Yuasa took to the movie with a surprising fervor. Despite everyone else passing on it because they felt the genre was beneath them, Yuasa did everything he could to make Gamera, the Giant Monster happen. This man took special effects courses, endured criticism and belittlement from his own staff, made the entire movie on a shoestring budget, and dealt with power outages, outdated equipment, tight scheduling, and faulty props. At one point the studio considered handing the project to someone else to finish but Yuasa refused to let his new baby Gamera go and somehow finished the movie using the crap resources he was given.

To shed some further light on these crap resources: when Daiei decided to make a kaiju movie they initially settled on a film featuring giant rats. Ignoring how fortunate we are to not have to endure a giant rat movie, they built sets and apparently found REAL RATS to be their main actors. But the project was shut down by the health department due to the uncooperative, wild rats being infested with fleas. Yuasa, and Gamera, inherited the scraps left over from the abandoned production of this rat movie. Due to the tiny budget, Yuasa was forced to shoot Gamera, the Giant Monster in black and white. On a certain level it's a testament to Yuasa's inhuman willpower that this movie even exists. So, given all of that, how did the movie turn out?

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- In the Arctic, a ship arrives (to trade with the locals? unsure). An unmarked nuclear armed plane is also there, and it is attacked by another. It goes down, setting off a nuclear weapon.

- From the ice emerges Gamera, a Giant Turtle Monster from Atlantis!

- A man sees a UFO in the sky, a spinning disc which approaches him before shooting off in another direction. Reports of UFOs spread around Japan. This seems irrelevant, but we'll be back.

- After destroying the home of a turtle loving child named Toshio, Gamera saves him from falling to his death. Does that make them even?

- The military tries to take Gamera down with electricity and bombs before realizing he literally eats fire and is growing stronger from both efforts.

- They do succeed in using a special weapon to freeze Gamera, flipping him onto his back so he will be helpless (as all turtles are, apparently) and starve to death. 

- Gamera's ultimate technique is revealed: he has rockets in his legs. He pulls inside his shell and takes flight, spinning through the air like a UFO (see above).

- Raiding anywhere where fossil fuel or nuclear energy can be found and eating it, Gamera becomes a menace and so the government decides to utilize the "Z Plan."

- After an absolutely wild series of coincidences including a typhoon and a volcanic eruption, Gamera is lured onto a space ship and shot to Mars.

- Yes, I am serious.

Kaiju Notes

- Gamera has lovely tusks. It's probably his strongest design point, for me at least. I think the tusks are entirely rad. Combined with his eyes which appear to reflect light and you have the makings of a creature which could easily range between adorable or horrifying, depending on the message you try to send.

- On the other hand something about a turtle, giant or otherwise, is inherently non-threatening. Lil dude doesn't even have the thick shell one might associate with some turtles, going with the sleeker and spinier version which doesn't exactly make him look like a powerhouse even if it's the more "aggressive" choice.

- Instead of the made up weapons of his cousin Godzilla (Atomic Breath), Gamera simply breathes fire. It may not sound as cool, but it's a much easier effect to make and the fire actually looks pretty good. Likely because they just made a mini flamethrower and threw it in a puppet. But hey, the shit works.

- Gamera spends much more of his time on four legs, which does make him seem a bit more bestial than the creatures that clearly inspired him. It's a strong choice as far as differentiating factors go.

- The leg rockets. It is impossible to put into words how brilliant and yet idiotic this is. It is primo "kaiju flick" nonsense that doesn't even look particularly bad. I hate it and love it at the same time. Dude doesn't even flip over on screen! He flies away while still upside down!

- We don't talk about roars enough in this section. Mostly because many of them are pretty bad. Gamera's is definitely in the top level of roars we've seen thus far. Inspired by Godzilla, for sure, but unique enough that it's got some character of its own. I give it a 7/10.

Let's talk about the child, Toshio. He is relevant to the story because he thinks his pet turtle, Chibi, has turned into Gamera. He also believes that Gamera isn't evil or angry, just lonely. This is likely related to him being forced to release his pet turtle into the wild right before Gamera appears, destroys his home, and saves his life. Toshio is wrong, of course, as Gamera very explicitly tears down buildings with people in them and it doesn't look like he's trying to shake hands or hug when he lights them on fire using his breath. Like Godzilla in the original film, Gamera directly uses his main weapon to murder people. A scientist does suggest that Gamera is so destructive because he's seeking food, but I'm not sure that explains it. Bears don't destroy shit that's not related to finding food, even if they will absolutely wreck your life if you try to stop them. They don't tear down all the trees near your campsite, chase you down specifically, murder you half a mile up the road before turning back to go get the jerky you forgot to lock up. Worse still, being remarkably naive, Toshio insists that he will come visit Gamera on Mars at the end of the movie. First off, Gamera will starve to death on Mars and secondly he would eat you in a second. Basically: kids are the worst. He doesn't really cause any harm in particular but watching him think he's friends with a kaiju that has murdered hundreds of people is just wild.

Time to discuss the Z Plan. Unfortunately, nothing can be said because this movie does not explain at all. Who developed the Z Plan? Why? How? What was its purpose, in this world which apparently has not experienced kaiju problems before? Was the Z Plan intended to send people to Mars? Why? If so, why was the ship so large that it could fit Gamera's huge ass? Of all the various solutions to kaiju that we have seen so far, the Z Plan is easily the wildest. Both Godzilla and Gamera have been immobilized/felled by extreme cold, but the Zilla-verse humans have never thought to simply launch him into space. Probably because they don't just have a random giant rocket sitting around, but it's been 10+ years so maybe they should!

Ultimately Gamera, the Giant Monster lacks a lot of the weight of the first Godzilla movie, mimicking it in plot and premise but missing the mark in metaphor. A giant monster rampages through Japan and murders people, but Gamera is not a metaphor for nuclear destruction or anything else but simply a pissed off turtle (who took it easy on one child). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, not every movie has to have a hefty message, but it does reflect on the general hollowness of Gamera, the Giant Monster's conception. It's intended to capitalize on a movement in Japanese cinema, not to speak to any particular sentiment. That said, the movie itself is a lot of fun. When Gamera takes flight for the first time on screen it's perhaps the most fun I've had with a single scene since the beginning of this project, just so absurd that I almost jumped for joy. When the Z Plan is revealed to be a giant rocket to Mars I nearly cried laughing. Gamera himself is a strange combination of cute and creepy, as many turtles are, so the design is there. When it comes to raw buckwild fun, Gamera, the Giant Monster is honestly one of the top tier films in the history of kaiju flicks (so far).

Also, yes, Gamera is probably a tortoise rather than a turtle. Shut up.

Next: Invasion of Astro-Monster!

Frankenstein Conquers the World

It's time for the movie on this list which might have my favorite title: Frankenstein Conquers the World! As a Toho movie from the 1960's, Ishirō Honda directs, but this time Haruo Nakajima does not play the lead! He is still in the film, of course, but as the 2nd creature. Frankenstein himself is played by Koji Furuhata, a new name to us. We watched the American cut of the movie for this one because the Japanese version was extremely difficult to find. The internet tells me that the differences are relatively minimal so I'm not too worried about it. Let's talk about Frankenstein!

First: background. As mentioned in the post on King Kong vs. Godzilla, the original plan for that movie was to have Prometheus (Frankenstein) be Kong's opponent. For whatever reason, they wound up with Godzilla being in that movie instead of Frankenstein. But apparently not wanting to lose out on the chance to make a movie with Prometheus (Frankenstein), we wound up with this movie: Frankenstein versus random new monster. It is honestly an entire long story about how we wound up here and at one point there were even plans for a follow up Godzilla versus Frankenstein movies which has gone, sadly, unmade. I assume at this point it will not happen, but one never knows for sure! Okay, for real, let's talk about Frankenstein.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- During World War II, a mad scientist is visited by literal Nazis. They take his special box containing his latest work and head to Japan. 

- Managing to hand off the box to the Japanese, they are bombed by the Allies and die (fuck yeah!) to get this important thing to the Japanese mainland. It is revealed to be the immortal Heart of Frankenstein.

- The appeal of Frankenstein's Heart is the potential ability to learn to regrow any body part (or an entire body), being a significant medical breakthrough if true.

- Right as the Japanese begin to experiment with Frankenstein's Heart, the nuclear bombing on Hiroshima begins and they die. This has been a truly wild ride in like 10 minutes of film.

- 15 years later, we meet our two main human characters: doctors named James and Sueko. They eventually run into our sad main character: Frankenstein, who lives in the caves nearby and goes into town to find small animals to eat.

- Frankenstein is resistant to radiation and keeps growing, eventually growing too large to be kept in regular residences.

- Eventually running away after being rejected by most humans, James and Sueko hunt for Frankenstein to both make sure he's cared for (and potentially for some medical tests to utilize his Heart).

- As Frankenstein takes refuge in the mountains, the other monster of the movie: Baragon, appears and tears down a mountain community. Frankenstein gets blamed despite no one confirming he was there.

- While searching for Frankenstein, James and Sueko are confronted by Baragon who seems to just be hanging out in the area. Frankenstein comes in to save them and now we have a good ole' monster fight.

- Frankenstein and Baragon fight outside a village in Japan, Frankenstein explicitly keeping him from entering the "city limits" and destroying the town.

- After defeating Baragon, the earth itself opens up and seems to swallow Frankenstein, killing him so the humans don't have to. End.

Kaiju Notes

- Frankly, I kind of hate Frankenstein's design. While it's clearly inspired by the traditional flat-headed bolt-in-neck version from the old Universal movies, the damaged teeth and especially prominent forehead ridge make him a bit more neanderthal than I think is appealing as design. I do appreciate his wiryness compared to most kaiju, as his humanity means he's built more as a human and less like a giant angry dinosaur. I suppose his lack of aesthetic appeal plays to the roots of the Frankenstein character, as he too was rejected by society based upon how he looks. But I think there's a difference to be split here: Boris Karloff's famous look as Frankenstein was iconic and good design while still being quite inhuman and horrible.

- Baragon, on the other hand, is cute. He's no Mothra, it's true, but he does have some distinct qualities working in his favor: good ears and loving, soulful eyes. He also sploots sometimes, making him the first kaiju to be imminently petable if he'd just stop destroying civilizations.

- Baragon loves to jump toward his opponents, apparently, and it's hilarious to watch because he also misses almost every time and lands on his head. He also has some sort of red beam, but the jumping is his best trait by far.

- Frankenstein seems to have no unique powers besides being semi-intelligent. This is not a bad thing, necessarily, but we don't get enough attention on that fact. All I want in life is for an intelligent kaiju to even the odds by making genuine weapons to make up for their lack of lasers or ice breath or whatever.

- In Frankenstein's defense, he does at one point make makeshift torches which he uses to simultaneously ward off and fight Baragon. Of course he creates a wildfire in this process, but it's something.

Random note: in the beginning of the movie when Frankenstein is running around eating small animals we get the most gruesome shot we've had in any Toho movie thus far: a torn apart rabbit. With bunny pieces and blood all over the floor, it seems a strangely grotesque shot given how relatively non gory most of the movies about giant monsters killing each other are.

When it comes to a takeaway for this one I am of two minds: on the one hand it seems very much like a pointless movie, neither terribly fun nor particularly interesting. Just an hour of Frankenstein growing until shoe-horning in the cute Baragon and having them fight for no clear reason. At least the original conceit of Frankenstein fighting King Kong would have been more fun because of the background of both characters, but once they decided against using Kong for this movie they probably should have just scrapped it.

On the other hand: is this movie a re-telling of the original novel, Frankenstein? Our Toho Frankenstein is also a creature brought into the world by the horrors of modern science (nuclear war) and rejected and persecuted by society. Unlike the original story, our Frankenstein here is able to have a redemption arc when he protects some humans from a creature even less human than he. Perhaps this is truly a reflection of how humans are happy to dispose of those different from themselves until they can be of use? Besides our two human leads, every character is happy to try to kill Frankenstein until they realize there is another monster. Whether this means they understand that the rampant destruction has been causes by Baragon or not is not disclosed, but either way people seem happy for Frankenstein's existence, briefly, once Baragon is known. And as they fight the military continues to plan to kill him once they are done, so no claims of appreciation for Frankenstein can truly be made in this one.

It's hard to decide. The retelling is almost entirely a surface reading of what happens on the screen, but the same could be said for most kaiju movies we've seen so far (especially the versus ones). Even Godzilla Raids Again features the military trying their hardest to kill Godzilla until he and Anguirus start to fight, and then simply continuing to try to kill him. It doesn't make this movie fail as a retelling of the novel Frankenstein, of course, but it does seem to make it a bit redundant in the canon. At a certain point saying the same thing over and over with different monsters seems unnecessary, but then again there's no way to determine/know/predict that people who see this movie will have seen any of the others. Shrug.

Next: Gamera, the Giant Monster!

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

Today we watch Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. This is the introduction of the creature that is most commonly regarded as Godzilla's archenemy: King Ghidorah. A movie of returns, the director remains Ishirō Honda with Godzilla still played by Haruo Nakajima. Shoichi Hirose also returns from playing King Kong in King Kong vs. Godzilla to be the titular King Ghidorah, so we're dealing with veterans all over this flick. I am trying to get notes on the style of all of these people as we go, but because they have remained consistent thus far it is not yet possible to compare how Nakajima's Godzilla looks opposed to anyone else, or Honda's direction holds up to his successor. But we'll get there, so this information will be more relevant as we go!

If You Haven't Seen it Before

 - A group of UFO enthusiasts are joined by a reporter when they see a meteor shower rain down.

- Onboard a plane, a literal princess is told to flee by an alien force. She jumps out of the emergency exit, unaided, just as the plane explodes in an assassination attempt.

- The Princess reappears, but now claims to be an alien from Venus here to help save this planet.

- The Twin Fairies (Shobijin) of Mothra fame appear on a show to sing a song to Mothra.

- The Venusian/Princess appears at a volcano to warn people just before Rodan re-emerges for the first time in many years.

- As the Shobijin head back to Infant Island, the Venusian appears to insist that they not set sail. We find out later that the Shobijin sensed something wrong as well and listened, hiding out elsewhere.

- The ship that was meant to have the Shobijin on it is destroyed by Godzilla, who emerges from the ocean.

- Rodan and Godzilla meet and don't immediately duke it out. They seem to be moving toward the same place together.

- The Venusian warns of the arrival of King Ghidorah, who will completely destroy the world.

- A meteorite that landed in the first scene and has been a source of curiosity throughout the movie continues to grow and now hatches, unleashing the three-headed monster King Ghidorah.

- The Shobijin explain to government officials that even Mothra cannot defeat King Ghidorah, and it will potentially take all three monsters (Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan) to take him down. Right after, Ghidorah flies through the city and destroys several buildings with his Gravity Beam.

- Apparently having a disagreement, Rodan and Godzilla begin to fight before being interrupted by larval Mothra. After a quick game of volleyball (it's hard to explain) she string shots them until they listen to her.

- The Shobijin translate for the humans as the kaiju discuss saving the planet from King Ghidorah.

- As this happens, King Ghidorah is approaching the location where all of the human and kaiju characters are, forcing their hands right now.

- Unable to convince the others, Mothra (larval) goes to fight King Ghidorah on her own. The ass-kicking she receives finally prompts Rodan and Godzilla to help.

- King Ghidorah is ultimately driven away, but not killed, by the trio. He appears to fly away into space. Methinks he'll be back.

Kaiju Notes

- Rodan's first appearance is ugly as hell. And he unhinges his jaw in a truly distressing manner to roar. I hate it. But if it's intentionally horrifying, then it's very effective.

- King Ghidorah has a cute little paunch where the heads meet, making him the first kaiju with a dad bod.

- Rodan has been greatly improved. Besides just the movement of the wings, the designer did a good job in giving Rodan the perfect amount of simple improvements. His stomach armor is a nice touch that I don't remember from his original appearance.

- At one point Godzilla is literally picked up by Rodan and it's hilarious. Like Mothra dragging his ass in the last movie, seeing Rodan grab him by the dorsal plates and him flail helplessly is pretty funny. I will watch kaiju actors flail about anytime.

- Every time larval Mothra has been seen in this series she gets uglier and grosser. I thought the first version was kind of cute, but each one gets slimier and I hate it. Especially given how majestic Big Girl Mothra is.

- Ghidorah's lack of arms is a choice that I have to respect for being bold but it makes him look weird. Perhaps the necks aren't long enough to make it seem as though they could reasonably substitute having any other appendages. Otherwise it's a strong design and his color is one of the better choices they've made from an aesthetic perspective.

This is the first movie to feature kaiju actually communicating in a discernible fashion. With the Shobijin translating, we're able to gain some insight into the various monsters personalities. When Mothra initially tries to convince them to help her save the Earth from King Ghidorah. Godzilla and Rodan disagree that they should team up to protect the Earth, they don't care. Humans are always bullying them anyway, so why should they help protect their planet? They also demand apologies from the other, because apparently kaiju can communicate complex ideas and are as petty as any human. Even when Mothra points out that the Earth doesn't belong to humans alone so they should defend it as well, Godzilla and Rodan disagree. Like the single episode of Pokémon that features the pokemon speaking with each other, I would watch this shit all day. I want more kaiju discussions! I know at least one more happens, but I want way more of this.

My favorite moment is when Rodan is facing off with Ghidorah and hides behind a rock. After Gravity Beams stop shooting in his direction, he adorably peeks his little pteronadon head out to check if the coast is clear and it's just... perfect. And this comes immediately after Godzilla helps a weakened Mothra climb up a mountain by biting onto his tail while he walks. Godzilla also does a little shimmy at one point after being hit by Gravity Beams. The volleyball scene happens before all of this so it really just sets the stage for all of the upcoming kawaii. There are more cute moments to discuss, but then this would be a post about all of the cuteness kaiju are capable of so let's just say that this movie gets 10/10 on the adorableness scale.

The end fight is interrupted with a long scene about the Venusian/Princess regaining her human consciousness, and it's a weird and pointless thing to interrupt a 4 Kaiju fight. Fortunately when this is over we get right back to a true 3-on-1 beatdown, but it's just bad moviemaking to include this part in the middle of our climactic showdown. King Ghidorah retreats, presumably back into space, by the combination Rodan flying Mothra on his back while she shoots string shots to bind KG and Godzilla throws rock at him. It's a relatively innovative way to have them join forces, Rodan making Mothra and hard target and Godzilla doing the assault while Mothra hinders. It's like a proper TTRPG party firing on all cylinders.

I have something I do want to say about this movie, and generally. I know that men are almost inherently stupid/over confident. I'm not going to claim that I've never been completely sure I could do or accomplish something well beyond my capabilities. BUT, in this movie there are multiple examples of men doing just this in very silly ways. Early on, a man and his apparent girlfriend are hanging around one of the "giant monster sights" and things start to go askew. She says they should leave and he says "don't worry, I will protect you." HOW?! Rodan kills everyone around him accidentally, Godzilla sometimes does it intentionally, and if it's a new creature why would you roll those dice? Later still, the Venusian is warning the world about the incoming doom and is, of course, disbelieved by all of the very important men. She even predicts something will happen on one mountain and is ridiculed because another mountain is the one that has been having recent volcanic activity. AND THEN RODAN COMES OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN SHE SAID AND DUDES IS STILL LIKE "LUCKY GUESS."

It's either a weakness of the storytelling or an indictment of the overconfidence of mankind that they live in a world of frequent kaiju attacks and everyone is still insistent that every woman with some insight is simply overreacting or delusional. But these dudes deliver every time, even as the Venusian is proven correct time and time again. Me thinking I could be the greatest Guilty Gear Strive player in the world if I just set my mind to it is one thing, me thinking I could protect anyone from hundred ton monsters with nothing but my wits and charm is a level of arrogance I simply don't understand. Charitably, I am going to chalk this one up to the writing of the movie, but something in my core tells me that I am incorrect to do so. There's entire websites and subreddits dedicated to people being unreasonably sure they could handle situations despite all evidence speaking to the contrary, and many of them die.

This movie is not one of the deeper ones of the batch, but as we discussed with King Kong vs. Godzilla, that's okay sometimes. The human plot is oddly complex for a movie that brings in 4 giant monsters to enjoy. Streamlining and focusing on all of the arrangements of the 4 in a versus situation seems like a more obvious choice, but word on the street is there was some drama behind the scenes that kept Ghidorah from being on screen as much. People will be people, I guess. Even if it hurts what they're working on. Outside of being the most adorable kaiju movie so far, it lacks the extra specialness that makes the great ones great.

Next: Frankenstein Conquers the World!

Mothra vs. Godzilla

The 4th movie in the Godzilla franchise, this is the first Toho movie to pull kaiju from two different Toho franchises into one instead. Whereas King Kong vs. Godzilla was the first explicitly versus film in the franchise, now we've got two Toho-originating beasts to enjoy. Once again directed by Ishirō Honda with Godzilla (as always) played by Haruo Nakajima, one day those credits will change but I am glad it hasn't yet.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- A giant egg is found. Obviously, in the continuity of Godzilla movies, this is concerning.

- Happy Enterprises, a company, has purchased the egg. The rep is a real smug bastard.

- His company wants to build an amusement park around the egg, the largest in the world. They expect to make possibly 1 billion yen from this endeavor.

- We saw what happened last time someone tried to profit off of kaiju. Why do people keep trying?

- The Twin Fairies (Shobijin) appear in the office of Happy Enterprises to ask for the egg's return. Nuclear testing has destroyed their home and sent the egg into the sea. They escape before being captured.

- Because the egg is Mothra's egg, it is the only hope of restoring Infant Island. And just as last time (see: Mothra), when the egg hatches the larva will head to their destination and destroy everything in its path.

- Before the egg hatches, Godzilla wakes up. One can imagine this is going to end poorly for at least one of these kaiju and a lot of humans.

- A group of humans go to Infant Island to ask Mothra to aid them against Godzilla. After the Shobijin implore Mothra on their behalf, they are told that Mothra will use the last of her strength to help them. The current Mothra is dying but will be reborn from her egg.

- Godzilla attacks. The greedy businessmen have turned on each other with one shooting the other. Revenge comes by way of Godzilla, crushing the building the murderer is in and he also dies in the collapse.

- As Godzilla approaches Mothra's egg, adult Mothra appears and it's time for a kaiju duel.

- At one point Mothra drags Godzilla around by his tail and that shit's hilarious.

- Eventually struck by Atomic Breath and badly wounded, Mothra goes to her egg and dies near it.

- The military attacks Big G, to the traditional and expected no avail.

- The egg hatches and TWO Mothra larvae emerge. They use their cocoon powers against Godzilla, encasing him in an impenetrable shell.

- The Mothra larvae head home and the movie's over.

Kaiju Notes

- Mothra spends much of this movie simply sitting on a rock. She looks much more friendly in this framing than in her previous appearance, and I argued she was pretty majestic in that one.

- Godzilla no longer has ice cream hands, but otherwise looks very similar to the last one. My initial impression is that his face has changed a bit (for the positive) but nothing major. Dude has BROWS now. And they're angry.

- Godzilla's tail has relaxed significantly from it's wild flailing in King Kong vs. Godzilla, they seem to have settled into a nice "dangerous but purposeful" movement style for it.

- Mothra looks even better in movement here than she did in her own movie. They do closeup shots to obscure some of the clunkiness, and this girl is way more mobile than she was. The improvements they've made with flying creatures is legit impressive. This is still the 60's, after all.

- Godzilla flailing around trying to Atomic Breath Mothra is one of my new favorite shots. Hilarious image.

- Mothra's secret weapon is "poisonous" pollen she can cover her foes in, so it's not just sonic booms and mobility she has to win fights. She technically loses, but she stomped his ass for a minute.

- Mothra larvae are way less cute this time. Way slimier looking, wrinkly, and with disconcerting little beaks.

First thing to note: in the beginning of the movie Mothra's egg is purchased for ¥1,224,560. I did some math and some googling and discovered that this is *roughly* about $56,000. That's a lot of money, yes, but is... not a lot for such an incredibly rare and potentially dangerous artifact. This is not a movie that takes place in its own continuity, Mothra and Godzilla and Rodan and the rest all exist and are known to the world. If you found a gigantic egg, I would wager most people would realize that going anywhere near it is just going to cause trouble. But business people be business people, greed always comes first. More on this later.

Mothra vs. Godzilla has more in common with King Kong vs. Godzilla than any of the other movies we've seen so far. They spend an hour of the movie building up to a big showdown between two established creatures, and then pay it off in a pretty satisfying way. In comparison this one is significantly better, I'd argue, if for no other reason than the creatures don't have multiple underwhelming encounters before finally having a showdown worth talking about. I especially liked seeing Godzilla get his big ass literally tossed around by a cute moth and then get sniped by baby Mothra's with String Shot. They literally hide behind rocks while he tries to harm them, then stick their little heads out and cocoon him up while he screams helplessly. It's not the most noble or courageous way to take down Godzilla, but the shit works.

While this movie isn't terribly metaphorical, I think I can tease one out, especially given the scenes on Infant Island and the final lines of the movie. "The only way to thank them is to create a better world... A world based on mutual trust." Infant Island, as it appears in the movie, is destroyed by nuclear testing, only habitable because of the special juice that the natives of the island make and consume regularly (as established in the original Mothra). When the humans come seeking Mothra's aid they are initially rejected by both the natives of the island and the Shobijin (the voices of Mothra). Told they cannot trust the humans from the mainland/outside world, especially because they've destroyed Infant Island by refusing to stop nuclear testing, they'd rather just let Godzilla sort them out. Only a plea that "even bad people deserve a chance to live" convinces Mothra to help fend off Godzilla. Apparently Mothra is quite compassionate, cause it was not the most convincing argument I've ever heard for saving the world. Godzilla himself is a sort of symbol of consequences. He only seems to wake because Mothra's egg is brought to the mainland, and heads toward it directly. When he destroys the building that the unethical businessmen are inside, they die as a direct result of their greed (and take many innocent people with them). 

Thus, the two kaiju can be seen as a kind of metaphor for the consequences of bad actions like greed and nuclear testing (Godzilla) and the sacrifices needed from those note responsible to save everybody from the former (Mothra). Mothra literally dies to save people who caused all of their own problems, but has to get involved because the fate of her egg has become tied into the situation. Like the real world, those responsible for causing damage and destruction are shielded from the true consequences of their actions by those who would actually pay the price; Mothra has to save them because if she does not then she will not be reborn. Unlike the real world, at least some of the responsible parties of this film face the fates they've set others up for, in the form of Godzilla stepping on their building. Read it as a metaphor for global warming, oil spills, unfettered capitalism, nuclear testing, war, or whatever other ill springs to mind (perhaps them all), but Mothra and her larvae sacrifice themselves and put themselves at risk because even if they try to avoid the situation they become inevitably threatened by it. The larvae in particular are real champs, because once they hatch they could definitely just go to Infant Island and chill, but they really are looking out for humans who've done nothing for them. And ain't that just the way?

Overall, this is one of my favorite Godzilla movies so far. It speeds by in comparison to some of the others despite relatively little kaiju action until pretty late into it, then pays it all off at once. It's a great example of how pacing can improve a movie overall, as even the other versus focused movie (King Kong vs. Godzilla) in the canon so far had some serious pacing issues that made it a bit of a drag. The metaphor is also a bit more subtle in this one, but I think clear enough that it's not the simple giant ape vs giant lizard of the previous outing. I have no problems with movies about nothing (we've got like 50 more to go for this blog, so you'll see), it's also nice to sometimes see a movie that has something on its mind. Side note: Mothra is now the kaiju with the most consistent record for greatness. Of the 2 movies she's appeared in so far they've both been pretty great. If she keeps this up she could be the symbol of "dope shit here" in this series.

Next: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster!

King Kong vs. Godzilla

It's time for our first proper versus movie! It's even in the title. While I don't always do this, let's talk about the background of this one. It was originally supposed to be an American movie about King Kong fighting Frankenstein (or Prometheus as he was going to be called) but no one wanted to make it in the US. Those producers are all fools. But eventually it became what it is now: the most famous Japanese kaiju against the most famous American kaiju. Directed by Ishirō Honda with Godzilla primarily played by Haruo Nakajima and King Kong played by Shoichi Hirose, that pedigree of director and cast definitely tells us that this is as much a Toho production as anything else we've seen thus far.

If You Haven't Seen it Before

- The human element of the story centers around a pharmaceutical company run by a buffoon, hoping to use the "Demon God" of (fictional) Faro Island to advertise.

- In the meantime, Godzilla wakes up from his burial under snow and ice and is attacked immediately by the military.

- A giant squidlike creature attacks the native people of Faro Island and King Kong saves them. They sing his praises and he goes back to sleep before he can turn his attention to the humans.

- News of King Kong is published and it's a big deal for our pharmaceutical company. Immediately, talk begins of whether King Kong or Godzilla is stronger.

- The eventually meet and Godzilla appears to win the first match after setting Kong on fire, both simply walking away. It's a pretty dreadful showdown consisting of a couple of Atomic Breath volleys and King Kong throwing (and missing) with a few rocks.

- Attempting to kill Godzilla twice fails despite the G-Man falling for both traps. He's just darn tough.

- In an allusion to the original King Kong, Kong kidnaps a woman and climbs to the top of the Diet Building in Tokyo.

- Using gas from Faro Island and the music which lulls him to sleep, King Kong is knocked unconscious and captured once more by humans.

- Hoping the two will kill each other, King Kong is airdropped to fight Godzilla on Mount Fuji.

- After falling underwater and continuing/finishing their fight, Kong is the only one to surface and swims off, heading back home.

Kaiju Notes

- For the first time so far in this journey, I had a companion watching along with me. When Godzilla first emerges she said it "looks like Godzilla is coming back from McDonald's, holding ice creams." BRUH THEY WERE HIS CLAWS

- Godzila's first appearance in color: his atomic breath still makes his spines glow but this time it's blue. As discussed in Gojira, I love this effect. The blue is a cool choice, but the Atomic Breath itself is a bit underwhelming, it still lacks substance.

- Godzilla retains a lot of the mobility from Raids Again, but the suit seems to be different. A different (less threatening) face/head at the least. The tail is also incredibly mobile now.

- The King Kong suit is hilarious because it sucks. Gorilla costumes have been being made for generations and somehow the best Gorilla suit that existed for this movie made Kong look awful. The face looks like it's made of wood.

- Both Kaiju do a lot of taunting and less fighting than I would like. It's like they have to gesture before they attack each other and it's distracting.

- King Kong is apparently empowered by electricity (the opposite of Godzilla) and in the final sequence gains electric hands and it's hilarious.

This movie actually brings up a question for me which I've pondered before: Gojira is considered the first kaiju movie but King Kong probably belongs on the list too, so should I have started there? Gojira is considered the first "kaiju" movie, but did kaiju movies begin to exist when there was a name for them or can we retroactively place movies into the kaiju category? I'm unsure. While this blog is largely focused on Godzilla movies (as the most famous kaiju and an excellent excuse to watch them all), it's also about the history of kaiju flicks. Either way, this is Kong's first crossing into the Godzilla series so let's talk about it on it's own terms before making any determinations on the future of this project.

One quick note on the music: the opening song of the movie reminds me of the classic One Winged Angel. Which is to say it's fucking awesome.

King Kong vs. Godzilla is the first movie we've seen so far which is explicitly funny. It actually seems to have very little going on for it besides being a spectacle with a humorous underlining. The jokes don't really land for me, but this is not uncommon when it comes to Japanese style humor: it often isn't for me. There is one joke of note that I enjoyed when the explorers were trying to get in good with the natives of Faro Island: giving a child a cigarette to get in good with him before his mom snatches it away and keeps it for herself.

When Godzilla awakens in this movie he is immediately attacked. Taking place in the same timeline as all of the other movies we've seen so far, the Japanese military is becoming more proactive than they initially were with giant monsters. Plans are made to kill Godzilla in a damn gas chamber, and when that fails they go for deterrence using 1 millions volts of electricity. The downside of this plan, which initially works, is that Kong grows stronger as he is shocked, which only makes the fighting more dangerous for everyone involved and nearby. There could be a message in here about the consequences of being too focused on a singular problem and creating an equal one instead, but it's not a strong theme of this script. The electrical powers of King Kong eventually grow to the point where a thunderstorm near the end of the movie gives him electric fists which he uses to finally equalize the fight between him and G.

Quite honestly, this movie has very little going on besides good old fashioned giant monsters fighting. Kong shoves a tree down Godzilla's throat at one point and Godzilla does a jump kick. This is more professional wrestling than allegory of the horrors of war or whatever, and sometimes isn't that just what you need? There are, however, a few things to note in conclusion. When the the monsters fall into the water King Kong is the only one seen swimming away, heavily implying he was the victor after losing two previous battle (before having electric hands). This makes it, to my knowledge so far, the only time Godzilla has truly lost a battle in any movie, but especially one with his name in it. Obviously many of the movies revolve around him losing initial skirmishes but rallying and taking down his foe, but this works almost exactly the opposite: Godzilla soundly defeats King Kong on two separate occasions before Kong is aided by a lightning strike. Worse still, Godzilla seems to lose this battle after being taken underwater. While not really expanded upon until later, Godzilla should have an advantage in the water. He's amphibious and takes refuge in the ocean, so taking a fight with Godzilla underwater usually means you get your ass kicked. But this is an early movie in the series so the rules haven't been established quite yet.

Ultimately, King Kong vs. Godzilla is dumb as hell and I like it a lot because it knows what it is and embraces it fully. While I might prefer my kaiju movies with a little more heart, sometimes you just want to see big leezard fite big monkee and the final third of this one gives you exactly that.

Next: Mothra vs. Godzilla!