My Godzilla Marathon

Rodan is a highly revered film that I tend to praise less than most. I think Tsuburaya's work is incredible and his Rodan remains the best design for the monster 63 years later.

But Honda's portion of the movie lacks the dramatic punch and character focus that Godzilla '54 and even The Mysterians had. I like that he tried to focus on PTSD, and Kenji Sahara certainly sells it. But Sahara's absence through much of the film makes me question who the main character is--Instead of studying what he's going through, he's simply missing through much of the run time.

The movie was ambitious, and it's certainly beautiful, but it's a prelude to how Tsuburaya's direction would eventually overshadow Honda's drama.

I also enjoy Rodan and usually put it in my top 10 of Godzilla related films. I hadn't thought about it before, but I agree the human portions could have been better. It still has one of my favorite all time giant monster reveals with Rodan eating the monster that all the characters have been afraid of the whole film.

Sorry guys for the delays but here is my review of Mothra 1961: It’s a pretty good film as well. Only two characters really stick out, and it’s Fukuda and Nelson. Nelson is a villain straight out of Disney and it makes him fun to watch. Fukuda is a fun comedic character too and surprisingly complex in my opinion. While he is the designated comic relief he is serious when he ought to be and even pulls a hero monument by saving a baby from a Flood Mothra created. Mothra herself is very well made, both in her caterpillar form and butterfly form. The production value and quality is even higher than Rodan and it’s amazing to see all the little details put into the models. The music is high quality and the peanut’s songs are top notch. Though it may be a little generic to do so, I’m giving it a 5/5.

King Kong vs Godzilla: It may not have the budget or quality of 1954, its a great film to see just for fun. The two main characters are bumbling idiots and you feel if your watching a Kaiju version of Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure, so you won’t be too bored with their scenes. None of the side characters stand out except one, the tv producer guy. Oh how I love this guy. He is just so over the top, hammy, and goofy you can’t help but love him. Godzilla and Kong both look like derps, Kong especially, but that just adds to the humor. Kong’s close up puppet is just hilarious, and when ever he’s walking it looks like he is making rap signs. His model for the ballon scenes is just straight up bad and the boy even gets drunk in one scene! Overall, it certainly isn’t Shakespeare, but it definitely is fun! 4/5  

Mothra vs Godzilla: Of all the films so far, Mothra vs Godzilla ranks only second for me to Godzilla 1954. The main characters are well written and each have their moments to shine. Their most memorable moment for me is when they try to convince the people of Infant Island to ask Mothra to help, culminating in the speech about how both good and bad people have a right to live and that all humans are brothers/sisters and have a responsibility for one another. The villains are hilariously over the top evil like Nelson, so they are both fun to watch too. I found the fight scene between them funny and disturbing at the same time. It’s sort of funny to me cause you wouldn’t usually expect that from a Godzilla movie. While the models are less prominent in this one, the ones that are shown are spot on. Godzilla’s design in this movie is on par with 1954 with the more menacing and realistic facial features. Elderly Mothra looks good as well. You can really tell that she’s on the brink of death with the whitening and wrinkling fur. A lot of people say that the fight between them is just Mothra flapping her wings, but if I remember right Mothra uses her legs to scratch Godzilla a lot. Another complaint I’ve noticed is that people hate that Godzilla was defeated by two newborn Caterpillars. If it was a purely physical battle Godzilla would have won, but I  saw the fight as a more strategical battle. The caterpillars won by outsmarting Godzilla, not really physically overpowering him. That just my observation though. All the music is highly quality, especially when the Peanuts are on the scene. I give this masterpiece a generic 5/5.

Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster:

Its a good film, but their are definitely downgrades from Mothra vs Godzilla. The characters aren’t very interesting. Most of the characters feel more like plot pieces than actual characters, especially the princess. I only really liked the sister to the main character, even though she is the THIRD female reporter in the Showa Series. The princess, along with being a living exposition scene, is terribly useless, almost always getting herself killed or having to be carried away. Look, I know she’s possessed by an alien from Venus, but Ishiro Honda could of had her at least able to jog instead of walking really slowly be her physical limit. Another major complaint I have is Godzilla and Rodan’s designs and re-characterization. Both have these cutie doe eyes that make them look like they belong in the plushie section of Walmart. I don’t really mind Mothra looking cute that much cause it kinda suits her, though I prefer a more realistic looking one. I can accept cute/chibi Godzilla fan art, but I absolutely refuse to accept Godzilla and Rodan looking cute in the movies. Also their characterization in this is odd to me. If you think I’m disappointed that they started to become more of a good guy in this film, I actually don’t mind that. What bothers me is that they kinda act like pre-schoolers in this one. This is especially noticeable when they laugh their butts off at each other when they get sprayed. I was expecting the fairies during their translation to say that Godzilla says goo goo gaga! Look, I know their monsters and aren’t the sharpest knives in the kitchen, but they could at least act like ADULT monsters. Plus, these guys are supposed to be symbols of nuclear holocaust as well as majestic creatures from a bygone age, so you would think they would be more serious and dignified. This film does have a lot going for it though. Mothra’s design is decent and Ghidorah is a major achievement of Tsuburaya and his crew. It was interesting to see a monster that didn’t attack out of anger or instinct, but out of sheer sadistic pleasure. This must have disturbed audiences at the time since I don’t think their was a monster with that kind of personality before that time. The models are once again quality made and the fight choreography was really good in my opinion. Overall, I have mixed feelings about this film, but I think the good outweighs the bad, so I’ll give it a 4/5.

Need more update.

Sorry about that, I’ve been busy. I’m planning on updating this weekend.

You know what I have time. Here’s my review of Invasion of Astro Monster:

I think it’s alright. I know a lot of people say that the human characters here were interesting but I just didn’t feel it. They did have interesting moments, like when Namikawa (I probably butchered her name) and Glenn argue after he finds out she’s an alien and her subsequent death scene. Other than that scene nothing really wowed me. I will say I loved the Xiliens because of how silly they looked in their costumes. Because I’m not too into the characters the lack of monster action made it hard to sit through (although it wasn’t painful just boring). It doesn't help that a huge portion of the monster action is stock footage. Another complaint is that Godzilla and Rodan are still cursed with that annoying “cute” look. But when their isn’t stock footage the monster action is good. And I wouldn’t call the characters “bad”, just a little undercooked in my opinion. And of course there is the majestic Godzilla victory dance scene. I used to hate it but it’s grown on me. This movie gets a 3/5.

Ebirah Horror of the Deep:

Talk about boring. The characters in Astro Monster were a little boring but they were at least likable. Here there is nothing to like. All of them have only the bare minimum of character traits and feel more like game pieces in a Godzilla version of Dungeons and Dragons than an actual film. Also there were too many of them. Ebirah wasn’t very creative at all, he’s just a giant shrimp. Also, they needed to elaborate more on why the red bamboo were gonna nuke the world or something like that, they gave them no motivation. Also, I know Mothra is old, but how can anyone or anything sleep that long?! It takes her forever to wake her lazy butt up and when she does she’s only in the movie for two minutes! Godzilla dosnt help by looking like a muppet and role playing as King Kong. This yawn fest gets a 2/5.

I don’t have Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs Megalon, or Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla. I was planning on renting them but due to complicated reasons it backfired. That’s why I haven’t been updating because I’ve been busy trying to buy these movies for a not outrageously large prize but I failed. So the next review is Destroy All Monsters.

Destroy All Monsters:

It has the same problem of boring characters and lack of monster action. Most of the monsters are robbed into cameos and the ones that do get more screen time don’t get that much. The main character is a stereotypical action hero who always has this kinda annoying stoic face. Ironically, both the girlfriend and the head of Monsterland had more personality when they became mindless automatons to the Kilaaks. I actually really liked the Kilaak leader. She had this really passive aggressive tone and some of the things she says are so psycho it’s laughable, like when she kills millions of people with the monsters “in order to create a new world, we have to make sacrifices.” I will say Godzilla’s design is a lot better now. It has a fierce and menacing tone, which is ironic since he’s the good guy at this point. Anguirus’s design is a huge step up from raids again. While their isn’t much monster action, the final battle is awesome. Each monster (the ones that actually participated in the fight at least) got a chance to shine and it was actually quite brutal. I almost felt sad for Ghidorah when he got brutally beat down, even though he’s a sadistic genocidal planet destroying monster. While a quite boring film in my opinion, the final fight is league above the rest of the movie and while no humans here are very interesting, none of them are “bad” in my opinion. I give this meh movie 3/5.

I’m not gonna review Godzilla’s Revenge cause you probably already know my opinion on the movie and everything about it has already been said. All you need to know is that a give it a 1/5.

Godzilla vs Hedorah: Ok, I realize this movie has a cult following and to be honest I’m not gonna give this movie any mercy, so if you like this movie IM NOT TRYING TO INSULT YOU. I’d like to begin by pointing  out that I love nature and the environment. Although I’m not an adult, I plan when I’m 18 to support charities, vote for politicians that care, and for the present  lower my carbon footprint as much as possible. Having said all that though, this movie just beats you over the head with it’s environmental message to the point you just don’t wanna hear it anymore. What I’ve learned over the past few months is that I shouldn’t criticize a movie for the message it’s spreading (see my Godzilla The Planet Eaters mind numbing message to see a more immature me), but how it is sent. This just proves my point, because I agree with the film that pollution is bad, yet I can’t stand how unsubtle, over the top, and preachy it is. None of the human characters are interesting, and are in fact quite annoying. The kid is your average Kaiju kid, being obsessed with Godzilla and knowing stuff he shouldn’t know. He has the added curse of always screaming “Papa!” or “Godzilla!” every five seconds. The movie is just full of weird scenes. The scene with the guy having a fishy acid trip at a rave comes to mind. Then there was the psychedelic scene with all the screens playing at once and blaring at you. And of course there is the infamous Godzilla flying scene. Also, why the cartoons. They were pointless and this is supposed to be a LIVE ACTION movie. The Monster scenes go nowhere and are mostly comprised of them either standing or walking. There is almost no music here and the songs that do play are severely overplayed. Also, Godzilla’s new theme make him sounds awful. I’m giving this trash heap a 1/5.

Wow. I don't agree with a lot of these. Both Monster Zero and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster are easily top 10 movies and the characters/adventure scenario are by far some of the most intriguing things about them.

I agree Destroy All Monsters is fairly boring and I know I'm in the minority calling All Monsters Attack an underrated gem, but Godzilla vs. Hedorah trash? I don't know if you're missing the forest for the trees with these movies, but yikes.

Well, though I’m not ashamed of my opinion, I apologize for shocking you. But could you elaborate on what you mean missing the forest for the trees? Did you mean I missed the message of the movie? I think the message is pretty obvious, don’t pollute! The problem wasn’t that I disagreed with the message, I totally agree that pollution is bad! The problem was that it felt like I was having the message shoved down my throat. Even if for some weird reason I was pro-pollution I wouldn’t have judged the film based on its message cause I’ve learned since my ridiculous planet eater rant not to judge a movie on it’s message but on how it presents it. Or do you mean I missed a whole bunch of symbolism in the film? It’s obvious what Hedorah represents, but I guess a lot of the symbolism was in the stranger scenes like the fish acid trip and the multiple screens and the cartoons. Maybe I’m just stupid, but that’s just why I hated those scenes, I couldn’t understand what they represented. I’m not against symbolism, it’s one of the greatest tools in writing, but there has to be a balance between not being too unsubtle about who a character/thing represents, but also making sure your audience can understand what your thing represents. So in short maybe you could elaborate were you disagree with me? Also, I didn’t hate the characters in monster zero, they were likable, I just found them static.

"Both Monster Zero and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster are easily top 10 movies"

That's on your list, not everyone else's! Just because someone doesn't agree with you or likes the same movies you do doesn't mean they're missing the forest for the trees. You and I happen to disagree about a great many movies, and as far as I'm concerned I'm no more lost in the forest than you are. Let the young man have his opinion.

KoldWarKid I actually wasn’t offended I just wanted to specific why he disagreed with me because I like to discuss.

^No prob. GMan and I don't always see eye to eye on these and other movies, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for him nonetheless. He does know his stuff. I will give him that, but he, like anyone else, has opinions about things. It doesn't mean he's right or wrong; it's just how he feels. We all have our favorites of everything, whether it's Godzilla movies, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. They're not always going to align with everyone else. I will never call out anyone for not liking something I like. My apologies. I know you can speak/argue for yourself!

KoldWarKid62,
I can also have the opinion that someone else's sucks. Just about everything stated here is opinion, that's a given. But if I don't agree with one and/or find it in error, I have every right to say so as much as others do.

Titan of Water,
I was referring more to Monster Zero and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster. But since we're on the topic of Godzilla vs. Hedorah, I agree you understood the basic anti-pollution message, but you clearly didn't see the experimental slant the movie had put on it.

Pollution in Japan was a borderline national crisis in the late 1960s and 70s. (In fact it hasn't exactly recovered to this day.) While the film presents this theme as text, rather than subtext, you can say the same for the 1954 film's themes. Nothing is hidden. It's pretty blatant what this is about and for good reason.

The difference is that, unlike Honda, Banno executes his film like a satirical, political documentary: The cartoons being used as chapter breaks - the news items and images forming an amalgam of chaos - people crying out for someone to do something, but no one can. The youth are depicted as morons, incapable of forming solid protests or making any difference. Authorities, police and military are incompetent and bumbling. Even Dr. Yanno's own invention doesn't work without Godzilla. In all of this mayhem the movie is cynical about the future, because no one can really succeed at anything.

This comes down to the post-human idea that humanity is at the mercy of their own mistakes. Those mistakes, both Hedorah and Godzilla, end up clashing regardless of what mankind does. It's a complete 180 of Sekizawa's screenplays from the 1960s. Those movies featured characters usually luring or using monsters to their advantage. Meanwhile, Banno presents a world where monsters, a representation of mankind's errors, will do as they desire regardless of man's attempt to intervene.

The idea that humanity is blindly bumbling in the dark, trying to intervene with gods at war, is further visualized by the movie's constant mutilation of eyes. Dr. Yanno grinds up a tadpole's eye for microscopic investigation, but he also loses his own to Hedorah. Godzilla's eye is burned away, but he rams his fist into Hedorah's eye, which is shut tight afterward.

Also take into account this is the first movie since the original to include consistent fish imagery--Important to a country in fear of losing one of its most lucrative industries at the time. Whereas the original film used the fall of Japan's fishing industry to herald Godzilla's rise, Godzilla vs. Hedorah sees it as borderline extinct. Rundown fishermen are seen unable to catch anything and hallucinations of fish in a dance club become a psychedelic nightmare of what no longer exists--Something that the country's economy once depended on.

Now, I agree the music doesn't fit and the characters, due to the post-human narrative, fall very flat. The half-baked character arcs weight the movie down. But the experimental tone and avant garde direction make this a movie tonally unique to the series and fascinating to pick through. The result of said direction give it many layers of visual nuance that goes beyond a mere, "pollution = bad" theme.