Starring: Nick Adams, Akira Takarada, Jun Tazaki, Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno Directed By: Ishirô Honda Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Color, Full Screen, Mono, NTSC, Widescreen Label: Simitar Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 06, 1998 Running Time: 93 minutes Theatrical Release Date: July 29, 1970
Amazon.com: In the darkness behind Jupiter there lurks a heretofore undiscovered planet, Planet X, boasting beings of superior intelligence. The Planet X-ers are forced to live underground because of the havoc wreaked on the surface by Ghidra, the three-headed monster. Once discovered by our astronauts, including the ultra-hip Nick Adams (spouting such phrases as "That's right, baby!" with innocent conviction), the Planet X-ers propose that they transport Godzilla and Rodan from Earth to their planet to help rid them of the Ghidra menace. Only, as it turns out, they have a dastardly plan to use the bipedal behemoth and his flighty friend to conquer the Earth, harnessing their destructive force with "magnetic waves." And it almost works, but for the ingenuity... well, you get it. There can be no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than watching monsters battle it out, while Nick Adams speaks in his accustomed English to others speaking dubbed English (really Japanese), like they all know what each other is saying. The DVD gives you a choice of cropped-screen or letterboxed in scrumptious Tohoscope, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Mono, and some more extras. It is also available in a boxed set with four of the better Godzilla flicks by director Inoshiro Honda. --Jim Gay
Possibly the best G-movie ever Firstly, in this movie, Godzilla and Rodan are shown attacking humans a lot towards the end. They don't do anything 'heroic' except fighting with King Ghidorah, but, King Ghidorah is a planet-killing space dragon, so when Godzilla and Rodan fight him, I think its more because they want to stay alive than because of any 'heroic' motives, and, as anyone who's seen a movie from this series (meaning, not the Heisei or Millenium series) will know, if either of them fought King Ghidorah alone they would probably be killed off very quickly.
This is a movie where King Ghidorah is shown as he should be (well, he was debuted in the last movie for the purpose of being the main villain of the series). From movies like this, its clear that King Ghidorah is a considerably considerably greater threat than the later G-villains, such as Mechagodzilla for example.
Although, there is some corny stuff here, keep in mind that in Japan, G-movies are designed so that a very general audience(in Japan, obviously) can relate to them. Because that means there will always be some kids in the audience they throw corny stuff into G-movies at various points throughout the movies.
Rodan is my favorite kaiju, and I would recommend the movie to most people who are fans of Rodan.
Finally, I've heard random sources saying that about 45 minutes of this movie were editing out and similar things. This is not true because the American version of this movie is 92 minutes long and the Japanese version is 94 minutes long.
!!!a classic film! a pernsonl faveroite of mine, i like nick adams in here he did a great job doing this film the special effets were awsome mostly for the time the alien plot was also good the destruction in here was great and ghidrah was seen more than he was in the last film and the screen qulity was also very good [i have the widescreen edition] a very well made film my faveroite of the showa serise the victory dance was also funny!
Come on, folks! Admit it! This movie is horrible ! (But you know what? I like it, too!) No need to go into the plot. Just about every reviewer here has given their take on the fun mess.
The movie is obviously directed toward children. Little kids are more prone to being awed by make-believe monsters and are thrilled by the notion of space flight - and they're more forgiving when the whole of the story does not make sense. All they know (or perhaps care about) is that it's "Good Guys vs. Bad Guys" and the Good Guys always win. Sprinkle a little G-rated butt-kicking by people in rubber suits in the mix, and the tots will love it.
Still, in terms of motion-picture quality, there are plenty of "Good Guy/Bad Guy" children's movies out there that are very well done. I can only surmise that this film's "Dr. Who-like quality of being filmed in some teenager's basement" is the result of having next to no budget to put this movie together.
The usual cast of Japanese contract players have roles, supposedly because they were still under contract when the film was shot! The addition of US actor Nick Adams makes the contract players seem extraordinarily talented. (Adams was also in a movie called "Die, Monster, Die" with Boris Karloff. He was just as wooden and god-awful in that film, too. I read on here that Adams was nominated for an Oscar. All I can say is, if Nicky seemed good enough to get a nod from his peers, then there must have been one heck of a director on that film, with a heavy hand in the editing booth).
Nevertheless, I have to admit that I bought the DVD of this film knowing what I would be getting. It's a cheese-fest, a piece of garbage with no artistic merit; yet, I enjoy watching it. I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic, watching the film and thinking back to a day when life seemed so much simpler and less stressful. The film is fun to watch for that reason alone.
If this movie hasn't hit "cult-classic" status yet, I'd be surprised. It's right up there with "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes."
Beautiful! Campy? Well the dubbed versions usually are, but the original Japanese versions are a bit more serious--a detail worth paying attention to. The dubbing was done in the US by people who clearly didn't understand or respect this kind of Japanese film.
These remastered version are extraordinary. The art direction--even on these later movies when Toho didn't have as much money to spend--is superb. Lots of imagination and real magic--visually this is much more interesting than much of what was being produced elsewhere in the world at this time and I wish we'd start giving Toho, and the Japanese film industry, some credit for this. These are great and highly entertaining films!
Check out the Tokyo Shock releases: "Mysterians" (one of my all time favorites), "Dogora" and more. Also clean and wide-screened. Top notch stuff.
One of the better written Godzilla films. This film is one of my childhood favs. It is one of the few Godzilla films that I actually do not fast forward through the ridiculous human drama. TOHO has rehashed the story of this one many times the latest being "Godzilla: Final Wars".
Tetsui is a great nerd-like character who saves the world. I also like the two astronauts and the aliens with their mod space outfits and quirky hand signs.
Some have mentioned that they are disappointed that Ghidrah is always referred to as Monster Zero. Actually, if you listen closely, the astronauts call it by its actual Japanese kaiju name of King Ghidorah, something that was never done in the English dubs of the older Godzilla films.
The best thing about this film is Nick Adams as the American astronaut, Glen. His presence adds a nice feeling of universal cooperation (as it did in his other turn for Japan kaiju "Frankenstein Conquers The World") and he even looks good in that white and yellow outfit that looks like an Egghead suit from the TV show Batman. His dialogue is great. When the aliens reveal their evil plan to dominate Earth, he hisses "Those double crossing finks!" When the aliens exterminate his robot girlfriend, he yells "You rats! You stinkin' rats, what did you do to her!"
Priceless! He must have had a ball filming this picture.
The special effects are TOP notch in this. Yeah, they use a lot of footage from previous films, and its three guys in rubber suits, but they make up for it with the transport of Godzilla & Rodan to planet X, the showing of the sound waves and how to counter-act them, and the disintegration of the female robot is a great effect.
The famous Godzilla superiority dance after the defeat of King Ghidorah is VERY silly. You either love it or hate it. Personally, I think it looks a little too much like a winning Popeye moment, but as a child, I remember loving that moment. This was the point when the Godzilla movies were changing direction to appeal more to kids.
As an installment in the famous kaiju franchise, this is one of the more memorable films which has a good story line that is not bogged down by a whining child star. It's a keeper! It ranks up their with "Ghidrah, The Three Headed Monster" and is a great double feature with that movie and/or "Destroy All Monsters", the most ambitious of the earlier Godzilla films.
Akira Ifikube's musical score is a bit repetitious but there are some nice themes, including the films opening theme, which doubles as the alien theme for this film.
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