The Wrath of Godzilla, Part 6: Rest For the Wicked

Witness the transformation, as the world's most destructive monster becomes its most destructive hero -


Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)

A massive typhoon hits the coast of Japan with its mighty flatulence, leaving high flood waters and a giant egg in its wake.  An egg?  Yup.  It's Mothra's.  But before the big bug can rescue her progeny, a group of local fishermen swoop in and claim it.  They team up with a crooked businessman and form "Happy Enterprises".  Their ultimate goal - to build a giant amusement park, with the egg at its epicenter.  Mothra's little helpers, the Shobijin (tiny beauties) arrive, team up with a couple of reporters and a scientist, and try to convince "Happy Enterprises" to return the egg to Infant Island, where it was buried for millions of years until the typhoon washed it out, but our heroes are met with scorn and derision by the ardent capitalists, who wisely decide to begin incubating the egg.  Huh?

Meanwhile, Godzilla pops up from beneath a pile of washed-up debris, clearly another victim of the raging typhoon.  He sways around Nagoya, getting his tail caught in a radio tower and, literally, stumbling into buildings.  Many fans explain away Godzilla's behavior as mere disorientation from getting washed ashore by the storm.  My own personal theory is this - after getting his ass handed to him by the big ape in "King Kong vs Godzilla", he immediately stomped to the nearest bar and initiated a year-long saki bender.  M.A.D.D. = Monsters Against Drunk Destruction.  Godzilla needs an intervention.

Our Heroes (the tiny beauties, the reporters and the scientist) travel to Infant Island to convince the locals to lend them Mothra to stop Godzilla's drunken rampage.  When they first set foot on the shore of the island, there's a creepy looking giant bone-white turtle sitting in the background.  It creeped me out when I was a kid, and it creeps me out even now.  I think it's because of its strange bouncing bobble head.  Anyhow, Our Heroes convince the natives to let Mothra help Japan, even though Mothra is dying.

Back on the mainland, Godzilla heads for the egg, military in tow, and in serious need of some kind of hangover remedy.  Panicking, the crooked businessman shoots the head fisherman and tries to make off all of the money from "Happy Enterprises", but Godzilla barrels through the building and crushes him in a fall of rubble.   The Big G approaches the egg, and just as he's about to strike, Mothra brings the pain!  She pummels him with gale-force winds, drags him around by the tail, batters him with her little claws, and tries to poison him by excreting some sort of toxic powder - but one blast from Godzilla's heat beam is all it takes to kill the goddess of Infant Island.  She falls to earth and dies, but not before sheltering the egg with one of her wings in one final act of protection.

The egg hatches, and twin larvae emerge.  Godzilla, hammered and injured from his fight with momma Mothra, is taken by surprise when the baby bugs encase him in a cocoon of sticky silk.  He falls into the ocean, frees himself from the cocoon and swims off to sea, humbled and humiliated.  But Japan is safe.  As the twin Mothra larvae swim back to Infant Island with the tiny beauties, Our Heroes wave goodbye.  "Sayonara!"

Released in America as "Godzilla vs the Thing" (apparently the distributor didn't think they had the rights to use the name "Mothra"), this is considered by many fans to be the quintessential example of a "perfect" Godzilla movie.  Sure, I'll go with that.  It certainly is the prototype for many of the Godzilla movies that have come after.  By the way, all three movies in Part 6 are made by the Honda/Tsuburya/Ifukube team, the same guys who've made almost all the movies I've talked about so far, and they do a rock solid job of combining two of Japan's most popular monsters into one story.

Also, look for the scene where Godzilla's head is on fire.  While filming some pyrotechnic special effects, Tsuburya accidentally ignited the head of the Godzilla suit, with the actor still inside - and they kept it in the movie!

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965)

Princess Salno, from the made-up Asiatic country of Selgina (where everyone wears giant ruff collars, like William Shakespeare), is on a flight to Japan when she's suddenly overcome by a bright light which urges her to jump out of the plane - she does, just as the plane explodes, courtesy of a bomb delivered by her rivals in the royal court of Selgina.  She survives the fall (explanation: she "fell into the crack between two dimensions" - wha. . ?) and soon she's popping up all over Japan, preaching to the masses and foretelling the end of the Earth, which will come at the hands (or claws) of a powerful being from outer space.  As if on cue, a meteorite lands near Mt. Kurobe.  Scientists soon investigate the fallen rock and discover that, not only is it highly magnetic, but it seems to be growing larger.  Hmmm.

Princess Salno, becoming a media darling and now claiming to be an alien from Venus (after all, she is a woman), also predicts that Godzilla and Rodan will return and cause havoc.  Unbeknownst to her, her rivals in Selgina have sent an assassin and his team to finish her off once and for all, but the cop who was originally supposed to be her bodyguard during her visit to Japan, recognizes her and sets off to find her.  The cop's sister is, funny enough, a reporter, and not just any reporter, but the one who made a star out of the prophetic princess in the first place.  Oh yeah, and the twin beauties from Infant Island have also become pop culture stars in Japan (just like the actresses who play them in real life, the twin sister singing act known as "The Peanuts").  They appear on some kind of make-a-wish variety show, which is hosted by a couple of goofballs.

As predicted, Godzilla and Rodan show up.  Godzilla's arrival is kind of cool - first we see a group of whales swimming off in terror for some unknown reason, then the camera pans over and we see the cause of their distress - Godzilla.  Rodan pops up from beneath the earth at Mt. Aso, where he was buried in lava at the end of "Rodan".  Naturally, the two monsters head straight for each other and begin fighting, taking down whole cities in their wake.  What follow is one of the most amusing fights in Godzilla history.  The two beasts go at it like a couple of kids, throwing rocks, making funny gestures and moves, and just plain being silly.  Many Godzilla fans consider this scene to be the turning point, when the series became more kid-oriented, and that's true.  Godzilla was more popular with the kids at this point, so the shift was inevitable.  But not permanent.

Funniest part - Rodan hits Godzilla in the head with his pecker.

Also as predicted, a new monster named King Ghidorah bursts from the meteorite and begins leveling Japan with its powerful lightning breath.  Ghidorah is the most radical kaiju to date, resembling a three-headed golden Chinese dragon.  It would also become one of the most popular.

According to Princess Salno, Ghidorah destroyed the people of Venus (or Ghidorah's parent, it's not made clear whether or not this is the same Ghidorah, since he appears to have just been born).  The last surviving Venusians fled to planet Earth about 5,000 years ago and intermarried with the population.  Salno is one of their descendants, so this whole "alien possession" thing is apparently not possession, but some kind of genetic memory triggered by the arrival of Ghidorah.  Okay, I'm thinking waaaay to hard about all of this. . .

Funny side note - the Japanese military doesn't even bother to send its forces out to do battle with King Ghidorah.  They're like, "hey, screw it, this one's too powerful".

So Our Heroes (cop, reporter, scientist, Venusian, twin beauties) call Mothra (with something called the "Happiness Song") to come to Japan to try and convince Godzilla and Rodan to fight Ghidorah.  Little larval Mothra arrives (her twin died, according to the beauties) and tries, unsuccessfully, to persuade the other two monsters to fight.  This scene is a highlight of the entire series.  The twin beauties translate "monster-to-English/Japanese" to our heroes as the three monsters sit down and have a debate.  In the American version, there's one point where the beauties scold Godzilla - "Godzilla, watch your language!"  In the Japanese version, Godzilla refuses to help save the humans because, "They are always bullying me." It's an oddly touching moment, coming from a giant radioactive dinosaur. 

Really, though, I think that this is the intervention that I spoke of in the previous review.  Mothra is trying to get Godzilla to channel his anger and negativity into something other than drinking and destruction - namely saving the Earth.  She's also trying to stop Rodan from being an enabler.

Well, she fails to convince the others, so little Mothra heads off to face Ghidorah alone.  Godzilla and Rodan watch as Mothra gets tossed around like a red-headed stepchild, clearly outmatched.  Her selflessness moves the pair so much that they enter the fight, and soon it's the three monsters of Earth versus the planet-killer!  In one of the best fights of Godzilla's career (even though Ghidorah hits him in the crotch and in the butt with his lightning ray - very undignified!), the trio make King Ghidorah cry "uncle!", and he flies off into space.  At the same time, Princess Salno's would-be assassin is killed by falling rocks from a Ghidorah blast, but not before a bullet from his gun glances off of Salno's skull, restoring her human personality.  Godzilla and Rodan, having found their true callings, head off into the sunset while Mothra and the beauties return to Infant Island.  The End.

This is one of my favorite Godzilla movies of all time.  It's also the first one that hooked me when I was a kid.  It's well-paced, endearingly goofy, and full of great monster action.  The three scenes I've mentioned (the Godzilla/Rodan fight, the monster debate, the final battle) are scenes that I still find incredibly fun to watch.  It was a major box office hit at the time, and a direct sequel was filmed and released in the same year.  Ghidorah (who's name was changed to "Ghidrah" in the American release) would also become the most popular villain in all three of the Godzilla series.

Invasion of the Astro Monsters (1965)

Yup, more aliens.

First the Mysterians, than the aliens from Natal, then the SPACE AMOEBA, then Ghidorah, and now - the Xians (Ex-ee-yans).  Earth sure is a popular place.

Scientists discover a new moon orbiting Jupiter and name it Planet X (technically, shouldn't it be "Moon X").  The World Space Agency sends their two best astronauts, Fuji (Japanese) and Glenn (American), off to Planet X to take a look.  After arriving in their craft, Spaceship P-1, they soon discover that King Ghidorah is there, ravaging the surface.  The inhabitants of Planet X, the Xians, bring Fuji and Glenn underground and make them an offer they can't refuse - the Xians want to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to fight Ghidorah (a.k.a. Monster Zero), in exchange for the cure for cancer.

The Xians are very strange.  They wear tight turtleneck space suits, odd little sunglasses, are apparently controlled/coordinated by a massive computer overmind, and their leader (the Commandant) likes to make strange hand gestures when he talks.  And they have very little water, which should have been a big fat warning signal right there.

Well, humanity accepts their proposal and lets the aliens take Godzilla and Rodan (a.k.a. Monster Zero 1 and Monster Zero 2) to Planet X.  The aliens declare this day "Friendship Day".

Oddly enough, Rodan is buried beneath Mt. Aso again and the aliens have to dig him up.  So, is this the second Rodan from the movie "Rodan"?  What happened to the Rodan from "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster"?  Did he die?  And what about Mothra?  Nobody cares about Mothra. . .

The Earth monsters arrive on Planet X and battle Ghidorah, driving him off surprisingly easy.  Then Godzilla does a happy victory dance in the low gravity.  This dance, reviled by some, loved by others, would go down in history as the Big G's silliest moment -

After getting funky, the humans leave G and R stranded on P-X.  There's a moving shot where Godzilla and Rodan watch as the humans leave them behind, and they seem a little heartbroken.  Godzilla begins to feel "the crave" again.

Well, whaddayaknow, the cure for cancer that the aliens give us (in tape form) is actually an ultimatum - surrender and become a colony world of Planet X or be destroyed!  We refuse, so the Xians send Ghidorah, Godzilla and Rodan (all under alien control) to destroy our cities.

Subplots - Astronaut Glenn is dating a Japanese lady who turns out to be an alien agent on Earth, but his manly manliness sways her over to the side of good and she helps him to escape alien clutches, getting herself killed in the process.  Also, astronaut Fuji's sister is dating a nerdy inventor (Tetsuo) who's created a personal self-defense device for consumers called the Lady Guard, which is supposed to emit a high-pitched tone intended to ward off muggers and rapists.  Alien agents on Earth buy the patent, suppress the device, and lock Tetsuo away underground.  Why, you ask?  Because the tone emitted by the Lady Guard disrupts Xian technology and, oh yeah, kills them.

After Glenn frees Tetsuo, they transmit the frequency all across the planet, killing lots and lots if Xians.  The tone also breaks the hold over all of the monsters, so Godzilla and Rodan team up to defeat Ghidorah, sending him packing into space once again.  The officials at the World Space Agency breathe a sigh of relief, then tell Fuji and Glenn that they have to return to Planet X to do another survey.  Ha, ha, everyone laughs, The End.

This movie is okay.  The monster battles (and all action, in general) are incredibly short, and the story is just plain ridiculous, but it has its charms (like "the dance").  Toho attempted to merge the monster rally feeling of "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" with the alien invasion pastiche of "The Mysterians" and "Battle in Outer Space", but "Invasion of the Astro Monsters" (known in America as "Godzilla vs Monster Zero") never quite reached the level of any of those movies.  Somewhat popular American B-movie actor Nick Adams (as Glenn) was hired to provide a bit of international appeal, and provides the movie with a somewhat different flavor.  It's amusing to see some redheaded white guy with a 30's-40's style wiseguy attitude running around in a kaiju flick.  Plus, in the Japanese version, his voice was dubbed.  Oh sweet irony!

This movie also marks Godzilla's brief fall off of the "wagon", stomping cities and crushing armies once again.  But he quickly picked himself up again and battled his demons back into submission.  From here on out (in the Showa series), Godzilla would remain on the path of sobriety, steadfast and true.  Go, Godzilla!

For Part 7, and just in time for Halloween, get ready to experience the Frankenstein monster - Japanese style!