Frankensteins Monster im Kampf gegen Ghidorah

This is the seventh kaijyu (monster) movie written by Toho's screen writer Shinichi Sekizawa, and the first to portray the monsters in a comical light which would become Toho's style for the following 10 years. The story differs somewhat between the Japanese version and the American version. This commentary is about the Japanese version.

Princess Mars Dourina Salno (Eiko Wakabayashi) of Sergina requests Japanese police to give her protection due to political instability of her country. Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned by his boss Okita (Akihiko Hirata) to body guard the princess, but the plane carrying the princess explodes on its way to Japan. Shortly afterward a woman proclaiming to be from Venus appears and prophecies that Rodan and Godzilla will appear in Japan. Thinking that his assignment was over before it got started Shindo goes home, reads about mysterious Venusian woman who's attracting media's attention looks exactly like princess Mars. Convinced that the self proclaimed "Venusian" is princess Mars, he launches his own investigation. His sister Naoko who is a reporter is also on the heel of the Venusian woman. In the mean time a mysterious asteroid falls in the Kurobe area of Japan. Assistant professor Murai (Hiroshi Koizumi) is the team leader that's sent to investigate the asteroid witnesses the asteroid turning into a three headed monster. Naoko finally catches up with the Venusian woman and escorts her to a near by hotel. By this time assassins from Sergina is also on her trail suspecting that the Venusian woman is princess Mars. They converge at the hotel and shooting ensues between the assassins and detective Shindo. Assassins flees and detective Shindo, and Naoko escorts the Venusian to Dr. Tsukamoto's (Takashi Shimura) lab to see if her memories can be revived. In the mean time Rodan and Godzilla is sited and they converge near Mt. Fuji and starts a battle. Vanusian woman tells a story that 5000 years ago Venus was attacked by the monster King Gidora and was turned into a waste land, and that Gidora is now on earth. Mothra is called to Japan to ask Godzilla and Rodan to fight against King Gidora, but the two monsters aren't exactly interested in helping mankind.

The plot of this movie is superbly written with each element supporting the entire flow of the story. Many die hard Godzilla fans might not like the campy flavor of this movie, but so many elements crammed into this movie that runs just over 90 minutes has intricacies and originality never seen in previous Japanese monster movies. This movie by far has the most intricate plot of movies written by Shinichi Sekizawa, but is hidden behind the tong in cheek humor that runs throughout the movie.

In the US released DVD, three men accuses the Venusian woman as "kichigai" (crazy). The broadcast code in Japan has tightened up since this movie was made and this word is no longer allowed to be used in a movie, so the Japanese DVD has this word changed to another dialog, but you will hear it as it was in the US release DVD. Princess Mars' full name Mars, Dourina, Salno is a play on the Japanese phrase "Ma, sudori, nasaruno" (Are you just going to pass me by ?) and is intended to be an injoke.

You'll get much more out of this movie if you catch the details of the movie. It was the first time Gidora was seen on screen. Gidora became a staple of subsequent movies guaranteeing a crowd draw for Toho.

Watch this movie to see if you can catch the details.

I hate to make Godzilla fans mad, but there are very few great Godzilla films. Most are interesting as campy fun, but this one is actually captivating. Even the plot about the missing princess turned Martian is interesting and even though it drags away from the monster fights, it is one that can be easily followed and is well-acted. The effects for Rodan are horrible, unlike the original RODAN movie; Godzilla's suit is the same as always; but Mothra is not the giant moth, it is one of the giant larvae leftover from GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA. That sort of disappointed me, but the twin fairies, monster fights, and excellent music helped make up for it.

Many fans of Japanese monster movies regard the late 50s/early 60s as the Golden Age,and they are generally right.There is a terrific feel to the Toho Studios films made in that period-imaginative,exciting,fun without generally descending into camp,a good stock company of actors,etc.This film,to call it by it's western name Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster,is a direct sequel to Godzilla Vs Mothra,perhaps the apex of the Godzilla series.It is not as completely satisfying as the previous instalment but it is probably even more entertaining.

The build-up is somewhat muddled and lengthy,but the plot is just about intriguing enough to keep one ticking over until,after perhaps too long a wait,the monsters appear and the film really kicks into high gear.The appearance of Godzilla,the pterosaur-like Rodan,and the three headed dragon Ghidorah {surely Godzilla's greatest foe} are all well staged and effective,while Ghidorah's attack on Tokyo remains impressive and was often 're-used' in later films.The Godzilla/Rodan battle is just funny,as is the bit where Mothra tries to communicate with Godzilla and Rodan and get them to fight Ghidorah,a really wacky scene that could only exist in a Japnese monster movie, but the climactic fight,as the three Earth monsters Godzilla,Rodan and Mothra combine their strength against the alien creature is the most rousing climax of a Godzilla film,aided by Akira Ifikube's fantastic theme music.

As usual,the US version was altered and,once again,for the worst,although not as badly as King Kong Vs Godzilla.Still,scenes were cut and shifted about,tightening the pace of the first half and weakening continuity,and some of the music was replaced.Once again,to get a real appreciation of this tremendously enjoyable and exciting movie,you need to seek out the Japanese version.

One of the best Godzilla sequels. A fun monster rally that introduces the title monster, King Ghidorah, a three-headed dragon from space. There's a lot of silliness in this involving a Martian princess and the two singing fairy twins from the last two Mothra movies. They can communicate with the monsters. They play a big part in the film, convincing Godzilla and Rodan to join forces with Mothra and save Earth from Ghidorah. This would mark Godzilla's official turn to hero for future sequels. The special effects are a lot of fun. If you see the American version you'll get lots of amusing dubbing. As with most of these Godzilla movies, there's a lot of time before any monsters show up. I haven't seen one of the sequels yet that couldn't have benefited from losing 10 or 15 minutes of people standing around talking. At least with the American versions the most boring segments have some cheesy entertainment value from the silly dubbed voices. Anyway, it's all harmless fun with nice visuals and ideas. The selling point, of course, is when Godzilla & co. do their thing. The monster battles are awesome. The rock fight between Godzilla and Rodan is especially goofy. The climactic battle has Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra versus King Ghidorah -- what's not to love about that?

Yes it's goofy but damn it's awesome! I keep wondering how the creatures/effects were made back then. Sometimes hard to keep up with the subtitles too, but still nice to enjoy occasionally - I'm not judging. Japanese uniqueness can be quite a wonderful thing!