Befehl aus dem Dunkel

Some astronauts(two to be specific...one of which is Nick Adams) leave planet Earth and fly to planet X. Once there, they discover life underground that supposedly lives in fear of King Ghidorah. They ask Earth to send Rodan and Godzilla to their planet to fight Ghidorah. Earth agrees, and the aliens send a tape back with the astronauts after their second voyage that tells Earthlings to submit to the alien will, or King Ghidorah, really their own private monster, will destroy them. This is an interesting film in the Godzilla series that has some pretty good sci-fi elements blended with good ole Godzilla fun. The monsters are what you would expect and the acting is pretty pedestrian as a rule. Adams is an unwelcome addition as his acting ability is somewhat suspect, and he tends to stick out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, the film zips along at a nice pace. My only major criticism is that the monsters, and in particular Godzilla, have too few scenes. Inshiro Hondo directed this one, and it has many of his distinctive touches.

Yes, this is the movie where Godzilla does his little dance of joy, completing his anthropomorphic change from mindless instrument of destruction to sentient hero. The sixth entry into the series also marks a shift from 'horror' to 'science fiction', as "Invasion of Astro-Monster" opens with some nonsensical 'space talk' while a rocketship carrying two astronauts (Glenn and Fuji; Nick Adams and Akira Takarada respectively) travel to a newly discovered moon of Jupitar (christened 'Planet X'), only to find it populated by 'Xians' and besieged by Ghidorah. The Xians offer a cure for cancer in exchange for permission to 'borrow' Rodan and Godzilla, whom they plan to use to eliminate the Ghidorah threat, or so they claim. Suspicious events are occurring on Earth and the astronauts sense that there might be something malignant behind the Xians benign offer. In this film, the now sentient saurian is a full-fledged hero - recruited by the Xians to fight an evil monster and later defending the Earth itself. His original transgressions seems to have been forgiven or forgotten (Fuji, who feels sorry for leaving the Earth monsters on Planet X, comments that Godzilla and Rodan "cause troubles sometimes" - a considerable understatement, considering that, over the years, they have destroyed the cities of Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo, presumably at the costs of thousands of lives and billions of Yen). Notwithstanding Godzilla's infamous victory jig after his initial routing of Ghidorah, the film* is not played for laughs as much as was "King Kong vs. Godzilla" but remains a pretty juvenile outing, with a 'good guys vs. bad guys' plot, simplistic characters, an inconsistent (and at times nonsensical) storyline, a silly script, and lots of monster fights. The decline in the series' budget is apparent as most of the brawls are on the desolate Planet X or in unpopulated parts of Japan rather than in the complex (and expensive) city sets that were common in the earlier films and gave some sense of verisimilitude to the inherently unrealistic suit-mated monsters. There are some good parts - I like the spaceships, the alien 'airlift' of the monsters, the almost surreal scenes on Planet X with Jupitar looming in the sky, and as always, Ghidorah makes for an entertaining foe. Overall, very watchable by fans of the genre but pretty much what most non-fans would expect to see if invited to join in: another goofy Japanese monster movie. *This review refers to the subtitled Japanese version; however, as the film was an American-Japanese coproduction (hence American co-star Nick Adams), there is little difference between the subtitled and English dubbed versions.

Monster Zero,to give this film it's most common name,is another quality Godzilla film coming on the heels of the classic Godzilla Vs Mothra and Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster. The film is a slight notch down from those two,but still a hugely entertaining movie-inventive,exciting and quite spectacular considering it's comparatively low budget.

The film combines the monster battle plots of the previous films with an alien invasion story a la Battle In Outer Space. The idea of aliens controlling monsters to attack Earth would later be done to death in later series entries. The plot here is quite clever and interesting,although the film is a little slow and only really gets going in the final third,which has one of the best destruction scenes of the series {although spot the tiny bit of footage from the films Rodan and Mothra}. Not enough of the monsters is seen in this film,and the two battles are too brief,despite the priceless sight of Godzilla's victory shuffle.

Nevertheless,there is much to enjoy,including Nick Adam's VERY enthusiastic performance and some of his silly but cool dialogue,some very impressive special effects and visuals {one day people will stop saying the effects in these films are poor},and a rather daring alien/human romance that even includes sex, {although you'll have to listen for the reference}. The US version only had minor cuts and music cue alterations,nothing to ruin the film.

Now here's a good entry to the franchise starring everyone's favorite fire-breathing dinosaur. Godzilla, having terrorized humanity in the past and battled his first few enemies, had just earned his title of being a hero having helped save the earth from his nemesis King Ghidorah (with some help from Mothra and Rodan). This left him open to being marketed more towards kids and it was time to keep the King of the Monsters on a role to being Japan's defender.

Plot: A new planet has been discovered near Jupiter and soon humanity encounters its inhabitants, the Xilians. The Xilians promise to give to humanity a secret formula to cure diseases provided that they let the aliens borrow Godzilla and Rodan to rid their planet of the menacing King Ghidorah. However, not all is as it seems. They tricked the earthlings and using magnetic waves send the three monsters on a rampage to help conquer the planet. Can our scientific heroes find a way to free the monsters and stop the alien menace? Can Godzilla and Rodan's combined strength rid the Earth of King Ghidorah? The fate of the world hangs by a thread.

There's a lot to like about this flick. This is the first time an alien race has been featured in a Godzilla movie and for the most part the Xiliens are pretty interesting. You don't know whether to trust them or not. All the monster/action scenes are great to watch with plenty of destruction, despite being unfortunately kept to a minimum screen time. Godzilla, along with the other monsters, is given a more lively personality, which allows him to express emotions more effectively. Surprisingly, the human characters are pretty likable, with Nick Adams delivering an amusing performance, and they are all more involved with the story. there's a good deal of realism to the science of this flick and the movie itself has a fun and somewhat mysterious atmosphere.

Overall, this is a nice edition to the Godzilla series. It has all that you would like in a sci-fi creature feature plus a little more. Definitely worth a watch, especially if you're a Godzilla fan. All hail the King of the Monsters!

This film was the first Godzilla film that I really remember seeing from beginning to end. I was so taken by it that I forgot to go to the bathroom (I was only five at the time). This film helped to cultivate my love for the kaiju eiga genre. Even though many people have put this film down as being one of the weakest in the Godzilla series, it will always hold a special place in my heart.