Attack of the Super Monsters

Merging cheap rubber-suit monsters (They talk!) with low-budget, limited animation is a recipe for disaster. And just like the plot of the Producers, somehow it turns into a hilariously entertaining bit of fluff. It's literally four episodes of a terrible TV series strung together and in the end, there is no finality to any of it. But what more do you want from a talking rubber suited monster vs. anime movie? Shakespeare? You might want to imbibe while you watch it. Invite friends over and riff on it yourself. It's kind of awesome!

I'm not here to say this movie is good. When inflicting it on my friends, I have found they often experience physical pain. And while this is not the worst of all Japanese giant monster sojourns (Redman, I'm looking at you), it generally isn't worth it even for a kaiju enthusiast.

BUT...there is something to be told about this movie that people need to know when they go in to see this. When giant monster movies were all the rage in Japan in the mid-60s to mid-70s, dozens of superheroes sprung up to combat this rubbery menace. Some, like Ultraman or Spectreman, had staying power and would later prove to be cultural icons. Others, like Silver Kamen and Fireman, would fade into obscurity.

Enter Tsuburaya Productions. Eiji Tsuburaya's company, the owners of Ultraman and the special effects producers behind Godzilla, decided to continue with the trend that had netted them so much money and also jump on the embiggening anime bandwagon. Hence the new TV series Izenborg. It combined live action giant monsters, miniatures, and fairly primitive anime.

Enter Quality Video. They cut four of these episodes together into one movie. That's why it is "episodic" and "formulaic."

That doesn't explain why Jim hits his sister (which drew laughter), or the line "I'll get you, you ratty rat rat!"

I will give it this much, this film is definitely something different. It's live action guy-in-a-suit monster action with anime humans. It's obvious that whoever produced this film had a limited budget, but how many movies are there in which dinosaurs can not only talk, but work together to kill humans? Not only that, but I thought it was only cartoons where the monsters literally yell "ATTACK! DESTROY! KILL!" as they are attacking the city but, once again, this movie proved me wrong. The concept is hilarious, which in itself makes the movie worth watching, but its hard to follow sometimes and even gets a little typical. Overall its a decent addition to a monster movie collection.

My three kids and their friends loved this film.From the animated portions to the dino puppets.My boys were especially fond of King Tyrannus,surely one of the most camp villians of all time.The picture plays like it might have been meant to be the first of many sequels or an unsold tv pilot.At any rate,park your sensibilities at the door,grab your popcorn and enjoy.Let the farce be with you.

Wow, this was something. The kaiju dinosaur monsters are depicted in 3D clay stop-motion animation. After being imprissoned for (I didn't catch how long, but at least millenia), they awaken, vowing vengeance upon all humans. They turn all of the dogs on earth red, which somehow makes them evil, and the dogs start wreakaing havoc and destruction on humans and their cities.

It's up to four heros, depicted in 2D cell animation, to somehow stop the madness. Unfortunately, two of the heroes are bumbling klutzes. The other two are siblings? Married? I couldn't tell, but they unite in mind, body, and spirit to fight the evil monsters and restore sanity.

The rapid switch between the stop-motion and cell animation was jarring. Overall, the movie was quite bonkers.

Watched via "Rifftrax: Attack of the Super Monsters"