1954 Japanese monster movieRating: 12/20
Plot: Those damn nuclear weapons! All that messing around with radioactivity has awakened a rubbery, dinosauric beast from 2,000 fathoms, and now it's rampaging through Tokyo and messing everything up. Can anybody stop Godzilla? The one guy? The other guy with the oxygen-destroying invention? The girl? The other guys?
It's really unfortunate that (spoiler alert!) they kill Godzilla at the end of this because they probably could have made a bunch a sequels and a buttload of money. A Godzilla-buttload of money! This movie is probably more important historically than it is entertaining. It's not a terrible monster movie, and the special effects (puppets, guy-in-suit-stomping-on-miniatures) aren't bad at all for the mid-50's, definitely preferable to the more contemporary stuff that might look more realistic but isn't much fun at all. The Japanese version (the American one has Raymond Burr stuffed in it and loses over ten minutes) also has an anti-war message which straddles that line between movies-whose-messages-take-it-beyond-just-mindless-entertainment and sci-fi cliched junk. There's far too much talking in this, especially since not much at all is actually said, and it (at least the dvd I watched) is really grainy and makes the action difficult to see. I would like to see some of the goofier follow-ups. Anybody know any good ones?
You're baiting me again. If you are in the mood for Japanese monsters, there are five movies that may should not be missed.
ReplyDelete1.'Monster Zero':(with Godzilla, Rodan, King Ghidrah, and Nick Adams! in a role that some say may have driven him to his suicide).
2.'Ghidrah, the Three Headed Monster': It takes Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra the caterpillar to bring down this lightning-spewing bad boy.
3.'Rodan': often overlooked. This would almost qualify as a decent movie by normal people. Well, until giant monsters appear onscreen.
4.'Godzilla vs Destroyer': in the 90's, in answer to my prayers, new Godzilla movies with serious special effects budgets started to appear. Most of them are simply awesome but I chose this one because Godzilla is beginning to literally melt and he really shows off his acting chops. He even has a death scene Brando would admire.
5.'Destroy All Monsters': this one has more monsters than you can shake a fake tank at. As a bonus, the monsters destroy cities all over the world instead of just Japanese cities. Sadly, Texas cities are spared.
Feel free to ask if more recommendations are needed. The original 'Godzilla' is very good, although I prefer the Raymond Burr version with even more talking, but these other films achieve a 'Godfather' level of greatness.
I did recall that you had a couple Godzilla movies in your top 100. I think I probably watched a couple when I was a kid and I believe I saw one on a 'Mystery Science 3000' episode, but other than that, nada. I'll check out a couple of these, but I know 'Monster Zero' is one that I can't easily find.
ReplyDeleteA 'Godfather' level of greatness? That made me chuckle...
Was this an actual promotional poster? If it was, then the artist should have been forced to commit hari-kari.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what that poster is. I had trouble finding a good picture to steal for this one and fell in love with the one I used.
ReplyDelete