Tuesday, January 28, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #19 - Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)


Quickly moving on after Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah proved to be a box office hit, production ramped up for Godzilla's next battle - his 19th film - this time against another popular adversary: Mothra. Toho didn't want to try introducing new monsters to the series without having some old favorites to headline the cast. So, with Mothra firmly set as the film's co-star, Toho decided to add in a kaiju that had been on the drawing board for a couple years - Battra, the evil version of Mothra. It's described as "black Mothra" in the film, though its appearance is certainly more grotesque than that of Mothra. In addition to bringing back both the larva and fully-formed versions of Mothra (which hadn't been seen 1966's Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster), the film also includes the mini twin princesses, known as the Cosmos here. With all of the essential elements in place, Toho delivered one of the series' most successful films ever, becoming the highest-grossing entry (unadjusted for inflation) and coming in second at the Japanese box office to Jurassic Park.

This is the first film of the series that I have no memories of whatsoever. Although I hadn't seen the previous entry, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, until many years after its release (it didn't get a U.S. VHS release until 1998), the books and pictures I saw of that production made me feel like I knew it. This film was the first one to have no childhood link, no memories of a building excitement to finally see the film proper. But it's easy to understand why this was such a hugely successful film for the series. The story itself is admittedly one of the least-engaging of the series, coming across like a half-cocked comedy with flourishes of an Indiana Jones picture. It's really the battles that make this film, with all three kaiju featured prominently, with numerous battles taking place throughout, culminating in a spectacular showdown at a giant Ferris wheel.

The opening of the film is ripped straight from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), with an archaeological excavator, Takuya, dashing through an ancient temple after stealing a prized artifact. He's arrested, but offered the chance to be set free if he goes with a group to investigate an island where ruins have been found. He reluctantly agrees. When the group arrives, they find a massive egg and a hidden cave, where they come upon the Cosmos, two diminutive girls who are the protectors of Earth. They are informed that the egg belongs to Mothra, an ancient deity that fought against Battra, the "black" version of Mothra, when mankind tried to control Earth too much. A recent meteor strike has reawakened Godzilla, and the Cosmos fear it has also stirred Battra from its slumber. The egg is taken from the island via a massive platform towed in the ocean, but en route to Japan the ship is intercepted by both Godzilla and Battra. A battle ensues once the Mothra larva hatches, with both Godzilla and Battra getting in some big hits before Mothra retreats when the two titans decide to take on each other. At the ocean's floor, a large fissure opens up and swallows Godzilla and Battra in mid-battle.

Once back on the mainland, the Cosmos are kidnapped by corrupt members of the Diet of Japan. Mothra enters the city to rescue them, but instead finds a waiting army that launches a full-scale assault. Wounded, but not dying, Mothra makes her way to the Diet building and uses her webbing to form a cocoon. While Mothra metamorphoses, Godzilla reemerges from Mt. Fuji, while Battra returns from the sea, now in a final winged form. Mothra hatches in time to battle Battra, a battle she is losing before Godzilla shows up to get it back on with Battra. Unfortunately for Battra, it quickly loses the fight against Big G, but before a death blow can be dealt Mothra gets back into the melee and uses her "special powers" (in quotes because who the hell knows exactly what it is she's doing) to temporarily disable Godzilla. While he's down, she confers with Battra and forges an alliance, both of them seeing Godzilla as the bigger threat. The final battle sees the newly-formed tag team taking on Godzilla at the amusement part grounds, eventually knocking him down and carrying him off before Godzilla bites Battra and blasts it with his atomic breath, mortally wounding it. Mothra drops them both into the sea and heads off into space to stop some meteor that Battra was supposed to handle, but, you know, now it's dead and all...The end.

I found this to be the first entry in the series where I really felt no investment in the storyline. The faux Indiana Jones opening was bad enough, but there are so many moments of bad dialogue and forced humor peppered throughout that it's really hard to find much to like on the human side of things. It comes down to greedy businessmen and corrupt politicians, something that, coincidentally enough, the first Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964) deal with. But that picture had the benefit of '60s charm and sensibility, whereas this has nothing all that enticing.

This was the third time that Megumi Odaka returned as Miki Saegusa, the chick with ESP who seems to have the hots for Godzilla. Seriously, check out how she reacts to him during her run on the series. When she first appeared in Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), there was something for her to do: trying to get inside Godzilla's mind. When that proved far too difficult (he made her pass out from his will), she came back in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) in a diminished role, essentially serving as mental liaison to Godzilla. She knows when he's arriving before anyone else. Here, she mainly helps out in finding the Cosmos and making some minor predictions about Godzilla's movements. I was never terribly fond of her character, seeing little value in someone mentally communicating with Godzilla, but over the course of her character's arc she did kinda grow on me. The series continued to keep familiar faces around during the Heisei era, too, but Miki is the only character to be featured in more than two Godzilla movies. Saegusa has said she'd love to return to the series decades later, as Akira Takarada has, and I say I'd welcome seeing her pop up in a new Toho production twenty years from now. Assuming they're still around and making Godzilla movies then...

Where this picture largely succeeds is in the monster battles. Some films in this series shy away from showing Godzilla until nearly an hour has passed, while others show him early and often. This movie employs more of the latter's formula, with Godzilla glimpsed early on when the huge meteor hits Earth. Fro that point onward, we get a number of battles between all of the principal monsters. I really loved Godzilla's underwater battler with Battra. Cinematographer Masahiro Kishimoto got some amazing wide angle shots that show off the beautiful environment created for these two to do battle. And his work during the climactic battle at the amusement park is, again, replete with outstanding camera work. Once the three-way melee starts going, it rarely lets up for anything else to be shown. And Battra is a formidable opponent for both Mothra and Godzilla, too. The choreography and impressive suit actor work more than make up for any lackluster moments with the human cast.

Godzilla got a minor facelift once again. This new suit ,the BatoGoji, featured changes like golden-hued eyes, pronounced ribbing on the neck, a slightly smaller head, and a minor rearrangement of the dorsal plates. The look is very much in line with Koichi Kawakita's overall design for the Godzilla of the '90s, and I like that he went back and made small, but noticeable, changes for each subsequent film. Honestly, it wouldn't feel like a Godzilla movie if something wasn't changed a little between each entry.

Akira Ifukube returned once again to provide the film's score. I wasn't terribly impressed with his work here, as it features a re-working of some classic themes alongside new compositions that, frankly, aren't nearly as memorable. It's a shame because I really dug what he did for the Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah score. It's not bad by any means. Think of it like Ennio Morricone's oeuvre - he's never done an outright bad score (although, admittedly I haven't heard all 200+ he's done), and even his most "lazy" work is exemplary. But because Ifukube set his own bar so high, it's telling if he doesn't quite reach it. I will give him credit for Mothra's themes here, which are these haunting, ethereal interpretations of her classic melody. They're utterly beautiful.

On a more pressing note: this film is another candidate badly in need of a new Blu-ray release. The current DVD, from Sony/Columbia, is a full frame motherfucker with a shitty 2.0 English dub track (good god!). It is deplorable in every sense of the word. I was fortunate enough to find a decent widescreen DVD bootleg, which appears to have been sourced from the Japanese release. With Godzilla's 60th birthday upon us this very year, I'd say it's high time we get every goddamn movie in stunning HD.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #18 - Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)


Just take a look at that poster for a second.

I've always admired that artwork. It's visually stunning on numerous levels. Godzilla, intertwined with his most legendary foe, engaging in a heated battle that appears to be even on both sides.

This was a mythical film for me as a kid. I'd managed to find a copy of Godzilla vs. Biollante for rental when it got a release here in the States, but finding this particular picture was much more difficult. Around the time of this film's release, I was spending a lot of time shopping at this local Japanese market, called Yaohan. It's since been completely renovated and turned into a Mitsuwa Japanese marketplace, but back in the day (early '90s) they had a KILLER toy store inside that sold everything Godzilla. Everything. I've got loads of ultra rare collectibles simply because my parents would always take me there after a dentist appointment (right across the street) and I'd blow every penny of my allowance on anything related to the series. One item I purchased was a small book related to this film. I'm assuming it's part synopsis, part behind the scenes info. I bought it because I was obsessed with Godzilla and this had lots of great color photos. Don't forget, I hadn't seen the "new" King Ghidorah yet, nor had I see Godzilla's latest look, so this was big shit in my mind.

Years later, once I finally saw the film it was about what I was expecting, maybe a little less exciting. It opens in the year 2204, when an underwater crew comes across the corpse of King Ghidorah, missing a head, who an unseen woman mentions had fought Godzilla and lost in the 20th century. Cut back to the present day (1992) and evidence of Godzilla reawakening after his battle with Biollante has been confirmed. Aliens from the future have come back in time to warn Japan that Godzilla will decimate the country, leaving it an uninhabitable nuclear wasteland. Their only hope: go back in time to 1944, when a group of Japanese soldiers on Lagos Island came across a dinosaur that helped save them from invading U.S. forces. That dinosaur, Godzillasaurus, would go on to become Godzilla when nuclear testing in that area mutated him. The aliens go back in time with a group from the present, but they curiously bring along three small creatures, called Dorats, that look an awful lot like mini-Ghidorahs. They arrive at Lagos and teleport a wounded Godzillasaurus back to present day, away from the island, before disembarking.

But the aliens also left the Dorats behind, and when they return to the future it's revealed that the Dorats received the radiation meant for Godzilla, turning them into King Ghidorah. Nothing can stop Godzilla from happening, however, and the aliens soon realize they dropped the Godzillasaurus body in an area where a nuclear sub went down back in the '70s. Godzilla is resurrected, and when another nuclear sub is destroyed and consumed by him, his size grows to larger proportions than ever before. Reborn and enraged, he begins to attack the city, no longer the protector the Japanese army thought he was back on Lagos Island. The aliens have Ghidorah under mind control, sending him to fight Godzilla. The battle is fierce, but Godzilla is able to blast off one of Ghidorah's heads and destroy his wings before dispatching of his corpse in the ocean. Concerned this new Godzilla will surely destroy the country, one of the aliens goes rogue and returns to the future to rebuild Ghidorah's corpse, leading to... Mecha-King Ghidorah. The huge brute has been upgraded, with a new robotic head to replace the missing one, metal wings, and a reinforced chest plate. The hulking behemoth, with Emmy, the rogue alien, controlling from inside, goes to war against Godzilla. The fight is just as rough as before, but even in a newly mechanized form Ghidorah just cannot overcome the power of Godzilla, and eventually the two tumble into the ocean, where it is later revealed that Godzilla survived while Ghidorah is now totally dead.

This film got some flack after its release because of the perceived treatment of Americans by the script. It's true that, as an American, it does appear to be anti-U.S. due to scenes of American soldiers being stomped by Godzillasaurus, as well as the fact that the evil aliens are all Westerners with the exception of Emmy, the one Japanese alien who defects during the film. You've got to see this from the filmmakers point of view, though. This isn't necessarily any different than we would have written it in America, is it? The Japanese would be the villains, or more likely the North Koreans today. I can't think of a reason why director Kazuki Omori would have shown Japanese soldiers being killed by U.S. forces in his - a Japanese director - film. It is a little odd that he chose to make all of the evil aliens American, especially since Toho has traditionally always used their own Japanese actors for such a role. That's the only possible tip-off that the film has some anti-American sentiment.

The original idea for this entry was to have Godzilla fight his most popular adversary ever - King Kong. The problem was that Turner, who owned the rights to Kong, wanted nine million dollars for the rights. Toho balked, and instead planned to have Godzilla fight Mecha-Kong, first introduced in King Kong Escapes (1967). Turner made the claim that the character was still too close to their Kong, so the only option was to bring back another popular enemy, namely King Ghidorah. It's really a shame things couldn't be worked out with Kong because it would have been amazing to see what kind of a new suit Toho would design for him, not to mention seeing the two of them battle using modern suit technology.

Godzilla looks more or less just as he did in Godzilla vs. Biollante, but special effect designer Koichi Kawakita did buff him out a little more by adding more muscle and increasing the size of the chest. Godzilla's head also looks slightly more aggressive and a fraction smaller. Once again, suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma portrayed Godzilla. He'd be wearing suits in the series since Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), where he played the Smog Monster. Since Gojira (1984), he's been the guy under the rubber, a job he would keep until the final entry in the Heisei series, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. 

Mecha-King Ghidorah isn't the movie's only robot. The aliens have their own android, dubbed M-11. And, man, is he ever corny. Robert Scott Field does a great job of giving M-11 virtually no facial expressions or sense of humanity. It's kinda creepy. But when he runs, the way the effect is done basically looks like he's power walking but moving quickly. You just have to see it. It's bad.

Godzilla doesn't make a proper appearance until there's 45 minutes left in the film. Until that time, the most we see is the footage of Godzillasaurus, which is admittedly very cool. I love how Kawakita was able to create a new monster that looked like a highly distilled version of the Big G. And Godzillasaurus is pretty damn admirable, too. Saving the Japanese soldiers and whatnot. He really puts his life on the line, with the eventual reward being that he's turned into a massive mutated nuclear monster who wreaks havoc on the coastline whenever he damn well pleases.

Once Godzilla and King Ghidorah meet, it's virtually a non-stop battle until the end credits. The fights staged here are big and impressive, with lots of heavy duty given to both suit actors. Particularly impressive are the miniatures, which are hardly so mini here. Skyscrapers tower over Godzilla in ways not see before, dwarfing him but still proving just as weak under his assault. When G and Ghidorah get going, the city gets leveled fairly quickly. Godzilla is more brutal than ever, really laying his all into killing Ghidorah. And he does it once again. Seeing one of Ghidorah's heads go flying off after a powerful atomic blast is awesome stuff. I really loved the look of Mecha-King Ghidorah, too, but he proves to be just as weak under the intensity of Godzilla's heat ray. There's not a whole lot that can withstand a head-on blast from him.

This film also marked the return of legendary composer Akira Ifukube to the series. His work hadn't been featured since 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla, sixteen years prior. I'm a big fan of how Ifukube reworks some of his classic G themes, but adds more dread and emotional weight to the mix by using piano and other instruments played at a steady, lumbering pace. His opening theme in particular is haunting and foreboding, suggesting the great battle that is yet to come. Ifukube would stay on to compose the rest of the Heisei series from this point onward, save for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994).

The Heisei (or Versus) series maintained a steady pace following this entry, with a new Godzilla film coming every year until 1995. Next up, Godzilla would once again face off against one of his most popular nemeses, this one arguably the most benevolent of them all - Mothra.     

Sunday, January 19, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #17 - Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)


Godzilla's return in 1984 proved to be mostly popular, with the film selling over three million admissions, making a modest return on the $6 million dollar budget. The sequel, though, would take five years to produce. Toho decided to hold a fan contest again, this time selecting the winning script from Shinichiro Kobayashi, a dentist and part-time sci-fi writer. As usual, however, Toho and director Kazuki Omori heavily reworked the script until they had a version they found satisfying. Original plans had Godzilla fighting a rat/fish hybrid creature, to be called Deutalios, which would have been quickly killed before the eventual final fight with Biollante. This idea was scrapped along with the bulk of Kobayashi's script, the final version only containing some elements of his original work. Even though Toho still did their own meddling with the winning script - something any studio would have done - this entry shook the standard formula up more than expected. This was going to be the first film of the Heisei series to feature Godzilla doing battle, and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka wanted to being some new kaiju into the fold. He wanted to avoid relying on past monsters, preferring to give Godzilla a new set of villains to fight against. Even though that idea didn't last long (see: the very next movie), Biollante was certainly a creative creature concept on a number of levels. In addition to the monster fights, we've got chicks with ESP, nations battling over Godzilla's cells, gene splicing, a sunglasses-wearing mustachioed assassin, and another standout score from a first-time composer.

In the aftermath of Godzilla's rampage in Tokyo, top secret soldiers from the U.S. working for a corporation called Bio-Major pick through the rubble, looking for tissue samples from the creature. They find some, but soon after are killed by a mysterious assassin from the country of Saradia. During this time, Dr. Shiragami is working in the Middle East on genetic research and getting ready to leave back to Japan. A terrorist bombing at his facility kills his daughter and destroys much of his work, leaving him distraught.

The film cuts to five years later and we find that Tokyo has been largely rebuilt. There's even a Godzilla Memorial Lounge located inside a building he literally put his foot through. Shiragami is haunted by the death of his daughter, throwing himself headfirst into his work on the possible physic power of roses. He works alongside Miki Saegusa, a teacher at a center for gifted children with physic abilities, who herself has ESP capabilities. Dr. Shiragami is being monitored by both Bio-Major and the Saradian assassin, with both groups intent on stealing his work on Godzilla's genetics. Shiragami had been working on something called Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria, made from Godzilla's own cells, which is a radiation-consuming bacteria that could prove fatal to Godzilla. During a skirmish at Shiragami's lab, the two groups are attacked by a plant-like creature with tentacled arms. Only one man manages to escape. The next morning, the creature has massively grown in size, standing tall in the nearby bay. It looks like a giant rose, with leaf-like arms and a call like a whale. Shiragami confesses that he combined the DNA of Godzilla with the cells of a rose and the DNA of his dead daughter, Erika.

Bio-Major still wants Shiragami's research, so they effectively hold the nation hostage by threatening to blow up Mt. Mihara, thereby releasing Godzilla, if their demands aren't met. When agents go to meet the assassin, a struggle ensues and eventually the timed bombs go off when the countdown cannot be stopped. Godzilla has been awakened, and he's heading straight for the mainland. Troops attempt to combat him with the newly rebuilt Super X II, but it is only capable of partially slowing Godzilla down. Eventually, he reaches Biollante and a fight commences, leaving Biollante seemingly dead after a blast from Godzilla's atomic breath sends her cells scattering out into the atmosphere. Weakened and needing fuel, Godzilla heads for the nearest power plant to recharge his batteries. The government tries to stop him by miscalculates where he will surface, but Miki Saegusa steps in and tries to use her ESP abilities to convince Godzilla not to exit the bay. She only succeeds momentarily before Godzilla's own will power overwhelms her, causing her to faint.

The only hope now is to use the Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria (ANEB from here on out), so Godzilla is lured into downtown Osaka by the Super X II just before he destroys it. Lt. Gondo and his team of men use RPGs to fire missiles containing the ANEB into his body and mouth. Wouldn't you know it, but the stuff doesn't work. The government surmises it must need to heat Godzilla's body temperature to activate it, but that plan, too, fails when the microwave plates they use against Godzilla do nothing but provide more fodder for him to demolish. Just at that moment, however, Biollante returns to the earth in a much more aggressive form, looking like the perfect marriage between organic plant matter and Godzilla's regenerative cells. The hulking behemoth advances forward on her myriad tentacles, ensnaring Godzilla and causing him great physical damage. The battle sees Biollante using her Venus flytrap-like arms to drag Godzilla in closer so he can be consumed. Just as it looks like Biollante is winning, Godzilla delivers a devastating blow with his fiery breath. The blast reverts Biollante into shiny space cell form, shimmering her way back into the ozone. Godzilla passes out headfirst in the ocean like a sloppy drunk, too wounded to move. The subplot with our hirsute assassin and the government team finally comes to a head with one of the series' coolest human deaths: instant microwave combustion. Then Godzilla wakes up, reminds everyone who's boss by skreeonk-ing like a boss, and the film concludes.

Biollante is one of the most elegant and horrifically beautiful kaiju I think I've ever seen. It's a gorgeous design, massive and overflowing, with hints of Godzilla scattered throughout its design without looking overtly like a Godzilla/plant clone. Just check out her scales, which look like tiny versions of G's signature "maple leaf" dorsal spikes. And her jawline and facial sculpting contain the essence of Godzilla's visage. It's remarkable work, all done by Koichi Kawakita, a first timer to the series. The creature's bulk is impressively huge, making it the largest of any monster seen in the series. She's also immortal, so even though she "dies" in the fight with Godzilla it's shown later she's now a big rose orbiting Earth. Despite that fact, this stands as Biollante's only appearance in the series.

Kawakita also gave audiences a new Godzilla, sporting a sleeker look than his 1984 counterpart and sporting some of the most fluid movements ever seen in a suit before. Kawakita's design cues included a lot of new features, such as a smaller, slightly elongated head, a more robust & muscular body, double rows of teeth with fangs less prominent, larger dorsal fins cast from a heavier material to make them look sturdier, and a head that could move back and forth for the first time ever. As good as fans agree Godzilla looked for his second debut in 1984, this suit was the beginning of an era that would see what is arguably Godzilla's most iconic design ever. I'm saying that in the sense of how the public and many fans perceive the image of Godzilla at large. I'm as much a fan of the Showa suits as anything else, but the notion of Godzilla in my head, the beast that I envision him as, is just like Kawakita designed him. Huge yet sleek, lumbering yet agile, not a hero but not an enemy, all of his trademark features looking just as they should.

Godzilla vs. Biollante also sees a new composer stepping in, with Koichi Sugiyama taking over scoring duties. His work here is much more lively than Koroku's score for Gojira (1984), but I like that once again the series is taking the sound in a different direction. His main theme in particular is quite haunting, with some eerie notes that reminded me of the opening to Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). There are numerous suites that make up the score, being culled from a larger selection of cues that Sugiyama composed for the film. This has the effect of giving each major scene of the film a life of its own. Themes are rarely reprised here, preferring to keep the score moving forward without many recurring motifs. Gotta say, so far this Heisei era is starting off with some killer composers to bring Godzilla to life.

This film was more or less the last Godzilla film I watched as a kid. Finding it on VHS was really difficult. Don't forget, at that time even though a film was released straight to video, as Miramax decided to bypass a theatrical release, it doesn't automatically mean you can buy an affordable copy. Rental? Sure. But to own was upwards of $100, depending on the title. I had a hard time acquiring the Heisei series on tape, either because I wasn't trying hard enough or, more likely, I was becoming a teenager and had "more important' things to do. I'm excited to dig back into the series from this point onward because, frankly, I'm not nearly as familiar with the films. I can practically recite any Showa series film by memory - even the "bad" ones - but the later films were only glimpsed by me a handful of times each.

The next entry would see Tomoyuki Tanaka reneging on his idea to introduce new monsters when he felt this film didn't perform up to standards. It managed to sell two million tickets, barely making a profit. So, he felt fans wanted to see the return of old favorites. Who better to lead the pack than the other King? Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) is a film I have fond memories of despite the fact I didn't see it for a number of years after its release...

GODZILLA-THON #16 - Gojira/The Return Of Godzilla/Godzilla 1985 (1984)


Toho had wanted to make a new Godzilla film for some time. In fact, they didn't really want to stop ni 1975 with Terror of Mechagodzilla, but external factors forced Godzilla into early retirement where he remained for nearly a decade. Cut to the 1980s and Toho was planning a new installment in the series, the first of the Heisei era. Technically, however, this isn't a Heisei film. Emperor Hirohito didn't die until after this film was produced, making the first true Heisei era film Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989). Early plans had Godzilla fighting a shape-shifting creature, likely one of a dozen or more ideas the studio went through before deciding on what's part sequel/part reboot. Titled simply Gojira, it plays out like a sequel to the 1954 original, referencing Godzilla's last rampage and treating his presence like a force of nature. But it can't be a true sequel since the Godzilla in that film died, something that is questioned (with no foundation) here. I like the ambiguity, personally. After Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) continuity was never a strong suit with the series. Plus, this incarnation of the Big G is one of his best designs ever. Godzilla made a full return to his roots, too, reverting back to the destructive, unstoppable beast as he was first envisioned. There are no opponents in this film, unless you count Super X, the government's high-tech, high flying aerial defense vehicle. Changes were a long time coming in the series, and producer Tomoyuki Tanaka - still at the helm 30 years alter - was there to oversee Godzilla's next era as king.

It's tough to discuss this film and not immediately mention the two distinct versions of it that exist. I grew up watching Godzilla 1985 on a loop. I'm not even kidding. I wore that VHS tape down to the limit. This was my favorite entry. I absolutely loved everything about it. Then, years later I learned the Japanese edit of the film was vastly different, and supposedly superior, to the U.S. cut. Once I finally saw it, I had to agree - the Japanese version is a better film. But I grew up on the 'Merica version; it defined a large part of my childhood.

The basic premise is the same in both cuts. A fishing vessel gets caught up in a big storm off a small island coast and one of the crew men, Okumura, sees Godzilla rise up out of the earth just before it cuts to the opening credits. When the vessel is reported missing, Goro, a local sailor, happens upon it and rescues Okumura after doing battle with a mutated sea louse. Okumura learns that what he saw was Godzilla, but even though he alerts the government's top officials they decline to take any action for fear of a public meltdown. But soon they're given no choice when Godzilla rips a Russian nuclear submarine in half, causing an immediate conflict between the U.S. and Russia. Japan's Prime Minister acknowledges that Godzilla has returned, vowing to do whatever they can to stop him short of allowing the use of nuclear weapons. When Godzilla comes ashore to drain power from a nuclear plant, Prof. Hayashida and his team notice that he's drawn by the sound of birds flying overhead. They get the idea to use the frequency to lure Godzilla back to Mt. Mihara and into the active volcano. Before this happens, though, Godzilla appears in the bay before attacking Tokyo. He smashes buildings, tramples trains, and squashes people until the Super X is deployed. It battles Godzilla, managing to knock him unconscious with cadmium missiles before succumbing to his atomic breath. Godzilla eventually awakens and heeds the call coming from Mt. Mihara, where a fiery doom awaits.

Gojira (1984) received a major release in America, with a strong marketing push and many new scenes shot featuring actor Raymond Burr, who starred as reporter Steve Martin in the first American edit of a Godzilla film with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956). Many scenes from the Japanese version were excised to make room for the new footage, but the final U.S. version still ran around 16 minutes shorter. The bulk of the changes came in the form of scenes featuring Martin at home, bumbling officials at the Pentagon, Martin being brought in to consult at the Pentagon, and a final recitation from Martin over the end credits. Oh, and let's not forget lots of obvious Dr. Pepper product placement shots. You'd think it was the only thing left to drink in America.

The Most controversial change made to the film involved the editing of the nuclear tension between Japan, U.S., and Russia. In the Japanese cut, the Russians are just as eager to avoid a nuclear conflict as everyone else. When Godzilla attacks Tokyo Bay, crippling a stealth Russian warship with controls to their space nukes, the wounded captain does everything in his power to try stopping the nuke before it's launched. But in the American cut, the captain, bleeding and weak, stumbles into the control room to launch the nuke! Watching the film now, it's laughable to see how the Russians are made to look like such cartoon villains. We're only missing a shot of one twirling his mustache to make it official.

One minor addition to the U.S. cut that I've always liked was Godzilla's final shrill skreeonk before plummeting into the lava below in Mt. Mihara. It's a chilling cry, one that is conspicuously absent in the Japanese edit. It added an extra bit of sympathy for the big beast, as you realize he was only doing what came naturally to him, and now man's interference with nature has once again caused suffering - this time in the form of his own. We all know Godzilla was just taking a nap down there and not actually dead, since he re-emerges from Mt. Mihara in this film's follow-up. But that final shriek, and the shots of the Prime Minister crying (which still confuses me - Godzilla did destroy your city and stomp your people, you know), had a big impact on me way back when I first saw the film.

Most versions of the U.S. cut contained Marv Newland's short cartoon, Bambi Meets Godzilla. My old bootlegged VHS had it, so I must've watched that short about a thousand times. It ends exactly how you think it would. 

We've got a new film, in a new era, on Godzilla's 30th birthday. You know what that means: new suit! The Big G received a major overhaul for his '80s debut, going right back to his roots. All of the design features seen here were exactly as Godzilla looked in the original film, the only exception being this film didn't have small, prominent ears on the head. Which, frankly, looks much better without them. He has four toes now instead of three, the dorsal plates are larger and parallel rows of smaller plates have been added on either side of the main plates. His eyes look grim, with more white showing and virtually no sympathy to be seen. This was the final film for special effects supervisor Teruyoshi Nakano, who believed he had gone out on a high note, considering his work here to be the best he'd done. Quite honestly, that isn't something I can argue with because the work done here is fantastic.

His prop department also built a 50-foot tall foot, to be used in shots of Godzilla trampling houses and people. Also constructed was a 20-foot tall animatronic Godzilla puppet, which had a wide range of facial movements in addition to having two arms that moved as well. It might not look much better than the old King Kong animatronic on the Universal Studios tram tour, but I've always felt the design cues and sculpting were the best the series had seen up to that point. Godzilla looks pissed, with a might fine set of fangs proudly displayed each time he holds his head back and roars with fervor. The puppet's actions are limited to roaring and exhibiting emotions the suit was never capable of, so any complaints about its inclusion might stem from the fact it can't really attack or do anything too action heavy. But it looks so killer.

The entry almost saw the return of some of the series' veterans, but extenuating circumstances prevented either from happening. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka attempted to sway director Ishiro Honda back to the series, but the word is that he refused based on how poorly he felt Godzilla had been treated in the '70s. This is an odd excuse given Honda's directed the worst film in the Showa series (All Monsters Attack) and the last film of that era (Terror of Mechagodzilla). Personally, I feel that new blood was needed behind the camera if this were to feel like a fresh start. At this point, the person most responsible for Godzilla's enduring success was Tanaka, so as long as he was on board the films were in good hands.

There was also talk of bringing back longtime series veteran Akihiko Hirata, but he sadly passed from lung cancer before production began. He starred in seven films total throughout the series, beginning with Gojira (1954) and ending with Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), having been present for both the first and last film of the Showa era. And he was only 56 when he died. Let this be a lesson kids: don't fucking smoke.

The series had always been known for showcasing a wide range of diverse soundtracks, and the compositions of first timer Reijiro Koroku are among the best any Godzilla film has ever enjoyed. Continuing with the theme of getting Godzilla back to his roots, the themes used here are dark and foreboding, with a degree of melancholy and emotion I don't think I've ever felt from a G film before. Koroku's main theme alone is iconic, promising something grand and ominous to come as the screen crackles with strips of flame peeling away on the screen. The opening credits are mesmerizing and memorable, perfectly setting the tone of what's in store. I find it funny that of my two favorite big monsters - Godzilla and King Kong - both of their respective reboot soundtracks are my favorites in the series. John Barry's work on King Kong (1976) is some of my favorite music of any film ever, and the same goes for Koroku's work here. 

Godzilla finally had his rebirth in the '80s, but this would be only one of two films he made during that decade. The follow-up, Godzilla vs. Biollante, wouldn't be produced for release until 1989, five years later. That's a big gap for a series that used to hit theaters once a year, a benefit Godzilla wouldn't have again until 1991. This next entry would once again rely on a fan contest to choose a winning script, leading to one of the largest, and certainly strangest, foes Godzilla has ever faced. 

Friday, January 17, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #15 - Terror Of Mechagodzilla (1975)


Before bowing out of the '70s and effectively ending his Showa era of films, Godzilla had one last battle to endure. This entry, Terror of Mechagodzilla, would see the return of two of Godzilla's "fathers" - director Ishiro Honda and composer Akira Ifukube. The screenplay was submitted via yet another Toho contest, this time being won by a female contestant named Yukiko Takayama, one of only two women to have written a Godzilla film up to that point (the other being Son of Godzilla). As per usual, her draft was heavily re-written by the studio. This film picks up right after the end of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, giving us one more bout with Godzilla's robotic nemesis, as well as introducing audiences to another kaiju that had a one-and-done appearance, Titanosaurus. Although Toho didn't necessarily want this to be the final Godzilla film of the Showa era, declining revenue and ticket sales, in addition to a nationwide energy crisis, meant that Godzilla would be shelved for nearly a decade. Fans generally agree that he went out on a high note, though, with this film taking on a darker tone than the series had employed in quite some time.

Picking up right after the events of the last film, Terror of Mechagodzilla finds the alien race from the last film - those guys from the Third Planet from the Black Hole - trying to rebuild Mechagodzilla, while also working with the deranged Dr. Mafune (Akihiko Hirata), who has somehow created Titanosaurus, a massive aquatic beast that he wants to unleash upon the world. A fellow marine biologist, named Ichinose, works with Interpol to find the whereabouts of Dr. Mafune. They eventually find his daughter, who turns out to be a cyborg. The aliens hope to use both monsters under their control to wipe out the earth and rebuild anew, but Mafune is erratic and lets Titanosaurus go on a rampage without their consent, and Interpol figures out the beast is sensitive to ultrasonic frequencies. Eventually, Mechagodzilla is repaired and the two titans begin to destroy the city of Yokosuka, but Godzilla arrives in time to do battle with both. The film climaxes in a very traditional sense, with the humans defeating their alien attackers as Godzilla does his best to destroy both enemy monsters to retain his crown as King.

This film marked the final contributions for a couple of the series' most notable people. Director Ishiro Honda came back to give Godzilla his temporary sendoff. This was Honda's eighth feature in the series, and his run was only marred by one truly underwhelming film - All Monsters Attack. He moved away from using some of the most kid-friendly aspects of previous films, maintaining a grim, dark tone throughout this entry. I'd say Terror of Mechagodzilla is every bit as dark as Godzilla vs. Hedorah, only without the social message attached to it. The alien plot line is a little undercooked, since it had just been used in the previous film, but Honda does well in keeping the monster activity peppered throughout the running time so it never lags. There were plans for Honda to come back to the series and direct 1993's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, but he died before production could begin. There is no doubt, however, that his name will forever be inextricably linked to Godzilla.

Akira Ifukube returns to deliver his first new score for the series since 1968's Destroy All Monsters. Although he was credited as composer on Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), everything used on that film was stock. His score for Terror of Mechagodzilla is, frankly, fucking exquisite. It can't be properly appreciated within the context of the film, but on its own this is one of his best efforts ever. The music is very synth-heavy and dark, with many low, rumbling keyboard notes anchoring the score. Some of the standout tracks use instruments that haven't been heard previously in any Godzilla score, such as an organ. Ifukube has this amazing ability to craft new music for the series that is unique in its own right, but still fits in perfectly with his compositions as a whole over the course of the series. Themes are reprised with differing instrumentation, suiting the mood of what the scene calls for. After the more playful and light soundtracks that Masaru Sato had been composing, this was a welcomed change of pace to remind viewers the world of Godzilla is not always so fun. I mean, it is to us, but a return to the doom and gloom days was needed.

The MegaroGoji suit was used here again, for the last time, with more changes being made to his facial appearance. This "new" suit, dubbed MekaGyakushuGoji, had a smaller muzzle, with lowered brows and smaller eyes. Quite honestly, it looks very similar to the look he had for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, only with an expression that conveys equal parts humor and horror. He's still got the bulldog face, but it's softened a bit. There was a second Godzilla suit created for Mechagodzilla in disguise that was used in the previous film, and here it's used for Godzilla's final shot as he wades into the ocean and swims away. It's a clunky looking suit, definitely better suited to Mechagodzilla in hiding than a proper Godzilla, but as I've stated many times before Toho liked using old suits for water shots.

The American version of Terror of Mechagodzilla had a few minor trims (including the one shot of nudity in the entire series, which is funny because the boobs you see belong to a mannequin), hich reduced the running time by around five minutes. It received a theatrical release in March 1978 under the title of Terror of Godzilla. The following year, when it had been sold to cable, the film was titled back to Terror of Mechagodzilla and had an additional six minutes of footage added before the title card as a prologue. This new intro utilized footage from Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and All Monster's Attack (which itself contained footage from other movies), serving as an introduction to the character of Godzilla, as well as the alien races that have attempted to destroy him and our world. While totally unnecessary to the film itself, it's a well-edited piece that offers a great overview of some events that led up to this picture.

And so ends Godzilla's Golden Age. Fans can, and will, debate about which era was the best in series - Showa, Heisei, or Millenium - but for my money, nothing beats the unadulterated joy that comes from watching these early installments. Sure, we get a few clunkers along the way, but there's nothing outright unwatchable. Even All Monsters Attack has some merit, though it isn't much. Even with the one or two "bad" entries aside, that leaves thirteen (!) films of our favorite fire-breathing monster, fighting his way through numerous, varied adventures. Very few, if any, characters in cinema have ever enjoyed such a run. But, Godzilla had more or less run his course since his birth in 1954, and a short break from cinema can do wonders for a character. He'd come back almost a decade later, resembling the feared beast he began as, kicking off the Heisei (or Vs.) series that brought back many of his most memorable allies and villains. It's a film that I watched so much on VHS as a kid the tape practically wore out - Gojira (1984). 


Thursday, January 16, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #14 - Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)


Godzilla was about to celebrate his 20th birthday, and what better way than with a new movie? Director Jun Fukuda returned for his last, and arguably best, entry in the series with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The plot would see the return of familiar conventions to the series, namely, a nefarious alien race trying to destroy Japan. This time around they got smart and decided to build a robotic duplicate of Godzilla, assuming a tireless, mechanized version of the big beast would easily defeat him. Toho allotted this entry a bigger budget than the previous films had to work with, a necessity that I'm glad wasn't ignored because production values had been slipping since the heyday of the early-to-mid '60s. The result of all their efforts is one of the best films the Showa series has to offer. All of the classics elements that made the series so much fun are present here, with multiple monster fights, a superb score from Masaru Sato, an engaging subplot with some truly bizarre aliens, weird songs sung by strange women, and Anguirus! Who basically just shows up to get his ass kicked.

Truth be told, this was one of, if not the, best film for me of all Godzilla's movies. Period. My rankings have wavered a bit in recent years (and they certainly are as I go through the entire series again), but fans seem to all agree that this entry was a highlight of the entire run. I remember spending an entire afternoon sitting on my Aunt May's floor, back in... 1988, I think, and watching my old VHS on a loop. I just couldn't get enough of it. It's a real pleasure to see that even as an adult, I find it holds up very nicely.

In this entry, a woman has a prophetic vision that a giant monster (Ghidorah, inexplicably) will destroy a city. When a strange metal is uncovered, the men who uncovered it also find a warning about the signs that signal a monster is going to arise and destroy the world. The archaeologists take the artifacts they've found and go looking for answers. Meanwhile, Godzilla appears from Mt. Fuji and begins a campaign of terror, smashing Okinawa to pieces. His old buddy Anguirus shows up and starts attacking him, but during the attack a piece of skin is ripped off of Godzilla, revealing a shiny metal beneath... Mechagodzilla! Before he can inflict any more damage, Anguirus is beaten within an inch of his life, then Mechagodzilla brutally rips his jaw apart. Soon after, the real Godzilla shows up to see who crippled his buddy, leading to a confrontation where Mechagodzilla is fully revealed. He and Godzilla have a major battle, which ends when both sides use their beam weapon - atomic breath for Big G, laser beam for Mecha - resulting in a massive explosion that sends a damaged Godzilla into the water and short circuits Mechagodzilla's system.

While both monsters are out of action, Keisuke and Saeko bring a totem of King Caesar they found to a holy temple, hoping to have the beast awakened. Meanwhile, Prof. Miyajima (Akihiko Hirata) and others are captured by the aliens of the Third Planet from the Black Hole at their underground facility, where they try to force the professor to repair their damaged Mechagodzilla. Why space aliens would travel so far without a competent repair man is beyond me. Keisuke and a mysterious man sneak into the facility, freeing their friends, but Prof. Miyajima and two others decide to be recaptured in hopes of stopping the alien invaders. Keisuke and Saeko get the statue to a descendant of the Azumi clan, who has to perform an awesome sung prayer in order to awaken King Caesar. He awakens just as Mechagodzilla comes to attack, resulting in a fight between the two. Not long after, Godzilla - newly recharged thanks to absorbing the power of a lightning strike - arrives to help out his new buddy. The duo successfully smashes Mechagodzilla to pieces, stopping the foretold destruction of the world, before they each make an exit to get some much needed rest.

Godzilla has fought many foes throughout his history, but very few have had as much of an impact as Mechagodzilla. After his appearance here, he would go on to appear in every era of the series as an opponent. It's a damn genius idea, really. Having Godzilla face off against his equal, created by an alien race hellbent on destroying the planet. Mechagodzilla is a formidable enemy, with a vast array of attack options that do some real damage to Big G. His laser "breath" is probably on par with Godzilla's atomic flame, but then he's also got a chest cannon, missile fingers, and he can create a force field by spinning his head really fast. His introduction is one of the best in the series, totally legendary, giving him a suit of faux skin to look like Godzilla, fooling everyone into thinking he was the one responsible for the damage. And then dat reveal... One of my favorite moments in the entire series is when King Caesar and Godzilla are about to tag team Mechagodzilla, so what does he do? He takes an attack position, lines up his front weaponry on Godzilla and then spins his head around 180 degrees to combat Casesar, too. And once the action starts up, it's a frenzy.

The level of brutality was increased for this entry, too. While I'm not a big Gamera guy, word is that Toho felt their films needed to keep up with the blood quotient other daikaiju films had been showing. In addition to Anguirus' aforementioned jaw destruction - which shocked the living shit out of me as a kid - there are also a few scenes of Godzilla sustaining heavy damage. In one, Mechagodzilla unleashes his laser ray at Godzilla's neck, causing a crimson spray to emanate from his neck as if there were a friggin' hose in there. There's also a brief shot when Godzilla, after his first meeting with Mechagodzilla, is knocked into the sea after their beams explode, and blood bubbles up to the surface. The series had seen blood before in Godzilla vs. Gigan, but this was taking things up a notch. Personally, I don't find it necessary. These movies have played fine for years without getting gory, no need to start now. And that's coming from a hardened horror fan.

One of my favorite elements to this story has always been the aliens they used here. A favorite device of the '70s Godzilla films was not to only use aliens, but to have them be some kind of animal being in disguise - cockroaches, silver slugs, and, here, they look like rejects from Planet of the Apes when killed. It's a cool effect, watching their skin dissolve to reveal a purplish, gnarled gorilla-like face beneath. They've also got one of the most awesome underground labs ever, located in a famous cave that people can visit today. It's very much something you'd expect a Bond villain to utilize. I sometimes wonder if the Bond series had much of an influence on this series because some of the parallels are too obvious to ignore.

Godzilla got a minor facelift this time around. The MegaroGoji suit used in the previous film, Godzilla vs. Megalon, was given a new facial appearance, with the body remaining the same. Godzilla's brows were reduced a little, giving him more of a rough, almost bulldog-like appearance. The idea was to make him look less friendly than he had for the previous few films. The movie also is one of three to give Godzilla power through lighting, though this one is the most explicit. In both Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster and Gojira (1984), he's revived by a lightning storm - though in the latter there's a nuclear fallout that surely helped. Here, Godzilla, after being badly wounded fighting Mechagodzilla, retreats to an island (Monster Island?) where he absorbs electricity from a storm overhead, drinking in the electricity and causing his spines to spark furiously. Let's face it, Godzilla's powers have never been all that consistent outside of his atomic breath. I thought this was cool as anything when I was a kid, and that was probably all that mattered to director Jun Fukuda, too.

King Caesar made for a rad tag team partner. Toho took the most risks during this period, introducing many new kaiju to the series and making many famous along the way. Caesar is awesome because here was this huge dog/lion beast that can shoot lasers and he's all legendary and stuff. Some lady has to sing a song just to wake the guy up. But his character was firmly intertwined with the plot to this movie, making his inclusion in future films unnecessary. But, of course, we got him - along with many other faces that hadn't been seen in decades - in the final (as of now) Toho Godzilla film, Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). I remember that being a rough watch the first time I saw it. I'm looking forward to reviewing it for this blog, but I doubt a second viewing will sway my opinion.

Mechagodzilla is just a flat out amazing villain. There's nothing bad I can say about how he's portrayed here, his first of five appearances against Godzilla. His design is iconic, almost as much as Godzilla himself. His attacks are brutal and swift. I love how special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano modeled his movements after Kabuki, giving him a stiff gait to his walk. It looks very robotic. 

Let's talk about how wonderful Masaru Sato's final score for this series truly is, because he created one of my favorites of the whole series. The main theme is slightly playful, with notes ascending and then descending in a simple pattern that'll get stuck in your head. He adds in some intrigue, action, a little suspense... it's a rousing track with many high points. As I mentioned before briefly, a prayer must be sung in order to wake up Caesar. This song has been one of my favorite pieces of music since I was a kid. Maybe it's in the delivery or the melody - I don't really know - but it stands out as such a great piece of music. I'm so glad Toho released all of those Perfect Collection sets so that I could finally own a couple versions of it in proper quality.

The American version of the film featured a few alterations for theatrical release, mostly involving the cutting of bloodletting and other violence. The title was changed to Godzilla vs. The Bionic Minster, but it had to be changed a week later when Universal, who owned the popular The Bionic Woman, threatened a lawsuit. So, the posters were pulled and the title changed to Godzilla vs. The Cosmic Monster. 

Godzilla would have one more showdown before exiting the '70s and ending the Showa era of his pictures. A decline in ticket sales, along with an energy crisis in Japan that affected TV and film productions, would see Godzilla off big screens for almost a decade. But before that, one more battle with his mechanical nemesis...

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #13 - Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)


Godzilla's return to the big screen may have come just one year later, but the production history behind Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) is quite a story. Toho decided to have a fan-submission contest (an idea that would come into play for Godzilla during his Heisei days) entered exclusively by children sometime in mid-to-late 1972. At the time, the plan was for the studio to select a new character design as a winner and then base a film around that character. The chosen entry was a robot, dubbed Red Arone, who looked a lot like Ultraman and similar robotic fighters. Toho made modifications to the design (to what degree is unknown) and rechristened him Jet Jaguar. Their plan was to have him fight Megalon, a villainous beetle who had been drawn up for consideration in Godzilla vs. Gigan, but was ultimately cut when the budget for that film proved unable to support more monsters. In a somewhat ironic twist, studio personnel concluded that Jet Jaguar would never be popular enough to carry his own movie, causing the project to be put on hold. Within a month, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka had the script rewritten to include Godzilla and Gigan, on opposing sides, and soon production was back underway. Funny how things work out.

This entry doesn't feature aliens from outside our planet but, rather, from within. The long lost civilization of Seatopia has been trapped underground for centuries, and man's undersea testing of nuclear weapons has been disturbing their society. Angered, they crack open a fissure in the Earth and release Megalon to inflict damage on the world above. Goro, an inventor with one of the coolest pads you'll see in a '70s flick, has made his most amazing creation - Jet Jaguar, a robot capable of flight, fight, and following directives. When Megalon is unleashed, Jet Jaguar is dispatched to Monster Island where he gives Godzilla the bad news on what's going down. The Big G hops into the ocean (courtesy of old Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster footage) and starts paddling his way to Japan's mainland. But Megalon is doing a lot of damage while we wait, so Jet Jaguar, in some magical way, attains autonomy, sentience, and the ability to increase his size exponentially. Yes, a robot manages to "will himself larger", as his inventor posits during the film. Really, who cares how it's possible. The movie needs him big so now he's big. Boom. Done. Jet actually holds his own against Megalon pretty well, delivering a flurry of powerful attacks that stun the beetle. But then Gigan arrives, and all of a sudden Jet Jaguar is beaten within an inch of his robotic life before Godzilla shows up and stomps a mud hole in two asses. Now we get the battle everyone has been waiting for, with Jet Jaguar and Godzilla tag teaming both Megalon and Gigan, the latter of whom bitches out and retreats to space, leaving his cohort to face this:


This, for the uninitiated, is Godzilla's infamous flying kick. Much like his actual flying abilities, as glimpsed in Godzilla vs. Hedorah, we never see him perform such a maneuver again. But, wow, would you look at that. Fuck the logistics of how this is even possible, we're seeing Godzilla delivering a flying two-footed stomp to Megalon's battered body!

Some of the fight scenes are marred by the occurrence of stock footage. Again, considering Godzilla was an afterthought to this picture, essentially co-starring in what is ostensibly his own movie, it's not unbelievable to think Toho would have used old footage to pad things out. The only problem, which is always the problem, is the suits don't match up.

Speaking of which, we get a new suit! And it was made in a week? Yep. Known as the MegaroGoji, special effects supervisor Teruyoshi Nakano had virtually no time to get his work done, leaving him with a mere seven days to give Godzilla a brand new set of skins since his last outing had the suit literally falling apart during the movie. I think he did an amazing job given the time constraints. The only hiccup reported was the eyes, which they were unable to get working properly during filming. That issue was corrected for a TV appearance Godzilla was set to make that same year. Godzilla was given a set of larger eyes, with a more pronounced brow, and a friendlier face. The suit itself appears to fit actor Shinji Takagi much snugger previous suits worn by actor Haruo Nakajima.

Godzilla vs. Megalon, despite it's notorious reputation for being one of Godzilla's weakest films, was one of the most-watched entries in the United States. Not in Japan, though, where it was one of only two Godzilla films to sell under a million tickets (the other being Terror of Mechagodzilla). In the U.S., however, it had a respectable theatrical release in 1976 thanks to an infamous marketing campaign which saw Godzilla and Megalon fighting atop the World Trade Center, just as King Kong did that same year. The following year, it had a cable premiere on NBC, hosted by John Belushi in a Godzilla suit, in a prime-time slot. The major downside to that presentation: the network cut the film down considerably so that it fit into a one-hour slot. Ouch.

Toho had been pitting Godzilla against an ever-increasing roster of memorable, unique monsters that fans have been admiring for decades. But none up to this point had proven to be quite as difficult as when he looked into the mirror. Up next, the Big G meets his robotic counterpart... 


Tuesday, January 14, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #12 - Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)


After the "disaster" - according to producer Tomoyuki Tanaka - that was Godzilla vs. Hedorah, work was swiftly underway to produce a new Godzilla film that hewed closer to the tried and true formula. Rather than allow someone else new to the series to have creative control, Tanaka brought back director Jun Fukuda, who had already enjoyed moderate success with his two previous Godzilla pictures Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla. This entry, Godzilla vs. Gigan, would be the first of three pictures in a row he did for Toho. Gone were heavy messages and social commentary; this was to be a return to the plot lines that Tanaka felt worked best: alien invasion and mind control, featuring a roster of top monsters. The script went through a number of changes before deciding upon exactly who those monsters would be, with names like Varan and Rodan in the mix at one point. There was also talk of drafting some new kaiju into the fold, giving Godzilla some new adversaries to combat. Eventually, the screenwriters settled on having Godzilla team up with his old buddy, Anguirus, who just had a new suit made for 1968's Destroy All Monsters. On the opposing side, the golden space dragon, King Ghidorah, would be paired up with a new villain, the cybernetic, cosmic, cyclopean, curved-claw chicken from outer space, Gigan.

The aliens this time around are human-sized cockroaches who assume the form of people that have recently died. They operate a massive playground known as World Children's Land, where a massive Godzilla tower has been erected as the centerpiece control tower. Their plan is to use a series of "Action Control Tapes" to manipulate space monsters King Ghidorah and Gigan to destroy the Earth so they can inhabit it because their home world is dying. Gengo, a freelance artist who gets a gig with the company, stumbles upon one of their tapes and plays it, drawing concern from Godzilla and Anguirus on nearby Monster Island. After the two have a conversation - yes, a monster conversation - Anguirus decides to go investigate, drawing the fire of the military upon arrival. So, he takes off back to monster Island to let Godzilla know something is going down and Earth needs their help. Ghidorah and Gigan enter our atmosphere and promptly begin to smash everything in sight just before Godzilla and Anguirus arrive to challenge them. The fight eventually moves back to World Children's Land, where the aliens have concealed a massive laser inside the Godzilla tower. This weapon seriously neutralizes Big G, and just when it looks like he may be down for the count Gengo and his crew of hippie radicals send an elevator full of explosives up the tower, annihilating the controls and every alien inside. With the laser death ray compromised, Godzilla regains his composure, confers with Anguirus, and then proceeds to deliver a crate of whoop ass to both Ghidorah and Gigan, forcing them both to retreat back to the cold vacuum of space.

A chief complain about this film is that it relies too heavily on stock footage, which is absolutely true. This was Teruyoshi Nakano's second film as special effects supervisor after Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), but there was only so much he could do with the limited budget this film was afforded. It's confusing as to why so much stock footage was utilized because they clearly had the required costumes for the shoot. It isn't like Ghidorah was added in using the power of film editing; the suit was on set! There are clips from numerous productions spliced in, including Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Destroy All Monsters, and even non-Godzilla properties like Rodan and War of the Gargantuas. Needless to say, the fight scenes often appear to have been hastily cobbled together. It's bad enough to do this because Godzilla fans will immediately notice the suits aren't matching up between shots, but a couple fights foolishly use daytime footage during a nighttime battle, and no amount of color correction can fix such a glaring, gaping hole. And, again, Toho's actions here only hurt the film. The suits for all four monsters were on set, ready to shoot, so why not just do whatever you can with what you've got? The tag team battles that were shot for this film came off beautifully, featuring some of the best multi-monster mayhem since Destroy All Monsters. This would be the last time the SoshingekiGoji suit was used as the hero costume for a film, having previously appeared in the prior three pictures. The suit was in a state of disrepair, likely why so much footage was reused for this film, and in some scenes you can clearly see pieces of it are coming undone and looking a bit shoddy. Godzilla even appears to be sporting the eye injury he received from Hedorah.

Speaking of the battles, this is the first entry to show Godzilla bleed when attacked. Previous special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya resisted the urge to show open wounds, fearing it would scare many of the young children who had become fond of Godzilla. Nakano clearly didn't share the same sentiment - he had no qualms with temporarily blinding Godzilla in his fight against Hedorah, and here he allows Gigan to draw blood twice. Even Anguirus isn't safe, running headfirst (kind of a stupid move) into Gigan's power-saw stomach. Having seen the film dozens of times as a kid and an adult, I can see where both special effects men were coming from. It was terrifying to see Godzilla bleed when I was a youngster, my mind immediately drawing the conclusion that he was going to be killed since nothing else had made him bleed in the past. Now, older & wiser, I find it simply imbues the film with extra tension that hadn't been employed before. There's a dreadful sense that Godzilla & Anguirus might be defeated by these cosmic scoundrels, though in the back of our minds we all know nothing is taking Godzilla down.

This would be the final time that legendary actor Haruo Nakajima donned the Godzilla suit. He had been toiling away under every iteration of the suit since its inception, masterfully perfecting his craft to add a sense of graceful power to Godzilla's movements. The end of his tenure marked almost 20 years of embodying Japan's most famous monster.

Also making his final appearance: King Ghidorah, who would remain dormant on movie screens until his rebirth nearly 20 years later, in 1991, when he was once again pitted against Godzilla. 

Akira Ifukube "returned" to his scoring duties for this entry. "Returned" is in quotations because the entirety of his work is re-purposed from his efforts on other Toho films, not just pre-existing Godzilla tracks. Only the most eagle-eyed, hardcore fans would be able to tell, though, since Ifukube had a tendency to reprise his most common themes throughout the series, making it nearly impossible to know if a piece of music was new or old. Tanaka did state that he wanted this film to be a return to form for Godzilla, and using his trademark themes was a surefire way to see that happened.

Godzilla didn't continue his upwards ascent after this film as Tanaka had planned, because the next in the series is often considered one of the worst right alongside All Monsters Attack. Released the following year, Godzilla vs. Megalon is another entry that shoehorns Godzilla into a pre-existing story, uses stock footage, and is usually credited with the public's perception of Godzilla as a form of children's entertainment and nothing more. 







Monday, January 13, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #11 - Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)


   

Godzilla entered the '70s with an anomalous entry in the series, one that brought with it a strong eco-conscious message. Now that the "Godzilla Dream Team" was permanently disbanded after the death of special effects supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya, the onus of success was placed largely on the shoulders of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka. The next film set for production was Godzilla vs. Hedorah/Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster (1971), to be written and directed by Yoshimitsu Banno. It was during the production of this film that Tanaka became seriously ill and was hospitalized, leaving the film's direction entirely up to the discretion of Banno, a complete neophyte to the series. His film posited that mankind's rampant pollution and wanton destruction of Mother Nature would come back to haunt us in the form of a huge nuclear shape-shifting blob from space, known as Hedorah. Only Godzilla, Savior of the Earth, would be able to stop it and prevent the annihilation of humanity. Strong messages aren't new to the series, since the previous entry, All Monsters Attack/Godzilla’s Revenge (1969), was about as ham-fisted as you can get with its anti-bullying sentiments. Unlike that film, however, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster is lauded for its tonally unique take on the series… and for uncovering Godzilla’s greatest unknown ability: flight. This picture was not exactly subtle in delivering commentary on what is still a hot topic today. And, really, it's not even a bad film when you consider the entire litany of the series. But when Tomoyuki Tanaka finally saw it after leaving the hospital, he went berserk. Rumor has it that he hated the film so much that he swore Banno would never work for Toho again. And he didn't. Banno, on the other hand, was so excited by his work here that he immediately began writing a sequel that would have taken place in Africa, but those plans were scuttled as soon as Tanaka was back on his feet. Oddly enough, despite having been away from Godzilla for over 30 years Banno was linked to a 3D Godzilla project, tentatively titled Godzilla vs. Deathla - To The Max 3D, that would have been shown exclusively in IMAX theaters. Plans were soon scuttled when Legendary Pictures took interest in snapping up Godzilla’s rights, and through some minor miracle Banno remained on as an executive producer for Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (2014). If you listen closely, you can hear Tomoyuki Tanaka wildly spinning in his grave.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah starts off in a very meta fashion by showing a young boy, Ken (Hiroyuki Kawase), playing with Godzilla toys (I believe they're the Bullmark line) in the backyard, his house situated near the sea because his father, Dr. Yano (Akira Yamauchi), works with marine life. The action cuts over to a collection of sludge and debris floating in the ocean, one which Hedorah rises out of before flying off into the distance. The creature is reported to have attacked boats and factories along the coast, consuming massive amounts of pollution and oil to fuel itself and grow in size. Hedorah flies across the countryside, leaving a wake of choking death in its path. Godzilla shows up during a particularly gorgeous sunset, intent on fighting the monster, but Hedorah proves too resourceful and escapes Godzilla's grasp. Dr. Yano, now crippled after a run-in with Hedorah underwater, learns that he has a method to kill the creature by drying it out using electricity. The military sets up giant electric panels on Mt. Fuji, all they need is for Godzilla to get Hedorah in their path so it can be toasted. But Hedorah is able to take on many different forms, making it difficult for Godzilla to destroy such a slippery foe.

Banno added many unique flourishes to this film to get his message across, including musical interludes and animated sequences. There are a couple of scenes occurring in an underground Japanese night club that are beyond psychedelic, with a tie-dyed woman wildly gesticulating on a table while her tripped-out band jams on stage. And there are exploding color visuals everywhere. It's like something out of an Austin Powers flashback, dripping in '70s expectations. The animated interstitials are used to explain how Hedorah has been evolving, showing the sludgy behemoth sidling up to factories and draining them of their toxic emissions. Again, out of place in a Godzilla film? Totally, but that's all part of what makes this entry such a fun oddity. The vivid colors also provide a stark juxtaposition to the grimy, polluted world Hedorah intends to produce.

Hedorah would be the first, but certainly not the last, adversary to take on different forms throughout the film. At first, it's nothing more than a big tadpole, but once the beast sucks up huge quantities of our toxic trash its size more than doubles to something able to combat Godzilla. The longer it sucks up our waste, the bigger it gets, eventually reaching a stage where it can fly and lift even the massive Godzilla off the ground. From there, Godzilla and Hedorah take the fight to land, and the garbage gargantuan morphs into fighting form for some hand-to-hand combat with the Big G. This is really the first Godzilla film where man and beast work together to defeat a common enemy, with Godzilla using his atomic breath to activate the malfunctioning electric ray the humans created to fry Hedorah. He's downright anthropomorphic holding Hedorah in his grasp, practically signaling for the men below to get this sucker cooked. Having grown up seeing Godzilla in his role as both protector and prime enemy, I think it's kinda cool to see him expressly choosing to win one for the people.

What isn't cool, though, is seeing him fly. Banno thought the film was unremittingly dark, and it certainly is, so when it came time for Godzilla to chase Hedorah near the climax he came up with two options - he runs, or he flies. Keep in mind, Godzilla had never demonstrated any ability to fly whatsoever because how the hell could he? Simple - he tucks his tail between his legs, fires up his atomic breath, and uses that flame as a means of propulsion. Wait, what? If the film's environmental message didn't already have producer Tanaka fuming, his head likely exploded when this infamous scene occurred. Thankfully, Big G Airlines were permanently grounded after this initial excursion.

While there were changes made to Godzilla's personality and abilities for this film, one thing that didn't change much was his suit. The same SoshingekiGoji suit used for the previous two films - Destroy All Monsters (1968) and All Monsters Attack (1969) - was employed for the bulk of filming here, though it's highly likely that another, older suit was used for the water scenes. Godzilla maintained a consistent look for more than a few films during this period, and while this design is usually never singled out as one of the best it encompasses all of the design features that made him iconic. As usual, Haruo Nakajima handled acting duties inside the suit, having perfected his craft to such a degree that Godzilla is able to display a wide range of motion. We only got one more film with the master, Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), before he bowed out of the series for good. There are only minor differences between the Japanese version of the film and AIP's edit for America. Other than the dubbing, the U.S. version added an English language version of the song "Save the Earth", which had been sung in Japanese and featured in Toho's cut. AIP also changed the film's title to Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster. Toho has only made the international cut of the film available on DVD & Blu-ray, under the Godzilla vs. Hedorah title, meaning VHS tapes are the only means to watch the dubbed AIP version. This would be the final Godzilla film that AIP distributed in America, leaving further sequels in the hands of less capable studios.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

GODZILLA-THON #10 - Godzilla's Revenge (1969)


Director Ishiro Honda, fresh off the success of the monster mash-up melee, Destroy All Monsters, returned the next year to helm this entry, All Monster's Attack (known as Godzilla's Revenge in America). Unfortunately, and quite surprisingly, it would be considered the series' nadir by a majority of fans. The film's biggest issue is that it is unquestionably a children's film, aimed squarely at kids, starring a kid. That isn't a death sentence in and of itself, but the loss of special effect supervisor Eiji Tsuburaya left director Ishiro Honda scrambling to get the effects work finished... himself! Since he was no expert in that field, the work done for this film was minimal, resulting in most of the Godzilla footage shown having been recycled from his previous three efforts. There's a positive message within the film that kids should hear - stand up to bullies, don't back down - but once you've past a certain age any appeal this entry may have had in your halcyon days is likely expired.

Ichiro is a young latchkey kid who spends most of his time alone, daydreaming about a better life. His current life is full of emptiness and bullies, but the bullies hurt the most because they terrorize him and make him feel humiliated. Ichiro's best friend is Shinpei, a toy maker and inventor on the outskirts of town who lets him spend time in his shop. When he gets to be alone, Ichiro fantasizes about being on monster Island, where Godzilla's son, Minilla, is the size of a small child and has somehow gained the ability to speak Japanese. And, uh, he can also change his size according to will. Don't ask. Anyway, Minilla has his own bully - a large cat-faced reptile monster named Gabara (also the name of Ichiro's bully). Try as he might to stand up to Gabara, Minilla always gets his little ass whooped. Luckily, he has Godzilla around to teach him the important monster things, like breathing fire. Ichiro is interrupted from his dreams by a couple of thieves who have stolen 50 million yen, holding him hostage until they can form a plan. Ichiro wills himself back to monster Island to get a final word of advice from Minilla, watching him defeat Gabara (with the help of Big Daddy G) and giving him the confidence to stand up to his own bullies. Ichiro breaks free and alerts the police, who arrest the robbers. The next day, we see Ichiro finally stand up to his schoolyard bullies and take them down, earning the respect of his peers now that he resorts to violence, too. Wait, what was the message again?

The film's biggest detriment is the lack of new Godzilla footage. It's even more frustrating because the fight between Godzilla, Minilla, and Gabara is actually pretty good. Haruo Nakajima, still inside the suit since the original film, had become so adept at maneuvering inside of it that the fight choreography looks impressive. The movements look as fluid as ever, giving Godzilla is bit of grace he had been lacking before. The suit used here appears to be from Destroy All Monsters, which makes sense given how little it was needed for this film. That's another major downside of using stock footage from the three previous films: each suit had a different look. It is glaringly obvious when they switch from '66 to '67 to '69 and then back again. Hell, in some scenes the suit literally changes from shot to shot. No level of editing can change mismatched suits.

The storyline with Ichiro isn't all terrible. Following a kid around isn't an ideal plot for any of these films, especially one where it isn't exactly established whether or not Godzilla exists at all in the real world. But Tomonori Yazaki is a precocious little shit, curious about enough to investigate but he's never really annoying in his actions. He seems fairly reasonable, making his troubles with a school bully weightier because we don't like to see him abused. His lack of friends and a family life is what led to his overactive imagination, giving Minilla the chance to imbue him with some confidence. According to one of the adults at the end, Minilla is a god for children, and he gives them strength just as the gods adults pray to do for them. It's certainly a unique perspective to view these characters from. Thankfully they only went this route for one film.

All the footage we see of Ebirah, Kumonga, and Kamacuras has been recycled from their respective films. The only new footage is also populated by a new monster - Gabara. He's ugly. Oddly enough, other than his weird cat face he sort of looks and sounds like Titanosaurus, an antagonist that won't be seen until 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. I can only assume maybe this suit was reused for his design? Either way, I'm grateful Gabara never showed up in another film because he's terrible. Even his special abilities - electrocuting things that he touches - is bizarre. But it does make for a funny scene when he zaps Minilla.

Scoring duties this time around were handled by Kunio Miyauchi. Akira Ifukube would return again later, and to be perfectly honest his talents would have been wasted here. Miyauchi reprises some of Masaru Satoh's themes (or they're literally reusing them here) from previous entries, and whatever work he himself contributed has a brassy sound to it. Not typical for a Godzilla film, but it works well for this installment. It's adventurous, whimsical, even a bit playful. Again, more of the James Bond type of sound that was popular during those days.

The score also gave us "Monster March", an annoying and mildly catchy Godzilla tune as howled by some Japanese youngster.

This would be the final film where Eiji Tsuburaya, one of Godzilla's "fathers" who designed all of the special effects up to this point, would be credited. His involvement here was non-existent, really, with Sadamasa Arikawa handling the set duties since Tsuburaya was too sick to perform. He died the next year, which may be part of the explanation for why Godzilla took that year off from films. Tsuburaya left behind an enduring legacy that will be remembered for generations, gifting us with some of the most memorable monsters to ever grace screens.

Following his most kid-friendly adventure yet, Godzilla would go on to become a savior for all sizes of people when he saved the planet from a flying bob of sludge in the eco-conscious entry Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster

GODZILLA-THON #9 - Destroy All Monsters (1968)


The dream team is back, baby! After the diminishing returns Godzilla had been facing for the past couple of years, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to bring back director Ishiro Honda and composer Akira Ifukube for what was intended to be the Big G's last hurrah. The big question was, though: if we're going to do one last film, who does Godzilla face? Gary Oldman from The Professional knows - EVERYONE! Toho threw down the gauntlet here, bringing back many fan favorites, many of which hadn't ever been in a film with Godzilla before. Not only was this just about the coolest idea Toho had ever come up with outside of creating Godzilla, but the inclusion of monsters created for other properties gave fans even more incredible work to marvel at watching. Think of it as The Avengers (2012) of monster movies. The plot would once again involve mind control as executed by an evil alien race, this time all women (!), but the real meat here, the real reason why everyone is tuning in, is for that glorious monster action. And, brother, believe me when I say this pull out all the stops to deliver one helluva time!

Don't ever ask how, but in the year 1999, mankind has managed to wrangle all of the planet's monsters into one location - Monster Island (called Monsterland here). Godzilla, Minya, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Rodan, Mothra, Kumonga, Manda, Varan, and Baragon. All living on an island that looks like it would be small for any one of them, where we're told food is plentiful and they all get along. Sounds like a bullshit PR piece SeaWorld would've put together. But it's working. At least, it is until communications with the island are lost and the monsters escape to begin attacking world capitals. We soon figure out the Kilaaks are the ones behind it, an alien race composed of all females (and they procreate how?) who wear glittery silver spandex hoodies. The have the monsters under the control of a mind-altering signal, one that is emanating from a location on the moon. Hey, we have a base there now! Capt. Yamabe (Akira Kubo) goes up with a team of his best men to stop the aliens by destroying the signal. It works, but the Kilaaks unleash their most powerful weapon as a last-ditch effort: King Ghidorah. The monsters of the Earth must unite to fight their common enemy, all while humanity fights against the alien invasion.

Alien mind control is used a lot in these films. It's a good way to allow Godzilla, our supposed hero by this point, to cause worldwide destruction without actually looking like the bad guy. His mind was under control, after all. And when he does get his head clear, you can always tell he feels really bad about what he did. This was, however, the first entry to have the aliens use a human appearance as their cloaking device, revealing a more hideous, sci-fi origin when their true selves are exposed. In this case, the Kilaaks are extremely sensitive to cold, so when the temperature drops considerably in their environment they revert back to looking like silver slugs that live in rocks. It's funny later on when the military learns of this, and the commander can only help but grin and say something about how friggin' easy an attack this is going to be now.

We know the returning faces - Godzilla, Minya, Anguirus, Rodan, Mothra, Kumonga - so who are the new guys? Gorosaurus was featured in King Kong Escapes (1967), where he fought Kong. Manda was a chief opponent as an undersea dragon in Atragon (1963). Varan appeared in his own film, produced in 1957. And, finally, Baragon was best known as the opponent to the title star in Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965). Of all these, only Gorosaurus gets an appreciable amount of screen time, teaming up with Godzilla at the climax to help finish off King Ghidorah. Varan gets little more than two shots during the entire film. This was due to the suit being in such a state of disrepair since the filming of that feature over a decade prior. Baragon was being used on the Ultraman TV series (monsters were often redressed for other programs, Godzilla included), so his appearance was extremely limited here. In fact, the script called for Baragon, not Gorosaurus, to destroy Paris. But in typical Toho fashion, even though the monster change had to be made the script change wasn't, leaving Gorosaurus with not only Baragon's ability to burrow underground, but also his roar and in some cases even his name, since the media refers to him in the film as Baragon.

There were to be two more monsters added to the fray - Maguma (from 1962's Gorath) and Ebirah, last seen fighting Godzilla in Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, but budgetary concerns caused both to be scrapped from the production. Also of note, there was a brief scene filmed where Godzilla fights with Manda, which makes no sense in the context of the film since both are under the same mind control. The footage is said to be shown at conventions from time to time, though it has yet to show up on any official release. 

Despite their being an abundance of kaiju, everyone gets a good amount of screen time with the exception of the two previously mentioned monsters. After the introduction at Monster Island, the film does an adept job of cutting back and forth between human/alien drama and monsters causing a melee across the globe. Some of the sets aren't as distinct as others (Godzilla destroys a seaboard that looks nothing like NYC), but for the most part it looks pretty rad to see Gorosaurus demolish the Arch de Triumph, or to see Rodan flattening Moscow. I can vividly recall seeing the extended trailer for this film on my VHS of Grandpa's Sci-Fi Hits, which was hosted by Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis. The promise of an international incident as carried out by all my favorite monsters looked astoundingly epic to my young brain. Even now, all these hardened cinematic years later, I can say it's an ambitious entry that really put a lot into the story.

Interestingly, director Gareth Edwards, who is helming the upcoming 2014 reboot Godzilla, has expressed a desire to make a sequel to his film something akin to this film. I really do applaud his ambition, but I hope they set that universe up further with a second film before throwing too many names into the mix. Plus, I don't see that being a successful idea unless Toho grants the rights to use other monsters. Right now, Legendary can only use Godzilla.

A final film is never a final film when a series is successful. Even though producer Tomoyuki Tanaka declared this would be Godzilla's final feature film, the success it enjoyed meant another movie was in the works, this one coming out just a year later. Only to call it a new film is almost disingenuous considering almost all of the fights are culled from stock footage. And that's not even to mention the undeniably child-centric tone and core message about bullying and standing up and... oh, Christ, is there anything good to be said about Godzilla's Revenge