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Thread: A Celebration of Showa Godzilla Cinema

  1. #26
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    FYI - I haven't forgotten about this. Things have been a little chaotic on the home front. Hoping to pick this back up once things settle down some more.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  2. #27
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
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    I might not post because I have nothing useful to add but I've been reading.

  3. #28
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Grouchy (view post)
    I might not post because I have nothing useful to add but I've been reading.
    Same here. Good shit.

  4. #29
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)



    Fortunately for Godzilla fans, King Kong vs. Godzilla took a franchise who's flame was nearly out and poured gasoline on it, and Toho recognized they had a license to print money in Godzilla battling some other famous big monster - all they had to do was to figure out who to put the big lizard up against. They had a few to choose from: Rodan and Mothra had already released to the theatres to pretty significant success in their own rights, so no need to import an adversary from overseas this time. Ultimately, of course, Mothra got the nod because it served as a better good guy foil for Godzilla, who was still very much a villain, and more importantly because, well, Mothra was much more bankable than Rodan.

    So, with the match set for April 20th 1964, just a few weeks before Golden Week, the week around which the entire Japanese calendar revolves (think Christmas, Easter, Halloween and your birthday all rolled into one), General Tomoyuki Tanaka assembled his team: Ishrio Honda behind the camera? Check. Eiji Tsubaraya making shit blow up? Check. Akira Ifukube composing the soundtrack and arguing with Honda about what music plays when? Check.

    Of course, Toho dug into their stable of actors for some familiar faces in front of the camera: Akira Takarada, the main protaganist from the first Godzie film returns as an intrepid reporter trying to get to the bottom of this big-ass egg that has washed ashore south of Tokyo. Hiroshi Koizumi, the main protaganist from the second Godzie film (and the main protaganist from the first Mothra film), returns as the trusted scientist, a role he would reprise in Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster. And naturually, bad-ass Haruo Nakajima returned to don the rubber suit as Godzilla himself, and had a significant amount of imput into the design, resulting in a much more mobile, durable suit, which showed onscreen in the form of a much more animated and expressive Godzilla.



    However, the two real gems in front of the camera are among the lesser-lauded of the Toho Actors Studio. Yuriko Hoshi positively shined as Takarada's plucky, fuck-you-I'll-do-things-my-own-way photographer, which given that this was 1964 and women were supposed to act like June Cleaver, was kind of a big deal. At the same time, she served as the moral compass of team hero, despite her badassery. All told, she's probably my favorite female character in all of daikaiju cinema, in all its eras.



    And finally, there was Toho workhorse Yoshifumi Tajima, pretty much a bit actor in every Toho daikaiju flick that ever was, but in this film he was given a role he could really sink his teeth into in Kumayama, the slimebag realestate developer who sheisters some local fisherman out of a giant mothra egg so he can build an amusement park around it. And boy oh boy, did he really have fun with the role. He really captured the whole smiling out of one side of his mouth, sniveling out of the other kind of villain that, the moment he swaggered on screen, you were counting the minutes to the scene where he would finally buy it. Shit, he even had a hitler stash. I would even go so far as to say he had the most punch-able face in the world until Stephen Miller (not the space cowboy; the other one) came along.

    (Side note: the heros are a scientist and newsies, the villain is a realestate developer. Perhaps if you are a Trump supporter, this film might not be for you.)

    And another interesting side note, was that the popular singing duo of the time, The Peanuts, were recruited as The Cosmos - Mothra's Tiny Little Muses. The casting of them was purely a publicity play - Toho recognized that they needed to lure in younger audiences who were suckling on the cathode ray nipple that was television.

    Thematically, Honda was at it again - he conceded that in order to please the Toho execs by making a movie that would get asses in seats, he had to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible - from the grown-ups who wanted to see shit blow up to the young-uns who wanted some cute and cuddly visuals.

    And of course, auteurs gotta aut, so he wanted to spin in some moral play in there as well, which you, intrepid match cut reader, have already figured out by now - mainly the folly of man's greed, and the theme of futility of human efforts in the face of nature's fury, which is as much a recurring daikaiju theme as there ever was.

    And frankly, he trots that line with agility and precision. The film never feels preachy, never feels exploitative (that comes later in the Showa series), but, well, you get the point all the same. Without spoiling too much, there is comeuppance aplenty in this movie. Not Daimaijin levels of comeuppance (the gold standard) but you will be left satisfied nonetheless.

    And Godzilla. I was trying to figure out a way to describe how Godzilla was portrayed in this film. Was probably thinking too long and too hard. Was probably drinking too long and too hard while I was thinking too long and too hard. But then it dawned on me: Godzilla was Biff from Back to the Future.



    I mean, look at him. Pretty much an asshole - almost lovable, but not quite. Clumsy, kind of a dick, to be honest, completely oblivious to the mess he makes of things. A key scene to illustrate my point is when he's derpy-doing his way through Tokyo, and gets his tail caught in Tokyo Tower (kinda shaped like Eiffel, but painted red). Completely oblivious, clumsy ass Godzilla pulls the tower down, trips, falls on his ass and, pissed off, torches and smashes everything for blocks. Never mind that it's his own clumsiness that got him into his mess, fuck that tower, it's the tower's fault, dammit, not Godzilla. He's Godzilla!

    Needless to say, by the time Mothra and Big-G finally collide, you're really rooting for the little moth worm larvae thing to pop that big lizard right in the mouth, even though it doesn't have any hands, which would, uh... make that sort of thing a little tricky. But it all pays out in the end, don't worry. This is the Showa era, there are still happy endings.

    Anyway. Gvs.M in my eyes represents the beginning of my favorite string of Godzilla films, where Honda, Tsuburaya, Tanaka and Ifukube were all simpatico and firing on all cylinders, where they were walking that line between gleeful self-aware nonsense and, dare I say, artistry. It also is exhibit one to support my theory that if Mothra and Godzilla are in a film together, it's going to be not only worth your while, but the best among its era. This holds true for the Showa, Heisei and Millenium eras. Will it remain for the current Reiwa Era? Remains to be seen.

    Next: Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster
    Last edited by bac0n; 04-02-2020 at 03:11 PM.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  5. #30
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Yey I love that movie, too. It is why Mothra is my favorite (besides Godzilla and Kong, of course) out of the monsters.
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  6. #31
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    I think "auteurs gotta aut" needs to be on MatchCut's official merchandise.

  7. #32
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    I think "auteurs gotta aut" needs to be on MatchCut's official merchandise.
    Very true. Slogan!
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    And everybody wants to be special here
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  8. #33
    Replacing Luck Since 1984 Dukefrukem's Avatar
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    Starting to collect to binge.

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  9. #34
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Niiiice. Son of Godzilla is coming up quick in the queue. (scared)
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  10. #35
    Here till the end MadMan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
    Starting to collect to binge.

    Yey! I believe I have seen all of them.
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  11. #36
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Can we get more of this please, bac0n?

  12. #37
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Sorry, personal events have drawn me away from this. I'll get back to it, promise.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  13. #38
    I'm the problem it's me DFA1979's Avatar
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    I did get the Godzilla box set so I'm working my way through it. I'm on Kong vs Godzilla, yet I have seen that so many times I could play it in my sleep.
    Blog!

    And it's happened once again
    I'll turn to a friend
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    But everybody's gone
    And I've been here for too long
    To face this on my own
    Well, I guess this is growing up

  14. #39
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    Bacon u going? . You can zipline into his goddamn mouth!!

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  15. #40
    I'm the problem it's me DFA1979's Avatar
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    Hurray!
    Blog!

    And it's happened once again
    I'll turn to a friend
    Someone that understands
    And sees through the master plan
    But everybody's gone
    And I've been here for too long
    To face this on my own
    Well, I guess this is growing up

  16. #41
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
    Bacon u going? . You can zipline into his goddamn mouth!!

    Is this place open??

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  17. #42
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Sweet Christmas.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  18. #43
    Since 1929 Morris Schæffer's Avatar
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    The Godzilla museum has opened in Japan, the zipline into oblivion is coming soon.
    [+] closer to next rating / [-] closer to previous rating

    • Dark (S3) ✦✦✦½ [-]
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    • Dark (S2) ✦✦✦✦
    • Moon Knight (S1) ✦✦½ [-]
    • Get Carter (Hodges, 1971) ✦✦✦½ [+]
    • Prey (Trachtenberg, 2022) ✦✦✦ [-]
    • Black Bird (S1) ✦✦✦✦
    • Better Call Saul (S6) ✦✦✦½ [+]
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  19. #44
    Administrator Ezee E's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Morris Schæffer (view post)
    The Godzilla museum has opened in Japan, the zipline into oblivion is coming soon.
    As part of an upcoming immersive experience, visitors will act as scientists at the "Godzilla Interception Operation-National Godzilla Awajishima Research Center," helping placate the enraged beast fueled by nuclear radiation. Participants will monitor Godzilla's moves, having the chance to zipline into his "body directly from Godzilla's oral cavity" to carry out a mission. There is also a shooting game, in which guests fire at the beast with a special gun and dodge attacks from the monster.

    Fans of the fictional character, made famous by Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla, can also try peculiar menu items as part of the "Godzilla Interception Strategy." Consume if you dare a sea-creature-themed hotdog, desserts with eyes and rice dishes with prehistoric paw prints on them. Dishes will be served at the Nijgen Nomori restaurant and at the Morino Terrace.
    Meanwhile, gift shop collectibles for fans include kaiju cups, Godzilla pin badges, gloves, T-shirts, gloves and memo pads.

    It will cost around $10/7.50 for an adult/child ticket to visit the new Godzilla attraction inside the Awaji Island Anime Park, also known as Nijigen no Mori. Visit the park's official web page to buy tickets, and find out more about the attraction here.
    The museum site is still in Japanese, but pretty awesome.

    Barbarian - ***
    Bones and All - ***
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  20. #45
    Consume if you dare a sea-creature-themed hotdog
    Nope.

  21. #46
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Okay, time to pick up this thread again.

    Just finished watching Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster. Just poured myself a bourbon. Time to get typing.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  22. #47
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster (1964)



    In the summer of 1964, Toho Studios found themselves in a bit of a pickle. Their much-hyped Kurosawa (cheers, KF) & Mifune epic Red Beard, which was supposed to be their big blockbuster release for the upcoming holiday movie season, was behind schedule, no way was it gonna be ready in time. And, presumably, "could you speed things up, Akira?" was not exactly the sort of question you would ask of the most celebrated filmmaker of all time.

    So, whattaya gonna do? Ask General Tomoyuki Tanaka & Crew to pull rainbows out of their collective ass again, that's what you're gonna do. Hell, he threw Godzilla Raids Again together in 5 months, He's got 6 months for this one. Walk in the park, right? Never mind that Godzilla Raids Again was sort of a disappointment, we're hot off the heels of Mothra vs. Godzilla and King Kong vs. Godzilla before it, two hugely successful movie releases! Yeah!

    Fortunately for them, most of the usual suspects were available to begin work right away. Ishiro Honda was available to direct, Eiji Tsuburaya was back to pull off his usual wizardry with special effects, and Akira Ifukube was back to score the soundtrack. Even better, Ishiro already had a good idea of where he wanted to go with this film. In a word, he wanted to go BIG. Lets take the tried and true Godzilla fighting another monster formula and go Hunter S Thompson on it, taking it to the ridiculous and logical extreme. We're gonna have Godzilla AND Mothra, just like last time. And we're also gonna throw in RODAN. But wait, there's more! We're gonna have them fight some totally new monster no-one's even seen before!

    And of course, Honda had a good idea as to the kind of monster he wanted. Taking a cue from Japanese Legend, of Yamata no Orochi - a massive 8-headed dragon who's belly spanned valleys, who fed on the daughters of goddesses until the exiled storm god Susanoo slayed him - he dreamed of a massive three headed dragon, too powerful for any one monster to battle alone. And thus, King Ghidorah, Godzilla's most enduring adversary, was born. By my math, Godzilla and King Ghidorah have battled in no less than 7 films to date.


    Susanoo slaying Yamata no Orochi

    So yeah, pretty ambitious, but I can imagine that Eiji Tsubaraya was delighted at such a challenge. And if he wanted a challenge, it was a challenge he got. Logistically, Ghidorah was the most pain in the ass monster to get on film. Whereas Godzilla was just Haruo Nakajima in a suit, KG required an actor in the suit, and in addition as many as 7 others in the rafters, pulling on wires to control the three heads, two wings, and two tails. Jim Henson would be proud.



    But in the end, they managed to pull it off. Gt3HM released on time to massive ticket sales, popular enough to get a follow up film Invasion of Astro-Monster greenlit for the following year, basically a rematch of Gt3HM, but with aliens.

    Stylistically, Gt3HM maintains a lot of the bright colors and gleeful destruction of the two films that preceded it, but there are a few pivots in direction that are worthy of note. First, this movie marks the beginning of the reforming of Godzilla's character from the villain that he was up to Mothra vs. Godzilla, to, well, the anti-hero of sorts that he was by the end of the film. Not quite the lovable defender of Japan that he was towards the end of the Showa era, the Godzilla I was first exposed to, but no-where near the terrifying Godzilla who terrorized Tokyo in the original Gojira released ten years prior.

    Another worthy mention, is that this is where the anthropomorphizing of Godzilla really kicks into high gear. Something that Honda was absolutely against, but unfortunately for him, that was a battle he didn't win. Godzilla and Rodan taking on human mannerisms couldn't be more obvious than when the two were fighting like school children at the base of Mount Fuji until Mothra comes in and scolds them, at which point they.... basically sit down and have a conversation. At one point Godzilla demands an apology from Rodan for them fighting. This becomes a trope for the rest of the Showa Era, peaking in Godzilla vs. Megalon, which sees Godzilla shaking hands and giving a-ok signs.

    In front of the camera, a lot of familiar faces also return. Hiroshi Koizumi reprises his role from Mothra vs. Godzilla, playing Prof Murai, leading a team of researchers to investigate the meteor that would eventually hatch to produce Ghidorah. Yuriko Hoshi, who shined so brightly in Mothra vs. Godzilla, returns as a reporter, albeit sans much of her pluck. Akihiko Hirata (Dr. Serizawa from the original) returns as a police chief, and also making a return, perhaps most excitingly, is none other that Takahashi Shimura, playing a master physician. The casting of the Showa Era Godzilla films is nothing if not predictable.

    One interesting side note: one of the assassins dispatched to kill a protagonist sent to warn us of Ghidorah was played by none other than Susumu Kurobe, who tokusatsu fans will immediately recognize as the original Ultraman.

    So, how does this movie stack up? In a word, with Gt3HM, we are looking at the template of what I find most endearing of Daikaiju Cinema, where Honda & Tsuburaya were 100% sympatico and firing on all cylinders. Granted, you aren't going to come out of this film feeling intellectually challenged or emotionally effected in any way, nor are you going to be dazzled by virtuosic acting performances, or exquisitely framed, meticulously shot set pieces (well maybe if you look hard enough). In short, these aren't the sorts of films would-be auteurs would be studying in film school. What you will be, if you are like me at least, is entertained. The gleeful absurdity of it all, the winking moral play sandwiched between the wanton destruction. Watching these films just... makes me feel like a kid again. And goddamit, adulting is hard.

    All the same, Honda did manage to sneak in his symbolism, and moral play messaging. The iconic framing of Mount Fuji as a backup to the battles, as well as the forum where the quarrelling kaiju work out their differences with the help of a facilitating Mothra. The overarching message that we need to put aside our differences for the greater good, yup that's there too.

    All in all, this is the second of the four Showa Era movies that i believe capture this spirit most effectively, and it's why I come back to this movie again, and again, and again...

    Next: Invasion of Astro-Monster
    Last edited by bac0n; 11-29-2020 at 08:19 PM.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

  23. #48
    collecting tapes Skitch's Avatar
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    Top three of the genre for me. That movie is metal as fuck.

  24. #49
    I'm the problem it's me DFA1979's Avatar
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    That movie rocks. I had fun revisiting that one a few months back.
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    And it's happened once again
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    And sees through the master plan
    But everybody's gone
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    Well, I guess this is growing up

  25. #50
    Director bac0n's Avatar
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    Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)


    Oddly enough, the story of this film actually starts in America, with the now defunct movie studio United Productions of America. Looking for a cheap way to bust into the monster movie racket, UPA enlisted the help of producer Harry Saperstein, who got his start in the film industry running the family movie theatre business before moving to Hollywood and winding up producing children's television shows. His assignment: find some overseas movie studio and acquire US distribution rights to their monster films. His first choice was Hammer Film Productions, makers of the Peter Cushing Dracula and Frankenstein movies. Too bad for him, Hammer already had US distribution, so he went with his second choice, Toho, already mid-production with a Frankenstein film of their own, Frankenstein Conquers the World.

    Now, I don't know what kinda mojo this Henry Saperstein had, but he was actually able to set up a collaboration between UPA and Toho pretty much right on the spot, even getting Toho to insert well-known Hollywood actor Nick Adams into a prominent role in Frankenstein Conquers the World mid-production. My bet is he had Toho execs foaming at the mouth at the thought of how much money they would make when their daikaiju flicks took America by storm. Which of course they would, right?

    Well, whatever Saperstein was selling, Toho was buying, cuz when it came time for Toho to pound out another Godzilla flick, he was right there as an associate producer, again enlisting Nick Adams as one of the two main protagonists, the other being Akira Takarada, who played the main protagonist in the original Gojira. Now, it is reported that Nick was at one point no fan of foreign movies playing in The States, in his eyes taking money away from American films, but by the mid-60s, his Hollywood job prospects were drying up, so when Harry came calling, he was happy for the work, and for his part, he was the consummate professional in everything he was involved with.

    Another interesting thing to note of the influence the yanks brought with them was in the pacing of the movie itself. It should come as no surprise to you, intrepid reader, that American audiences have little patience for movies, particularly monster movies, that start slow and build over time - which is pretty much how every daikaiju movie started up to that point. Usually, the movie was kicked off with some sort of conference, meeting of scientists, or a shitton of expository dialog, and it was a good 30-45 minutes before the giant monsters even showed themselves. Saperstein knew that would go over with US audiences like a fart in church: no, we don't want to start with a bunch of eggheads spending fifteen minutes explaining the nature of Nick and Akira's space flight - just get them in the goddamn spaceship!

    So, yeah, it was with Invasion of Astro-Monster that Toho more or less abandoned the pretext of making serious Godzilla films with heavy messages and moral undertones, instead moving in the direction of the surrounding plots existing mainly as a vehicle to get the monsters on screen doing as much damage as possible, with the human parts in there mainly to add gravitas to the monster parts. This happened at a specific time in Invasion of Astro-Monster, a little over 45 minutes in, when, after Godzilla and Rodan kicked Ghidorah's ass for the first time, this happened:



    Yup, happy Godzilla dance, there ya go. Apparently, this was inserted into the film against director Ishiro Honda's wishes, and he was PISSED. He still wanted Godzilla to be this giant scary thing, and, well, giant scary things don't do happy dances. And neither do they do the fancy boxer foot shuffle like Godzie was doing later on in the film. Yeah, quite the far cry from the menace Godzilla was even two movies back.

    Apart from the further humanization of Godzilla's actions, also happening was the further humanization of his appearance, with his outfit from the previous film altered to make the eyes larger, more expressive, and the forehead more prominent. And speaking of re-use, this movie also marks the start of one of the less fortunate tropes of the latter half of the Showa era. As production budgets were continuing to get cut due to the popularity of television continuing to chip away at box office returns, the filmmakers were increasingly reliant on stock footage from previous films to show the destruction sequences. They were, shall we say, a little more discreet in this film than the films that would follow, pulling bits here and there from the original Rodan and the previous year's Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, but by the late 60s, they would be leaning on stock footage pretty heavily, and the differences of quality of the aging, dulled stock footage compared to the newer, sharper footage was... well, time to call a spade a spade, it looked like shit.

    A couple less problematic elements were introduced in this film that would become standard daikaju fare. First, the super outrageous giant monster finishing move. In this case Godzilla and Rodan performed a tag team finisher that would make The Road Warriors proud, when Rodan picked up Godzilla by the shoulders and literally THREW him into Ghidorah, sending them both tumbling off a cliff. Pretty much every Godzilla film that followed, right up through last year's Godzilla King of the Monsters, would feature some crazy Godzilla move to finish the bad-guy off.

    Secondly: aliens. If you were to take the remainder of Toho Godzilla films as historical fact, you would be left believing that aliens really hate Japan's guts. Of the nine Godzilla films that would follow Invasion of Astro-Monster, six of them would feature aliens as the bad guys. But I would say that the aliens in IoAM were much more interesting than the aliens in the films that would follow. They were certainly better dressed.



    In retrospect, the more that I think of it, the more I am of the mind that Invasion of Astro-Monster represented at least as much of a turning point in the Godzilla series as did Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster before it. Whereas Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster represented a shift in how Godzilla himself was treated, Invasion of Astro-Monster, with its less serious tone, represented a shift in how the movies themselves were treated thematically. To an extent, I don't believe this was a bad thing, as this sensibility produced my favorite Godzilla movie in the series (and favorite Godzilla movie overall) - but at the same time, the increasing dumbing down of Godzilla to fit within increasingly rigid budgetary constraints, and also appealing to increasingly younger audiences, produced some pretty awful movies a few years later.

    You will be hearing about those in due time, but for now, Toho is still making some thoroughly enjoyable giant monster films, perfectly suited to enjoy with a cold beer and a bag of pretzels.

    Next: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
    Last edited by bac0n; 11-30-2020 at 11:55 AM.
    Losing is like fertilizer: it stinks for a while, then you get used to it. (Tony, Hibbing)

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