Released the same year as Mothra vs Godzilla, we have Ghidorah, the Three Headed
Monster, introducing King Ghidorah, a three headed dragon from space that shoots
lightning out his mouths. If that doesn’t sound cool to you, then I have lost hope in your
existence.
This movie is taking the more fun approach, not taken as serious as the last one. It works, because when you have a kaiju like King Ghidorah in a movie, it has to be fun. Can't always be serious, can you?
There are 4 kaiju in this movie, and I’m going to do a stats check, like the last two fights. Obviously Godzilla’s back, and we already know his strength, so no need to go over him. Also returning is the last surviving offspring of Mothra, still in caterpillar form. She can shoot web and... that’s it. Woo hoo.
Appearing in his second film, but first to appear with Godzilla, is the flying ace, Rodan. He’s a mutant Pteranodon that can fly at sonic speeds, and flap his wings real fast to make wind storms. I’ll be sure to review his movie some other time. It’s a decent one.
Finally, to top off this ultimate rumble, we have the new kaiju, King Ghidorah. I’ve already described his abilities. He’s the first one to rival Godzilla’s power. He’s that strong. He’s also Godzilla’s arch nemesis.
How does it all play out? Let’s see.
The film starts with who I believe is the same rookie reporter from Mothra vs Godzilla, now on a rooftop with a bunch of scientists looking for a flying saucer. All they get is a meteor shower, and one of those meteors lands in some mountains near the town. Some guys go to investigate, and find that it’s magnetized.
Meanwhile, a princess from Whoknowswhere gets her mind controlled by some mystic alien force, and she is used to warn people of earth of the upcoming crisis. Unfortunately, she’s being hunted down by assassins, trying to eliminate all successors to the throne of their country which may or may not have been made up for this movie.
One serious dubbing flaw I found at the hands of the Americans, is that they say the alien controlling the princess is from Mars. But in the Japanese version, she clearly states that she’s from Venus. How did they mess it up like that? No, they didn’t mess it up. They deliberately made her a Martian. Why? Because it’s the most generic and overused term for aliens in the 50’s and 60’s. I’m not joking. Nearly EVERY movie that had to do with
This movie is taking the more fun approach, not taken as serious as the last one. It works, because when you have a kaiju like King Ghidorah in a movie, it has to be fun. Can't always be serious, can you?
There are 4 kaiju in this movie, and I’m going to do a stats check, like the last two fights. Obviously Godzilla’s back, and we already know his strength, so no need to go over him. Also returning is the last surviving offspring of Mothra, still in caterpillar form. She can shoot web and... that’s it. Woo hoo.
Appearing in his second film, but first to appear with Godzilla, is the flying ace, Rodan. He’s a mutant Pteranodon that can fly at sonic speeds, and flap his wings real fast to make wind storms. I’ll be sure to review his movie some other time. It’s a decent one.
Finally, to top off this ultimate rumble, we have the new kaiju, King Ghidorah. I’ve already described his abilities. He’s the first one to rival Godzilla’s power. He’s that strong. He’s also Godzilla’s arch nemesis.
How does it all play out? Let’s see.
The film starts with who I believe is the same rookie reporter from Mothra vs Godzilla, now on a rooftop with a bunch of scientists looking for a flying saucer. All they get is a meteor shower, and one of those meteors lands in some mountains near the town. Some guys go to investigate, and find that it’s magnetized.
Meanwhile, a princess from Whoknowswhere gets her mind controlled by some mystic alien force, and she is used to warn people of earth of the upcoming crisis. Unfortunately, she’s being hunted down by assassins, trying to eliminate all successors to the throne of their country which may or may not have been made up for this movie.
One serious dubbing flaw I found at the hands of the Americans, is that they say the alien controlling the princess is from Mars. But in the Japanese version, she clearly states that she’s from Venus. How did they mess it up like that? No, they didn’t mess it up. They deliberately made her a Martian. Why? Because it’s the most generic and overused term for aliens in the 50’s and 60’s. I’m not joking. Nearly EVERY movie that had to do with
aliens back then had Martians, or something relating to Mars. The only exception I’m aware
of is First Spaceship On Venus.... but I can’t talk about that movie. I need to keep that out
of my memories for as long as I live.
Anyway, after several failed attempts to warn the earth’s people, the kaiju start showing up. Rodan and Godzilla are first. After some shenanigans with the assassins, Godzilla and Rodan meet, and they start fighting. Mothra arrives to get them to team up and fight King Ghidorah. How? By talking to them. No, they don’t actually speak, but they do converse using their roars while the twin fairies translate. This part is hilarious. The best part is where the fairies say that Godzilla doesn’t want to help humans because... get this.... they’re always bullying him.... Did I miss something?
Unable to convince them for help, Mothra goes to fight King Ghidorah on her own... and fails. What’s a caterpillar going to do against a 3 headed lightning shooting golden armored galaxy destroying space dragon anyway? Not much. Good thing Godzilla and Rodan finally decide to help. This is one of the greatest kaiju fights ever made. It’s classic. Godzilla gets lightning shot at his crotch, which is also hilarious. The cutest part of any Godzilla movie is when he lets Mothra hitch a ride on his tail up the mountain. I said ‘aww’ out loud, it’s adorable.
Eventually, they send King Ghidorah’s scaly @$$ back to space, and everything is fine, making Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan the winners.
This movie is fantastic. Sure, it’s not as serious as the first, but holy crap, is this a fun time.
I loved the fights here more than I do the fights in Godzilla vs King Kong. The suits are well designed, and that last battle really deserves a lot of respect. With all the wires they needed to use for the monsters, I’m shocked at how they did it without getting tangled in a knot. Just being in King Ghidorah’s suit must have been hard enough. They did a great job. The miniature sets are awesome, and explode nicely.
The human characters aren’t too bad, just like the last film. I didn’t really hate any of them. I guess it's because I am yet again reviewing the Japanese version instead of the English dub. I have seen the dub, and it's not too bad. The only time I thought the humans got a little stupid was when Rodan appeared. Some guy’s hat gets blown down a cliff, and someone goes to get it back for 200 yen. Why is the hat so important all the sudden? I guess something had to wake up Rodan. Speaking of which, how is Rodan alive? I’ve seen his first film. Both Rodans were incinerated in a volcanic explosion. They were seen burning alive, so how did either of them heal from that? Also, wouldn’t the military have cleaned up their remains after it was all done? So how did one of them get over to an entirely different part of Japan? Or it’s just another one of the species, and I’m whining like an idiot.
Anyway, after several failed attempts to warn the earth’s people, the kaiju start showing up. Rodan and Godzilla are first. After some shenanigans with the assassins, Godzilla and Rodan meet, and they start fighting. Mothra arrives to get them to team up and fight King Ghidorah. How? By talking to them. No, they don’t actually speak, but they do converse using their roars while the twin fairies translate. This part is hilarious. The best part is where the fairies say that Godzilla doesn’t want to help humans because... get this.... they’re always bullying him.... Did I miss something?
Unable to convince them for help, Mothra goes to fight King Ghidorah on her own... and fails. What’s a caterpillar going to do against a 3 headed lightning shooting golden armored galaxy destroying space dragon anyway? Not much. Good thing Godzilla and Rodan finally decide to help. This is one of the greatest kaiju fights ever made. It’s classic. Godzilla gets lightning shot at his crotch, which is also hilarious. The cutest part of any Godzilla movie is when he lets Mothra hitch a ride on his tail up the mountain. I said ‘aww’ out loud, it’s adorable.
Eventually, they send King Ghidorah’s scaly @$$ back to space, and everything is fine, making Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan the winners.
This movie is fantastic. Sure, it’s not as serious as the first, but holy crap, is this a fun time.
I loved the fights here more than I do the fights in Godzilla vs King Kong. The suits are well designed, and that last battle really deserves a lot of respect. With all the wires they needed to use for the monsters, I’m shocked at how they did it without getting tangled in a knot. Just being in King Ghidorah’s suit must have been hard enough. They did a great job. The miniature sets are awesome, and explode nicely.
The human characters aren’t too bad, just like the last film. I didn’t really hate any of them. I guess it's because I am yet again reviewing the Japanese version instead of the English dub. I have seen the dub, and it's not too bad. The only time I thought the humans got a little stupid was when Rodan appeared. Some guy’s hat gets blown down a cliff, and someone goes to get it back for 200 yen. Why is the hat so important all the sudden? I guess something had to wake up Rodan. Speaking of which, how is Rodan alive? I’ve seen his first film. Both Rodans were incinerated in a volcanic explosion. They were seen burning alive, so how did either of them heal from that? Also, wouldn’t the military have cleaned up their remains after it was all done? So how did one of them get over to an entirely different part of Japan? Or it’s just another one of the species, and I’m whining like an idiot.
Another interesting thing about this film is the way the kaiju act. They’re not just movie monsters anymore, they’re becoming characters, in a way. That feeling is present when Mothra sprays her web at Godzilla and Rodan to get them to shut up and listen. When Godzilla gets it, Rodan laughs at his humiliation, but when he gets it too, Godzilla laughs at him. Many could say this is where the series lightened up in tone for a wider audience. It’s funny in this movie, and it doesn’t affect how good it is, only adds to it. But in later movies, it gets.... weird. Really weird. You’ll know what I mean when I get there.
Other than a few things to make fun of, this is another must see Godzilla movie. It’s got a great soundtrack, great action scenes, cute moments, and is fun to watch no matter what. It’s one of my favorites.
FINAL RATING: 45 / 50
STORY: 4 / 5
CHARACTERS: 4 / 5
ACTING: 4 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 4 / 5
ACTION: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 4 / 5
TONE: 5 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 5 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 5 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 5 / 5
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