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The
Films 60 - 69
The Films 70 - on
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An
Introduction To The World Of City-Stomping Monsters . . .
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The
hugely successful 'Godzilla' series is based on an an original story credited
to writer Shigeru Kayama. The first 'Godzilla' film was made in 1954,
the screenplay being co-written by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata, and
the 400ft-tall dinosaur with nuclear halitosis was still going strong
well into the nineties! By the way, 'Godzilla' is not a name but a species,
as are many other of what appear to be names in the titles. The first
two films, 'Gojira' and 'Gigantis', were shot in black and white but all
subsequent productions were made in colour.
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Originally produced by the Japanese film company Toho with the expertise
of director Ishiro Honda, Kaiju Eiga ( monster movie ) participants
can essentially be briefly described as giant monsters and mechanical
constructions who either try to destroy the world or save it depending
on whether they are 'goodies' or 'baddies'. On the way, they manage
to stomp models of various Japanese cities into rubble causing more
than a little distress to the local human population. In later films
it is not quite so straightforward as that because some of them
changed sides from film to film. Not only is that a bit confusing
but each film has anything up to a dozen or so alternative titles,
sometimes in duplication of other productions, and the translation
and spelling of their 'names' changes as well. Check my monster
A to Z or have a look at the film listings and you'll see what I
mean!
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Although Toho were the original creators of the Kaiju Eiga genre, by the
early Sixties quite a few Japanese film companies had climbed on the bandwagon
with their own monster creations, most notably the childrens film studio
Daiei with 'Gamera', but also Nikkatsu with 'Gappa', Shochiku with 'Guilala'.
The Shin Toho studios also produced some 'monsters' which appeared in their
'Supergiant' series but these are not generally considered to be true Kaiju
Eiga. The destructive violence was massive but this was generally only as
a result of combat between themselves. Humans only suffered as a by-product
of the demolition and were not subjected to individual physical violence.
The monsters were mostly people in rubber suits - the first 'Godzilla' was
actually Tomoyuki Tanaka, the producer of the film - were virtually all
endowed with a male persona and all of an amphibian nature until 'Gappa'
in 1967. A notable exception to this was 'Mothra' which was a giant female
moth and a construction manipulated by wires, similar to a marionette.
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The storylines mostly tend to go like this: Giant 'monster', one
or more, sometimes with alien 'help' threatens mankind's existence.
Scientists can do nothing to stop it and run around like headless
chickens. The military are worse than useless as tanks and stuff
just annoy it. Another giant 'monster' puts down its pipe and slippers
and comes to the rescue, eventually saving the world after a titanic
battle during which, in most cases, poor old Tokyo ( or Japan in
general ) gets pretty well levelled. Still with me? So far as I
have been able to make out, this is a list of all the films that
fall within that general brief. I have only given a couple of the
most often-quoted titles for each film and in some cases a brief
description of what ( I think ) it is about. The years are suspect
as well, but that seems to be a standard problem in the film review
area. There is sometimes a differential between production and release
years and also between the years of release in its native country
and the U.K. or U.S.A. I believe most of the years quoted are original
release dates. The first 'Godzilla' film was bought by Joseph E.
Levine who edited out some of the original scenes and inserted newly-shot
footage by Terry Morse, featuring the actor Raymond Burr, into the
film to make it more attractive to the American market. The modified
version was released in the U.S.A. in 1956. This practice became
fairly widespread with 'foreign' films during the Sixties. The Sixties
films obviously fit in with my Science Fiction film list but, as
some of them tend to be part of a running series, I thought I might
as well separate them and try to give you the lot. No doubt this
will generate some email comment but I don't really want to spend
too much more time on it - only if there are any absolutely howling
errors ( which, looking at it more closely, seems quite likely).
Please let me know - I'm sure you will anyway!
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The
Films 54 - 59
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Gojira
aka GODZILLA KING OF MONSTERS
TOHO 1954 B/W 81 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe, Hiroshi Mukoyama
Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kochi, Akira Takarada, Akihiko
Hirata, Fuyuki Murakami
Sachio Sakai, Ren Yamamoto, Frank Iwanaga
A 400ft tall dinosaur is awoken from seabed 'hibernation' by atomic tests.
Emerging from the sea it displays its displeasure by proceeding to flatten
Japan. It is eventually lured back into the water where it is subdued
by Dr. Serizawa's 'oxygen destroyer' which removes all the oxygen from
the surrounding seawater. A modified version of the film lasting 98 minutes
and with extra footage starring American actor Raymond Burr was released
in the U.S. in 1956
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Gigantis
aka THE FIRE MONSTER
aka GOJIRA NO GYAKUSHU
aka GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
aka THE VOLCANO MONSTER
aka THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
aka GODZILLA'S COUNTERATTACK
aka COUNTERATTACK OF THE MONSTER
TOHO 1955 B/W 78 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe, Hiroshi Mukoyama, Masao
Shirota
Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki
An atomic explosion awakes two monsters - Gigantis ( a Godzilla ) and
Angurus - who are discovered fighting each other on a remote island. Gigantis
triumphs and heads towards Tokyo, demolishing Osaka en route. He is eventually
buried under an avalanche of ice precipitated by military forces on a
snow-covered island. A modified version of the film was directed by Hugo
Grimaldi and produced by Paul Schreibman for release in the U.S. in 1959
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Rodan
aka RADON
aka RADON THE FLYING MONSTER
TOHO 1956 EASTMANCOLOR 79 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata, Akio Kobori, Yasuko Nakata
Minosuke Yamada, Yoshibumi Tajima, Kiyoharu Ohnaka
This was the first Kaiju Eiga film to be made in colour and featured a
giant reptile able to fly at supersonic speeds, the ensuing shock waves
causing immense damage. It hatches deep in a coalmine and emerges to consume
a swarm of Miganuron, giant dragonflies. Rodan finds a mate and they eventually
build a nest on the dormant volcano Mount Aso where new eggs are laid.
This proves to be a major error of judgement when a subsequent eruption
initiated by military missiles incinerates the brood and their parents.
A version of the film with American voice-over by David Duncan was released
in the U.S. with 5 minutes cut from the original length
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Chikyu
Boegun
aka THE MYSTERIANS
aka EARTH DEFENCE FORCE
TOHO 1957 COLOUR 89 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Hidesaburo Araki, Sadamasa Arikawa, Akira
Watanabe
Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Takashi Shimura,
Akihiko Hirata, Momoko Koichi
Susumu Fujita, Hisayo Ito, Fuyuki Murukami, Minosuke Yamada, Yoshio Kosugi
Not, strictly speaking, a pure Kaiju Eiga film this was a forerunner for
similar storylines to follow. Aliens called Mysterians attempt to invade
Earth, starting in Japan, with the help of their giant robot bird Mogella
which shoots death rays from its eyes. The aliens' planet had been destroyed
and they needed to mate with Earth women in order for their race to survive.
Mogella is eventually destroyed as it attempts to cross a collapsing bridge
following which the aliens admit defeat and depart, no doubt contemplating
the folly of building a robot bird that couldn't fly. The film was re-released
cut to 85mins
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Daikaiju
Baran
aka THE MONSTER BARAN
aka VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE
aka BARAN: MONSTER FROM THE EAST
TOHO 1958 COLOUR 87minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Tsuruko Kobayashi, Clifford Kawada, Derrick Shimazu
Kozo Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, Koreya Senda, Akihiko Hirata
The U.S. navy under the local control of Commander Bradley are carrying
out chemical experiments on water desalination which unwittingly disturb
the siesta of a giant reptilian creature. It decides to march towards
Tokyo to give it a piece of its mind and, in the process, tramples all
over the island where Bradley and his wife are carrying out their experiments.
The beast is immune to military weapons but eventually succumbs to a cocktail
of poisonous chemicals fired into its underbelly. A U.S. voice-over version
produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz was released in 1961 drastically cut and
re-edited to 70 minutes including the extra scenes featuring American
actor Myron Healey
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