130) Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

Halloween 2022's Godzilla-Maniapalloza Extravaganza #5...For the Love of Godzilla.

All Hail, the Monster King!

"These monsters are as stupid as human beings." 

Director

Ishirō Honda

Cast

Yuriko Hoshi - Naoko Shindo

Yosuke Natsuki - Detective Shindo

Akiko Wakabayashi - Princess Mas Dorina Salno

Yumi Ito and Emi Ito - The Shobijin

Hiroshi Koizumi - Professor Murai

Takashi Shimura - Dr. Tsukamoto

Hisaya Ito - Malmess

The fifth movie in the Godzilla franchise, "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" marks 10 years of the Monster King versus some other monster.

Though Godzilla fans will likely label all Godzilla movies as being "classic." this one can legitimately take the claim. 

This movie debuts a new foe for Godzilla, and for all the world- Ghidorah. This time, rather than rise out of the earth like monsters have done in films past, this monster descends from space.

Also, Godzilla doesn't just take on one ginormous foe. He's joined in an all-out monster brawl with Rodan and Mothra. Yes, Mothra is back!

The monster Rodan makes his film debut in Toho Studio's 1956 kaiju movie "Rodan." 

He appears again (via stock footage) in "Valley of the Dragons" (1961). "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" is his third movie. 

And I've talked about Mothra in my review of the 1961 movie "Mothra."

Though Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah appear in further Godzilla movies singularly or two at a time, this foursome of monsters appear together again in the films "Destroy All Monsters" (1968), and "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (2019). 

"Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" was released in the United States the year following the Japanese release. In the U.S. it's titled "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster." One letter makes all the difference, apparently. The three-headed dragon is also often referred to as "King Ghidorah" as well.

I watched the English dubbed version for this review as my kids, again, watched with me. They can't read subtitles as quickly as I can.

In his book "A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series", author David Kalat claims the American version is superior to the Japanese version thanks to some editing and continuity corrections. So, I'll take his word for it.

This movie starts like the rest seem to...with a news reporter.
Naoko Shindo (Yuriko Hoshi) goes to cover a UFO Society conference for a television program. The society members, however, don't appreciate her skepticism when it comes to aliens and stuff. 

During this conference, a meteor shower falls over Tokyo, and a huge meteor crashes into the side of Mt. Kurodak.

Meanwhile, Princess Mas Dorina Salno of Selgina (Akiko Wakabayashi) is flying to Tokyo unannounced due to an assassination threat. Shindo's brother (Yosuke Natsuki), a police detective, is given the task of guarding the princess. 

While the princess is flying to Japan, a mysterious alien entity takes possession of her and tells her to jump out of the plane, which she does. 

Shortly after, her plane explodes.  

After that happens, an expedition team led by Professor Miura (Hiroshi Koizumi) heads to Mt. Kurodak to check out this large meteor that crashed. 

While studying it, the team discovers the meteor emits magnetic waves. 

Meanwhile, Princess Salno survives. When Naoko goes to interview her, the princess claims to be from the planet Venus. She then warns mankind that the monster Rodan is going to rise from underneath Mt. Aso.

Ghidorah takes on Godzilla.

Now that the princess is appearing in front of the press and their news cameras claiming to be an alien from Venus, she catches the attention of her uncle who thought she died in the plane explosion. He's also heading up her assassination plot. 

So, he sends a hired assassin named Malmess (Hisaya Ito) to kill her. And when he lands, Rodan happens to wake up.
The Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies, are preparing to head back to Infant Island after making a TV appearance when the princess warns them not to sail back. She says something terrible will happen to their ship. 

Naoko scores an interview with the princess in her royal hotel suite. Unbeknownst to the two, the Shobijin follow them back to the hotel room curious about the situation behind the dire warning she gave. 

And sure enough, Godzilla attacks and sinks the boat that the ferries would have sailed on had the princess not warned them. 

Malmess also shows up at the hotel to kill the princess. She's saved, however, by her guard, Det. Shindo.

After a psychiatric evaluation, the princess is deemed to be normal. But she insists she's from Venus and that King Ghidorah destroyed her home. 

Now, she says he's coming to Earth. 

The expedition team over on Mt. Kurodak witness the meteor crack open. And out comes the three-headed dragon, Ghidorah.

He...or, they... soon rampage through Matsumoto City. 

Japanese forces beg and plead with the fairies to summon Mothra for help. 

The fairies tell them that Mothra is no match for King Ghidorah. If only Godzilla and Rodan would fight alongside Mothra, then there's a huge chance they can defeat this beasty. 

Later, when Godzilla and Rodan are fighting, Mothra comes and tries to convince the other two monsters that they must join with her and turn their aggression towards this new foe. Godzilla and Rodan don't think they need to help the humans and save the planet. 

But Mothra is finally able to convince them, and the three monstrous titans face off against the space monster in an all-out match. 

In this movie, Godzilla and Ghidorah not only fight, but they also have an argument with some sort of monster sign language and monster dialogue. 

Also, the old Mothra we've seen in "Mothra" and "Mothra vs. Godzilla" has died. So, this is a new Mothra. . 

Godzilla and Rodan are persuaded to join and fight
against Ghidorah to save the earth.

This movie turns Godzilla from a raging destructive monster into a monstrous hero. He has a more distinct personality this time which is rather campy and hilarious. But I'd hate to laugh at a king. 

For me, this is where the Godzilla franchise really gets immersed in science fiction. 

I mean, the previous Godzilla films are clearly all science fiction. But in this movie, it's lathered on nice and thick. In the next movie, "Invasion of Astro-Monster" which is a direct sequel, the sci-fi tone practically drips off the screen. I'll get to that one next, of course. While the story part isn't necessarily bad, the majority of attention goes into the monster fight to give audiences something a better than before.

In one scene, Rodan hoists the Mothra larva on his back and flies around Ghidorah as Mothra sprays the monster with its silk. 

The fight scenes are mixed with effort and detail to get it all right, along with poor puppetry and dull repetition.

Godzilla and Rodan get violent with each other. When Godzilla starts kicking boulders at him, Rodan manages to lift Godzilla by the tail and drop him, groin first, onto an electrical tower. Rodan starts laughing at Godzilla's demise. It looks ridiculous. Since when do monsters laugh? 

We're then "treated" to a scene in which Godzilla laughs at Rodan after inflicting some pain. 

Then, once Ghidorah shows up and starts causing havoc, and Mothra tries to convince Godzilla and Rodan to stop fighting each other and go up against him together, the monsters start to learn the importance of diplomacy and teamwork. They also talk to each other, and the twins understand what they're saying. This diplomatic monster negotiation is a trip!

As for the human characters, there's nothing very interesting about them except for the princess who is suddenly taken over by a being from Venus. But Hiroshi Koizumi is stoic and monotone while she acts as a person under alien control.  

I think the problem with "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" overall is that the movie feels like a rushed production. That's not to say the entire movie completely bad based on a few bad effects and forced pace. 

Godzilla's bout with Ghidorah is done rather well. And the look of Ghidorah is great! 

On top of all these monsters attacking, they try to give the movie some originality with an assassination attempt. In other words, the effort to tell a compelling story on top of having monsters fight once again is clearly there. Again, the problem lies with the overall movie having a rushed feeling, and not-so-interesting human characters.

Regardless, for Godzilla fans, the movie ambitiously succeeds in accomplishing what it set out to do, with its monster versus monster, versus monster action.