Gate of Hell.

Review #2393: Gate of Hell.

Cast: 

Kazuo Hasegawa (Endo Morito), Machiko Kyō (Lady Kesa), Isao Yamagata (Wataru Watanabe), Yatarō Kurokawa (Taira no Shigemori), Kōtarō Bandō (Rokuroh), Jun Tazaki (Kogenta), Koreya Senda (Taira no Kiyomori), and Masao Shimizu (Fujiwara no Nobuyori) Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa (#735 - A Page of Madness)

Review: 

Remember Teinosuke Kinugasa? Well, it seemed appropriate to try and remember the man who gave us A Page of Madness (1926; at the time, people thought the movie was lost). Born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, he went from being an actor (at least until the onnagata of men specializing in female roles became less prevalent) to becoming a director who made over a hundred movies from 1922 to 1966, and one of those movies included Gate of Hell [known in Japan as Jigokumon] for Daiei Film. The 1950s saw the dawn of Japan getting to see feature films in glorious color, at least occasionally. Carmen Comes Home (1951), as released by Shochiku, was the first to set that trend. Daiei Film, a studio formed during World War II, had their key place come early. They were behind the production of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), the first big piece of a great age for Japanese films going beyond its native country. So, what film did Daiei make for its first color of production? Gate of Hell was based off the play Kesa's Husband by author/publisher Kan Kikuchi (coincidence or not, he actually was the first president of the studio*). The script was written by Teinosuke Kinugasa and Masaichi Nagata (the president of Daiei Film), which is generally put in the "jidaigeki" genre (okay that just translates to period dramas before the Meiji Restoration, which in this case is way way back in the 1100s). The movie was done in Eastmancolor (as one does when having imported film stock) and it so happens that you can watch the film in its restored form for quite some time now. In 1954, the movie was awarded two Academy Awards: the "Honorary Foreign Language Film Award" and for Best Costume Design (back in the days of awarding ones for films in color) to go along with the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

For 86 minutes, one does get a wonderfully curious movie to experience in all of the glances possible, which extends beyond the vivid reds and greens that come across the screen. You might call it a polite sort of tragedy in the slow boil that comes through with this movie, one that allows you to peek behind the curtain of what people seemed to look like in the seemingly quaint times and what really lurks beyond pleasantries and appearances. Sure, those first couple of minutes (call it about 20) are probably the most sluggish in terms of setup, but it is generally worth it after that because of what you will see in the aftermath of conflict that merely leads into the seething-type of conflict. Hasegawa was a prolific actor for over 300 movies in his life, and he does pretty well with this role that an actor would love to have play out on the stage in his unnerving conviction that plays out here. It isn't so much that he is playing a villain as much as you are watching a creature wrapped in lust and obsession that might as well fit the title of the film. Sure, you could label him as just an obsessed creep, but you have to understand that his plight is not exactly helped by the people around him (in terms of samurais, remember). Kyō (speaking of prolific actresses, she was in Rashomon) does quite well with showing the terror that comes across in being wrapped in a situation of an unwieldly triangle that isn't really love on all sides and also isn't easy to simply untangle from (in contrast, one sees a calm Yamagata, at least for one living in such polite surroundings involving samurai that isn't just taking up a sword). Wishes to acquire others are thought to be what you might call quaint rather than, well, pick any other word besides "odd", but you do get to see from one person the true meaning of sacrifice. If it wasn't already stressed to you, it is a pretty movie to watch, one that strikes you with its colors in vivid nature that remind you what it means to look and feel what a film is trying to convey to you about people and surroundings that make for a vibrant experience. It has its highs and lows in pacing, but it never stumbles in being a worthwhile film worth a close eye.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

*Incidentally, he is the namesake of an award for achievement in Japanese literary culture.

Destroy All Monsters.

Review #2250: Destroy All Monsters.

Cast: 

Akira Kubo (Captain Katsuo Yamabe), Jun Tazaki (Dr. Yoshido), Yukiko Kobayashi (Kyoko Manabe), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Dr. Otani), Andrew Hughes (Dr. Stevenson), Kyoko Ai (the Queen of the Kilaaks), Kenji Sahara (Nishikawa, Moon Base Commander), Chotaro Togin (Moonlight SY-3 Astronaut Ogata), Seishiro Kuno (Moonlight SY-3 Astronaut Tani), Wataru Omae (Moonlight SY-3 Astronaut Arima), Yasuhiko Saijô (Moonlight SY-3 Astronaut Fujita), Naoya Kusakawa (Moonlight SY-3 Astronaut), Yoshibumi Tajima (General Sugiyama Tada), with Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla), Hiroshi Sekita (Anguirus), Marchan the Dwarf (Minilla), Teruoshi Nigaki (Rodan), and Susumu Utsumi (King Ghidorah) 

Directed by Ishirō Honda (#167 - Godzilla [1954/1956], #711 - Mothra, #1092 - Gorath, #1224 - King Kong vs. Godzilla, #1225 - Mothra vs. Godzilla, #1226 - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, #1623 - Invasion of Astro-Monster, #1999 - Matango)

Review: 

Admittedly, the Godzilla series might have needed a bit of a rest. Ever since the roaring hit of King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Toho had managed to cultivate a hodgepodge of features involving the title monster, with this being the seventh of eight Godzilla features of the 1960s (to recap: Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, and Son of Godzilla) with the last few being island-bound. Ishiro Honda had even directed a few of those films, so naturally, Toho had him and Takeshi Kimura (writer of films such as Matango and Rodan) do the screenplay (this was the only Godzilla film of the 1960s to not be written by Shinichi Sekizawa, who returned for a couple more of the films). Of course, the film was thought of at one point to be the closing film of the series because, well, one can be worn out when ticket sales slowly decline from film to film. Incidentally, this was also near the tail-end of Honda's career as a director, with this being the 15th feature film he did in the 1960s. Of course, Honda and Godzilla would re-unite quickly enough with All Monsters Attack, a feature aimed directly for the youth that would be made on the cheap (filmed in less than three months for release in late 1969) to go with a different tide of success in the next decade (more on that in the future). 

So, what better way to throw a curveball in the series by setting oneself in the latter end of the 20th century (let's just say 1999, but with trips to the Moon as opposed to the actual, sort of disappointingly real 1999) with a place called "Monsterland" that is basically one straight plot with no side characters and, well, a dry tone (the idea of monsters being controlled in some way reminds me of Invasion of Astro-Monster, the one where Planet X wanted to borrow monsters to fight one off their planet). The last film had Godzilla confront fatherhood to go along with some sort of weather device plot and spiders. Watching the film with the knowledge that Honda's intent to show what is basically a "monster farm" basically got cut to just the basics is, well, easy to spot. One just goes with jumping from seeing monsters (featuring a few in close shots like Angurius, back for the first time in a decade, and others in shots totally not to hide further inspection) being given plenty of food to consume to alien women (well, slugs, but they show up as women most of the time in the film) mind-controlling people into slaves. In that sense, it is a bit more impressive than the lightweight charm seen in the last two films (for me, I haven't seen a bad one of these features, but of course that doesn't include the insane idea of watching a dub - in this film though, the dub is apparently not that different). This is the kind of movie that sees a guy jump out of a window and a skirmish breaks out not long after that. The cast here is about on par for what you usually see from people mostly near the end of appearing in these films (most also happened to reunite with Honda with 1970's Space Amoeba). It is pretty easy to say the monster mayhem (the climax being the emphasis) outweighs the invasion, but the 88 minute runtime mostly goes without a hitch, at least for those who are fine seeing a few miniatures (which seems more clear than usual) as one sees a straight-to-the point narrative of trying to get the status quo back that happens to dovetail with seeing monsters stomp eventually. I think the earlier 60s films had a better hold of mayhem (Kong is probably the one people remember by default) but if the series really did take a break after this, one would be pretty content with that here, because it is pretty fun to see coordinated mayhem all in the name of heightened engagement in clear-as-day vision. It isn't merely a film you just knock as "kid stuff", unless one happened to live in a house of seclusion with no figures to imagine growing up. As a whole, Honda and company made a serviceable feature that relies on a few familiar tricks to maneuver a usefully solid time that basically serves as a nice bow to the 60s rendition of Godzilla as one knows it.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.

Review #1668: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.

Cast: 

Akira Takarada (Yoshimura), Toru Watanabe (Ryota Kane), Toru Ibuki (Yata Kane), Chotaro Togin (Ichino), Hideo Sunazuka (Nita), Kumi Mizuno (Daiyo), Pair Bambi (the Shobijin), Jun Tazaki (Red Bamboo Commander), Akihiko Hirata (Red Bamboo Captain Ryuui), Hideyo Amamoto (Red Bamboo Captain Naval Officer), with Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla) and Hiroshi Sekita (Ebirah) Directed by Jun Fukuda.

Review: 

"All I can remember is that making GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER was like pouring two cups of water into one. I had to cut one sequence after another."

The funny thing to remember about Godzilla is that most of the movies end up with him fighting a big monster for perilous enjoyment, and they all build up to it in their own respective ways (i.e. cliché) that can lend for distinct movies. So far, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster have proven better in the first few of the Godzilla sequels, although obviously Godzilla vs. Mothra is also up there. Most of those films took place within military settings or within a city to build the set-up, which got considerably lighter after the first film. All is not quite what it seems with the island setting for this film. For one thing, the original working title was "Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah"; Rankin-Bass Productions, who was working on The King Kong Show (1966-1969) with Toei, rejected the idea, but Toho liked what they saw while replacing Kong with Godzilla. At any rate, Toho and Rankin-Bass would team up for King Kong Escapes (1967), which combined elements from the show alongside the spy genre as the second and last film that Toho made with the license on the character. Unlike other movies of the series, this movie was distributed in the States only on television, for which it was known as "Godzilla versus the Sea Monster". At helm for director is Jun Fukuda. Born in Japanese-occupied China, Fukuda studied in Japan with Japan Art University before serving in World War II. He was hired to work with Toho in 1951, where he would start as an assistant director. For the next ten years, he worked under directors on films such as So Young, So Bright (1955, directed by Toshio Sugie) and Rodan (1956, directed by Ishirō Honda) before getting his chance to direct in 1959 with Osorubeki hiasobi. He would do a variety of genres until his retirement in 1977 that ranged from action to comedy to science fiction. He was the third person to direct a Godzilla film and the first one to replace Ishiro Honda since Motoyoshi Oda helmed Godzilla Raids Again (1955). Over the next eight years, he would be tasked to direct four more Godzilla features from Son of Godzilla (1967) to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). Over the course of his career with Godzilla, he would approach the films as action dramas, albeit ones that would be tightly filmed in budget and shooting. A modest man, Fukuda enjoyed working with the cast of this film (singling out Hirata and Mizuno), but he did not find any of the Godzilla be his favorites in his career. In one interview, he even was asked if there should have been any sequels to Godzilla in the first place, and he actually answered no (he also noted that he enjoyed making his comedy films more so than the monster movies), where even being sent a copy of the film he made by Toho was "like opening up an old wound."

For the first time in the series, Eiji Tsuburaya was not the director of special effects, since he shifted to supervisor; instead, it was Sadamasa Arikawa that served as special effects director, although he did not take kindly to the cheap demands by Toho, which Arikawa felt was because he could pushed around by them more so than with Tsuburaya (who had his own company and reputation by then). This was the fifth writing effort out of ten Godzilla features done by Shinichi Sekizawa. So instead of Godzilla rampaging the countryside of Japan, he is instead dormant for most of the movie on an island that also has Mothra in the distance in slumber while the focus is on a quartet of humans that are there after being shipwrecked by the title character (Ebirah; ebi incidentally is a shrimp prominent in Japanese cuisine) after looking for a missing brother...after losing a dance marathon contest that would've won a sailboat. Oh, and the island has a group of militants exploiting the land for a formula that keeps the crabby monster at bay. So...yeah, we are talking about a movie where Godzilla eventually fights a shrimp/crab that only seems to fight in the water and can be repelled by militants with a special island powder. I guess Mothra (making her fifth of six appearances in the original series, albeit with a somewhat deteriorating costume) fights Godzilla, in that it involves dust. Godzilla isn't exactly at the "Earth's defender" stage yet, merely placed in the "Well, I destroyed cities, but now I have shifted my interests to being my monster self, so muck off Mothra/Ebirah". Of the cast, Takarada, Hirata, Mizuno, Tazaki, and Nakajima are the most seasoned actors present in this film, and they are fine here, with Takarada and Hirata generally being the most interesting (although Mizuno makes impressions here and there, although the scene spent with Godzilla looking at her like Kong is a bit...weird). The others aren't boring, but the light pace mixed with its tone doesn't exactly make them quite interesting. I admire the scene where they think about their escape and about Godzilla "helping" them before they yell at him to jump off the soon-to-be exploding island; one could find it cynically amusing and ponder the fact that Godzilla lives on again to potentially "visit" another place in time only because someone told him to ump.

So yeah, one is really here to see what stuff will happen with Godzilla, for better or worse. Did I mention there is a condor fight? It actually is the worst fight scene of these films so far, mostly because one can't even see the fight clearly, and it seems appropriate that Godzilla fires it out of existence. Godzilla awakens in a sequence clearly meant to evoke other monsters: a lightning strike. I suppose it goes along with all the non-Godzilla aspects that make for a really cheesy pastiche of clichés, all of which start with comic bumbling and lead right into playing rock volleyball with Ebirah (the icing on the cake is a tribute shot to another movie with a character rubbing their nose...Godzilla, having just done a dance in the film before that). The pace is lighter, but it doesn't mean the movie moves any faster for enjoyment, particularly if one desires to see some interesting Godzilla action, and I suppose it could only set the stage for weirder entries in the series that will range from the offspring of Godzilla to a monster mash to children getting involved with the monsters - there were eight of these films made in the 1960s, and this was the fifth of those released.  If the music by Masaru Sato (a favorite of the director) is memorable for any reason, it is probably because the electric guitar manages to reverb like the James Bond theme, which can either be thought of as distinctive or distracting. In general, the movie acts as yet another cut into the burrowing decisions by Toho and others to shift Godzilla for children with a goal of doing it as fast and cheaply as possible. That isn't to say that Fukuda failed in brining in a new perspective with the film, because he does do a fine job here, but as a Godzilla movie it certainly does fall a bit flat in the lasting enjoyment department. If one can get through some filler to get to parts involving rubber suit monsters, you might have a time here, although the 87 minutes will either feel really short or tolerable enough to finish yet another Godzilla adventure. I can't give it a positive notice, because it doesn't exactly prove a triumph, but I can acknowledge it as a curiosity that may suit others in mind, five decades after the fact. 

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

Invasion of Astro-Monster.

Review #1623: Invasion of Astro-Monster.

Cast: 
Akira Takarada (Kazuo Fuji), Nick Adams (Glenn), Kumi Mizuno (Namikawa), Jun Tazaki (Dr. Sakurai), Akira Kubo (Tetsuo Torii), Keiko Sawai (Haruno Fuji), Yoshio Tsuchiya (Controller of Planet X), Takamaru Sasaki (Chairman of Earth Committee), Gen Shimizu (Minister of Defense), Yoshifumi Tajima (General), with Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla), Masaki Shinohara (Rodan), and Shoichi Hirose (King Ghidorah) Directed by Ishirō Honda (#167 - Godzilla [1954/1956], #711 - Mothra, #1092 - Gorath, #1224 - King Kong vs. Godzilla, #1225 - Mothra vs. Godzilla, and #1226 - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster)

Review: 

The sixth film in the Godzilla franchise continued the progression of the series into keeping with the times and desires from audiences and promoters in more ways than one. The film started as a co-production between Toho and America, a most unusual venture. Henry Saperstein had acquired United Productions of America (known for its animation shorts such as Mister Magoo, which reportedly was the reason Saperstein bought it, as he specialized in tie-in merchandise) and marketers eventually wanted monster movies for distribution in America. After doing research about who was proficient in doing such films and doing training in Japanese, he talked to Toho about doing a venture together, and he provided a significant portion of funding and input. For one thing, the budget would be a bit smaller, with a variety of footage re-used from earlier films to make up for less elaborate models, while the script would take different cues from the usual conference meeting type of movie like the previous ones, where it takes place later in the film after one has already seen a new face to the film: aliens. When it came for distribution in America, there would not be as many edits this time around (i.e. no Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) kind of staging), with a few edits and dubbing from Marvin Miller (alongside Nick Adams retaining his voice) being the key points by Glen Glenn Sound. This version (called  Monster Zero) wasn't released until 1970. The advent of home media has evolved since VHS and dubs, since one can find it on DVD and Blu-Ray in its original version (Criterion Collection even did an entire box set of the first fifteen films just two years ago, for the collectors that are curious).

Oh, so what is the plot about? Aliens are in trouble on the hidden planet by Jupiter, so a Japanese-American space ship (which flies both flags alongside one from the United Nations) that lands there is approached to bring them Godzilla and Rodan to fight the not quite mole people in exchange for the cure for cancer (the edit changed it to all known diseases, as if to make it even more suspicious). The film continues the monster mash-up from before in returning Godzilla with Rodan and King Ghidorah, albeit in the year 196X, and this was the fourth straight film written by Shinichi Sekizawa. The core is composed of seven actors, with Takarada and Adams playing the opening, Mizuno playing the alien love interest, Tazaki playing the main conference room focus, Kubo and Sawai playing the would-be couple, and Tsuchiya playing the main alien. The cast generally does well in this regard, since Takarada has to just make sure he keeps a collected presence without seeming wooden. When it comes to Adams, it is interesting to note his career trajectory through a career plagued by highs and lows (after struggling to self-promote himself) and a life cut short at the age of 36. He is most known for his starring role in The Rebel (1959-1961), and he starred for Toho with Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965), which also featured Mizuno, Tsuchiya, Tajima, and Sawai while Honda directed. He seems to be having a good time with this role, one that leaves him some room to roll with the others and not be constrained by being dubbed (unless one sees the edit) too much, and while the parts with Mizuno may be easy to see coming, they go off without a hitch. Tazaki plays the exposition decently enough, while Kubo does alright with light relief next to Sawai. Tsuchiya made the hand gestures for his character on improvisation while combining a few languages for the alien dialect at Honda's request, and while he is playing the role with a black visor around his eyes (amid a whole bunch of stuff that means only his face isn't all covered in black or grey garments), he does well with keeping a balance of deceptive benevolence and cold menace for what is needed enough to make a worthy adversary in a franchise that a greedy entrepreneur and an assassin for adversaries in previous sequels (besides the obvious big-headed monster). 

Of course not everything is toned to serious space opera stuff. It was Tsuchiya that suggested the "Godzilla dance", doing so to a supportive effects man in Eiji Tsuburaya, which won out over the objections of Honda. This dance was inspired by a dance done in a manga called Oso Matsu-kun (although at least Godzilla doesn't shot "Shie!" like the manga). This happened to be the last time that Tsuburaya served as the director of special effects (he would serve as the supervisor with his own company for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep the following year while Sadamasa Arikawa directed the effects, however). For me, the dance is fine, because we are talking about a quasi-space opera with aliens that harmed by soundwaves and other strange things, which is a far cry from the original but still just as interesting. Honda lamented the film in later years, calling the production a "vicious cycle of time and budget", since the recycled scenes could only fool audiences for a while before they would eventually notice. At least the effects look well enough to keep me interested, and the film runs efficiently at 94 minutes to not drag before settling on Godzilla. Honestly, I thought the movie worked fine in keeping consistency, where it keeps the exposition concise enough to not seem slogged down in repetition, and the space sequences seem refreshing without looking ridiculous (this is 1965, after all). When comparing the film to the previous three films released in the 1960s, I would say that this one ranks right up with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) in keeping the entertainment value consistent with a refreshing story to make a worthwhile successor to the series without leaving any seams of doubt to start tearing up. Regardless of the troubles that Honda had with the film, it serves as a good effort from a director proficient in balancing effects with fair drama into well entertainment for audiences across the globe.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964).

Review #1225: Mothra vs. Godzilla.

Cast: 
Akira Takarada (Ichiro Sakai), Yuriko Hoshi (Junko Nakanishi), Hiroshi Koizumi (Professor Shunsuke Miura), Yū Fujiki (Jiro Nakamura), Emi and Yumi Ito (The Shobijin), Kenji Sahara (Jiro Torahata), Jun Tazaki (Maruta, Chief Editor), Yoshifumi Tajima (Kumayama), with Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla) Directed by Ishirō Honda (#167 - Godzilla [1954/1956], #711 - Mothra, #1092 - Gorath, and #1224 - King Kong vs. Godzilla)

Review: 
It is easy to see where the Godzilla films started to make their next step of evolution when it comes to this film. Oh sure, Godzilla had significant shift in tone (alongside being in color and widescreen) with the previous film, and its success led to further Godzilla films, but this was the first one to make a monster mashup between Toho properties. The film shares the same director, screenwriter and even the same cinematographer and effects director (Honda, Shinichi Sekizawa, Hajime Koizumi and Eiji Tsuburaya, respectively) from both Mothra and King Kong vs. Godzilla, while certain actors make repeat appearances playing different characters - except for The Peanuts (a vocal group consisting of the twin Ito sisters, who had similar timbre), of course. The stories between the films do have a few similar beats to them as well with regard to parts involving a mysterious island and some fairy guardians, so it's more of a sequel to Mothra than to Godzilla but expecting a grip on continuity between movies can prove a bit silly when faced with monster mashing each other like presented here. The original intent was to have Godzilla be the one to wash ashore instead of Mothra's egg, but it was scrapped in part because of the logistics of a character trying to exploit a huge radioactive body for any sort of money (as opposed to just doing an enterprise about a big egg). It holds itself better story-wise when compared to the previous Godzilla movie, holding off on its headline battle long enough to make a worthwhile 88-minute movie seem like a breeze. It makes a kaiju (giant monster) fight between Godzilla and a colossal moth like Mothra seem actually feasible and not completely ludicrous - watching the former try to stave off two big larvae with spray is amusing and fairly satisfying for a climax that leaves the door open for further ideas (with a sequel released eight months later after release). In American releases, it was distributed as Godzilla vs. the Thing (as ridiculous as that sounds) by American International Pictures, including footage shot by Toho specifically for its release while shortening or removing certain sequences (such as cutting out the use of a gun by one of the characters on the other). In any case Mothra vs. Godzilla is a nicely done installment in the Godzilla series, taking the entertainment levels to comfortable heights with a serviceable foundation in story and a well-earned climax to go alongside its predecessors without trouble. It delivers with excitement for the audiences it aims for with no sense of wanting to stop giving treats of folks in rubber suits beating each other down.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962).

Review #1224: King Kong vs. Godzilla. 

Cast:  

Tadao Takashima (Osamu Sakurai), Kenji Sahara (Kazuo Fujita), Yū Fujiki (Kinsaburo Furue), Ichirō Arishima (Mr. Tako), Mie Hama (Fumiko Sakurai), Jun Tazaki (General Masami Shinzo), Akiko Wakabayashi (Tamie), Akihiko Hirata (Shigesawa, Doctor), Somesho Matsumoto (Onuki, Doctor), Akemi Negishi (Chikiro's Mother, Faro Island Native), with Shoichi Hirose (King Kong) and Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla) Directed by Ishirō Honda (#167 - Godzilla [1954/1956], #711 - Mothra, #1092 - Gorath)

Review: 
I suppose if there is any Godzilla film that gets mentioned quite a bit by monster moviegoers, it would be this one - after all, it remains the highest attended film of the franchise in Japan, having sold 11.2 million tickets on original release, with release in other countries (such as America) to follow. It is the third film of the franchise, released seven years after Godzilla Raids Again. The genesis for the film took place over a span of two years, evolving from the original proposition from effects animator Willis O'Brien (known from his work on King Kong) that he dubbed King Kong meets Frankenstein, for which a big fight between Kong and a giant Frankenstein would occur in San Francisco, with a script eventually being fleshed out by a writer named George Worthing Yates. Attempts to ship the idea to other studios did not pan out well in part because of the intent to do the film effects in stop-motion (deemed too costly), but Toho eventually acquired interest in the idea of making a film with King Kong, albeit through replacing Frankenstein with Godzilla to be released in 1962, Toho's 30th anniversary as a company. Honda returned as director alongside Eiji Tsuburaya directing the special effects, with a new writer in Shinichi Sekizawa; this is contrast to the first two films - the first film had a screenplay from Takeo Murata and Honda with a story from Shigeru Kayama, while the second film had Murata and Shigeaki Hidaka do the screenplay with Kayama as story writer. With this new writer came a light shift in tone. This shift also applied to the action with the monsters, such as when the two monsters volley a boulder back and forth. Nearly half the budget (roughly $200,000) dealt with paying RKO Pictures for the rights to King Kong. The film takes its time in setting the stage for its two monsters with its plot of the humans, for which Honda intended to be a satire on the Japanese TV industry. After all, there is quite a bit of humor on the attempts to drive up ratings (for a pharmaceutical company sponsoring TV programs). In that sense, it comes off as a bit silly, but at least it gives you a glimpse at what is to come without having a complete tonal shift when the monsters show up, with it being half an hour before either Kong or Godzilla show up, and the former monster has more to do with the plot for the opening hour before the latter monster makes more of an appearance. In that regard, the acting is just fine, playing itself a bit tongue-in-cheek with a bit of energy to try and make sure things aren't being wobbily held before its key players come in to show their hand. Arishima is the key highlight in giving off a bit of amusement amongst a minimal but passable story.

It does have some of the beats from the original King Kong, such as a trip to a mysterious island with natives that holds Kong defending them against other monsters (in this case, octopuses) along with bringing him back for publicity sake, and he even takes a girl with him while climbing up a giant building. I do applaud the look given to Godzilla, which certainly looks wonderful for his first foray in color. King Kong doesn't come off as well, mostly because the face looks a bit closed in, and the fur does seem a bit too distracting when wondering what kind of fur carpet they cut it from. Admittedly, it proves pretty amusing when it actually builds up to the two monsters meeting for their big final battle in the 85 minute mark, what with Kong being transported there by a stack of big balloons while asleep (the less said, the better). I applaud the idea to try and freshen up the films by going for a bit lighter fare, even if it does come at the cost of the characters; it certainly sticks out in the evolution of these films from films about a radioactive monster that attacks Japan to one involving a monster that encounters other particular monsters in a mashup, which is quite enjoyable to look at. The American edit that followed included removal and re-cutting of certain scenes, making the action seem like it was from a newscast, while utilizing music from older movies (a good deal of them from monster movies) that was shot for three days and $15,500 that was eventually distributed by Universal-International in American theaters in 1963. The versions differed only slightly in the climatic battle, with the edit including footage from The Mysterians (1957) to make a earthquake sequence seem more destructive, slight differences in dialogue regarding speculation over Godzilla surviving or not, and hearing only Kong's roar in the end. The success of this film prompted Toho to propose a sequel (which would've been called Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla), but the project did not come to fruition (they did however help co-produce King Kong Escapes in 1967, based off an animated series that Rankin/Bass had done earlier in the decade). They also had ideas about pitting Godzilla versus Frankenstein's monster, but this was scrapped instead in favor of pitting the monster against a familiar creature in Mothra, which was released two years later. Over a half century later, there will finally be a matchup of Godzilla and Kong, this time by Legendary Pictures. One would expect they will come up with a servicable story that isn't just repeating the same beats like other certain studios - at least monster movies inspire plenty of imagination. In any case, this is a fairly entertaining spectacle piece, having light fun with its big mashup between people in rubber suits that appeals well to both adults and kids alike, whether having popcorn at hand or not.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Gorath.

Review #1092: Gorath.

Cast: 
Ryô Ikebe (Dr. Tazawa - Astrophysicist), Yumi Shirakawa (Tomoko Sonoda), Akira Kubo (Tatsuma Kanai - Cadet Astronaut), Kumi Mizuno (Takiko Nomura), Hiroshi Tachikawa (Wakabayashi - Pilot of Ôtori), Akihiko Hirata (Endô - Captain of Ôtori), Kenji Sahara (Saiki - Vice Captain of Ôtori), Jun Tazaki (Raizô Sonoda - Tomoko's Father), Ken Uehara (Dr. Kôno - Astrophysicist), and Takashi Shimura (Kensuke Sonoda - Paleontologist) Directed by Ishirō Honda (#167 - Godzilla and #711 - Mothra)

Review: 
Note: I watched the English dubbed version of this film, which I happened to encounter on television last night. However, I have found a source or two that have compared the original version and the English dubbed version (which features Paul Frees for some of the voices), which are slightly noticeable in its editing, and I hope that seeing the English dub doesn't affect the quality of this review, since I generally try to watch a world cinema film with its original language and subtitles. In any case, I hope you enjoy this review.

With this science fiction film (also known as Yôsei Gorasu), you get the best of both worlds (of sorts): You get your share of shots in space involving either rockets or a planet and you also get your share of scenes involving exposition and occasional story bits with characters. Whether that makes for a serviceable time is up to you, but I found it be okay if not too particularly exceptional. The actors are fairly okay, but because of how the film likes to jump around between numerous people (generally ones in some sort authority), there isn't anyone who sticks out too particularly well, although Tazaki commands a bit of attention for the brief time he is on screen. The strangest moment of the movie isn't even involving the deadly planet, it's actually a part where one of the characters (played by Kubo) takes a framed photo of someone who died and throws it out the window. A close second involves the planet apparently having the power to give someone who gets close to it some sort of amnesia - which is cured by looking at it again apparently. There isn't really too much to the story other than just the incoming planet (which you get to hear is 6,000 times the mass of Earth a few times) and some exposition on the solution to said planet: move the Earth. In a worse movie, it'd probably be easy to pick at that and probably get mad for being insulting to the mind, but in a movie as okay as this, it doesn't feel too terrible to go through, perhaps since it doesn't feel too deceptive in being entertainment - success or not.

The effects are pretty nice to look at for the time that they were created in, having some model shots that seem pretty convincing at moments, particularly during the climax with a flood, which is quite striking. At the head of the department behind the visual effects for the film along with Toho as a studio was Eiji Tsuburaya (who you may know as one of the creators for Godzilla). One interesting thing about the film is a giant walrus named Maguma that appears near the end of the movie, which was added in at the last minute due to influence from one of the producers. Most of the sequence was actually cut out of the English-dubbed version, believe it or not, with the result being a bit disjointed and probably more amusing to giggle at than the original. There exists numerous run-times for the film, with the original being 88 minutes long, the German version being 84 minutes, the American version being 83 minutes, and the American VHS release being 77 minutes. The movie doesn't try to be just one of those sci-fi movies that throw random situations at an audience, having an aim for presenting a message involving cooperation between humans and achievement against all odds, which at the very least is something worth presenting. It isn't a complete success, but it isn't a complete failure either. It won't be known as a great classic, but it is something that you could encounter late at night and probably have some enjoyment with in you're in the right mood.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.