Godzilla Vs Hedorah
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Movie Reviews of Godzilla Vs Hedorah
Movie Review: ODD, BIZARRE, PSYCHEDELIC, BUT FOR SOME REASON A TRULY ENJOYABLE GODZILLA FILM WITH A SERIOUS 5 Stars
A strange Godzilla movie. I saw "Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster" in the movies in 1972. The dubbing is not very good, but the high definition remastering is incredible despite some of the movies dark lighted scenes. The anomorphic widescreen presentation of this film is awesome. "Save The Earth" is not sung in english (RATS!!!!) as it is sung in Japanese, it does'nt matter as I know the words from my childhood days. Yoshimitsu Bano the director of Smog Monster would be directing this movie as it would be his last for Toho Pictures. Yoshimitsu Banno angered Toho studios so much because they wanted a child orientated Godzilla movie. What Banno gave them was a crying baby trapped in the Hedorahs deadly sludge, knowing full aware that the baby was eventually to die. Another disturbing scene was when Hedorah flies over some people they are incinerated and turn to bones. A crying cat in a night club was trapped in sludge as you were aware of its final outcome. The drug, pot smoking hippies were cool in their night club scene with their dancing to the Psychedelic lighted back drop. The thing that was really interesting and facinating was the animated explanations about the Hedorah and pollution. The music score by Riichiro Manabe for this movie was really cool and far out there. My favorite part of the music score was towards the end when Godzilla flies after Hedorah (the drum roll as Godzilla takes off and than the big horns and the organ rip as Godzilla catches up to Hedorah).Toho was concerned about offending children with this Godzilla release due to some graphic scenes. No Godzilla movie before Smog Monster was ever as graphic and offensive as this one, and this was in my opinion Godzillas whimp stage in his movie career as Toho tried to make Godzilla more human like to appeal more to children. What a mistake that was, as I am not crazy about the Godzilla mask in this installment of the Godzilla films. If you look when Godzilla is wallowing in the mud pit that Hedorah dropped him in, you could see the Godzilla mask from "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster 1966". This is definintly not one of my favorite Godzilla movies but I enjoyed this movie for it's message about pollution and its dark message of profit despite the pollution it creates. This same message (pollution) was used in Godzilla Vs. Mothra (1964) but clearly more visible in Smog Monster. I also enjoyed the creativity that went into the production of this movie. Yoshimitsu Banno presented a grim message about pollution and was banned from Toho pictures after "Godzilla Vs. Hedorah" but he really tackled a growing pollution problem in Japan at the time of this pictures production and release. There are no extra materials on this dvd release, but it is worth buying for the high definition widecreen presentation and clear sound. "Godzilla Vs. Hedorah" is embarassing at times, but an oddly, facinating, interesting Godzilla movie. Even Godzilla was a Hippie, HAA!!, HAA!!, HAA!!, Review: Godzilla Goes Green
Summary: 5 Stars Growing up in the 1970's we were innundated with anti-pollution icons like the Owl with his "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" slogan, or Iron Eyes Cody shedding a single tear when a litterbug throws some trash from his speeding car...but the one I remember most vividly was Godzilla's Hedorah! This greyish slimy ooze monster was truly disgusting, and seeing Tokyo's polluted waters, the dead fish floating among the discarded mannequins and slime...YUCK!
The basic story here is that thanks to mankind's pollution a mutated space tadpole grows to gargantuan size and threatens Japan and the Earth. Our only hope lies in Godzilla protecting us from the acid spewing creature. Hedorah is a pretty nasty foe for the giant lizard. Made of sludge, Godzilla's powerful punches are all but useless against the ooze monster, more often than not passing right through the creature without doing any harm. Hedorah can spit wads of goo which burn will burn through almost anything and Hedorah can also turn himself into a flying spaceship-type thing that leaves a poisonous gas in its wake, killing everything on the ground below. Can Godzilla stop Hedorah before all of Earth is covered in a cloud of noxious gas???
This was always one of my favorite Godzilla films growing up. You had the cool late 60's early 70's Japanese rock music sprinkled throughout the film, some nifty little animated sequences, a pretty inventive monster with some unusual powers, and one of the first films I can remember where the monster targets humans specifically, not just causing havoc by flattening buildings or sinking ships (though there is also plenty of that as well) but actually doing it's best to kill any human bystanders it sees. I love the moment when Hedorah attacks a freeway, or when some Japanese kids are rocking out on Mount Fuji and Hedorah decides to crash the party. This is a pretty imaginitive flick, and if you haven't seen it since Creature Features ran on the UHF channels, you should give this one another viewing. One of the best of the series in my opinion.
Movie Review: GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER!!!!! SAVE THE EARTH!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a notorious movie. Why? Becouse fans are so divided about it. You either live it or hate it. Personally, I love it!! Love, love, love, love, love!!!! I would really rather this was the American International version
that was released to American theatres and TV in the seventies. That version had excelent dubbing done in America. And the opening disco/go-go number dubbed into english by a very good professional american singer. The dialogue was more fun also. "Superman beats them all!!" This version isn't bad really. The dubbing is that same Hong-Kong Kung Fu "OH!! OH!!! You have killed my master!! AAAHHH!! AHH!"
"We heard about your trouble with Fut-Yoo" "OH OH, Fut-Yoo was my own student!" Etc., dubbing from other seventies Godzillas. But it is not too bad. I'd say the dubbing is close to the quality of TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA and alot better than the dubbing of GODZILLA VS. GIGAN or GODZILLA VS. MEGALON which is by far the worst. By the way the name HEDORAH means "sludge monster", but "smog monster" just sounds better. The english dialogue is pretty good actually, since I could follow what everyone was talking about alot better than usual. No double talk suggests that this is not translated directly from the Japanese, and a peak at the japanese track seems to confirm this. So the english script was probably written by someone with a pretty good concept of how english speakers actually talk. Real Japanese dialogue tends to sound repetative and confusing, especially when discussing scientific jargun. Japanese has a structure that is very different from english, unlike, say for example. So an idiomatic translation from japanese to english is out of the question.
Also, in regards to Godzilla's flying. As silly as it may seem, and look onscreen. The more powers the better! I say. Superman gets cooler the more powers he gets. Right! (and Superman beats them all!) The more powers Yoda and Steve Austin (the bionic guy,not the wrestler) got. The cooler they got. Same goes with Godzilla.
Movie Review: A Godzilla Film That Has Improved With Age
Summary: 5 Stars
Most people just write this film off their lists of Godzilla-films-to-see but GODZILLA vs HEDORAH (aka THE SMOG MONSTER) is a film that has, like a great wine, improved with age. First of all, this DVD features the "international" English dubbed version--not the AIP-dubbed version that most of us grew up with at drive-ins and television. While we may miss the familar voices we remember, we also get the original Japanese version with subtitles (or dub-titles, we'll have to see) and in widescreen format. That's a good thing, but it may not make the few remaining Orion-released VHS copies obsolete.
The film was directed by a one-time director who really wanted to go all out to create something "new" which is why Godzilla is able to fly at the film's conclusion. When the film was finished and released, the executive director Tomoyuki Tanaka was recovering in the hospital. Upon seeing the film, he told director Banno that he had "ruined Godzilla." He never directed a G film again.
But despite the film's flaws, it still remains an interesting movie with curious questions. What is the signifigance of the "poked" eye of three characters? Does Godzilla pull out "eyes" or "eggs" from Hedorah's carcass? How did a kitten survive being slimed while others are burned by Hedorah's sludge? There are uncharacteristic scenes of bloodied skeletons and acid eating away at the faces of Hedorah's smoke trail. And there are some very interesting segways between scenes: the montage of the TV monitors showing a crying baby trapped in a mud hole, symbolic animation and some very inventive SFX scenes.
When I first saw this film at a dusk-lit drive-in in 1972, I remember distinctly the boy protagonist playing with several Godzilla toys and wanted those SO badly! But I was always puzzled when the said "Superman beats them all!" Well, in that case, can I have your Godzilla toys, kid??
Movie Review: The Most Original Godzilla Since the Original
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is crazy, but I love it!!
From man's pollution, the evil Hedorah is spawned, and only Godzilla can save us!
This has to be the most darkest film of the Showa Era, and the most unique. It holds the dark aspect of the original Godzilla by introducing a similiar threat:Hedorah, a monster of pollution both figuratively, and literally. Hedorah represents the result of waste, and what may happen if we continue to pollute the earth. This monster is actually shown as a threat like the original Godzilla by burning people, crushing cities. The difference between Hedorah and the other foes Godzilla faces is that you see the horrors of Hedorah, while as in other movies you just had to assume the people died. The scenes where Hedorah melts the skin of people is disturbing and none the less, it's used effectively. Godzilla may have turned to a campy hero, but it suits the movie well. I find both sides of Godzilla, the monster and hero, good aspects. The human cast is good, especially the scientist. The most boring characters are that of Yukio and his girlfriend. The special effects are really good for a movie of the time. The Hedorah suits and attacks are awesome and Hedorah's flying form looks effective because you don't see the wires. Godzilla looks a little beat up, but grand none the less. There is NO stock footage in this movie which is a big plus in my book. I hate stock footage in a movie. And the music, although odd, is suited well for this movie. It's nowhere near Akira Ikufube though.
Yoshimitsu Banno was sadly banned from making another Godzilla film after this. But know this- Yoshimitsu Banno made a great Godzilla Film. I really appreciate his efforts!
I know a good although odd Godzilla film when I see one.
Give this movie higher reviews!
Pros- Hedorah, Godzilla, Lots of monster Action,Special Effects
Cons- Music