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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 20, 2008 0:31:11 GMT -8
Nick Adams ... Astronaut Glenn
Akira Takarada ... Astronaut K. Fuji
Jun Tazaki ... Dr. Sakurai
Akira Kubo ... Tetsuo Teri
Kumi Mizuno ... Miss Namikawa
Keiko Sawai ... Haruno Fuji
Yoshio Tsuchiya ... Controller of Planet X
Takamaru Sasaki ... Chairman of Earth Committee
Gen Shimizu ... Minister of Defense
Kenzo Tabu ... Commander from Planet X
Yoshifumi Tajima ... General
Nadao Kirino ... Military Aide
Koji Uno ... Namikawa's Associate
Toru Ibuki ... Xian
Kazuo Suzuki ... Xian
easily one of the top Godzilla movies. the new DVD is pretty darn good, better than the Simitar DVD, but that's no surprise to anyone, i'll warrant. the commentary is a bit dry, and could have used another commentator.
anyway, a great movie!
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Post by Torgaman on Jan 20, 2008 10:08:16 GMT -8
Anyone know why Ghidorah wins at the end?
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Post by Gwangi on Jan 20, 2008 21:11:25 GMT -8
Oh I don't know. Perhaps Ghidrah was retreating because as Tetsuo said in describing Godzilla and Rodan "They're too tough!"
I actually don't remember when I started liking Godzilla, but, I do remember this as the very first G-flick I saw from beginning to end. And they would show it again the next day! (Good ole KTLA Channel 5, when it was a great independent station).
Oddly enough, today, I don't see this as a Godzilla movie, but rather a movie that happens to have Godzilla. With Ghidrah as the title monster and Nick Adams and so forth, why not?
Nick Adams gives my favorite performance of any Western actor who was in a kaiju, although I think that Akira Kubo, playing against type, comes out the best. And gotta love the bubbly Xian spaceships! Fun movie all around!
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 20, 2008 22:39:15 GMT -8
well, i never thought Ghidrah was left because he was winning- he was headed back OFF planet.
i know, some fans who can't handle Kong winning say it's the same scenario, but not really, since Kong was the hero of that movie, and Ghidrah is the villain of this one. as a kid, i knew who was the clear winner in both movies- seemed easy to me then! 
the first time this aired (that i remember) on Channel 2, it was a Sunday afternoon. i was in the mountains at a family friend's house, but didn't KNOW this was a Godzilla movie. there must not have been a descriptive blurb in the tv guide that week. i was mighty chagrined to find out otherwise the next day at school. i didn't even know Ghidrah was IN the movie until then!
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Post by Gwangi on Jan 21, 2008 13:10:23 GMT -8
Yes, I saw it at my grandmother's house (this was probably in 1974), and I also didn't know it was a Godzilla movie. (Heck, I didn't know Monster X was Ghidrah!). Unfortunately, my uncle, who for some reason had a disdain for Godzilla, ruined the ending for me and said that Ghidrah was going to win! That reason along is why he gets a fruitcake from me every Christmas! ;D Nah, just kidding!
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Post by Lunkhead on Jan 21, 2008 16:17:29 GMT -8
Definitely a fun one. Plus, it's so cool having Nick Adams in it.
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Post by August on Jan 21, 2008 23:23:31 GMT -8
Here's what I wrote about MONSTER ZERO for the Godzillafest program book:
MONSTER ZERO
Kaiju Daisenso, 1965, 94 minutes
Director ISHIRO HONDA
Executive Producer TOMOYUKI TANAKA Screenplay SHINICHI SEKIZAWA Production Design TAKEO KITA Cinematography HAJIME KOIZUMI Film Editor RYOHEI FUJII Music AKIRA IFUKUBE Special Effects Production Design AKIRA WATANABE Special Effects Photography SADAMASA ARIKAWA Special Effects Director EIJI TSUBURAYA [US Version]: Producers HENRY G. SAPERSTEIN and REUBEN BERCOVITCH Dialogue Supervisor RICHARD KROWN
NICK ADAMS (Forrest Glenn) AKIRA TAKARADA (Kazuo Fuji) KUMI MIZUNO (Namikawa) KEIKO SAWAI (Haruno Fuji) AKIRA KUBO (Tetsuo Torii) JUN TAZAKI (Dr. Sakurai) and YOSHIO TSUCHIYA (The Controller)
"I've got big news for you, Pal!"
In May of 1965, Henry G. Saperstein of United Productions of America, announced that he signed a five picture deal with Toho, that would see films produced with the inclusion of American actors, instead of said thesps being added into the films as an afterthought (as in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS). The first production was FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, featuring Nick Adams in the starring role. Adams (1931-1968) was a likeable television star with a hit series under his belt, THE REBEL, but was finding it hard to secure work (because of Hollywood politics), and jumped at the opportunity. Well-liked by Toho's cast and crew, Adams' outstanding mark on MONSTER ZERO is one of best qualities in a film brimming with good qualities, and he steals the show with his self-written dialogue (which was as "rough" as was allowed by US standards in the mid-1960s).
The on-screen rapport between the Astronauts, played by Adams and Akira Takarada (who starred in the first GODZILLA), was that of old chums, and is extremely believable -- they only knew each other for a few months before shooting the film. Adams' off-screen rapport with Yoshio Tsuchiya (who was in Kurosawa's repertory of actors, and played "Rikichi" in SEVEN SAMURAI) was another thing entirely. The two would play practical jokes on each other -- when Adams asked how to say "Good Morning" in Japanese, Tsuchiya taught him to say "I'm starving," instead. Tsuchiya's icy and robotic "Controller," was an elaboration of his similar role in THE MYSTERIANS (1957), and created the "X-ian" language uttered in the uncut version. Toho's stunningly beautiful actress, Kumi Mizuno (b.1937) plays the X-ian who falls from computer-directed grace by loving Glenn -- rumors to the thespians' love affair, the break-up of Adams' marriage, and the connection to his untimely death, are still hotly debated to this day.
One of our Guests of Honor, Akira Kubo (see Guest Biographies), plays the nerdy inventor "Tetsuo" to a tee -- cast against type from his self-assured and straightforward roles in films like MATANGO (1963) and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968). The infectious personality of Adams, coupled with Honda's witty direction, magnetically pulls the cast together (akin to a seasoned ensemble), adding immeasurably to MONSTER ZERO. Honda and Sekizawa's clever (and often humorous) scene transitions are spot-on, and propel the film along at a swift clip. Underlined by Maestro Ifukube's eerie and effective score, one of his most emotional and atmospheric, replete with bombastic marches and theremin-esque rumblings, set the tone perfectly.
Takeo Kita's stellar production design is a departure from the average kaiju eiga, with larger, more imaginative sets, which are peppered throughout the film -- noteworthy are the "Star Cabaret" (where Tetsuo takes his girlfriend) and the surface of Planet X and its underground complex. Akira Watanabe's special effects production design matches the texture of the live action sets, such as the surface of the alien world (with its beautiful painted backdrop featuring a looming Jupiter), the evocative saucers and the spaceship P-1. The "A-Cycle Light Ray Cannon" (a precursors to the Maser Cannons of WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS) used to fight the X-ians were designed by Shigeru Komatsuzaki, who designed similar weapons for THE MYSTERIANS and ATRAGON (1963), and is just another reason why MONSTER ZERO is such a memorable production.
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Post by Torgaman on Jan 22, 2008 11:08:17 GMT -8
This was also perhaps the first film in which Toho seemed to cater to American fans by having Ghidrah destroy an American city.The sequence was incorporated into the actual story,rather than reshot and later inserted into the American version.
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Post by August on Jan 22, 2008 13:23:30 GMT -8
Ghidorah never destroyed an American city on-screen; its only mentioned in exposition, "King Ghidorah is in the United States." But, there is no such footage. Toho didn't have to "cater" to American audiences, since the film was a co-production between Toho and Benedict Productions (Henry G. Saperstein), and Nick Adams was included in the cast to appeal to the US market -- this was after FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, which was the first such kaiju eiga to do this.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 22, 2008 14:01:22 GMT -8
it would have been cool to see a brief shot of Ghidrah in the US- heck, any unnamed city could have been used.
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Post by Gwangi on Jan 22, 2008 21:45:31 GMT -8
Well, I guess the closest thing is that Mobile Gas station getting destroyed by Ghidrah (and of course, Mothra also did away with a Mobile Gas station, if I recall. Just how many times where these stations destroyed by a kaiju?).
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hastur
Jungle Patrol
Posts: 42
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Post by hastur on Jan 24, 2008 15:11:56 GMT -8
This is one Rockin' Godzilla movie !!
While I don't think it's as good as GHIDRAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER in some ways it might be better. I've loved this one since I was a little brat and always will. Still wish Mothra would have been included (As planned I hear). Just awesome!!!
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Post by Shonokin on Jan 24, 2008 16:17:44 GMT -8
I think this was the first Ghidorah movie I saw when I was 8 or 9. It came on at 3 in the morning and we had a sleep-over at a friends house to watch it. There were 4 or 5 of us and I think just me and one other guy were able to stay awake to watch it.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 25, 2008 22:52:52 GMT -8
i never did get to see movies like that too much- i mean with a gaggle of friends. i do remember seeing SMOG MONSTER with my mom, brother, friend Scott, his sister Angie and his mom in the afternoon on the telly.
they were mostly worried about the cat that got slimed.
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Post by Torgaman on Jan 26, 2008 10:56:33 GMT -8
I got something to say about GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER but will wait until it is the MOVIE OF THE WEEK.Hint hint.
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Post by Gwangi on Jan 26, 2008 18:00:23 GMT -8
they were mostly worried about the cat that got slimed. Me too! That poor little kitty.  |
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 26, 2008 18:55:36 GMT -8
it never really is explained why the neko- cat- survived, huh?
i never knew that Tetsui was the same actor as the heroic captain of the Moonlight SY3. what a great actor he is!
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Post by RedKing on Jan 29, 2008 7:06:37 GMT -8
Another favorite G movie of mine! I first saw this on late night TV when i was 7 or 8, and again in 1984 when i was 13 when good old ch 11 WPIX from NYC had a monster week in the summer on their noon movie that consisted of this, War of the Gargantuas, Navy vs Night Monsters(which i skipped), Gammera the Invincible and Godzilla vs the Thing! I had to go down to my grandmother and aunt's house to see them because we didn't have cable(we lived out in the woods). Unlike many fanboys, i always loved the "Gojira Shie". The fight on Planet X is spectacular and the final battle is pretty good as well with Rodan and Godzilla taking multiple hits from the gravity rays, but the stand out for me has always been that spectacular destruction scene with godzilla, Rodan and King Ghidorah leveling everything in their path, even with the stock footage from RODAN and MOTHRA (notice the New Kirk Motors building!), it is still one of the best destruction scenes Toho ever did, with the music, sound effects and action all blending seamlessly-notice how they edited the scene so that as Ifukube's score changes from Godzilla and Rodan's theme to King Ghidorah's, they switch who is on screen. Magnificent! The entire cast is excellent, especially Akira Kubo who was adept at both heroic and nerdy parts! Kumi looks gorgeous as always and Nick Adams is just great! My favorite quote from him is when he and Fuji discover the golden garden on Planet X-"Man, if it was air conditioned I'd live in it!". I also liked the more adult assertions of the story with Nick and Kumi spending the night together at that secluded bungalow!
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Post by Gwangi on Jan 30, 2008 14:40:56 GMT -8
Another favorite G movie of mine! I first saw this on late night TV when i was 7 or 8, and again in 1984 when i was 13 when good old ch 11 WPIX from NYC had a monster week in the summer on their noon movie that consisted of this, War of the Gargantuas, Navy vs Night Monsters(which i skipped), Gammera the Invincible and Godzilla vs the Thing! Redking, not sure if you are old enough to remember, but did the WPIX Chiller Theater go something like this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=asO97gdn2ooAnd here is KTLA's 1970s movie intro. (too bad it was not a kaiju they were featuring). It's been years since I've last heard that voice guy! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5hyVBpVJQ8&feature=relatedDavid, what were Channel 2's call letters? |
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 30, 2008 16:07:45 GMT -8
Channel 2 was (and still is, i think) KWGN. i've found a few clips online, but nothing from the 70s.
when i first saw the movie i did wonder when the monster scenes were going to start, when the fight would occur, especially as the clock hit the 1:45 hour mark (in a two hour time slot).
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Post by amphiboid on Jan 30, 2008 22:08:46 GMT -8
Yep, here you go again, mentioning one of my very favorite Godzilla films. This was one of the films that just slammed me to the mat when I was a kid--a big platter full of special effects, rubber monster suit action and general science-fictional craziness. It's always a fun one!
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