Talkback: Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

[ILL GREEN]

You mean this song, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jffwahB4zg

His "cameo" on that Zappa cover deserves a mention as well.

http://i.imgur.com/e9D2nlQ.jpg?1

Never saw that Zappa LP and I collect Mothers of Invention albums whenever I see them. Gotta up my record game.

[Red Yoshi]

Gotta love this one.
I grew up with this and Godzilla vs. Gigan. It was weird, definitely early 70's-styled, but Banno did a great job on it. I honestly wouldn't like it any other way than it is now.

[The Robber]

It's the oddball of the Showa series and I love the weirdness of it. The first half is great, though it peters out towards the end (the big battle between Godzilla and Hedorah is just boring). Still, it's ... interesting. I wish there were more drug-fueled countercultural kaiju films out there.

[Megalon-5]

It's the oddball of the Showa series and I love the weirdness of it. The first half is great, though it peters out towards the end (the big battle between Godzilla and Hedorah is just boring). Still, it's ... interesting. I wish there were more drug-fueled countercultural kaiju films out there.

Man, can you imagine a world where the franchise went into increasingly weirder and trippier directions and Hedorah was considered one of the more normal Godzilla films? That's the kinda thing I wanna see.

[KaijuFiend]

Man, can you imagine a world where the franchise went into increasingly weirder and trippier directions and Hedorah was considered one of the more normal Godzilla films? That's the kinda thing I wanna see.

That sounds amazing. It came slightly close to happening, too. The proposed idea for A Space Godzilla makes Hedorah look normal.

[The Robber]

The whole idea of daikaiju is totally surreal if you think about it. It would have leant itself really well to psychedelia.

[Kubo]

The whole idea of daikaiju is totally surreal if you think about it. It would have leant itself really well to psychedelia.

You and me...we'd get along real nice, methinks.

But yeah, get one that's spaced-out, really colorful, and surreal and I think it'd garner quite a cult following--if done correctly.

[three]

not a big fan of this one. it's a Showa film i was really late to seeing, only getting around to it recently. but anyway, i felt that the message was too in your face, the acting was weird (yea, i know, crucify me, but i hate it when we focus on kids in a movie), there was alot of nonsense going on, and the antagonist was nasty. overall, one of my least favorites.

[daveblackeye15]

Love it dearly, possibly my first Godzilla movie at four or five. Might be second with Godzilla 1985 so close together I got a taste of dark grounded Godzilla and outlandish Godzilla. I always took Hedorah as being malicious and petty with it laughing several times at its own destruction. Hedorah still creeps me out and I love how it transforms through out the movie.

I mean the one before was sticking Godzilla's Revenge, this had very little stock footage and I saw more effort in it. But, like Godzilla 2014, I understand people may dislike it.

[skuzzy-punk-kid]

The brass fanfare whenever Godzilla enters the screen makes me think Godzilla is drunk. It has the same cue as his fanfare in Godzilla vs. Megalon (considering the fact both movies were scored by Riichiro Manabe).

[he-ba]

The brass fanfare whenever Godzilla enters the screen makes me think Godzilla is drunk. It has the same cue as his fanfare in Godzilla vs. Megalon (considering the fact both movies were scored by Riichiro Manabe).

Oh drunk is being nice.....

[kamilleblu]

The brass fanfare whenever Godzilla enters the screen makes me think Godzilla is drunk. It has the same cue as his fanfare in Godzilla vs. Megalon (considering the fact both movies were scored by Riichiro Manabe).

Oh drunk is being nice.....

I love that fanfare, it went along well with the movie. However, it definitely shouldn't have been recycled for Godzilla vs. Megalon.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

So, has anyone noticed that there's some interesting parallels between Godzilla vs. Hedorah and Godzilla (54)? Take for example the one-eyed scientist who develops the method to kill the antagonistic monster. In Godzilla, it's Dr. Serizawa, who develops the Oxygen Destroyer, but did not intend on using it on the monster. In Hedorah, we have Dr. Yano, who develops the electric array. It should be noted that these two roles are foils: Dr. Serizawa is passive in his creation of a weapon, while he is active in his ability to defeat the monster and has power in doing so. Conversely, Dr. Yano is active in weapon creation, but passive in the utilization of it and powerless during the climax.

That's just some of the parallels I've noticed in the film.

[three]

The movie turned me off way before anything that profound could sink in, SS.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Hey, did anyone notice how Godzilla loses an eye as well? Hedorah does too!

It's like poetry! They rhyme!

That input is so useful to the conversation that it can no longer exist.

The movie turned me off way before anything that profound could sink in, SS.

That's a shame. I'll be honest, I only picked up on it because I was showing my friends a costumed-Godzilla movie, and I made a comment about the film being the "Post-Modern Godzilla film." After saying that, my literary analysis reflex turned on.

[Gojora]

Remember kids, if you take a shit in outer space and it goes nearby a nuclear plant, you're bond to have a real life hedorah that feeds off pollution.

[The Robber]

The whole idea of daikaiju is totally surreal if you think about it. It would have leant itself really well to psychedelia.

You and me...we'd get along real nice, methinks.

Apparently!

But yeah, get one that's spaced-out, really colorful, and surreal and I think it'd garner quite a cult following--if done correctly.

It's unfortunate, but the 1970s might be the only point in history that could have produced something like that.

[TheKaijuologist]

Big ol fan of this film. One the most unique kaiju films for a host of reasons. I missed Earth Day...apparently, but I just got a review up for the film for fans who want more discussion:-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrr2QNI ... vu4g5krs04

[KaijuFiend]

Big ol fan of this film. One the most unique kaiju films for a host of reasons. I missed Earth Day...apparently, but I just got a review up for the film for fans who want more discussion:-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrr2QNI ... vu4g5krs04

Great review! You bring up a lot of things I never gave thought to/realized, things that only make me love this film more!

[TheKaijuologist]

Big ol fan of this film. One the most unique kaiju films for a host of reasons. I missed Earth Day...apparently, but I just got a review up for the film for fans who want more discussion:-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrr2QNI ... vu4g5krs04

Great review! You bring up a lot of things I never gave thought to/realized, things that only make me love this film more!

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed! Best Avatar ever by the by:-)