Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

[Legion1979]

I laugh too. It's supposed to be funny, after all.

[he-ba]

This is one of my favorites. Even though the beginning, like GvM, can be boring, the action picks up and at the end we have pretty awesome fights between Godzilla and Rodan, and then Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah.

[Legion1979]

The beginnings of Mothra vs Godzilla and Ghidrah are boring? Could have fooled me.

[Kaiser]

I love Ghidorah, but I do think the beginning can be a little slow. It's only once Rodan shows up that the movie finds its groove.

[he-ba]

I'm not saying it can kill you its boring, it's just quite slow. You really have to be in the movie going mood and actually listen to the story for it to not be slow.

[Legion1979]

....if you say so.

[skuzzy-punk-kid]

....if you say so.

Do what I'd do:
-clip the movies down to just the kaiju scenes and put them on a playlist, set to Repeat All.

[Space Hunter M]

There is the Champion Festival cut though.

[Legion1979]

....if you say so.

Do what I'd do:
-clip the movies down to just the kaiju scenes and put them on a playlist, set to Repeat All.

Why would I disrespect the movies like that? I'm not 7.

[skuzzy-punk-kid]

....if you say so.

Do what I'd do:
-clip the movies down to just the kaiju scenes and put them on a playlist, set to Repeat All.

Why would I disrespect the movies like that? I'm not 7.

Wait, hold up; what exactly were you replying "...if you say so" to?

[Space Hunter M]

You could just watch the American 8mm two reeler that's just the monster fights.

[three]

i prefer Monster Zero. it skips the weird japanese angle and gets right to the part we all care about: Ghidorah destroying things and the monsters saving our planet, again.

plus, i like that the aliens in this are more deceptive, and cunning. in GTTHM, things are a bit off the cuff and more random, with no real purpose served (like our princess, for example).

[he-ba]

plus, i like that the aliens in this are more deceptive, and cunning. in GTTHM, things are a bit off the cuff and more random, with no real purpose served (like our princess, for example).

But the aliens could have just taken over the world without any plan. They were able to sneak a bunch of UFOs on the Earth without ANYBODY noticing. BIG plot hole.

[three]

plus, i like that the aliens in this are more deceptive, and cunning. in GTTHM, things are a bit off the cuff and more random, with no real purpose served (like our princess, for example).

But the aliens could have just taken over the world without any plan. They were able to sneak a bunch of UFOs on the Earth without ANYBODY noticing. BIG plot hole.

or they could have just unleashed Ghidorah, but something tells me they might not have wanted that. a direct attack may have unforeseen consequences. think like an alien invader.

[20th Century Boy]

i prefer Monster Zero. it skips the weird japanese angle and gets right to the part we all care about: Ghidorah destroying things and the monsters saving our planet, again.

That doesn't occur until the end, though.

[three]

i prefer Monster Zero. it skips the weird japanese angle and gets right to the part we all care about: Ghidorah destroying things and the monsters saving our planet, again.

That doesn't occur until the end, though.

yea, but before then there's at least something going on, not this spy business. i think that line was done to greater effect in MG. i'm also not talking specifically about the ending battle. i'm referring to them all, casually, with a statement that is completely indicative of the opposite...have i stated that i'm a genius yet?

[kamilleblu]

"... I owe you my life, Shindo."- Princess

One of my favorite moments in the series. And that particular subplot reminds me of The Bodyguard.

[daveblackeye15]

I dunno, I feel mixed on Three Headed Monster and I like Astro Monsters more.

Even as a kid this one couldn't quite grip me the same way as numerous other Godzilla movies. Maybe it was because I never owned this one in childhood like Hedorah or 1985 or Monster Zero and had to settle on renting it. I re-watched this and Monster Zero and even now there's something about Three Headed that feels kind of tired and worn out. I mean they cranked out Mothra vs. Godzilla the same year and that's one of my favorites so it feels like they over stretched themselves with this one.

Godzilla vs. Rodan felt like a missed opportunity. It should have been pretty awesome to see two more Toho titans meeting and fighting but the darn fight felt more like comedy with lots of action instead of action with comedy. King Ghidorah's entrance and attack=amazing! My heart is heavy whenever Ghidorah shoots Mothra into the air and elated when Mothra webs up her tormentor then gets tossed over the cliff. There is a great point someone posted about the human and the monster action tieing together nicely but this one just doesn't grip me. Something about it just seems kind of faded and rushed.

Yet Monster Zero just feels better put together. As though they had some time to recharge and King Ghidorah looks better than ever here. Yeah it isn't perfect, this is where King Ghidorah starts being every alien's pet monster, the Xilians apparently needed to troll some humans before just taking control of Rodan and Godzilla. But I like the doomed romance between Glen and Namikawa, the bumbling inventor trying to get on the good side of his girlfriend's brother. It's a nice bonus for once the humans stop the aliens on their own, not with Godzilla's help, they do it themselves but thankfully Godzilla and Rodan are in the same area as Ghidorah when all hell breaks loose. Of course that can be a downside too, Godzilla being so sidelined.

[AllPowersCombined]

This movie is good. That's about it. Yes, Rodan looked pretty bad and everybody seemed to attack poor Godzilla's crotch but I think everybody knew the direction these movies were heading. I like how we get to know what the monsters are really thinking even if what we learn is pretty silly.

I don't watch these movies for continuity but I like how they establish Godzilla's change of heart.

[Kaiser]

I actually prefer GTTHM because I love the assassination plot, how it weaves together with the monster action and how well it builds King Ghidorah up before his introduction. Plus I feel like this film is just more fun; Astro-Monster may be put together better but it doesn't flow as well as this one given that we only get about ten minutes of Monster action in the latter whereas we gets tons with GTTHM.