Talkback Thread #7: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

These complaints about the "WTF this was supposed to be Kong" moments are pretty damn superficial. Besides some parts of this thread (mainly when the adults are conversing) does anyone ever talk about the characters (which are stronger than most in the series), story, or direction of this film? How about the acting, the editing or the excellent score? Do most Godzilla fans even notice these things...? "The Godzilla suit was water-damaged and he looked at a girl for a moment, what a terrible movie!".

Don't get me wrong, the film has its problems (especially the last third or so which turns out to be a waste of a great build-up), but why this movie gets a worse rep than far worse 70's, 90's or 00's entries mystifies me.

I honestly don't hate the movie, truthfully I enjoyed it for what it was and I do agree on most of your points on it's upsides as a movie. I just commented on the Kong-esque bizarre moments because it stuck out in my mind 'cause I thought it was bizarre and kinda funny.

[Giga Kaiju]

It is debatably one of the best of the Showa entries. I don't see why people hate it other than with nitpicking.

[tymon]

Kaltes-Herzeleid: Sorry, that wasn't directed at you, just my overall puzzlement at where it stands with the fandom at large (though like I said, TK seems to have a more balanced picture of it).

[Legion1979]

I feel like once the younger fans heard about the orginal Kong version of the story, they got stuck on it, and it's all they're able to talk about when critiquing this movie.

[Israha]

Godzilla was acting weird before, in his own movies, which weren't made for Kong at first. Take his sitdown conversation with Rodan and Mothra from GTTHM, or his victory dance from Monster Zero as an example. What he does here? Got awakened by electricity, sits on his butt and watches Dayo, and jumps into the water in a heavily non-reptilian fashion. My guess is nobody ever nitpicked about him acting like Kong BEFORE they learned he replaced Kong in this movie, because it is barely recognizable.

Give Ebirah, Horror of the Deep a break. Not the best entry in the series, but definitely a lot of fun with a solid, engaging human plot.

[Goji]

How is squatting, the Shie dance (something Kong clearly never did), or jumping into the ocean (I fail to see how it's "heavily non-reptilian" here) 'Kong-like' behavior..?

[Kaiser]

The Kong bits were never more than some interesting trivia for me. There are one or two moments where you can tell "yeah this was originally a Kong vehicle" but that's only if you know about that fact before watching the movie. My problem with the film was that I always thought it was a bit too silly in the "Saturday morning cartoon" kind of way and how nothing on the island really poses a serious threat to Godzilla which makes the climax rather unengaging.

[Legion1979]

How is squatting, the Shie dance (something Kong clearly never did), or jumping into the ocean (I fail to see how it's "heavily non-reptilian" here) 'Kong-like' behavior..?

I think he meant that Godzilla has displayed some bizarre behavior before. It's just that people are signaling out the stuff from Sea Monster and being more critical of it BECAUSE they're hung up on the Kong connection.

[Mr. Xeno]

I actually find the human plot extremely fun. The monster bits are on the weaker side, at least in part due to the poor quality of the Godzilla suit.

Still, I will say that I, too, am surprised this has gotten such a negative reputation. It's a very enjoyable movie.

[Giga Kaiju]

The facts of Kong supposedly being on the film makes it interesting, but it doesn't break the movie like so many with apparently. It is still an enjoyable movie with Godzilla in it. Don't know why of the whole deal of making it seem like just because Kong wasn't in it, it isn't worth it...

[Israha]

How is squatting, the Shie dance (something Kong clearly never did), or jumping into the ocean (I fail to see how it's "heavily non-reptilian" here) 'Kong-like' behavior..?

Legion got it right in his post, regarding the squatting and dancing. I never said these are Kong-like features, it's just Godzilla acting weird. As for the jump, that really doesn't look like a movement giant irradiated dinosaur would naturally do. A minor nitpick nonetheless...

[Goji]

Yeah. It looks like a guy in a suit jumping into the water, and we love it anyway. Nitpicking indeed..

[Israha]

And that was my point from the start

[Giga Kaiju]

Really? The ball-cannon jump into the water is one of the best scenes, come on.

[mschenk]

Watched it last night and, yup, I liked it. I agree that the human characters are better than in most Godzilla movies, the story is pretty good, I like that there's a human bad guy, and the score is pretty good. What kept it from being great was the kaiju action at the end was a little short and not as good as it could have been. Also the Godzilla suit looks a little weird, like sometimes he was roaring and his mouth didn't move. But the movie is definitely worth having in my collection and I would watch it again.

[ebirahsmeg1]

One big strength that is often overlooked in this film is how well they balanced Godzilla as both a menace to man as well as a inadvertent ally, which I think this film does one of the better jobs of...

[edgaguirus]

Except for Daiyo, Godzilla seems to mostly ignore the humans. Sure, Godzilla wrecks the RB laboratory, but it was just in his way. I think Godzilla just wanted a nap, but humans and Ebirah got in the way of his tropical rest.

[Spuro]

I thought the suits for the movie were fine. Ebirah is one of the most realistic looking monsters in the entire series, and the Godzilla suit was... okay. It wasn't great, but it was better than what we got later in the Showa era.

[Goji]

the Godzilla suit was... okay. It wasn't great, but it was better than what we got later in the Showa era.

Well, it's the same one from Monster Zero. It's just that it's basically water logged in a lot of scenes.

I don't know that I'd argue it's "better than what we got" later. There were several good suits after this one, but I suppose that's relative.

[Legion1979]

I like the 1965 suit, but the 1968 version is much better. I don't get why people lump it together with the '67 and '73-'75 suits as examples of "crappy" later Godzillas.