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Quality and entertainment aren’t 2 factors that always
go hand in hand. Take for instance a film
like Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster.
It’s certainly not on par with the some
of the greater installments in the Godzilla
series, and it does present a noticeable number
of flaws. With that said, it is my favorite
movie from the franchise. Be it because of
its nostalgic values, or its status as the
first “monster mash” in the series;
it simply doesn’t fail to put a smile
on my face upon every (frequent) viewing.
It is a strange time for our
world. A heat wave in the midst of winter,
numerous meteorite showers, strange epidemics;
all foreshadow a significant event is about
to take place on the surface of our planet.
A woman who claims to come from Venus appears
in Japan and warns its people that incredible
catastrophes are soon to occur. Within little
time, both Godzilla and Rodan emerge from
their forced slumbers to wreck havoc on the
nearby cities. But they’re the least
of the problems to come, as a gigantic three-headed
monster known as King Ghidorah lands on Earth
and proceeds to annihilate everything in its
path. Only the combined forces of Godzilla,
Rodan and Mothra can put an end to this menace,
before it’s too late…
As mentioned before, Ghidorah,
The Three-Headed Monster is a goldmine
for entertainment. An often criticized factor
among fans is the progressing humanization
of the monsters that was done to appeal a
much younger audience, as opposed to films
like Godzilla
(1954) and Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964). It remains a
fact that the monsters’ attitudes in
the film lean towards the slapstick territory,
but that is indeed one of the things I like
so much about it. This change was a necessity
to keep these movies alive, and in that respect
it doesn’t detract the viewer from wanting
to join the action. Comedy in this movie is
featured a plenty, both intentionally and
otherwise. Godzilla’s battle with Rodan
is genuinely funny, with the flying reptile
constantly pecking at the monster king’s
head. The sight of Malness catching
a boulder and then falling down makes
one chuckle instantly as well.
The heroic monsters are characters
the audience can identify with, punctuated
in the notorious monster conversation, a scene
that depicts Mothra’s attempts to reason
with Godzilla and Rodan (translation courtesy
of the Shobijin). It’s a good thing
to know the creatures aren’t mindless
freaks that destroy at random, but instead
are beings with emotions.
But then the human characters
are on the level too. Our female lead Naoko
(Yuriko Hoshi) is noteworthy, in spite (or
because) of her naïvety, though not as
likeable as her character in Mothra
vs. Godzilla (1964). Princess Salno
(Akiko
Wakabayashi, best known for her role in
You Only Live Twice (1967)) is another
captivating addition to the series. The lead
assassin Malness (Hisaya Ito), while certainly
not menacing and particularly competent, is
a visual feast for those seeking camp values.
It is a shame that the male lead, Shindo (Yosuke
Natsuki) can’t hold a candle to the
remainder of the cast, with his role in the
movie being too limited at times. Also, Akihiko
Hirata is given a fairly lackluster role,
at points only present to provide exposition.
In terms of acting, Hoshi and
Wakabayashi are the strong glass here, with
their aforementioned roles proving both credible
enough. Yosuke Natsuki appears rather bored
at points; it is indeed a role that should
have been handled by a more experienced actor.
And don’t let me get started on Hiroshi
Koizumi, who despite providing us with a likeable
character (very similar to that in the previous
movie) still can’t be taken seriously
as the allegedly respected scientist he plays.
Special effects quite frankly
fall in a gap. Something that always has caught
my attention is Godzilla’s breath weapon.
Most of the time, this power is depicted through
rotoscoping; however, such technique is only
used once in this film, with vapor replacing
it most of the time. While this is surely
due to budgetary constraints, as a kid I used
to believe Godzilla had 2 different breath
weapons! It also becomes evident that the
puppets used for the close-ups of the monsters
fail to resemble their suit counterparts.
But for all its shortcomings, the special
effects department does shine in certain areas.
The compositing is flawless, with the Shojibin
being realistically merged with the actors.
King Ghidorah’s raid on Tokyo is not
short of awe, with a great combination of
suit acting, visual effects and pyrotechnics.
King Ghidorah itself is a fantastic
addition to the franchise. Unlike later incarnations
of the character which would depict him as
either an alien-controlled creature or a pawn
in the plans of terrorists; Ghidorah here
is no less than pure evil, a relentless force
of destruction that wipes out the life of
entire planets just for the sake of it. King
Ghidorah is not only one the best characters
in the series, but one the best movie villains
as well.
But of course, it would be
unwise to overlook Akira
Ifukube’s excellent score. While
it’s not quite abundant on new themes,
it still provides a great deal of satisfaction
to my ears, and certainly does justice to
the movie. The memorable main theme (which
consists on a combination of both Godzilla’s
and Rodan’s themes) is used with great
success in the battle scenes and has Ifukube’s
distinct sense of chaos. Ghidorah’s
theme is a worthy cue for the character (despite
the fact it was originally composed for Battle
in Outer Space (1959)). Kurobe Valley
’s theme is one of the Ifukube’s
typical “gorgeous scenery” music
(much like his theme for Infant Island ) and
conveys both majesty and mystery. And then
of course there is the song “Let’s
Summon Happiness”, a catchy tune sung
by The Peanuts, that hasn’t managed
to leave my head since I first heard it over
a decade ago.
The American version of Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster differs from
its Japanese counterpart as much as it resembles
the original. Continental deemed it a requirement
to move mostly untouched scenes in great quantities
resulting in a differently-structured film.
While some of these alterations helped to
improve the pacing, many of them also harmed
the movie’s narrative and at points
generated unforgivable continuity errors.
I don’t hate this particular version
of the film however, as it still holds nostalgic
values for me. I still feel it’s necessary
to point out its problems.
No significant plot points
have been affected during the re-editing process
(aside from the Princess’ origin being
Mars in this version). It should be noted
that many events occur sooner than in the
Japanese version, like most of the scenes
that take place between the respective appearances
of Godzilla and Rodan. Being dispensed of
the more monotonous material first makes the
later scenes with the monster action all the
more gratifying.
However, there are still a
lot contrived decisions on the editing room.
The scene where the Princess warns the characters
about Ghidorah’s incoming arrival is
moved after the monster has appeared, and
makes for a rather abrupt scenario when the
military starts referring the monster by his
official name immediately after Salno tells
the people in the clinic about the creature.
It could be argued that these changes were
done to keep all the night scenes together
as opposed to the constant shifting in the
Japanese version, but the resulting contrivances
don’t justify it.
Also during some scenes, shots
have been reordered in an apparently random
manner, causing Mr. Continuity to vanish occasionally.
When Rodan first appears, the scene is reorganized
to the point where he unearths himself, is
then seen completely buried, and finally appears
in the air in the last shot. Godzilla’s
landing in Yokohama is even more bewildering,
as the creature is first seen on land, only
to appear in the sea in the next shot!
One of the innovations the
original film had was the inclusion of a parallel
plot line (the assassination plot) which was
in close contact with the monster action.
The deletion of certain footage severs this
connection, making it seem as though both
storylines are unrelated. They did manage
to improve this aspect during the climax,
as bits of the final battle were incorporated
between the scene where Malness attacks Shindo
and the Princess.
The dubbing job is fairly cartoonish,
though I’m very fond of it regardless.
A common source of contempt for fans is the
voice that dubs the Princess makes her sound
like a robot. I will jump in defense of this,
since 1) It was like that in the Japanese
version, and 2) Giving her a normal tone would
negate the idea of her being possessed. The
best choice in the dub goes to the actor who
does Malness, as he reflects the character’s
personality seamlessly.
It’s a well documented
fact that much of Ifukube’s music was
replaced in this version with stock music.
While the changes adds a different level of
variety to the score, in some cases the association
of particular themes to characters is lost;
like during Rodan’s appearance, as it
has the monster’s theme replaced by
some rather generic cue. Still, I would be
lying if I said the US score hasn’t
grown in me over the years. Indeed some tracks,
like those during the hospital shootout, or
the more suspenseful tunes for Kurobe work
well enough. In any case, a majority of Ifukube’s
themes are present, retaining the impact they
cause in the Japanese version. Overall, the
American adaptation is a mess of a film, but
an enjoyable mess nevertheless.
So there it is, Ghidorah,
The Three-Headed Monster might not be
a perfect film from a technical perspective,
but as an escapist spectacle it’s irrefutably
a great experience.
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(3/5)