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 and
Japanese Kaiju
Eiga |
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An
Introduction To The World Of City-Stomping Monsters . . .
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The hugely successful 'Godzilla' series is based on an an
original story credited to writer Shigeru Kayama. The first
'Godzilla' film was made in 1954, the screenplay being co-written
by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata, and the 400ft-tall dinosaur
with nuclear halitosis was still going strong well into the
nineties! By the way, 'Godzilla' is not a name but a species,
as are many other of what appear to be names in the titles.
The first two films, 'Gojira' and 'Gigantis', were shot in
black and white but all subsequent productions were made in
colour.
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Originally produced by the Japanese film company Toho
with the expertise of director Ishiro Honda, Kaiju Eiga
( monster movie ) participants can essentially be briefly
described as giant monsters and mechanical constructions
who either try to destroy the world or save it depending
on whether they are 'goodies' or 'baddies'. On the way,
they manage to stomp models of various Japanese cities
into rubble causing more than a little distress to the
local human population. In later films it is not quite
so straightforward as that because some of them changed
sides from film to film. Not only is that a bit confusing
but each film has anything up to a dozen or so alternative
titles, sometimes in duplication of other productions,
and the translation and spelling of their 'names' changes
as well. Check my monster A to Z or have a look at the
film listings and you'll see what I mean!
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Kaiju
Eiga Films
1954
- 1959
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Although Toho were the original creators of the Kaiju Eiga genre,
by the early Sixties quite a few Japanese film companies had climbed
on the bandwagon with their own monster creations, most notably
the childrens film studio Daiei with 'Gamera', but also Nikkatsu
with 'Gappa', Shochiku with 'Guilala'. The Shin Toho studios also
produced some 'monsters' which appeared in their 'Supergiant' series
but these are not generally considered to be true Kaiju Eiga. The
destructive violence was massive but this was generally only as
a result of combat between themselves. Humans only suffered as a
by-product of the demolition and were not subjected to individual
physical violence.
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The
monsters were mostly people in rubber suits - the first 'Godzilla'
was actually Tomoyuki Tanaka, the producer of the film - were virtually
all endowed with a male persona and all of an amphibian nature until
'Gappa' in 1967. A notable exception to this was 'Mothra' which
was a giant female moth and a construction manipulated by wires,
similar to a marionette.
The storylines mostly tend to go like this: Giant 'monster', one
or more, sometimes with alien 'help' threatens mankind's existence.
Scientists can do nothing to stop it and run around like headless
chickens. The military are worse than useless as tanks and stuff
just annoy it. Another giant 'monster' puts down its pipe and slippers
and comes to the rescue, eventually saving the world after a titanic
battle during which, in most cases, poor old Tokyo ( or Japan in
general ) gets pretty well levelled. Still with me?
So far as I have been able to make out, this is a list of all the
films that fall within that general brief. I have only given a couple
of the most often-quoted titles for each film and in some cases
a brief description of what ( I think ) it is about. The years are
suspect as well, but that seems to be a standard problem in the
film review area. There is sometimes a differential between production
and release years and also between the years of release in its native
country and the U.K. or U.S.A. I believe most of the years quoted
are original release dates.
The first 'Godzilla' film was bought by Joseph E. Levine who edited
out some of the original scenes and inserted newly-shot footage
by Terry Morse, featuring the actor Raymond Burr, into the film
to make it more attractive to the American market. The modified
version was released in the U.S.A. in 1956. This practice became
fairly widespread with 'foreign' films during the Sixties. The Sixties
films obviously fit in with my Science Fiction film list but, as
some of them tend to be part of a running series, I thought I might
as well separate them and try to give you the lot. No doubt this
will generate some email comment but I don't really want to spend
too much more time on it - only if there are any absolutely howling
errors ( which, looking at it more closely, seems quite likely).
Please let me know - I'm sure you will anyway!
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 The
Films 1954 - 1959
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Gojira
aka GODZILLA KING OF MONSTERS
TOHO 1954 B/W 81 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe, Hiroshi Mukoyama
Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kochi, Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata, Fuyuki
Murakami
Sachio Sakai, Ren Yamamoto, Frank Iwanaga
A 400ft tall dinosaur is awoken from seabed 'hibernation' by atomic
tests. Emerging from the sea it displays its displeasure by proceeding
to flatten Japan. It is eventually lured back into the water where
it is subdued by Dr. Serizawa's 'oxygen destroyer' which removes
all the oxygen from the surrounding seawater. A modified version
of the film lasting 98 minutes and with extra footage starring American
actor Raymond Burr was released in the U.S. in 1956
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Gigantis
aka THE FIRE MONSTER
aka GOJIRA NO
GYAKUSHU
aka GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN
aka THE VOLCANO MONSTER
aka THE RETURN OF GODZILLA
aka GODZILLA'S COUNTERATTACK
aka COUNTERATTACK OF THE MONSTER
TOHO 1955 B/W 78
minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Akira Watanabe, Hiroshi Mukoyama,
Masao Shirota
Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki
An atomic explosion awakes two monsters - Gigantis ( a Godzilla
) and Angurus - who are discovered fighting each other on a remote
island. Gigantis triumphs and heads towards Tokyo, demolishing Osaka
en route. He is eventually buried under an avalanche of ice precipitated
by military forces on a snow-covered island. A modified version
of the film was directed by Hugo Grimaldi and produced by Paul Schreibman
for release in the U.S. in 1959
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Rodan
aka RADON
aka RADON THE FLYING MONSTER
TOHO 1956 EASTMANCOLOR 79
minutes
Director:
Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata, Akio Kobori, Yasuko
Nakata
Minosuke Yamada, Yoshibumi Tajima, Kiyoharu Ohnaka
This was the first Kaiju Eiga film to be made in colour and featured
a giant reptile able to fly at supersonic speeds, the ensuing shock
waves causing immense damage. It hatches deep in a coalmine and
emerges to consume a swarm of Miganuron, giant dragonflies. Rodan
finds a mate and they eventually build a nest on the dormant volcano
Mount Aso where new eggs are laid. This proves to be a major error
of judgement when a subsequent eruption initiated by military missiles
incinerates the brood and their parents. A version of the film with
American voice-over by David Duncan was released in the U.S. with
5 minutes cut from the original length
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Chikyu
Boeigun
aka THE MYSTERIANS
aka EARTH DEFENCE FORCE
TOHO 1957 COLOUR 89 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Hidesaburo Araki, Sadamasa Arikawa,
Akira Watanabe
Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko
Hirata, Momoko Koichi
Susumu Fujita, Hisayo Ito, Fuyuki Murukami, Minosuke Yamada, Yoshio
Kosugi
Not, strictly speaking, a pure Kaiju Eiga film this was a forerunner
for similar storylines to follow. Aliens called Mysterians attempt
to invade Earth, starting in Japan, with the help of their giant
robot bird Mogella which shoots death rays from its eyes. The aliens'
planet had been destroyed and they needed to mate with Earth women
in order for their race to survive. Mogella is eventually destroyed
as it attempts to cross a collapsing bridge following which the
aliens admit defeat and depart, no doubt contemplating the folly
of building a robot bird that couldn't fly. The film was re-released
cut to 85mins
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Daikaiju
Baran
aka THE MONSTER BARAN
aka VARAN THE UNBELIEVABLE
aka BARAN: MONSTER FROM THE EAST
TOHO 1958 COLOUR 87minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Tsuruko Kobayashi, Clifford Kawada, Derrick Shimazu
Kozo Nomura, Ayumi Sonoda, Koreya Senda, Akihiko Hirata
The U.S. navy under the local control of Commander Bradley are carrying
out chemical experiments on water desalination which unwittingly
disturb the siesta of a giant reptilian creature. It decides to
march towards Tokyo to give it a piece of its mind and, in the process,
tramples all over the island where Bradley and his wife are carrying
out their experiments. The beast is immune to military weapons but
eventually succumbs to a cocktail of poisonous chemicals fired into
its underbelly. A U.S. voice-over version produced by Jerry A. Baerwitz
was released in 1961 drastically cut and re-edited to 70 minutes
including the extra scenes featuring American actor Myron Healey
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SixtiesCity 2008