The Films 54 - 59
The Films 70 - on
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The
Films 1960 - 1969
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Mosura
aka MOTHRA
TOHO 1961 COLOUR 100 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyoko Katawa, The Itoh sisters
Mothra is a giant moth which lives on an island irradiated by H-bomb tests
along with its human companions the 'fairies' - the Peanuts sisters Sakai
and Yoka. When its huge egg and the fairies are abducted, Mothra trails
them to Tokyo where its huge size causes immense damage. The egg hatches
producing a gigantic caterpillar which adds to the destruction before
being rescued by mum. Mothra, its offspring and the fairies are allowed
to return to the island where the sisters undertake to control the creatures
to prevent further demolition. A voice-over version was released in the
U.S. directed by Lee Kresel and produced by David Horne from a screenplay
by Robert Myerson
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King
Kong Tai Gojira
aka KING KONG VERSUS GODZILLA
TOHO 1963 COLOUR 99 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Tadao Takashima, Yu Fujiki, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama
Kenji Sahara, Akihiko Hirata, Ichiro Arishima
A U.S. atomic submarine causes the destruction of a huge iceberg in which
a Godzilla has become entombed. True to type it heads straight for Tokyo
in order to do a bit of landscaping. Meanwhile, King Kong is living quietly
on an island in the Solomons, fighting with the odd giant octopus and
suchlike in order to protect the local fishermen. He is found sedated
from the effects of a drink made from local berries and transported to
Tokyo. On awakening, his hangover isn't helped by Godzilla demolishing
buildings all over the place and he promptly escapes and proceeds to sort
him out. After the initial skirmishes they finally meet in a battle on
Mount Fuji where an earthquake throws both antagonists into the sea. Godzilla
decides he has had enough sightseeing at this stage and disappears, leaving
King Kong to wade ashore victorious and resume his day job on the remote
island that he had been taken from. The U.S. version was directed by Thomas
Montgomery and produced by John Beck. It was cut to 91 minutes including
added scenes featuring actors Michael Keith, James Yogi and Harry Holcombe.
This completed a 'round trip' for the original storyline which was titled
variously 'King Kong Versus Frankenstein', 'King Kong Versus The Ginko'
and 'Prometheus Versus King Kong'. It was purchased from America by TOHO
and converted into a Godzilla movie
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Uchudai
Dogora
aka
DAGORA
aka SPACE MONSTER DOGORA
aka DOGORA THE SPACE MONSTER
TOHO 1964 COLOUR 83 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Yosuke Natsuki, Yoko Fujiyama, Akiko Wakabayashi, Hiroshi Koizumi
Radiation-exposed cells mutate into giant tentacled floating jellyfish
which hang around over Japan feeding on carbon and other elements through
their tentacles. They have a particular partiality for diamonds which
is hard luck on a couple of thieves who have acquired a truckload of the
things. As they grow, their hunger develops and they advance through the
consumption of ships and trains until they decide to have a real blow-out
with the Wakato bridge as the main course. They are discovered to be vulnerable
to a type of wasp venom and the stuff is gathered from all over Japan
until scientists eventually have enough to destroy the creatures. The
U.S. version was cut to 80 minutes
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Mosura
Tai Gojira
aka GOJIRA TAI MOSURA
aka MOTHRA VERSUS GODZILLA
aka GODZILLA VERSUS THE THING
aka GODZILLA FIGHTS THE GIANT MOTH
aka GODZILLA VERSUS THE GIANT MOTH
TOHO 1964 COLOUR 94 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaki
Special Effects: Eije Tsuburaya, Sadamasa Arikawa, Akira Watanabe
Motoyoshi Tomioka, Kuichiro Kishida
Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yu Fujiki, The Itoh sisters
A hurricane washes away Mothra's latest egg and it ends up on the mainland
seashore where it is found and stolen by the owners of a carnival. The
fairies try to persuade them to return the egg in vain. In the meantime,
Godzilla decides that the Tokyo skyline needs further alterations and
arrives for another visit. The fairies are asked to persuade Mothra to
help the city, which she does, but is defeated by Godzilla. The giant
egg hatches, producing two gigantic caterpillars that enclose Godzilla
in a sticky web of silken threads and push him over a cliff. Once again,
the fairies return to their island with the two offspring to nurture them
into new Mothras. Two versions were released in the U.S. cut by 4 minutes
and 7 minutes
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Katei
Gunkan
aka
ATRAGON
aka ATARAGON
aka ATORAGON THE FLYING SUPERSUB
TOHO 1964 COLOUR 96 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Tadao Takashima, Yoko Fujiyama, Hiroshi Koizumi, Jun Tazaki, Ken Uehara
Kenji Sahara, Tetsuko Kobayashi, Akemi Kita, Akihiko Hirata
Another in the 'not quite' Kaiju Eiga film category but close enough to
warrant inclusion, as the monster in the film was to be resurrected in
a later film to celebrate the genre. The Earth is threatened by the evil
empire of Mu, an underwater civilisation and its god, the giant sea serpent
Wenda. Earth's only chance lies in the atomic supersub Atoragon, a combination
airship/tunnelling machine/submarine under the command of an admiral who
refused to surrender the ship when 'the war' ended. Mu threatens to destroy
the world unless the supersub surrenders but the admiral has different
ideas and eventually triumphs after a battle with Wenda. This movie was
the first to use enemies on a global scale rather than just as a threat
to Japan. The U.S. version was cut by 8 mins
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Ghidorah
Sandai Kaiju - Chikyu Saidai No Kessan
aka GHIDRAH
aka MONSTER OF MONSTERS
aka CHIKYU SAIDAI NO KESSAN
aka THE BIGGEST FIGHT ON EARTH
aka THE BIGGEST BATTLE ON EARTH
aka GHIDORA THE THREE HEADED MONSTER
TOHO 1965 COLOUR 85 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Yosuke Natsuki, Yurihiko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Takashi Shimura
Eiji Okada, The Itoh sisters
Old laser breath is back! Ghidorah the three-headed space dragon raises
its ugly head again and threatens the Earth in its usual destructive fashion.
Mothra is called in to help out but, finding that she cannot defeat the
monster by herself, enlists the help of Godzilla and Rodan. Poor old Mount
Fuji sees the final action again when Mothra envelops Ghidorah in a silky
cocoon allowing Godzilla and Rodan to despatch the unfortunate invader
into the sea
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Kaiju
Daisenso
aka MONSTER ZERO
aka INVASION OF PLANET X
aka BATTLE OF THE ASTROS
aka INVASION OF THE ASTRO MONSTER
TOHO 1965 COLOUR 96 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Nick Adams, Akira Takarada, Akira Kubo, Keiko Sawai, Kumo Mizuno
Jun Tazaki, Yoshio Tsuchiya
The inhabitants of an alien planet are being plagued by Ghidrah, a giant
laser-breathing three-headed dragon capable of supersonic flight and emitting
death rays from its eyes. They solicit help from Earth in the form of
Rodan and Godzilla, transporting them to their own planet in cocoons of
energy. An evil group on the aliens planet try to capture and combine
the power of the three monsters in a bid to invade Earth resulting in
a space rescue mission being launched, led by Nick Adams, to bring 'our
monsters' back home. Ghidorah holds the distinction of being the first
'real' monster from outer space in Kaiju Eiga films. Although Nick Adams
appeared in the original Japanese version he also made extra new scenes
for editing into the U.S. release
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Furankenshutain
Tai Baragon
aka FRANKENSTEIN AND THE GIANT LIZARD
aka FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD
aka FRANKENSTEIN VERSUS THE GIANT DEVIL FISH
TOHO 1965 COLOUR 95 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Tadao Takashima, Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Takashi Shimura
Frankenstein's heart is shipped to Hiroshima by the Nazis where the box
is opened just as the atomic bomb detonates. A starving survivor - a small
boy - eats part of the irradiated flesh and is mutated into a 30ft monster
with a Frankenstein-like appearance. He is called Frankenstein by the
locals and finds a home on the slopes of Mount Fuji where he is cared
for by an American scientist. The boy comes to the rescue of Japan when
it is attacked by a Godzilla-like giant reptile called Baragon. The oddity
of the alternative titles is due to the fact that the original planned
adversary was a giant octopus but only a few scenes were completed before
Baragon was substituted in place of the unfortunate cephalopod. These
scenes were later used in 'Furankenshutain No Kaiju - Sanda Tai Gailah'
in 1966. This film was a co-production with American International producers
Reuben Bercovitch and Henry Saperstein with the actor Nick Adams appearing
in the original Japanese version instead of edited-in scenes for the U.S.
market as was the normal practice up to then. The U.S. version was cut
to 87 minutes
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Daikaiju
Gamera
aka GAMERA
aka GAMMERA
aka GAMERA THE INVINCIBLE
DAIEI 1966 COLOUR 88 minutes
Director: Noriaki Yuasa
Producer: Yonejiro Saito
Special Effects: Yonesaburo Tsukiji
Eiji Funakoshi, Harumi Kiritachi, Junichiro Yamashita
Yoshiro Kitahara, Michiko Sugata
Gamera is a monster turtle awakened by a nuclear explosion. He heads for
Tokyo ( where else? ) destroying everything in his path with his fire-breathing
capability. The creature is eventually lured into the nose cone of a rocket
and shipped off in the direction of Mars. No wonder the Martians hate
us so much! The U.S. version contained extra scenes featuring actors Brian
Donlevy, Diane Findlay and Albert Dekker. These allowed the version to
portray the Americans as the heroes of the film by discovering the monster's
weakness
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Furankenshutain
No Kaiju - Sanda Tai Gailah
aka DUEL OF THE GARGANTUAS
aka THE WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS
TOHO 1966 COLOUR 88 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Russ Tamblyn, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Kipp Hamilton, Jun Tazaki
This film was intended to be a sequel to 'Furankenshutain Tai Baragon',
hence the name, but the American producer decided to have references to
the previous film removed when it became apparent that the monsters bore
more resemblance to King Kong than Frankenstein. Included in the 'lost'
scenes was an explanation of how the monster's 'twin' came into being.
In the original film the monster lost a hand which regenerated itself
a complete new body. The original, Sanda, is brown in colour and friendly
while the regenerated twin Gailah is green and pretty tetchy. The Japanese
military defeat Gailah when he goes on the rampage but he is nursed back
to health by his good 'brother whom he then, thanklessly, tries to destroy.
The subsequent battle demolishes most of Tokyo before both the twins disappear
when they are caught in a volcanic eruption. The opening scenes of the
film showing Gailah coming out of the sea are accompanied by the giant
octopus ship attack scenes edited out of the original movie. The film
was made in association with American Intnl producer Henry Saperstein
for co-release on the U.S. market hence the inclusion of the American
actors
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Nankai
No Daiketto
aka BIG DUEL IN THE NORTH SEA
aka EBIRAH TERROR OF THE DEEP
aka GODZILLA VERSUS THE SEA MONSTER
TOHO 1966 COLOUR 87 minutes
Director: Jun Fukuda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Akira Takarada, Toru Watanabe, Hideo Sunazuka, Kumi Mizuno, Jun Tazaki
An evil organisation called Red Bamboo attempts to take over the world.
Godzilla is unable to help much as he is otherwise engaged fighting off
the threat of Ebirah, a giant crab-like creature which is guarding the
organisation's illegal nuclear weapons factory on a remote island. He
eventually dismembers the monster in their final big showdown fight but
this doesn't seem to present too much of a problem for Ebirah as he managed
to regenerate himself from the leftovers for an appearance in a later
film. Mothra is called on from the substitute's bench to assist the island's
beleaguered humans under threat from Red Bamboo and manages to evacuate
them from the island before it disappears in a huge explosion. Scenes
from this film were used by Ishiro Honda in 'Oru Kaiju Daishingeki' (1969)
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Gamera
Tai Barugon
aka GAMERA VERSUS BARUGON
aka THE WAR OF THE MONSTERS
aka GAMBARA VERSUS BARUGON
DAIEI 1966 COLOUR 101 minutes
Director: Shigeo Tanaka
Producer: Hidemasa Nagata
Special Effects: Noriaki Yuasa
Kojiro Hondo, Kyoko Enami, Akira Natsuki, Koji Fujiyama
Yuzo Hayakawa, Ichiro Sugai
In his previous appearance Gamera ended up by being launched into space
on board a rocket. This film explains how the ship was hit by a meteorite,
sending it off course and back to Earth. During this brief excursion Gamera
seems to have magically obtained the ability of jet-propelled flight.
Meanwhile, in New Guinea, a mysterious opal egg hatches into a reptile
which grows into the 130ft monster Barugon, a creature with a large spike
on its head and more spikes on its back which radiate a deadly rainbow-coloured
energy field. Gamera is attracted to the power in this energy field and
launches an attack against the beast, laying waste to Tokyo and Osaka
in the process. The monster turtle eventually triumphs after dragging
Barugon into Lake Biwa where he apparently expires, unseen, in a spreading
cloud of blue 'blood'. Barugon is not the same creature as TOHO's Baragon
and this appears to be the only time where one studio's creation was ripped
off by another. TOHO responded to this move by making more films with
ever-increasing combinations of its own range of monsters, culminating
in their 20th movie 'special' which included virtually all of them together
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Uchu
Daikaiju Guilala
aka GIRARA
aka GUILALA
aka GUIRARA
aka THE X FROM OUTER SPACE
SHOCHIKU 1967 COLOUR 89 minutes
Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu
Producer: Akihiko Shimada
Special Effects: Hiroshi Ikeda
Eiji Okada, Toshiya Wazaki, Peggy Neal, Itoko Harada, Torahiko Hamada
Shinichi Yanagisawa, Franz Gruber, Keisuke Sonoi, Mike Daning
A strange substance becomes attached to a Mars-Moon space shuttle which
mutates into the monster Guilala. It continues to grow in size, absorbing
all energy from the weapons directed against it. Scientists discover an
anti-matter substance they call Guilalium which they can only obtain from
deep space. By the time they return to Earth from their collecting expedition
the monster has flattened a fair amount of Japanese real estate and is
in the process of attacking the Astroflying Centre situated on the slopes
of Mount Fuji. The anti-matter substance is dropped all over the monster
and causes it to degenerate back to its original cell size which is then
tied up in a shoebox and shipped back into outer space. SHOCHIKU's first
Kaiju Eiga film was a production aimed at both the Japanese and American
markets hence the mixed cast list
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Gamera
Tai Viras
aka DESTROY ALL PLANETS
aka GAMERA VERSUS VIRAS
aka GAMERA TAI UCHUKAIJU BAIRASU
aka GAMERA VERSUS OUTER SPACE MONSTER VIRAS
DAIEI 1968 COLOUR 75 minutes
Director: Noriyaki Yuasa
Producer: Hidemasa Nagata
Special Effects: Kazafumi Fujii, Yuso Kaneko
Kojiro Hongo, Toru Takatsuka, Carl Crane, Michiko Yaegaki
Mari Atsumi, Junko Yashiro, Peter Williams
At the start of the film Gamera is seen defeating an alien invasion ship
but all is not as it seems. The children-loving Gamera subsequently captures
a couple of boy scouts who had unwittingly caused a submarine to submerge
while playing about in it. They realise that Gamera is not quite himself
and discover that he is being subjected to a form of mind control by the
'defeated' aliens. They manage to release Gamera from the aliens' control
and he heads into space to do battle with them and their ship's protector,
the three-tentacled six-legged Viras, defeating them all in the climactic
battle at the end of the film. The films around this time started to move
away from 'pure' Kaiju Eiga, introducing different contextual elements
such as alien invaders, space monsters and mechanised creatures. They
also contained a greater degree of individual human involvement in the
main storylines
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Gojira
No Musuko
aka SON OF GODZILLA
TOHO 1967 COLOUR 86 minutes
Director: Jun Fukuda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Sadamasa Arikawa
Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo, Beverly Maeda, Akihiko Hirata
Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kenji Sahara, Susumu Kurobe
The island of Zorgel's temperature rises dramatically as a result of weather
experiments being conducted by a Dr. Kashumi. This causes all the flora
and fauna on the island to grow at a fantastic rate to giant proportions.
It also causes a dormant Godzilla egg to hatch, producing a baby which
is looked after by its father ( this raises the interesting question -
why are there no female Godzillas? Kaiju Eiga films are notable for steering
clear of tacky distractions like romance and connected activities, either
monster or human). The little Godzilla becomes friendly with Reiko, one
of the humans on the island and they both come to her aid when she is
attacked by the giant spider Spigon. They also have an altercation with
a few giant praying mantises. The wildlife on the island becomes increasingly
dangerous and uncontrollable which prompts the scientists into a decision
to freeze the whole place, sending everything, including Dad and Baby
Godzilla into hibernation, and abandon it for a safer location. This film
was cut to 71 minutes for the U.S. market despite containing arguably
the best special effects in the entire original Godzilla series
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King
Kong No Gyakushu
aka KING KONG ESCAPES
aka THE REVENGE OF KING KONG
aka KING KONG'S COUNTERATTACK
TOHO 1967 COLOUR 104 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Rhodes Reason, Mie Hama, Linda Miller, Akira Takarada, Eisei Amamoto
King Kong returns in a battle with, and the defeat of, a giant dinosaur.
He is befriended by a group of people on a scientific expedition and becomes
very fond of its female member. Meanwhile, evildoers Dr. Who ( no, not
that one! ) and Madame Piranha are carrying out the mining and extraction
of a radioactive ore with the help of a giant robotic King Kong lookalike.
When the monster machine starts to malfunction they kidnap the real thing
in order to keep up their production quota. King Kong manages to break
out of his prison and comes up against the giant robot, Mechni-Kong, finally
defeating him in a titanic battle on top of Tokyo tower. To add to the
destructive entertainment the film also includes some scenes of a submarine
being attacked by a sea monster which is only mildly incidental to the
storyline. The U.S. version was cut to 96 minutes and included extra scenes
featuring much more English dialogue than the original. This version was
directed and produced by Arthur Rankin from a screenplay by William Keenan
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Daikyoju
Gappa
aka GAPPA THE TRIFIBIAN MONSTER
aka MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET
NIKKATSU 1967 COLOUR 90 minutes
Director: Haruyasu Noguchi
Producer: Hideo Koi
Special Effects: Akira Watanabe
Tamio Kawaji, Yoko Yamamoto, Yuji Okada, Koji Wada, Tatsuya Fuji
Baby Gappa is kidnapped by an entrepreneur who wants to display him in
a carnival-type freak show. The film relates the story of Mum and Dad
Gappa's journey in their attempt to locate and liberate him, visiting
tourist attractions like Mount Fuji, Hareda Airport and the Atami holiday
resort in the process. Almost incidental to the story are fun happenings
such as earthquakes, tsunamis and erupting volcanoes which tend to delay
their progress until they finally catch up with him at Tokyo airport.
In the final scenes the big Gappas teach their offspring how to fly before
returning to their remote island home. This was a one-off excursion into
the realms of Kaiju Eiga for NIKKATSU who generally produced gangster
and adult films. It is really more a parody of the genre than a fully
paid-up member. The film was cut to 81 minutes for the U.S. market
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Gamera
Tai Gaos
aka DAIKAIJU KUCHUSEN
aka GAMERA VERSUS GAOS
aka GAMERA VERSUS GYAOS
aka BOYICHI AND THE SUPERMONSTER
aka THE RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS
DAIEI 1967 COLOUR 87 minutes
Director: Noriyaki Yuasa
Producer: Hidemasa Nagata
Special Effects: Kazufumi Fujii, Yuzo Kaneko
Kojiro Hongo, Kichijiro Ueda, Naoyuki Abe, Reiko Kasahara
Taro Marui, Yukitaro Hotaru, Yoshio Kitahara
Gamera battles against Gaos, a fox-like reptilian creature who is the
antithesis of Gamera. Gaos eats humans ( a rarity in Kaiju Eiga ), can
fly faster than Gamera and hates sunlight and fire. Because of this last,
it has the ability to emit a type of fire-extinguishing smog from its
chest. The giant turtle's image has had a makeover in this film to include
an ability to eat atom bombs and has now become very friendly towards
children, whose help it enlists at every opportunity. Gamera eventually
triumphs by trapping Gaos in the sunlight which eventually destroys him.
This new-found affinity with children resulted in Gamera becoming second
only to Godzilla in the Kaiju Eiga popularity stakes. The U.S. release
was cut to 85 minutes
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Kaiju
Soshingeki
aka DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
aka OPERATION MONSTERLAND
aka THE MARCH OF THE MONSTERS
TOHO 1968 COLOUR 89 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya, Sadamasa Arikawa
Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kyoko Ai, Yukihiko Kobayashi
Kenji Sahara, Andrew Hughes, Nadao Kirino, The Itoh sisters
This film was made to celebrate TOHO's 20th 'monster' picture and starred
eleven of their creations. Set in the year 1999, the monsters suddenly
move away from the island where they have been living in peace, and where
they are studied by the UNGCC, to set about the destruction of the world's
capital cities. This is not in their true nature and it is subsequently
discovered that they, and the scientists who 'guard' them, have been taken
over by Kilaaks, an alien race who have planted mind control transmitters
in their necks. The Kilaaks, a female race, have bases both on the moon
and in a secret underground location on Earth. When they consider that
the monsters have caused enough destruction they try to get rid of them
by unleashing the awesome Ghidorah against them. The ensuing battle for
supremacy takes place on Mount Fuji with baby Godzilla leading the cheering
onlookers. After their final victory the monsters return to their island
home
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Gamera
Tai Guiron
aka GAMERA VERSUS GUIRON
aka ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS
DAIEI 1969 COLOUR 88 minutes
Director: Noriyaki Yuasa
Producer: Hidemasa Nagata
Special Effects: Kazafumi Fujii
Nobuhiro Kashima, Christopher Murphy, Miyuki Akiyama, Yuko Hamada
Eiji Funakoshi, Ken Omura
Gamera's fifth outing continues to display his love for children. Flying
to a planet on the far side of the sun he battles against Guiron, a monster
who looks like a living knife with arms. He has undertaken the trip to
rescue a couple of children who have been abducted by gorgeous female
aliens whose intentions are to eat the childrens' brains which they consider
a great delicacy. Have they tried sushi?
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Oru
Kaiju Daishingeki
aka GODZILLA'S REVENGE
TOHO 1969 COLOUR 92 minutes
Director: Ishiro Honda
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Kenji Sahara, Tomonori Yazaki, Machiko Naka, Sachio Sakai
Chotaro Togin, Yoshibumi Tajima
Ichiro, a young boy who is the victim of bullying, is also on the run
from bank robbers after being a witness to their crimes. He falls asleep
and dreams of visiting monster island, Ogasawara, to talk and play with
his hero, Minya, Godzilla's son. In his dream, seeing Minya battling an
imaginary Godzilla-like monster much larger than himself gives Ichiro
the courage to face and fight his own enemies when he awakens. This film
virtually marked the end of an era. It was the last Kaiju Eiga film of
the Sixties and the last monster film to benefit from the special effects
expertise of Eiji Tsuburaya who, sadly, died in 1970. Ishiro Honda was
to make only two more monster films himself - 'Yog - Monster From Space'
in 1970 was his last 'regular' film but he came out of retirement in 1975
to direct 'MekaGojira No Gyakushu' which was a celebration of twenty years
of monster movies
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