TALKBACK #6: Invasion of Astro Monster

[heroforhirerob]

Well...as some have said....the plot does have some inconsistencies, but...really....you don't notice them while you're on the ride. This one has good SPFX and cinematography....along with a competent and likable cast. This is the equivalent of today's "popcorn" movies....easy to pick apart if you really wanna try, but an entertaining movie experience nonetheless.

[ebirahsmeg1]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[jellydonut25]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

[SeaHawk]

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]

[king_ghidorah]

[Goji 84]

[king_ghidorah]

[SeaHawk]

I have a few theories about INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTERS and INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER:

-The print titled INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTERS that Toho owns and has made available for rent (which has also been released on UK tape) is a workprint of UPA's US version, but with the Toho logo at the beginning. Its title card includes a 1966 copyright under it, which is odd for two reasons: the film was made in 1965, not 1966, and no Toho international version I've ever seen has had a copyright under its title card. If an international version did have a copyright under its title card, surely they would have put the year of the film's original release. Also, this version has many extensions to scenes that were cut in the Maron Films 1970 US theatrical release, plus an undubbed line. The dub itself, and the font of all the text, is the same as the 1970 US version. In addition, if memory serves, UPA intended to release their version, originally titled INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTERS (or something like that) in the US in 1966, but that fell through and it took until 1970 for them to distribute their version, in any form. All of this points to what appears to be a workprint of that aborted 1966 release. Why it opens up with a Toho logo is a mystery.

-Toho may have created their own English version, titled INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER, with Frontier Enterprises or Hong Kong dubbing. IIRC, no other international version has ever had a title on its title card that differs from the title on the int'l posters, lobby cards, etc. Even the font of the title on the posters is almost always the same as that of the title card on the prints. So, if this film followed suit, then Toho may have created their own English version with the grammatically incorrect ASTRO-MONSTER title.

-But why would this THE ASTRO-MONSTERS print open with a Toho logo? I have no idea, but I think it's possible that Toho released two int'l versions concurrently, one being the workprint of the 1966 aborted US version and the other being a version they created themselves with the ASTRO-MONSTER title seen on (evidently) all of their printed export materials. As I'm sure most of you know, all Toho int'l versions have a Toho logo at the beginning.

-I think it's also possible that Toho either lost the int'l version they may have had dubbed and titled ASTRO-MONSTER, or they simply never made an int'l version, instead creating just printed export materials with the ASTRO-MONSTER title, and that the only print they have in English is the workprint that they added a Toho logo to, possibly as a way of claiming it for themselves.

-It's possible that Toho could have planned on creating their own version with the ASTRO-MONSTER title and made stuff like posters and lobby cards for it, but saw that UPA had already created a then unreleased English-dubbed version, and may have decided it would be easier to simply distribute the workprint rather than create their own dub and never changed the title on their export materials to THE ASTRO-MONSTERS to match this version. Or, Toho made posters and other materials after instead of prior to distributing it, but accidentally Engrishified the title on printed material.

What do you guys think? I am open to any corrections you would like to make.

[Benjamin Haines]

If I recall correctly, Toho insisted that Classic Media use their international English titles on the recent DVDs.

I think it's interesting that the international version of this film features the title card over the image of the P-1 like in the American cut, rather than over the kaleidoscope background of the Japanese original. I'm guessing it likewise features the music cue from when Godzilla and Rodan are being taken by the saucers and not the Monster Zero March?

[Legion]

[MekaGojira3k]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[ebirahsmeg1]

[MekaGojira3k]

[kiryugoji04]

OH GOD MAKE IT STOP ALREADY.








Anyway, to add to the topic a bit, Monster Zero/Invasion of Astro Monster is my least favorite of the loose "GMK" (THINK ABOUT IT! ) trilogy from the sixties but I definitely have developed a greater appreciation for it in the wake of Classic Media's release of the film. MvsG, Ghidrah, and this film really do make a cool little unit, don't they?

Side note: My girlfriend HATES Nick Adams. She's seen him in this and Die Monster Die! and she just can't stand the guy! (I love him, of course, and for a lot of the reasons she hates him, no less!)

[MekaGojira3k]

PFFTT. After watching DIE MONSTER DIE you should just love anyone involved in that film. While I cannot for the life of me understand why you put Ghidrah above MZ, I'm glad you've obtained a level of appreciation for it.

Let that appreciation increase so as to let MZ take its rightful place as lord over the lesser Ghidorah films.

[kiryugoji04]

GHIDRAH is the end-all, be-all Toho fantasy film for me. I believe I've explained why elsewhere, though I can't find that post for the life of me! D: