TALKBACK #7: Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster

[MekaGojira3k]

CURSE BUSYBODY SIBLINGS TRYING TO FREE ENSLAVED NATIVES!

Yeah, they're my least favorite part of the cast.

[KingKaiju]

Hahahaha I'm all for freeing slaves, but JEEEEEZ, these guys made me want to punch my television. Especially his annoying brother who was lost at sea.

[Inui Takumi]

I watched this movie for the first time over the weekend and I had a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" good time with it. The human story line was pretty well paced and the characters were very engaging and entertaining. Akira Takarada was so much fun to watch in this. I love his role in Monster Zero (SPACE BROS!) but this is pretty up there as well. It's to the point now that his role in Godzilla '54 is becoming his least interesting role to me (Final Wars, of course, never counts). But yeah, I loved his character and the way that his true character is revealed. Kumi Mizuno was also a fun character to follow. I thought all of the other characters were fine as they were. The brothers didn't annoy me as much as I thought they would. But, I do think that Akihiko HIrata was kind of wasted on this movie as he didn't really do anything that stood out to me.

There was so much going on in with the human characters, from the stealing of the boat to being stranded on the island and avoiding the terrorist army, that I was kind of let down by the battle between Godzilla and Ebirah at the end of the movie. Like, the elements of the movie where the characters were using the monsters as distractions or ways to escape were well done, like waking Godzilla to cover their escape or changing the formula of the deterrent so that Ebirah would attack the enemy ship rather than avoid it. And I do agree that the water effects were really cool. But the fight itself didn't really land for me.

I have a question for y'all: Which English dub is included in the Blu-ray? So far I've just seen the Japanese dub but I'm interested in seeing it with the English dub at some point.

[Gman2887]

[Inui Takumi]

[H-Man]

^Most fans seem to prefer the American dub but your mileage may vary.

Toho's international dub (originally titled Ebirah, Horror of the Deep but now called Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster on DVD) was produced in Tokyo by Frontier Enterprises and it can be heard on the Sony DVD and the Kraken DVD/Blu. I don't think this one is nearly as bad as most fans do but I still think it's vastly inferior to the second English version in about every way. That one, titled Godzilla versus the Sea Monster, was recorded at Titan Productions (New York) for the original American release by Walter-Reade Organization. The dialogue, the performances, and the lip sync are much better here than in the international version, however, unlike the international version, WRO cut around five minutes. (I don't think it really adversely affects the film.) This version unfortunately isn't available on DVD.

Shameless plug: I edit and upload dub comparisons to my Daily Motion channel. Ebirah/Sea Monster is one of the few I haven't made yet (I'm waiting on a superior audio source for the American version), but below is my comparison video for Son of Godzilla. Like Sea Monster, the international and American versions were produced by Frontier Enterprises and Titan Productions, respectively. The casts for each version are nearly identical to the casts in both crews' Sea Monster dub so this should give you a idea what you'll be getting from the earlier film.

Partial voice credits for Son of Godzilla:
International version
Burr Middleton as Maki (Akira Kubo)
William Ross as Dr. Kusumi (Tadao Takashima)

American version
Peter Fernandez as Maki (Akira Kubo)
Jack Curtis as Dr. Kusumi (Tadao Takashima)
Lucy Martin as Riko (Beverly Maeda)
Gilbert Mack as Fujisaki (Akihiko Hirata)

[planetxleader]

The international dub of Sea Monster; a.k.a. what had me fleeing from the Pickwick Theater.

I think the only tolerable Hong Kong Godzilla dubs are the ones from the '70s.
And I don't mind DAM (this might be nostalgia; I never heard AIP's dub until the Media Blasters DVD).

[MekaGojira3k]

I think I can only tolerate those 70s dubs and vs. Biollante, for whatever reason.
I think vs. Biollante may just be my familiarity with it, but I think most of the 70s dubs were actually
decent.
I think vs. Hedorah/Son of Godzilla/Destroy All Monsters are...bearable, but Sea Monsters is godawful.
I'm glad I put together a nicer copy of Sea Monster with the U.S. dub on it.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

vs Gigan has the best Godzilla dub EVER. Quality A team production from Uncle Ted and friends.

[planetxleader]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[planetxleader]

Makes sense why the Ghidorah dub sits better with me (even though it's still admittedly an awful dub)

[Hybrid Gojira]

I just finished watching this. It has probably been years since I've sat through the whole thing. I just finished the International Dub, which I seem to think makes things a little more clear than the American Dub I grew up with and own on VHS. From what I remember, they never mention the Red Bamboo or use the word "nuclear" when talking about the island getting blown up in the American Dub - can anyone confirm?

Anyway, this movie is ok. I understand why people like it, but it isn't a great film. Fun? Sure. Colorful? Yep. I like the music. Some of matte shots are awful, but some are creative and the sets are gorgeous at times.

Godzilla...ugh. The suit is basically worn out to the point where you can literally SEE HOLES IN IT. Ebirah is a lame duck monster even if the fight is fun. The Giant Condor....why bother?

And Kong's behavior as seen in Godzilla kinda makes for a weird movie.

So yeah, it's alright. The characters are good, the story is ok, but the monsters are sort of the worst thing about it.

[jellydonut25]

It's less about the worn out-ness of the suit and more about the water-logged-ness.

The American dub definitely never says Red Bamboo or Ebirah. Not sure about nuclear.

I love the movie though. It's so colorful and fun and the mishmash of spy movie with Godzilla movie is great. As for Giant Condor...we bother because it's fun, ya grump.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Jeeze, it's like IMDB didn't even try to get the film synopsis right -

[EricDent]

Just watched the Kraken Releasing Blu-Ray, must point out that I am pretty sure the Sony DVD had a different dub.
Cause I don't remember one of the guys sounding so high pitched.
Plus there were some pretty obvious line changes as well.

Especially the part about the "phony liquid".

Anyhow the Blu-Ray looks great!
Wish Classic Media would do something with their stuff (or just hand it over to someone that will).

Also in the future it would be nice to get both dub options if they have more than one dub.
For example on the Gamera DVDs they have both the Sandy Frank dub and another dub on some of the movies.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Rody]

I finally watched this film on Blu-ray (only the second time I've seen it in Japanese, too). The film looks gorgeous, and it's still boatloads of fun. It's silly at times, but the film embraces the adventure wholeheartedly.

[swfreakjpb]

The Italian Poster. More like Mighty Peking. Some of those European posters are crazy.

[lhb412]

[battrafan]

I've always enjoyed this film, but Kong would have been better.

I wonder if Son of G was also intended for/derived from Kong.

Clearly must have been influenced by the 1933 Kong sequel.

Godzilla is just too overpowered for these situations/monsters(Ebirah and Spiga are really no threat to him, and he's too large for life in these island situations).

They should have also swapped Rodan for the giant condor.

Would have been nice of both this and SOG had been Kong films, giving us a nice little Toho Kong trilogy with KKE.

[lhb412]

^ I think Kumonga gives Godzilla a good fight, though; a really underrated villain kaiju.

As for whether SoG was originally a Kong idea as well: nope. It was just following the lead from the previous film plus becoming more kid friendly to compete with the very successful yet much cheaper Gamera series.

[lhb412]

Man, the Godzilla suit is really looking rough by the end of this movie. People talk about how rough the suit looks in Godzilla vs. Gigan, but I think he looks equally damaged here. I'm guessing it was the toll taken by all the water filming here.

By the end of the film the shape of the head looks different. I don't know if that was due to solely to water damage or the head had been damaged and then repaired?

[UltraDada72]

This is one of my favorite Showa G films. It's the film I have the earliest memories of seeing on TV (along with Megalon). I loved Ebirah, thought the Godzilla suit looked goofy, loved the fight with the condor and planes, and loved how G rips off Ebirah's claw and starts playing with it as Ebirah swims away. It's always been a fun favorite of mine.

[Gojira69]

I never truly appreciated this film before now. Until now this film had always been on my least favorite list. I guess a lot of my prejudice was affected by the piss-poor copies I was watching for years. I just watched the Release the Kraken version of the film and though the dubbing is sub-par, it is a wonderful movie! The sets are spacious and beautiful and believable. The cinematography is expert and the scenes are generally well-composed and engaging for the viewer. It is a non-traditional music track but I now think it works in this case. The Kraken edition is a revelation, the picture quality is great! You can now clearly see Godzilla hibernating in the cave. That scene was always muddy and unclear previously.

Just loved it and intend to see it again soon.