TALKBACK #5: Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster

[jellydonut25]

[CWSmith]

This is one of the first Godzilla movies I can ever remember watching. Beyond the nostalgia though, this one is a ton of fun. King Ghidorah just steals the show completely (rightfully so, it is his movie) and its no wonder he's been considered Godzilla's arch nemesis ever since. Rodan's suit looks a little off, but to me, his character makes up for it. Mothra's role is perfect, though it is disappointing that we don't see the adult form.

Then there's Godzilla himself...and this introduces my absolute persona of Godzilla: the grumpy anti-hero reluctantly called upon to save the world. While I've enjoyed straight villain Godzilla and straight superhero Godzilla, in my opinion, Godzilla works best somewhere in between. I think when Godzilla can still be considered a threat to mankind it makes it all the more powerful when he charges to the rescue. That moment when he appears over the ridge and charges down the hill after Ghidorah still gives me goosebumps every time I watch the film.

Beyond the monsters, you have a really fun James Bond-ish international intrigue subplot and even a memorable human villain in Malmess. I adore this movie.

[tbeasley]

While Mothra vs. Godzilla from the same year is more refined, Ghidorah is exceedingly entertaining. It's really becoming one of the all-time favorites of the series. The characters on both sides (human and monster) are so full of personality and tie together perfectly. Yosuke Natsuki and Yoriko Hoshi bounce off each other so well as brother and sister, and Godzilla and Rodan coming to Mothra's rescue during the final battle with King Ghidorah is beyond satisfying. Godzilla allowing Mothra to latch onto his tail is such a sweet moment when the same action angered him so much in the preceding film.

Everything is wrapped up nicely aside from the possibility of the princess/prophetess still being under the risk of assassination in her fictional home country. But there's such a nice moment between her and detective Shindo at the end it almost sounds like nitpicking.

[lhb412]

Watching this last night I was struck by just how clever the script is, especially in the way is weaves the seemingly different plots together into one plot. Early on you'll have scenes with the detective and then with his reporter sister and the scenes will mirror each other but be about seemingly different things that we quickly find out are connected.

Also, that scene at the end with our hero and the princess saying goodbye at the airport; how great is that?

[Dorkzilla]

That's the reason why I love this one more than Monster Zero.

All of these different story lines, and they all come together perfectly.

[Giganfan]

It's been said many times before, and I'll say it again, this film, along with Monster Zero, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla Versus The Sea Monster[/i], King Kong vs. Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters represent the absolute gold-standard of the entirety of the Godzilla sequels. Toho really hit their creative stride from 62' to around 68, and this is the lasting image, for me, of what the Godzilla legacy is all about.

You all know how I feel about Ghidrah The Three-Headed Monster, and I echo the sentiments of CWSmith, Bannon and tbeasely. Well read!

[DannyBeane]

So does anyone else think that the scene when Ghidrah takes off into the air to chase after Rodan, only for Rodan to loop around and crash into Ghidrah, is one of the coolest scenes in the showa era? I mean imagine how tricky that had to be with all the wires from Rodan, Ghidrah's heads, tails, wings etc. and it was totally convincing. Definitely one of my top 5 showa scenes.

[Hybrid Gojira]

[DannyBeane]

[walshiam]

I never understood how Toho managed to let Rodan go like that after DAM. What a waste that was.

[Benjamin Haines]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[DannyBeane]

Yeah, after GvsMZ Rodan stopped being a beast in fighting. In MG93' he gets KO'ed by Godzilla then he gets KO'ed by MG. In GFW he was just more cannon fodder basically. What I liked about Ghidrah was that he could take a big hit and didn't seem to get wrecked. Most of the time flying kaiju are delicate little butterflies that rely on their speed and maneuverability. Rodan was both fast and agile, but the fact that he wrecked KG out of the sky in a head on collision and went toe to toe with the big G while even dominating a large part of the fight.

[MekaGojira3k]

Hopefully Legendary's Rodan will fair more like the Rodan of old. Although I expect us to get a less robust spindly Derpdan esque design.

[Gojizilla]

I think I like this better than Monster Zero. It feels like the last serious Godzilla film of the Showa era.

[lhb412]

^I think MZ is much more serious overall. As a matter of fact, I feel that GTTHM is the funniest Godzilla movie of all. It isn't the silliest, but to me it's the one where all the humor works really well.

[Hybrid Gojira]

Related question - were there multiple KG suits made throughout the Showa films or was it a single suit? Were there any modifications done between films? I can't seem to find much info on this, but KG looked kinda raggedy by the time Gigan rolled around.

[ebirahsmeg1]

[Hybrid Gojira]

[lhb412]

I always felt the DAM Ghidorah was a new suit. It just looks so different (in my opinion not as good), but I suppose being heavily modified makes sense.

[canofhumdingers]

If you have the first pressing of the DAM bluray with the extras, they talk about this in the commentary. If memory serves me, they put new wings on the old Ghidorah suit and repainted it (and perhaps made some other small modifications). But as far as I understand there was only ever one Ghidorah suit built during the Showa series. I'd chock up his appearance in Gigan to just being old and worn out.

[lhb412]

The faces seem less detailed, but that could just be the settling of the material over time I suppose.

[Legion]

I know people complain about Toho's HD masters, but I watched the blu-ray for this film yesterday (it was a Christmas present from my wife) and was blown away by how clear it was. So many little details that I never noticed before were now so obvious. I wouldn't recommend many of Toho's blu-ray releases, but I definitely think this is a must-have, especially when you consider all the extras included.

[canofhumdingers]

I think we might be discovering that TOHOs HD masters for the Showa films are significantly better than their Heisei and millennium films. I noticed this recently with the DAM bluray and I think lhb said something similar about the Megalon blu (which I own but haven't had a chance to watch yet).

Does anyone know if the german Ghidrah bluray contains the same extras as the Japanese release?

Also, legion could you expound on what these awesome extras are?

[Legion]