Your favorite Toho Showa *Non-G* SCI-FI FILM...

[lhb412]

[Giganfan]

I'll second that motion. I'd also like to throw in Rodan and The Mysterians as being truly definitive of the genre. They both captured the look and tone of what a classic Toho fantasy film is all about.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Giganfan]

In it's original version, I'll admit, Sora no Daikaiju Radon has the feeling of being a bit of a rush job. I mean, there is a fleeting moment where Rodan is literally dangling from a wire. However, after watching it again recently, the film struck me in a different way than I had previously remembered it. In the past, I was critical of it for being too, quiet, uneventful and sparse, a feeling that was no doubt reinforced by years of familiarity with the much more lively U.S. version. I am still a die-hard fan of the Kings Bros. cut, and feel that it is one of the better Americanizations of a kaiju flick. At the same time though, in it's original Japanese version, Rodan is actually a very moody, wildly imaginative monster movie, that exhibits some of the best work of Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya's respective careers. I had always focused on what the film did not have, and wasn't really looking at what it does have. First off, Akira Ifukube does something that he wasn't really known for doing with his music, which is under-score the action. You really get a feel for the underground caverns in which the Meganuron and the Rodans dwell, and the horror aspects of the story are especially emphasized. And the action sequences are enthusiastically written as well. It's by no means one of his best scores, and perhaps Ifukube was pressed for time in composing it, but the music still works, atleast for me. I love how this movie takes place from the perspective of the working class, as represented by Kenji Sahara's able characterization as Shigeru. Ishiro Honda is always at his best when directing films about common, ordinary citizens and their struggle to cope with whatever fantastic beasts the world throws at them. I think this is one of Honda's best-directed movies. Aside from a few unconvincing shots, Tsuburaya's effects truly are impressive. Rodan's gail-force winds literally tear apart anything unfortunate enough to be caught up in them, and his city-destruction scene is without question the finest hour for "the Samurai-Warrior of the Sky". Rodan has always been my second favorite kaiju to Godzilla, and though I really dig the designs in Ghidrah, Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters, this incarnation is the best he's ever looked. In a word, iconic is how I would describe it. And that ending always chokes me up a little. When Rodan tries to fly up after being consumed by the flames before falling back to earth is charged with so much pathos, it doesn't even matter that it was a mistake. That's the great thing about the art of "tokusatsu"; every now and again, you'll capture something on film that you didn't even think of, and it makes your movie so much more moving.

"Rodan" is no doubt a "classic" of the genre. It's one of those movies that layed the ground-rules for the films that would follow. There's alot of trial and error in the overall production, but atleast to me, its imperfections don't hinder it too much.

[MekaGojira3k]

I love the idea of the mining going too deep. I also love that Meganuron comes out only to find out its only food for a bigger monster. It does a lot right, like Mysterians, and it establishes a lot of unique elements for the genre...but it doesn't elicit the same kind of joy for me that Mothra, Human Vapor, or Frankenstein Conquers the World does.

[Giganfan]

[jellydonut25]

[The Real McCoy]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Giganfan]

[Giganfan]

My revised list is, as follows...

The Mysterians
Matango
Frankenstein Conquers The World
The H-Man
Mothra
Rodan
Atragon
War of the Gargantuas
Battle in Outer Space
Space Monster Dogora
King Kong Escapes
Yog The Monster From Space
Gorath
The Human Vapor
Latitdue Zero
Varan The Unbelievable
The War in Space
The Secret of the Telegian
Mothra (1996)
Mothra 3 King Ghidorah Attacks!
Mothra 2 Battle Under The Deep Sea
Yamato Takeru
Gunhed

One movie that I've gotten really high on lately is The H-Man. It's by no means, a perfect film, but, to use a quote from the great Akira Kurosawa, it's a movie that's "good enough to eat!" And Yumi Shirakawa is drop-dead gorgeous in it!

I have seen The Last War, but it's been so long since that one-and-only viewing, I didn't feel justified in including it here, as it wouldn't be fair. It is, however, on my "to watch" list. And as far as the more recent fantasies like the Mothra trilogy, Gunhed and Yamato Takeru...well, I figured why not include them. The are infinitely inferior to the classics, and yet this is probably the only time I will ever have instance to mention them, so here they are.

[king_ghidorah]

[klen7]

[MekaGojira3k]

[king_ghidorah]

Glad there's some more Yog lovers out there.

[MekaGojira3k]

I really wish I could find the original Yog dub.

[Xenorama]

PM me...

[klen7]

[KaijuZoo]

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]

[daijinryuu775489]

My favorites are:

1) Matango
2) Atragon
3) Frankenstein Conquers the World
4) War of the Gargantuas
5) The Mysterians
6) Rodan
7) H-Man

[Russzilla]

Gotta go with War of the Gargantuas. When I saw this movie as a kid, and Gaira eating that woman and the other humans, I thought it was pretty cool. And I love the fight scenes between Sanda and Gaira. Rodan is second. I love the suitmation work when Rodan is attacking Fukuoka. Him landing, then going up on that building, then over it and back down on the ground and blowing those trains all over the place. Great scene. And of course, Frankenstein vs. Baragon. I personally like Baragon moreso than some other Toho kaiju's. I really wish they had used him in Destroy All Monsters as originally planned and in future movies. (besides GMK)

[akanes_kiryu]

My absolute favorite is Matango. It's one of the most effective social science fiction/horror films I've ever seen and it's my second favorite Honda film. Everything about the film works perfectly and that laughter will always creep me out.

My other favorites are Rodan, Atragon, Dogora, War of the Gargantuas, Latitude Zero and Space Amoeba. I've also developed a bit of a soft spot for Varan and when I take into consideration why it was made, its flaws are a little more tolerable.

I'm actually disappointed by the end of Mothra each time I watch it, I don't know, it just seems very... anticlimactic. The score is also a very mixed bag.

I utterly hate King Kong Escapes. I've only seen the US cut, though, so I'll not pass complete judgment, I just loathe the American actors and their characters so much that it brings the whole thing down for me every time. I'd rather just watch 80 mins. of Gorosaurus jump kicking the crap out of Kong.

[klen7]

Matango is great, but KKE is such a fun movie... plus Linda Miller **swoons**