The "Eyes" have it....Godzilla pulled out Hedorah'

[edgodzi]

[Lord Ghidorah]

[Legion]

[kiryugoji04]

[musukogoji]

Back on the old board, I used to preach that it was a bone hand all the time but no one would believe me.

You can see the bone really well in the following photos:

[Trenton Fella]

[el-brazo]

@edgodzi:

> By the way, Hedorah is referred to as "Hedoron" in all the
> storyboards.

I think I remember G.M. Tucker addressing that in AGE OF THE GODS. He said that "Hedoron" was the original name, but they changed it to "Hedorah", because SPECTREMAN already featured a monster named "Hedoron". (Isn't this the monster from the very first episode?)

[August]

Yes, the monster Hedoron -- a pollution monster -- appeared in the first episode of SPECTREMAN (01/02/1971). HEDORAH was released on 07/24/1971. Hedoron appeared almost eight months before Hedorah made his debut.

Thanks for the clarification, Ed; in the flurry of the Egyptian's Godzilla celebration, I must have mistaken "Hedoron" for "Hedoriumu" (Hedorium). I don't see how I did, seeing as I am a stickler for details (knowing about the name change), but it seems that is the case. Interesting...

Still... Hedorah's eyes in the film are unmistakably red, while the spheres Godzilla pulls out are white... When Dr. Yano has Miki and Yukio look at the Hedorah sample under the microscope, what is pointed out as "Hedorium" is a white substance. Additionally, Banno told us (myself and Guy Tucker) that the spheres were indeed "Hedorium"... sigh.

The filmmakers were obviously not very clear in visually expressing this scene to the audience, since it is still being debated 33 years later -- when I was a little kid, we all thought that the spheres were eggs! WTF? LOL.

[GFan]

[Cleve]

[CyHunter]

Ouch! Goji's hand looks really messed up in that screen cap! (Never noticed it in my SciFi tape....too dark and SLP). I wish we saw more of that kind of battle damage nowdays--blood, bone, etc.

As for what Godzilla's pulling out, I always assumed they were eggs/ovaries until I started hearing everyone else's thories. And like Cleve said, why would Goji pull out his eyes?

Unless he just wanted to add insult to injury.

[Xenorama]

[August]

Right -- especially since Hedorah's left eye was already punctured by Godzilla earlier in the picture -- so, it wouldn't have two eyes. Plus, where did the red hue and the pupils go? Did Hedorah use Clear Eyes? Another thing... why would Godzilla pull Hedorah's eyes out of his back? Wouldn't it been easier to do this from his face (don't forget the already damaged eye)?

[Xenorama]

seems like an energy source would be located in the middle of the slug, and why would Godzilla have to make sure the EYES were fried?

[william newell]

[Garasharp K7]

[briizilla]

[August]

Hedorahs join to become larger; they don't seperate or divide (according to the dialogue in the Japanese version). The smaller one that ejects out of the body of the larger one, I always assumed, was a child hatched from one of the eggs (since it is the earlier "frog-like" form).

Another thing... Why did Godzilla have to dig through the body for more spheres, when Hedorah only had two eyes? Did he think he would find more eyes? Or was he looking for more Hedorium (or eggs)? Like a Toosie Roll lollipop, perhaps, the world may never know...

[canofhumdingers]

hmm, i thought he was trying to dry out all of the monster. He killed it, but it only fried the outside, like a shell. The inner part of hedorah was still wet, thus still alive & it tried to get away. So godzilla then pulled it all apart to make sure none of it was protected by a hardened shell as it dried (not looking for more spheres). I always had the impression that if hedorah were split up, each piece could potentially grow into a new monster, though the movie never says it implicitly (from what i remember). & i used to think they were eyse, but last time i watched the movie it seemed to me to make MUCH more sense for them to be hedrium, but maybe his eyes were supposed to contain the hedrium? man i bet this debate will go on forever & ever & ever!

[el-brazo]

Considering all that has been written so far, I think that Mr. Nakano probably was mistaken about the nature of the spheres, while Mr. Banno's statement is in accord with what the film actually shows (the same which was was pointed out by August): When Hedorah was seemingly killed for the first time, it had only one eye (the other one was already destroyed by Godzilla and it did not grow again), yet Godzilla found two unharmed spheres inside the body which were white (as opposed to Hedorah's red glowing eyes).

In my opinion, the story here is somewhat confused: When Godzilla searches the body of Hedorah, he actually seems to know that there are exactly two spheres to look for, because he doesn't bother with the rest of the body after having found and destroyed both spheres. This seems to stem from the original idea that the spheres were indeed the two eyes of Hedorah. But suddenly, a new Hedorah emerges from the remains of the first one (with both eyes intact), which is also defeated by Godzilla. This time, Godzilla makes sure he does not overlook anything and, after having ripped the body apart completely, he burns everything carefully. Even after he's finished he still keeps looking around suspiciously for some time. So, my best guess is that the spheres were actually eggs (probably, after the script was changed), perhaps consisting of pure Hedorium.

Now, I don't have that much access to other materials as the experts here have, so I can only base my opinion on what the movie shows. My humble speculation is: It seems to me that the whole part after the destruction of the two spheres was added somewhat later, thus altering the meaning of the spheres. While adding nothing really new to the film (it's basically just a repetition), it rather seems to provide some kind of comic relief at the end. We can see Godzilla kicking around a rock, we have the infamous flying scene, we can see Godzilla swinging around an empty costume, and there's the scene where the generators fail again (the first time it happens it looks quite dramatic, because we don't know what to expect, but the second time it's funny because we already know that Godzilla can utilize the machinery even if it's not working) and Godzilla reproachfully looks at the embarrassed officer. So apart from the humerous aspect, the whole part is totally redundant and could be simply cut out without harming the movie the least. But, as I said, that's just a speculation.

[kent]

I never did figure out Godzilla pulled out of Hedorah. I did think they were his eyes but no pupils or irises were shown. I still don't believe they were Hedorah's eyes for reasons I have already stated. I will have to take a look at the film again to see if I can see that shot. Strangely enough I never caught it.

[musukogoji]

August, Megalo, Kent, Guys... let me put this in perspective for you...

You're actually trying to find LOGIC in a film in a which Godzilla uses his heat ray as a rocket to fly?!

Ed already gave us the answer. Nakano told us the answer long ago and nobody listened. And now the storyboards give us the answer. They're eyes. We don't have to like it (hey, eyes doesn't make any sense to me either)... but if that's what they are, it's what they are.

[kent]

But what still bothers me is the fact that there were no irises or pupils on the spheres to indicate, to me, that they are eyes. That's the problem I am having.

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

But if you look at Hedorah's dried husk you can see his eyes intact!

[el-brazo]

@musukogoji:

> Nakano told us the answer long ago and nobody listened.
> And now the storyboards give us the answer.

Sorry, but I can not agree with this. According to August, Mr. Nakano is contradicted by Mr. Banno and the same storyboards which tell about the eyes are those containing the original name "Hedoron", which was later changed to "Hedorah". Considering this, I think the movie itself should be examined in order to find an answer. I know that this movie is not meant to be "scientifically correct" or "logical" in a sense of physical laws or mathematics, but of course there is a certain "logic" or "consistency" in terms of storytelling, which, I think, can be relied on.