Ishiro Honda is important to film because...

[lhb412]

[Gwangi]

[MouthForWar]

[Xenorama]

[MouthForWar]

[Xenorama]

[MouthForWar]

[Xenorama]

[MouthForWar]

[Giganfan]

I think the fact that pretty much all of Honda's non-genre films are particularly hard to come by, even in Japan severely limits anybody in accurately assessing his career on the whole. His influence over the sci-fi and fantasy genre is formidible, even if there are those who would not give him his due. He was a company man, who did what he was told (much like Michael Curtiz), but based on his convictions, and the way that he directed his films, I cannot view him as being a "jack of all trades" (unlike Michael Curtiz [for those unfamiliar, he was the famous Warner Bros. workhorse, that directed such American classics as Casablanca, Angels With Dirty Faces, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Adventures of Robin Hood, etc.]). And that is regardless of the fact that I have never seen anything that he has done outside of the genre that he knew so well, and helped to create. Incidentally, most of the films that are considered Ishiro Honda's masterpieces are really so because of the collective efforts of all that were involved. If you ask me, the golden age of kaiju cinema was brought about by a committee of dream-weavers, rather than the individual efforts of one involved. I tend to think that the movies that showcase Honda's best work as a director, are the ones that most fans consider the worst of the entire genre. Titles such as Yog The Monster From Space, Godzilla's Revenge, Destroy All Monsters and Terror of Mechagodzilla. Films where he really had to pick up the slack, because the script was bad, the music was terrible or the special effects were ill-inspired (although, to be fair, DAM is pretty adequet in all of these areas).

Make no mistake, I am not trying to deny Ishiro Honda any of his due credit. He was, indeed, a skilled technician when it came to the things he knew best. He made great films (Godzilla King of the Monsters!, Godzilla vs. The Thing, Matango), and he good movies out of bad ones Varan The Unbelievable, Godzilla's Revenge). But all within the limits of one genre. To put it bluntly, he was the best at what he did.

[kiryugoji04]

Space Amoeba is bad?! No way! That's one of my favorites!

[MouthForWar]

[kidnicky]

[ryuuseipro]

[Giganfan]

[Giganfan]

And as far as the titles that I was referring to are concerned (DAM, Yog, etc.), it is truly a matter of opinion. I like all of those films that I mentioned, but I was considering what the general concensus among the fans seems to be. Destroy All Monsters still has its loyal followers (I am one of them), however there seems to be a growing faction that considers it an inferior title in the series. With Terror of Mechagodzilla, the fanbase is split down the middle. Some think it's great, others don't. Godzilla's Revenge is often regarded as the worst of all Godzilla films, but to my taste, it showcases some of Honda's best work as a director, because none of his collaborators are as equal to the task as he. Even if it is a bad movie, Honda still makes it something worthwhile.

[Gwangi]