Godzilla Vs. Hedorah

BOTTOM LINE: This movie has taken a lot of flak and I'll be the first to admit that in my youth I was among those who loudly decried it as one of the lowest points in Godzilla's career. After purchasing this spiffy new Blu-ray and watching it again as an older (and hopefully somewhat wiser, more level-headed) G-fan, I've come to re-evaluate this particular entry in the long-running series. It is undeniably gutsy, taking bold chances with a franchise that had grown stale and repetitive. Director Yoshimistu Banno rolled the dice with this film and, IMHO, he wins far more than he loses. And so I find myself moving this unique Godzilla film up several notches. This Blu-ray release looks pretty terrific too, so give this film a try! Silly bits aside, GODZILLA vs. HEDORAH is honestly a lot better than may have heard or read. 5 STARSTHE STORY: A toxic alien lifeform, carried to Earth on a meteor, crashes into the ocean and finds the perfect spawning environment within the abundant pollution choking our seas. Investigating reports of the strange creature, scientist Dr. Yano is severely scarred by the acidic monstrosity. Undeterred, he continues his research in the hopes of finding a means of destroying the hideous creature. Meanwhile, feeding on the poisons & waste found everywhere, the Smog Monster continues growing until it becomes large enough to threaten the world. Godzilla, (taking up the mantle of environmental champion), tackles the oozing mass of sinister sentient sludge in a no-holds-barred battle in which there can only be one winner.THOUGHTS (contains spoilers): An interesting and exciting Godzilla film that's been dogged primarily because of two brief scenes where the Big G flies, using his atomic breath as propulsion; (yes, it's every bit as absurd as it sounds). Personally I think it's a shame (and a mistake) that those were kept in the final cut. Without them this film wouldn't seem as ridiculous (all things considered), nor be viewed as negatively as it was (and continues to be). The other detractor is the dreadful new theme music for Godzilla, by composer Riichiro Manabe. It sounds like something written to accompany the on-screen antics of a staggering alcoholic rather than the heroic feats of a titanic sci-fi hero. A shame too, since Hedorah's theme and the rest of the score are quiet good. But those two strikes against it have been more than enough to stigmatize this film, which is often ranked near the bottom of Godzilla's lengthy filmography, alongside GODZILLA'S REVENGE and GODZILLA vs. MEGALON.Over the years I've grown to admire the film's script (co-written, in part, by Banno) which directly addresses the horrors of unchecked pollution and the immediate & potential long-term threats it poses to every living thing on this planet. Godzilla's new opponent, Hedorah the Smog Monster, is a visually interesting & surprisingly lethal adversary. Its powers are nicely varied and get more disgusting & frightening with each new stage of its evolving life cycle. A very cool, unique and deadly addition to Godzilla's "Rogues Gallery." Other aspects of the film that I enjoy are the interesting use of moody lighting, the surprising choice to incorporate animated segments into the narrative and the ballsy decision to show on-screen deaths, (and pretty gruesome deaths at that); something that hadn't been done since the 1954 original. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), director Yoshimitsu Banno had free reign with this film because series' producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was away on an extended business trip while it was being filmed; trusting that his promising new director would create an exciting - but safe - Godzilla film. Tanaka, who only saw the movie after it was already in theaters, was so enraged that he immediately fired Banno and never let him direct another Godzilla film. In hindsight, that was our loss.THE BLU-RAY: The gang at Kraken Releasing have put together another solid release, minimal as it is. The picture looks very nice. The focus is sharp, with a faithful reproduction of the trippy psychedelic color palette; only minimal scratches & dirt and just the slightest amount of pixelation & artifacting. There was no edge enhancement or significant crush (video noise) that I could detect. The sound is strong & clean and the mix is level for both the original Japanese language track & the English dub. (Please note, this edition uses the "international" English dub that was contracted by Toho Studios, NOT the A.I.P. dub. Regrettable, since I feel that dub is far superior to the international one. YMMV.) The only bonus feature is the Japanese-language trailer for the film. Sadly, there are NO supplements for the English/American International Pictures version, which is a real shame. There was some terrific artwork designs used in the pressbooks & marketing of the A.I.P. cut of the film. All-in-all this is a very respectable hi-def release and is recommended.

It's wonderful that American home video distributors have finally started taking Godzilla seriously and releasing excellent DVDs of the Big Guy's flicks. This DVD of the 1971 "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" (originally released in America as "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster") may not offer much in the way of extras, but it lets you see the film as you've never been able to: in a beautiful widescreen image (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) with the option to watch it in Japanese with English subtitles or dubbed into English. For older viewers, I definitely recommend watching it in Japanese; it will change your whole perspective on Godzilla and makes the film seem less cheap and campy. However, the English dub is a good feature to have for younger children, who will definitely want to watch the film as well.Although watching "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" in Japanese will tone down the camp somewhat, this remains the weirdest, oddest, most mind-bogglingly bizarre of all Godzilla movies. In the 1970s the Japanese film industry entered a steep decline because of competition from television, and the Godzilla films suffered from severe budget cutbacks. One of the guiding fathers of the Godzilla films, special effects wizard Eiji Tsubaraya, died in 1969 and the effects work on the Godzilla films suffered an additional drop in quality. "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" therefore came at a time when the Godzilla films were changing, and not always for the better. A new director, Yoshimitsu Banno, helmed this film and purposely set out to make a completely new kind of Godzilla film: a weird mixture of serious environmental message, frightening horror sequences, rock 'n' roll party scenes, cartoon montages, kiddie antics, and surreal monster fights. This is one strange film! The shift between the often grisly horror sequences (Hedorah the Smog Monster does some nasty things to his human victims) to animated "bumper" sequences and Godzilla actually flying (!!!) will make you wonder if somebody put the reels out of sequence! For all these problems and the film's silliness, there's something endearing about this monster mash: compared to the next few films, which are so cheap and uninspired, "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" feels like a project that the people working on it actually cared about. The environmental slant also provides a real message, the first time since the original "Godzilla" (1954) that the series approached such a heated topic.Godzilla steps into full superhero mode here. Hedorah (the name comes from the word 'hedoro' meaning 'sludge'), a monster born in the waters from humanity's pollution, rapidly mutates into a jelly-like giant that comes ashore in Japan and starts wreaking havoc and turning humans into skeletons. Godzilla answers the call to save humanity. But Hedorah is a fearsome foe, armed with laser eyes, poison gas, and toxic spit-balls! Godzilla won't have an easy time, but maybe the scientists and the military can lend a hand with their electrode device. In between scenes of monsters battling, you can hang out with Japanese teens at a disco and watch the psychadelic acid pattern show on the wall. Or just listen to the wah-wah-wah soundtrack music -- guaranteed to make you want to buy a lava lamp!Yeah, this is a weird film. But it's a cult classic, and resembles no other Godzilla film. (Apparently series producer Tomoyuki Tanaka hated the final product and director Banno consequently never directed another film.)Note about the English dub: Viewers who remember seeing this film on TV in the 1970s and '80s may notice that the English dub on this film is different than the one they remember. This is because there were two English soundtracks made for the film back in 1971. American International Pictures released the film as "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" and did their own dub through Titra Sound in New York, composing cool English lyrics for the theme song, "Save the Earth." Toho studios made their own English dub in Hong Kong for use in other English-speaking territories. In the early 1990s, the rights to the picture in America returned to Toho, and the Toho dub has now replaced the American International one. This DVD therefore contains the Hong Kong dubbing job, and that means "Save the Earth" is now in Japanese instead of English. Fans of this classic camp song might be a bit disappointed!

Please, whatever you do, don't take the 5-star rating as indicating the quality of this film. This isn't one of the best Godzilla movies but it is one of the most memorable.We're in the goggle-eyed, round featured, saviour of Japan Godzilla period which means it features a cute kid (though personally I prefer cute kids roasted by Godzilla's breath) with a psychic link to Big G. We have lots of cool young adult kids, dancing to excruciating pop music containing a soupcon of psychedelia, all of whom wear the most hideous movie-cool-kids clothing -thankfully most of them get it from Hedorah while holding a protest on Mount Fuji. We've got cartoon inserts illustrating various parts of the movie -pollution, Hedorah's evolution, etc. And, of course, the message that pollution is bad is not just lain on with a trowel, it is dumped on us viewers with a giant JCB. Pollution is not cool, man.We also get the wonderful sight and one, as far as I'm aware, never repeated in any other Godilla movie, of Godzilla trying to bend double and then blasting into the air, flying backwards clutching his legs, propelled by his radiation breath. If that doesn't have you collapsing with laughter, I don't know what will.Hedorah or, as it was known in the UK on its cinema release where I originally saw it, The Smog Monster (though Sludge Monster would be more accurate) is a wonderful creation. See the giant tadpole version smash ships! See the land stage inhaling smoke from a dozen factory chimneys at once -way to get high, man! See the flying version dissolve people and metal with its sulphuric acid wind! See Hedorah drown Godzilla in a mass of poison sludge!I love this movie. For all the wrong reasons.

This was one of the first Godzilla films I saw as a child - this and Son of Godzilla were my intros to the world of Toho monsters.As a Godzilla movie it's awful. Gone is the Ifukube music and Honda direction, instead we have awful comedy tunes and weird animated cutaways. Not sure who this one was aimed at - maybe teens and 20 somethings?The opening song is great, and you hear it twice more in the film... nice, but that's the only decent music.Hedorah is a clever monster concept and would work well in a new film (well it appeared in Final Wars, but was easily destroyed by our hero).However, for me the worst, the *very* worst moment is seeing Godzilla fly - I had forgotten all about that moment. I actually hid my eyes.The Japanese track is my preferred audio option, so I haven't tried the English dub, but if it's the same as the Internation version released on VHS years ago it will be average.This movie and Godzilla's Revenge are the very worst entries in the 50+ years history of Gojira (not counting the US abomination). At least things picked up when Gigan made his debut.

I have to give the usual caveat that I'm not reviewing this as a MOVIE per se, but as a Godzilla movie, which is a very different thing. My tastes for the latter run toward the absurd, and Godzilla vs Hedorah infamously has that in spades. Extended psychedelic gogo dance numbers, inexplicable Sesame Street-esque animated portions, avant garde arthouse imagery--it's honestly as if they let Andy Warhol direct a Godzilla picture.The final battle drags (and drags), but I still highly recommend it. Maybe the only Godzilla flick where the parts with Godzilla in it are less interesting than the parts where we follow the human cast, but still an interesting start to Godzilla's bizarre 1970s tenure.

This was the first time I had seen this movie and I really enjoyed. Look, if you are looking for "Gone With The Wind" you are not going to find that quality in a Godzilla film save for maybe the first one. This movie had everything a Godzilla fan could hope for. A thought out story line. Some great fight sequences and not too much over the top acting. It also touches on a theme very relivent to today and that's global pollution. Great print with nice stereo sound. If you want to check out one Godzilla film get the first one but the version from Japan not the US. This would be a good follow up. I would just like to make one poit to all those who say these films are stupid. First of all they were not made for. Second they are suppose to over the top. So if a guy in a rubber suit destroying models sounds stupid to you just move on. Oh yea the 60's special effects are Trippy to say the least.

First: Indeed all the content (save for the menus) is available by selecting the right titles on your remote control.The picture quality on these new releases is – considering the age of the movies – almost excellent. Colours are rich and all the grain is retained. I see no DNR whatsoever and no compression artifacts show up.Extras are thin with only the original Japanese trailer, however, the original Japanese audio and subtitles are included. Audio is solid as well."Godzilla Vs. Hedorah" features a especially beautiful transfer, which is sure to please any fan.