I'm going to recycle an old Tumblr post… the one from when I did the showa era Godzilla movie marathon.

Godzilla (1954) - ★★★★★ (10/10)

The original. An undisputed classic. A masterpiece. Terrifying, embracing its idea of the monster as a metaphor for the horror of the atomic bomb and its consequences. Top 5 of the whole kaiju eiga genre.

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) - ★★ (4/10)

In hardly less than a year we went from metaphorical horror to the most generic monster mash. It wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t so bland/boring. Tremendous downgrade. Anguirus is cool, though.

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) - ★★★ (6/10)

Basically a Kong movie with Godzilla as a guest antagonist (the real villain is capitalism). It has things that have aged very badly (the racial representation and use of blackface) and unbalanced pacing. It is saved by its last ten minutes. The US cut adds extra hilarity.

Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) - ★★★★ (8/10)

Mothra is made of awesomeness. Godzilla is a charismatic asshole. Once again, the real villain is capitalism. The main metaphor gives way now to a satire of the Japanese economic boom of the 1960s and its ecological impact. Fun from start to finish.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) - ★★★½ (7/10)

We lose the satire and social commentary, but we gain an iconic villain and embrace space opera and sci-fi without qualms. Fun monster mash and Godzilla’s first step in his transition to an anti-hero status. He’s still a jerk, but he’s our jerk.

Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) - ★★★ (6/10)

The spectacle wins out over any subtext, which has all but disappeared. It introduces what will be a recurring element of alien invaders making use of giant monsters. Memorable for being overall a fun film and perhaps the craziest of what we’ve seen so far, but not much more. Also, Godzilla dances.

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) - ★★½ (5/10)

Originally a Kong movie rewritten for Godzilla and it shows. Tropical jungle island adventure. Villains that could come out of a Bond movie. Godzilla in full heroic mode. GIANT LOBSTER. Fun, but doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression, although Ebirah has its fans.

Son of Godzilla (1967) - ★★ (4/10)

Not as horribly bad as I feared, but not a good movie. Horrible design decisions, unremarkable antagonists (except for the giant spider because it’s a giant spider), and abusive monster parenting. It tries to squeeze in a bit of environmental commentary, but it’s dull and infantilizing.

Destroy All Monsters (1968) - ★★★ (6/10)

The Avengers of the franchise. I wanted to like this movie more than I did. Two very uneven first and second acts of a story with a recycled plot (aliens + monsters under mind control) saved by a resolution that is memorable as fuck. You almost feel sorry for Ghidorah. Almost.

All Monsters Attack (1969) - ★½ (3/10)

The absolute low point of the franchise. It’s like a bad dream/recap episode. Tries to do some slice of life with the monsters as a metaphor for childhood anxieties in a plot that shoehorns gratuitous kidnappings into it. Good intention but disastrous execution.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) - ★★★★ (8/10)

A return to form! Hedorah is an excellent metaphor for uncontrolled pollution and contamination. A bit dissonant, with Godzilla as a kid friendly hero (he flies!) in a terrifying plot, with body horror, human casualties in large numbers and an apocalyptic feeling. And that poor kitty…

Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) - ★★★ (6/10)

Recycled plot of aliens (cockroaches!) using a giant monster. AGAIN. But it’s fun and Gigan is memorable as one of Toho’s most extravagant kaiju designs: anthropomorphic alien chicken with cool visor instead of eyes and knives. How many knives? All the knives.

Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) - ★★ (4/10)

What the fuck. Total drift to Saturday morning cartoon standards, but poorly done. It’s basically a pilot episode for Jet Jaguar, which is endearingly crappy. The plot? The usual, but swap aliens for ancient underwater civilization. Godzilla looks almost too adorable. Note, it actually has a message: nuclear testing is bad.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) - ★★★½ (7/10)

Twentieth anniversary and introduction of an iconic villain! And the plot… Guess what the plot is? Take a fucking guess. The aliens are now gorillas, just because. At least it’s well executed, it’s good fun. Also, King Caesar. I like King Caesar, even though he feels like a discount version of Mothra at times. Surprisingly gory in the fights.

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) - ★★★½ (7/10)

Direct sequel to the previous one. The end of the Showa era is a fun but a bit uneven film. Too much focus on a boring Titanosaurus (one of Toho’s blandest kaiju designs). Good balance of monster fights and a human plot with touches of humanism and trans-humanism, and a tragic sacrificial ending.

This week’s Godzilla movie is ‘Godzilla Vs Hedorah’.

I’ll often talk about how diverse this series is. Bleak disaster movie, adventure film, wrestling action, satire of bureaucracy, sci-fi spectacle, human melodrama, etc.

‘Godzilla vs Hedorah’ is the acid-tinged, psychedelic, 1970s environmentally conscious incarnation.

Apparently both Roger Ebert and Nicolas Cage have cited this as their favourite entry.

#Godzilla #GodzillaVsHedorah

http://foritismansnumber.blogspot.com/2024/09/godzilla-vs-hedorah-1971.html

Another late one, after my last nightshift this week. Anyway . . . enjoy 🙂

#blog #blogger #review #MovieReview #GodzillaVsHedorah #kaiju #film #filmastodon

My ★★★★ review of Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) on @letterboxd: https://boxd.it/6iiRXr

#GodzillaVsHedorah #Gojira #Godzillathon #film #movies #Letterboxd #cinemastodon