Godzilla Raids Again

[akiratubo]

I recently got the Japanese language version with English subtitles.  It sucks less than the 50s English dub only in that it doesn't have never-ending narration.

This movie is barely 80 minutes long, and they are very, very long minutes.  Most of the movie is people sitting around and talking in various locations.  It takes quite a long time for the monster action to really start.

Strangely, the monster scenes are undercranked, which makes the monsters look really freakin' fast.  Usually, Toho overcranked its monster scenes to slow them down and give the beasts the illusion of great mass.  My theory is that the undercranking was a mistake and Toho didn't feel like spending the money to rebuild the city sets and reshoot the scenes.

Godzilla and Angilas fight.  The fight ends.  Then we get a lot more of characters sitting around and talking (very slowly, mind you) in various locations.  Finally, somebody spots Godzilla on an island made of ice.  The JADF drops enough missiles to bury Godzilla under ice.

Woo.

The End

This movie is an utter bomb.  You'd need a geologic timescale to measure the pacing.  The original 1954 Godzilla was slow-moving at first, too, but when Godzilla finally got around to smashing stuff, it was good from there until the end.  Stuff gets smashed here, too, but it isn't very memorable, the quality of the special effects has dropped hugely, and the monster combat (the first since Son of Kong in 1933?) is ruined by the aforementioned undercranking.  The human melodrama is even weaker than usual here.

The only point of interest is to note how differently Toho handled its monster movies before the standard template was fully developed, before Godzilla was a big "name".  There's no real attempt to give Godzilla or Angilas any personality, they're just large, powerful, dumb animals.  They aren't cute, they aren't good or evil, they're just doing their thing, completely unaware of the trouble they're causing those poor, little humans.

[daveblackeye15]

Actually the special effects genius, Eiji Tsuburaya liked the speed of the monsters. But you were right it was a mistake except they liked the effect and kept it. I think slow and lumbering is the best but I liked what they were trying to get at with this movie.

I asked for it for christmas and await. But since you don't like it at least the much better Godzilla vs. Mothra is out too.

[Just Plain Horse]

I always thought slow and lumbering was okay for stomping cities, but when the monsters fight, things ought to move a little faster at least- are these not animals fighting to the death here?

The best idea would be for the monsters to move slowly at first, then gradually speed up as they "awaken" or grow more powerful. Since most monster fights happen towards the end of the movie, it would allow for better action between the two (or more) combatants.

Realistically, the suit design has a lot to do with this as well- Godzilla was designed for menace, not action.  Jet Jaguar, King Seesar, the first Mechagodzilla, and to some degree, Gigan were all designed for faster fights. Godzilla was designed for building crunching mostly.

[akiratubo]

I don't mind the monsters moving at "normal" speed, but the undercranking made the action in this movie look like a Three Stooges routine.

[Andrew]

The choppy movement of the creatures due to the filming speed does detract from the film.  I think that the main reason to see this is for the value of seeing both the first Godzilla fighting another monster battle and also the ice grave that they seal Godzilla inside.  Otherwise, any sane person will skip ahead to watch "Godzilla vs. Mothra."

[Just Plain Horse]

Yeah, I was rather impressed by the "burial by ice" scene at the end of the film. I can't believe though that Godzy was such a bonehead not to realize his breath would easily have gotten him out of that scrape if he'd used it earlier. Big and dumb, even in his own time.

[Just Plain Horse]

akiratubo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't mind the monsters moving at "normal"
> speed, but the undercranking made the action in
> this movie look like a Three Stooges routine.

...with Godzilla as Moe, Rodan as Larry, Gamera as Curly, and Anguirus as Shemp 8-)