Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster

A giant meteor crashes on the Earth's surface in Japan(where else?). Out from this comes a monster from Mars that destroyed the Martian race and now wants to destroy humankind. The monster is none other than Ghidrah(Ghidorah), perhaps the greatest enemy faced by Godzilla in any of his films. Ghidrah is a neat monster with his three heads and tails. He spews electrical currents from his mouths. Is mankind's existence to be forever extinguished? No. With the help of Mothra's fairies who just happen to be visiting Japan during this "global" crisis, Mothra is sent to Godzilla and Rodan to try and convince them to help the people of the world and fight Ghidrah. The twin fairies, probably fatigued from singing a couple fine songs, translate what the mosters say. Rodan and Godzilla are wary of helping mankind, and would rather beat on each other, making one Japanese spectator remark, "These monsters are as stupid as human beings!" This is a fun film. The monsters look as you would expect. Rodan, for whatever reasons, looks particularly cheesy and fake, but Godzilla is fitted with a neat rubber suit. Yep, miniature towns are destroyed in this one too. The acting all around is very good for a film like this. The story is pretty good too. You cannot go wrong with a giant lizard, a giant reptillian prehistoric bird, and a giant caterpillar duking it out with a three-headed space monster. Throw in two charming, musically-inclined island fairies and an assasination plot of a princess into the mix as well... not to mention the directing skill of Inshiro Honda and the fabulous music of Akira Ifukube and you just cannot miss!

I hate to make Godzilla fans mad, but there are very few great Godzilla films. Most are interesting as campy fun, but this one is actually captivating. Even the plot about the missing princess turned Martian is interesting and even though it drags away from the monster fights, it is one that can be easily followed and is well-acted. The effects for Rodan are horrible, unlike the original RODAN movie; Godzilla's suit is the same as always; but Mothra is not the giant moth, it is one of the giant larvae leftover from GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA. That sort of disappointed me, but the twin fairies, monster fights, and excellent music helped make up for it.

Many fans of Japanese monster movies regard the late 50s/early 60s as the Golden Age,and they are generally right.There is a terrific feel to the Toho Studios films made in that period-imaginative,exciting,fun without generally descending into camp,a good stock company of actors,etc.This film,to call it by it's western name Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster,is a direct sequel to Godzilla Vs Mothra,perhaps the apex of the Godzilla series.It is not as completely satisfying as the previous instalment but it is probably even more entertaining.

The build-up is somewhat muddled and lengthy,but the plot is just about intriguing enough to keep one ticking over until,after perhaps too long a wait,the monsters appear and the film really kicks into high gear.The appearance of Godzilla,the pterosaur-like Rodan,and the three headed dragon Ghidorah {surely Godzilla's greatest foe} are all well staged and effective,while Ghidorah's attack on Tokyo remains impressive and was often 're-used' in later films.The Godzilla/Rodan battle is just funny,as is the bit where Mothra tries to communicate with Godzilla and Rodan and get them to fight Ghidorah,a really wacky scene that could only exist in a Japnese monster movie, but the climactic fight,as the three Earth monsters Godzilla,Rodan and Mothra combine their strength against the alien creature is the most rousing climax of a Godzilla film,aided by Akira Ifikube's fantastic theme music.

As usual,the US version was altered and,once again,for the worst,although not as badly as King Kong Vs Godzilla.Still,scenes were cut and shifted about,tightening the pace of the first half and weakening continuity,and some of the music was replaced.Once again,to get a real appreciation of this tremendously enjoyable and exciting movie,you need to seek out the Japanese version.

...into a mediator! Mothra has many talents, including the ability to be a monster counselor. I love it!

I've been watching all the Godzilla movies sequentially, and this one was surprisingly enjoyable and well done. The human characters are likable and actually have brains. The story is well-written and has a lot of elements in it that help keep your interest. For example, the parts where there are no monsters fighting are interesting. Usually, the human interaction parts are boring. Plus, we get to see FOUR monsters in this one - AWESOME! And last, but not least - The Peanuts. Any movie with the Peanuts has to be good (well, maybe...) And, I love the woman playing the princess/Venusian. She is drop-dead gorgeous. Her face is so beautiful. The story-line concerning her adds much to the film.

All of my comments are about the original Japanese version with English sub-titles. This is a very solid movie and can be enjoyed by people that might not love monster movies. If you love monster movies, you'll be in monster heaven...

Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster has been considered a classic by many kaiju fans, and for good reason: introducing Godzilla's arch nemesis, the titular monster King Ghidorah. And while it is overall an entertaining flick, it does have it's flaws. The story is rather simple: Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah all show up at the same time, and Mothra has to convince Godzilla and Rodan to fight Ghidorah with her. It's pretty simple stuff and works effectively. One of the categories where it faults, though, is the characters. While they're likable enough that you're not bored, they're not really particularly memorable or interesting either. They're one-dimensional but the plot happening with them is interesting enough that it keeps you invested during the human scenes. King Ghidorah looks great, Mothra Larva is an improvement over her previous appearance, and Godzilla looks good too, but Rodan's design is a downgrade from his debut film, but he still looks fine, and the overly dopey look has yet to come. Godzilla's character ark occurs here, where he goes from destroyer to defender, though the reason why he decides to help against Ghidorah after refusing several times is questionable. He just sees Mothra get blasted and suddenly decides to help. The same is true for Rodan, and even more questionable, is what exactly this Rodan is. In the original Rodan, there were two: a male and a female. Both were killed. Then one Rodan comes out of the same mountain in this movie, and it's supposedly a male. Did the male regenerate? Did the male actually not die? Is this they're unknown offspring? It's unknown even to this very day, not even official Toho books ever really clarify. While it's nice to see Rodan appear in a Godzilla movie, this is rather jarring. The special effects, while quite a bit looks impressive considering the especially big time constraints, it does falter quite a bit during the Godzilla and Rodan fight, especially with the cringey puppetry. Despite this, the fights are entertaining, with Godzilla and Rodan's fight still being a joy to watch, and having quite a few memorable moments. And of course, the final battle with all four monsters is also quite entertaining, even more so, and the special effects in that scene are a big improvement, and everywhere else they are consistently well-done. Akira Ifukube once again delivers the goods with this film's soundtrack; his music sours. It's no wonder many of it is still used and remembered today. Overall, Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster is a flawed movie, but it's positives outweigh the negatives and is an enjoyable and memorable entry in the franchise. It's not one of the best, but it's far, far from the worst.