STARRING: Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Chotaro Togin, Hideo Sunazuka, Haruo Nakajima and Hiroshi Sekita. Screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa. Special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa. Directed by Jun Fukuda. Originally released in 1966. Running time 86 minutes.
This is was the first Godzilla film I ever saw, when it was shown way back in 1982 on Channel Four back when it showed eclectic movies. I'd been a fan of Godzilla for far longer, ever since I'd seen pictures in my various Octopus published books about science fiction and horror films, but this was the first time I got to see him in action and boy what a treat!
The story sees five random people drawn to a remote and mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific, each with their own reasons, for one it's the chance to look for his lost at sea big brother, for another, an attempt to hide out following a successful bank heist, for another to escape a press-ganged slave gang, while the last two are just lug-headed friends who somehow got drawn into the whole crazy adventure. When the first four arrive on the island they find themselves hunted by a super-secret society hellbent on destroying the world and preparing to unleash atomic armageddon on an unsuspecting world. It turns out the island is the secret base of an environmental terrorist gang called: The Red Bamboo. As luck would have it again, the island just so happens to be the bedroom of Godzilla who's currently kipping under a mountain. Meanwhile off the coast lives a giant red lobster called Ebirah, who just so happens to be the Horror of the Deep and he's controlled by the Red Bamboo who use a special yellow liquid to keep it under control. Anyway, things lead to other things and before you can say, 'Oops, that wasn't very smart' Godzilla has been awoken and all hells broken loose, all culminating in the greatest film trope of all times, the activation of a self destruct mechanism that's going to sink the island, while Godzilla goes toe to claw with Ebirah. And that's before Mothra turns up late in the third act.
What follows is 86 minutes of pure delight, an utterly guileless romp that's not ashamed for one second to be pure pantomine one second, brutal monster smackdowns the next, with elements of James Bond thrown in for good measure, and a jungle-based adventure romp! And when Godzilla and Ebirah finally get together for the first of their two massive battles the screen positively bounces from the sight of these humungous leviathans dishing out the smackdowns. The scale of the island and the ocean works well with the beasties and helps to sell the conceit perfectly. And the final utter annihilation of the island through atomic explosion in the climax is a sight to behold.
This utterly cemented my love of all things Godzilla when I first saw it all those years ago and watching it again 44 years later up on a big screen was a treat I never thought I'd get to enjoy. What an utter joyess experience, from the outrageously bonkers script and over exaggerated acting, to the peerless man-in-a-rubber-suit special effects and beautiful model work, and the bat-shit bonkers tonal shifts in story, pacing and action. Featuring four Kaiju monsters, an army of gun-crazy goons, an evil secret organisation hell-bent on destroying the world with home-made atomic weapons and the added pleasure of the Cosmo Twins, this was an utter and wonderful delight from beginning to end and I loved every single sodding second of it.
The phrase 'They don't make films like that anymore' could not be any more truer and this film proves without a shadow of a doubt that when a man has become bored of watching another man in a rubber suit destroying scale models of cities of secret bases he is bored with life.
I love, love, loved this wonderful little film and simply cannot fault it. A note-perfect gem of a movie that should be seen on the big screen whenever possible.
Godzilla thy name is perfection. 10/10
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