Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

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Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

Original Japanese Poster
Directed by Jun Fukuda
Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Shinichi Sekizawa
Peter Fernandez (English dubbing)
Starring Akira Takarada
Kumi Mizuno
Chotaro Togin
Hideo Sunazuka
Toru Watanabe
Toru Ibuki
Akihiko Hirata
Jun Tazaki
Ikio Sawamura
Pair Bambi
Eisei Amamoto
Music by Masaru Sato
Distributed by Toho (Japan)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release date(s) December 17, 1966 (Japan)
1969 (USA)
Running time 87 min. (83 min. dubbed)
Language Japanese
Budget unknown
Preceded by Invasion of Astro-Monster
Followed by Son of Godzilla

Godzilla versus the Sea Monster (the only film in the series in which "versus" is spelled out), released in Japan as Godzilla, Ebirah and Mothra: Great Duel in the Southern Sea (ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ 南海の大決闘 Gojira, Ebira, Mosura Nankai no Daikettō?), is a 1966 tokusatsu film directed by Jun Fukuda and written by Shinichi Sekizawa. It was the seventh film to be released in the Godzilla franchise. The film is also known by its English title, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. The special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya.

The film features the monsters: Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra, and the Giant Condor (also known as Condra).

Contents

[edit] Plot

After Yata is lost at sea, his brother Ryota steals a yacht with his two friends and a bank robber. The crew runs afoul of the giant lobster Ebirah, and washes up on the shore of an island, where a terrorist organization manufactures heavy water for their purposes, as well as a chemical that keeps Ebirah at bay. The organization, known as the Red Bamboo, has enslaved natives from Infant Island to help them, but the natives hope to awaken Mothra to rescue them. In their efforts to avoid capture, Ryota and his friends, aided by a beautiful native girl, stumble across Godzilla sleeping, who is resting from his battles with King Ghidorah from the previous two years, within a cliffside cavern. The group devises a plan to defeat the Red Bamboo and escape from the island. In the process, they wake Godzilla using a lightning rod. Godzilla fights Ebirah, but the giant lobster escapes. They retrieve the missing Yata, free the enslaved natives and Godzilla begins destroy the base. But Godzilla smashes a tower, will a self destruct button in the process makes the island unstable. As Godzilla fights Ebirah, this time ripping of Ebirah's claw. The natives summon Mothra to save everyone. However, Godzilla challenges Mothra when she gets to the island. Mothra manages to push Godzilla away and carry the people off. Godzilla escapes the island just before the island explodes.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

  • The film was originally written for Toho's version of King Kong, but when Toho lost the rights to the character they switched Kong with another popular character at the time, Godzilla. This would explain Godzilla's crush on Kumi Mizuno's character, the relative weakness of Ebirah and [more so] Ookandru (the Giant Condor also known as Condra) compared to last opponent (King Ghidorah), among other things.
  • The US television version and early video versions have a different opening to the film. The opening scenes of Ryota at the Maritime Safety Agency searching for news of his brother have been replaced with a scene supposedly showing Ebirah destroying Yata's boat. This sequence was created by editing a later scene in the movie. The current DVD version of the film restores the Japanese cut.

[edit] English version

In 1967, the film was released directly to television in North America by the Walter Reade Organization. It was the first Godzilla film to not receive North American theatrical distribution.

There were several small alterations made:

  • Dialogue was dubbed to English.
  • Deleted: The opening credits sequence. This version features only the title card, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.
  • Deleted: A scene where Ryoto goes to the Maritime Safety office and sees a poster on the wall for a dance contest.
  • Deleted: Rock music that played in the Japanese version during Godzilla and Ebirah's battle.

The English version runs 83 minutes, four minutes shorter than the Japanese version, and was featured in an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

[edit] Box office

In Japan, the film was released on December 17 and sold approximately 3,450,000 tickets. It was re-released on July 22, 1972 and sold approximately 760,000 tickets.

[edit] DVD release

Sony Pictures

  • Released: February 8, 2005
  • Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
  • Sound: Japanese (2.0), English (2.0)
  • Region 1
  • Note: Contain's Toho's International Version
  • MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi monster violence

[edit] External links

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