Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
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| Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster | |
 Original Japanese Poster |
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| Directed by | Jun Fukuda |
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| 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).
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[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
- Akira Takarada as Yoshimura
- Tooru Watanabe as Ryota
- Tooru Ibuki as Yata
- Choutarou Tougin as Ichino
- Hideo Sunazuka as Nita
- Kumi Mizuno as Dayo
- Pair Bambi as Shobijin
- Jun Tazaki as Red Bamboo Commander
- Akihiko Hirata as Captain Ryuui
- Eisei Amamoto as Carrier Captain
- Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla
- Yū Sekida as Ebirah
[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.
- In 1991, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was distributed under the Film Ventures International name. The company replaced the opening with a generic credit sequence, using footage from Son of Godzilla.
[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.
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)
- Supplements: Trailers for Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, MirrorMask, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, and Steamboy
- Region 1
- Note: Contain's Toho's International Version
- MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi monster violence
[edit] External links
- Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster at Rotten Tomatoes
- Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster film review
- FX director Sadamasa Arikiawa interview
- Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster at Toho Kingdom
