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Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

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Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
File:Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster 1965.jpg
Directed byIshirô Honda
Written byShinichi Sekizawa
Produced byTomoyuki Tanaka
StarringHaruo Nakajima
Katsumi Tezuka
Shoichi Hirose
Yosuke Natsuki
Yuriko Hoshi
Hiroshi Koizumi
Akiko Wakabayashi
CinematographyHajime Koizumi
Music byAkira Ifukube
Distributed byToho
Continental Distributing (USA)
Release dates
December 20, 1964 (Japan)
September 13, 1965 (USA)
Running time
92 min.
LanguageJapanese

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as Three Giant Monsters: The Greatest Battle on Earth (三大怪獣　地球最大の決戦, "San Daikaijuu: Chikyuu Saidai no Kessen") and originally released in the US as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 tokusatsu kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho's Godzilla series. It was directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.

The film is noted for having Godzilla playing a role where he benefits Japan, instead of trying to destroy it. It also features Mothra and Rodan, and introduces King Ghidorah.

Plot

Police Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned to guard Princess Selina Salno of Selgina (Akiko Wakabayashi) during the Princess' visit to Japan, due to a suspected assassination plot. Although Shindo is smitten with Selina's photograph, her plane never makes it to Japan, as it is destroyed by a bomb en route. At the exact same time a meteorite shower draws the attention of Professor Murai (Hiroshi Koizumi), who along with his team of scientists strikes out into the wilderness to examine the largest of the meteors, which has strange magnetic properties.

To Shindo's surprise, the supposedly deceased Selina turns up in Japan, sans her royal garb (including the golden bracelet which proves she is heir to the throne of Selgina), claiming to be a Martian, and preaching to skeptical crowds of forthcoming disaster. To their surprise however, her prophecies begin coming true. First she predicts Rodan, thought dead in the eruptiong of Mt. Aso, will emerge from Aso's crater. Subsequently, none other than Godzilla will arise from the sea and destroy a ship. Both of these events transpire.

In the meantine, Selina's uncle (Shin Otomo), who was behind the assassination attempt, learns of her survival and sends his best assassin Malmess (Hisaya Ito) to Japan to dispatch the Princess and steal the golden bracelet. Malmess and his henchmen are stopped by Shindo, who was warned of their attempt by the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito), who were in Japan appearing on a television show. The Shobijin had been scheduled to return to Infant Island aboard the ship sunk by Godzilla, but opted not to go after overhearing Selina's prophecy. A further attempt by the assassins is thwarted when both Godzilla and Rodan attack the city, forcing everyone to flee.

Convinced that Selina is insane, Shindo takes the Princess to see a renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Tsukamoto (Takashi Shimura), in the hopes of curing her. However Tsukamoto can find nothing wrong with her, mentally or physically. He concludes she must therefore truly be possessed by a Martian as she claims. As if emboldened by the doctor's diagnosis, Selina reveals her final prophecy—that Venus' once thriving civilization was destroyed by an evil, golden three-headed dragon named King Ghidorah, and furthermore that Ghidorah himself has already arrived on Earth. No sooner has she revealed this than Professor Murai and his colleagues at the meteor crash site receive a nasty surprive—the "meteor" is actually an egg, which hatches into the fearsome King Ghidorah. Ghidorah begins razing the countryside.

To combat the combined threats of the three monsters, the Japanese government enlists the aide of the Shobijin to summon Mothra. As Mothra cannot fight Ghidorah by herself, upon arriving on the Japanese mainland, she is forced to persuade the quarreling Godzilla and Rodan to team up against the evil alien. Reluctantly, they agree just as Ghidorah arrives on the scene. The three monsters begin a titanic battle against him. Meanwhile, Shindo and Dr. Tsukamoto are forced to protect Princess Selina as Malmess and his men converge on Tsukamoto's clinic; they fend the killers off and escape into the mountains as the dueling monsters draw closer, so they can watch the battle from a safe distance.

The assassins attempt to follow, but a stray blast from Ghidorah buries their car in an avalanche. Only Malmess remains uninjured enough to continue. He attempts to snipe the Princess from an elevated position, but only injures her. In her pain she regains her memory and is no longer possessed by the Martian. Before Malmess can take another shot, another stray blast from Ghidorah buries the assassin under a second avalanche. With the heroes thus saved from the human menace, they watch as the combined might of Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan successfully repels the fearsome Ghidorah, sending the three-headed monster fleeing back into outer space.

As Mothra and the Shobijin return to Infant Island while Godzilla and Rodan go their separate ways. Selina, having retained the memories of her time with Shindo, bids farewell to her guardian as she meets her bodyguards at the airport to return home.

Trivia

  • Because the completion of Akahige, by Akira Kurosawa, was falling behind, this film was pushed through to cover the planned release of that film. Therefore, this new Godzilla film was released successively in the winter, proceeded by Mothra vs. Godzilla in spring of the same year.
  • The Yokohama Marine Tower, a miniature of which is destroyed by King Ghidorah's gravity beams in the film, was completed three years before the movie was produced.
  • The Godzilla suit used for the film was named "Sandai-Goji".
  • Godzilla does not use his atomic ray against King Ghidorah in the film, even though it is shown on the original Japanese poster.
  • This film marks the first appearance of Rodan in a Godzilla film.
  • In his conversation with Mothra, Godzilla states that he only hates humans because humans hate him, and because of what he perceives as unprovoked attacks towards him, suggesting that he was not really a villain in the first place.
  • In Mothra vs. Godzilla, there were two Mothra larvae, but in this film there is only one. The Shobijin explain that one of the larvae died.

English version

The English-dubbed version was presented in American theaters in September 1965 by Walter Reade-Sterling, and distributed by Continental Distributing on a double bill with Elvis Presley's musical-comedy, Harum Scarum. Originally titled Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster.

Several alterations were made to the American version, including:

  • King Ghidorah's name was romanized as "Ghidrah".
  • The line "Are you a man or a woman? It would be easier if you removed your clothes!" became "Are you a boy or a girl? Why don't you do a striptease for us!"
  • In the English version, King Ghidorah destroys Mars (it was Venus in the Japanese version), and the Princess claims that she is from Mars. This was most likely because of the strong association the western world has with the possibility of Mars having been able to support life.
  • Continuity error: The sequence of Godzilla climbing on the docks in Yokohama harbor was changed around. First he is on the docks, then appears to be back in the bay, and then back on shore.
  • The scene of Princess Salno telling Dr. Tsukamoto. Shindo and Naoko about Ghidorah's arrival occurs after it comes from the meteorite in the American version.

The English version runs 85 minutes, seven minutes shorter than the original Japanese version.

Critical reception

New York Times film critic Vincent Canby gave it a rather condescending review, concluding with, "This fascination, on the part of contemporary Japanese filmmakers, with the destruction of their land by fantastic, prehistoric forces only 20 years after Hiroshima, might be of interest to social historians. The film, otherwise, is strictly for the comic book set."

Box office

The film sold approximately 4,320,000 tickets in Japan.

Titles

  • Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
  • Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster
  • "三大怪獣　地球最大の決戦 (San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-16.

References

DVD releases

Classic Media

  • Release date: June 5, 2007
  • Special features: Eiji Tsuburaya biography and audio commentary by David Kalat.
  • Note: Contains both original Japanese and English versions.
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