WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Godzilla vs. Hedorah 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.400 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind production of My 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:15.239 Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.639 Rob Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Godzilla time 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.160 on the podcast. But maybe a Godzilla you're a little 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.400 bit less familiar with one that was new to me 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.640 as of this week. Today we are doing the Godzilla 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.280 picture that was too hot for Toho, the Godzilla film 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:34.040 that is too radical, it's too dangerous, it must be stopped. 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:38.519 It's Godzilla versus headera. Yes, Godzilla versus Headera. One I 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.479 had never seen before. And I think you know, I've 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.000 seen a fair number of Godzilla films over time, and 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.280 I think I tend to have I tend to have 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:50.360 watched the ones that were either on TBS back in 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.480 the day they would show them in like the Afternoon 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:54.840 when I was a kid, or ones that were featured 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:58.520 on Mystery Science Theater three thousand later on. But there, there, 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.480 of course have been at tons of Godzilla films over 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.600 the years, and this is one that simply fell through 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.720 the cracks for me. I did not I did not 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:07.520 know it existed until this week when you said, Hey, 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.600 why don't we do a Kaiju movie. Why don't we 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.240 do either this one or that one? And I looked 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:14.520 and I saw, well, it looks like Godzilla versus Hetera 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:17.839 is available on HBO Max as part of the Turner 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.920 Classic Films selection. There. Well, let's do that one. It's 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:22.920 the easiest one for me to to see. And I'm 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.800 so glad I did the other option we were looking at. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:28.000 It's funny because the two movies have a kind of 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.280 similar premise. The other one we were looking at was 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:33.600 The Space Amiba, which does not have Godzilla in it. 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:37.560 It's a kaiju movie about an alien microbe that lands 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.520 on an island in the South Pacific and there it 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:45.200 transforms uh some examples of local wildlife into giant monsters. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.440 I think it makes a big squid and a big 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:50.520 crab and one other thing I don't recall. Um. But 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.800 in this movie we also have an alien microbe I think, 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.800 coming from a gaseous nebula or a speculated by one 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.400 character later on, from a planet covered in sludge sludge 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.200 like planet, dark sludgy planet, dark sludgy planet that has 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.760 come to Earth. And whereas many aliens would say take 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.000 me to your leader, this one says take me to 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.560 your smoke stacks. I need to get high. Take me 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.119 to your pollution. Yes, And then the one character even says, 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.120 wasn't this good? It can eat up all our pollution, 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.000 Like no, it's just too destructive, that's right. Yeah, So 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:24.880 this is a pollution monster that huffs airborne particulates straight 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.239 out of smoke stacks. He is a brimstone beast from 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:33.680 space that exudes sulfurous gas and acid and poison and 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.040 uh and and his bad news all around. Yeah. So 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.280 one thing about this film is this, first of all, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.320 this film is very much a Kaiju versus film. So 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.880 he is going to largely hit the same plot points 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.519 you're familiar with. Some new creature presents a threat to 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.520 humanity and established veteran in this case, Godzilla shows up 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:59.000 to battle it. Human characters watch on his battle proceeds. Um, 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.040 you know that you're you're guy. Monster is gonna be 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:02.600 on the ropes for a little bit, but it's gonna 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.760 have a big comeback and eventually win the day. So 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:08.640 God Deliversus Hetera is going to give you all of 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.480 those points. But there's so much additional weirdness here. There's 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.400 so much visual flare in this film, I feel like 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.400 it really stands apart from pretty much all the other 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:23.200 Kaiju films that I've seen. I'm actually I seriously entertained 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.440 putting it above Shin Godzilla is my favorite Godzilla movie. 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:28.920 I was thinking about the same thing. This is a 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:32.160 new favorite for me, definitely my top three now um 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.560 and much like you, I also have Shinn Godzilla near 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.560 the top of the heap. But mainly it's the reason 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.560 I was so enthralled by this movie was its novelty. 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.240 Having seen many Kaiju movies, it has a lot of 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.360 the familiar elements, and in fact, I would say the 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.480 familiar elements are actually the weakest part of this movie 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.240 as far as the big monster meet Slam goes. I mean, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.280 there is a you know, extended thirty minute beat down 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:57.960 at the end of the movie that is Okay, it's 0:03:58.000 --> 0:03:59.960 not one of the best, but it's also not one 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.720 of the worst. But it is the other elements of 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.320 this movie that really make it an absolute standout, without 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.200 a doubt, the most bizarre Godzilla movie I've ever seen. 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:16.080 Uh in that this movie believes it is art, yes, absolutely, no, no, yeah, 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:18.560 no question about this. It thinks it's art and it's 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:22.040 making a statement and maybe it's going to change the world. Yeah, 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.920 it's it's probably the best example of an avant garde 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.680 Godzilla film, and that's one of the reasons that why 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.200 it's so watchable. It's also one of the reasons that 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.039 uh that that it's director was criticized back in the day, 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.600 and indeed never directed another Godzilla film. You'll see his 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.000 directorial credit I and IMDb for some other Godzilla films 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:45.279 with us because they utilized a footage from previous films 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.039 in those those pictures. That's right. So the director was 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.719 Yoshimitsu Bano and uh and you will frequently see references 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:56.080 to this as the movie that ended his Godzilla career. 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:57.960 You know, he could have gone on to do all 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.600 kinds of Godzilla stuff, but like I said to the beginning, 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.520 this was just too hot for Toho. It was too weird, 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:06.359 it was too radical, it was rock in the boat. 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.760 You can't make movies like this, man, Yeah, exactly. There 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:14.400 are a lot of stories about how producer Tomoyuki Tanaka 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.800 responded to this. There's at least one story in which 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.560 he said, you've ruined Godzilla. Uh, And there was a 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.800 lot of anger, and I was there's a lot of 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.760 There's a great blog post about this from Patrick Galvin 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.720 at Toho Kingdom dot com. You can look it up. 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:33.560 He has a Yoshimitsu Bano in Memorium post that goes 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.120 through a lot of this and talks about his his achievements, 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.719 his uh you know what he gave the Godzilla UM franchise, 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:41.840 but then also how it was received at the time. 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:44.040 UH So, yeah, this is this is a movie that 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.040 was maybe ahead of its time, and I think stands 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.880 the test of time because it is doing things differently. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.440 So what is it doing differently? I could list a 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.880 number of things. One thing I will say is the 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:59.080 esthetic differences. It's much more free form than any other 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.440 Godzilla movie I've ever seen in that it uh it 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:07.080 inserts things that are outside the normal stream of plot development. 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:11.640 So it has musical numbers. It has animated segments there. 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:13.800 They're short, but there's several of them throughout the movie, 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.520 and there they were some of my favorite parts because 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.560 they're beautiful animation. It's almost like a Godzilla movie with 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.640 elements of like the Yellow Submarine movie and uh and 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.000 other sort of late sixties psychedelic films that involved a 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:31.880 lot of uh, exciting visuals with abstract colors and dancing 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:35.320 in a club. Yeah. And also yeah, there's also a 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.599 huge cultural element to this as well. There's a there's 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.040 a sense of the youth movement and the youth culture 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:45.000 and and and and and their rise and their importance 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.360 and and their part in the fight. Generally, in a 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.040 kaiju movie, who do you see fighting the kaiju? Who's 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.800 raising arms against the kaiju? It is the military, right, 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.560 the authorities? Yeah? Yeah, and in this we see the 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.800 authorities playing a part but also failing in ways, and 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.720 it's the youth who are who are leading the charge 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.360 at one point. Yes, in this movie. Ultimately, I think 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:09.480 the authorities are portrayed as almost entirely incompetent, that like, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.040 they are not the ones preserving order. Ultimately, it's Godzilla 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.600 who's the one who is preserving order and Godzilla. Um. 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.800 I was trying to think about what Godzilla represents in 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:21.680 this movie, because I think you can make a case 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:26.960 that a lot of the Godzilla films have a um 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:28.840 I mean, you know, it's it's hard to say they 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:31.240 have a very clear message, but to the extent that 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:33.840 there is a message in them, it's a kind of 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:37.920 vague environmental one. It's, you know that we have done 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.280 things to the earth, and in doing things to the earth, 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.560 through maybe weapons testing or industry, we have upset the 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.760 natural order and we have unleashed forces that are beyond 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:52.720 our control. But like I said, uh, I think that 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.800 that critique is in most Godzilla movies very buried under 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.000 the surface, very vague. In this movie it's the opposite. 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:04.240 It it's not only overt, it's extremely over there, screaming 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:08.000 in your face with an environmental message. Yeah. Yeah, they 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:12.040 definitely lean into the idea that Godzilla is is not 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.040 only it's not just a big monster for kids, so 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.320 they acknowledge that, but he is also something of an 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:21.080 embodiment of the nation's or a cultures will you know, 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:26.840 Like like Godzilla represents, uh in a sense, humanity struggle 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:31.560 against pollution, against destructive elements of of the world, and 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:34.679 the question of can Godzilla defeat this enemy is ultimately 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.160 a question of whether we can, whether we have the 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:41.400 public will to confront it. That's another transition I would say. Originally, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:46.000 Godzilla is sort of the manifestation of of us having 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:49.240 unleashed forces beyond our control by our upsetting of the 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:52.160 natural order. In this movie, he is the thing that 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:56.720 fights back against the monster created by industrial pollution. Yeah, 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:58.640 not a question. I don't know if you know the 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.120 answer to this. One of the fun things we see 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.400 with the Godzilla arc is that in the very first 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:07.400 Toho Godzilla movie, Godzilla is the antagonist of the film, like, 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:12.280 you know, this is a dangerous, scary, dark monster that 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:15.640 that that brings great destruction. But by the later films, 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.120 Godzilla is often sort of the hero of the film, 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.080 is portrayed as a force who is inherently dangerous, but 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.080 which ultimately fights against a force that is even more 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.880 threatening or even more malevolent. And that's the case in 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.440 this movie. So I wonder, like, how exactly does that 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.640 arc develop? And is that the case for other movies, 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:37.400 Like I've watched some of the Gammera movies where you know, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.600 Gammera is doing the same thing Godzilla is doing in 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.280 the In the later movies, Gammera is good and he's 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.400 fighting against the bad monsters. Was that always the case 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.840 with Gammera or did Gamera start as bad like Godzilla did? 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.079 If memory serves Gammera follow the exact same track Gammera 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:54.680 in the first film as a threat that has to 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.840 be overcome and launched into space. I think ultimately and 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.280 this would be This would be for a more in 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.600 depth discussion later, perhaps drawing on the work of people 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.719 who have maybe thought longer and harder about this than 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:07.880 we have. But I imagine there is there are a 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.160 lot of comparisons to be made with the way deities 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.200 change over time. Uh, you know, we can. I don't 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:18.199 know if it would be the exact same trajectory or 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.600 would be kind of an inverse trajectory in some cases. 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:25.000 But uh, I wonder how you know, in a loose 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.760 sense anyway, Godzilla is a deity. He exists not in 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.560 the the the mythic realm of you know, like the 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.240 ancient world or even modern religion. But he's in the 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:40.600 film myth world and and is therefore not quite the 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.240 same as our traditional ideas of deity, but perhaps subject 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.040 to some of the same changes in the way we 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.480 perceive him. Well, maybe before we go on any further, 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:52.200 we should hit some trailer audio. All right, let's have it. 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.119 This I believe is from the English trailer for Godzilla 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:03.400 Versus to Become the most fearful mennace that ever threatened mankind, 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.040 growing ever more deadly un smug. Only one pos dares 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:17.559 stand up lords overpowering evil. Nothing men can do can 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:25.959 stop the smug Monster and Godzilla save the earth from 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:43.240 this mastodon of destruction. All right? Sounds good to me 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.520 and and we we should, of course, note that in 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.480 the US, this I think, was originally released as Godzilla 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.840 Versus the Smog Monster. Yeah, that's right, though from what 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.480 I understand in the movie, the monster is not made 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:00.199 of smog. The monster is made mostly of why are 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.760 born pollutants and then comes out onto land to huff 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.440 the smog. Yeah, he's made out of like sludge and 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.880 minerals and all. Um A quick quick bit of trivia. Uh. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.400 In Germany, this film was released as Frankenstein's Battle against 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.480 the Devil's Monster. That doesn't make any sense? Um. I 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.800 was this was new to me, but apparently uh. In 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.680 the German release of Godzilla films, it was often explained 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:30.120 that Dr Victor Frankenstein created the monsters that Godzilla fights, uh, 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.360 and it just had to do with with how they 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:35.160 were releasing them at the time. So he had multiple 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.280 Toho films Tohoe did some Frankenstein films about Jenking Giant 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.760 Frankenstein's and uh, and I checked, It's okay if I 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.120 called them Frankenstein's. I checked with the Frankenstein's monster on this. 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.560 But but this sort of set the precedent for how 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.040 you would release a big monster movie in Germany. Yeah. 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.880 I remember reading a few weeks ago about a movie 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.520 I've never heard of before. That is it is directly 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:02.560 a Frankenstein Kaischen, not just called Frankenstein. It's like about 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.040 now that I'm about to say this, this really sounds wrong, 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.880 but I think what it is is a Nazi scientist 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:15.080 takes Frankenstein's brain to Japan for study and there it 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.760 gets uh it somehow gets turned into a giant monster. Yep. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.679 I believe that's right, Okay, strange or maybe we'll come 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:26.520 back to it. We're talking about doing some Frankenstein films eventually. 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:28.000 All right, I guess we should come back to talk 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.319 about the director of Godzilla versus Hetera, who was again 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:36.520 Yoshi Mitsu Bano. Yes, um director, also co writer. He 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.920 lived one through two thousand and seventeen. This was his 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.920 first and only Godzilla movie. Um again you'll see him 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.160 credited on the Gigan and the Megalon movies, but that's 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.160 just because they utilize older footage. He previously served as 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:52.320 assistant director and second assistant director on some really notable 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:56.480 A Kira Kurosawa pictures, including Throne of Blood in nineteen 0:13:56.559 --> 0:14:00.600 fifty seven. That's that wonderful Samurai Macbeth movie, and also 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.280 The Hidden Fortress, in which I think is often cited 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.440 as one of George Lucas's influences in UM the creation 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.760 of the original Star Wars picture, both great films. Yes, 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.079 I've also read that Banno was was very much a 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.600 part of the Toho film system. So he came up 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.479 in Toho and he stowed it under several notable Toho directors. 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.280 I believe his grip on this film is strong, because 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.440 unlike some other Kaiju films, this is one in which 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:30.760 I detect not just a Toho House style, but I 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:36.640 feel a really strong, bold, individual director's vision guiding the 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.480 whole thing. Yes, that absolutely, and I think it's why 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:42.840 at the time there seems to have been tensioned with 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:47.440 producer Tanaka over this UM. It seems like he he 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.040 fell out of good graces with Toho and ultimately went 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.080 on to be more of a producer. He was but 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.520 was EP on the two thousand fourteen American Godzilla movie, 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.640 and I believe he's credited even though he's occurred after 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.160 his death. I think he's credited on Godzilla, King of 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:07.160 the Monsters from and Godzilla Versus Kong. But yeah, I 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.240 think this is the reason why he was controversial at 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.200 the time but is memorable today. You know, there have 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.480 been so many Godzilla films, how many of them are 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.920 really worth looking up and seeing if you're not a completist, 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.320 I would say this is one that's worth going back 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.360 and seeing. Yes, totally. Uh. And it's different than a 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.080 lot of the other best ones because I would say 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.280 a lot of the other best Godzilla movies, apart from 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.280 the first one, the first one is very dark and gloomy. 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.800 A lot of the other best ones are very bright 0:15:32.920 --> 0:15:36.960 and lively and sort of fast moving and fun. This 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:41.359 one is also overall dark and gloomy, but it's excellently 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.800 dark and gloomy. Yeah, yeah, alright. So there was another 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.600 writer on this, u Takeishi Kimura, who lived through a 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.400 studio writer for Toho. He was involved in more than 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:58.320 thirty films, including some really notable ones including Rodan the Mysteriens. 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.040 Oh he was he was the fer of Matango. Allegedly 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.760 he believed this was his finest work, and it is 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:06.720 a fine work. We may have to come back to Mettango. 0:16:06.800 --> 0:16:11.160 This is about an island where where a fungal infection 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:16.720 turns humans into um my conned uh mutations. It's it's 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.160 pretty fabulous, so yes, Metango is worth checking out. Kimura 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:23.800 also worked on Frankenstein Versus Beragon. This was a giant 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.280 Frankenstein movie from from Toto, The War of the Gargantuans, 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.880 King Kong Escapes Destroy All Monsters and uh. And of 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.800 course this wonderful Godzilla film Takeshi Kimura. Is interesting because 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.479 I was finding a lot of very tantalizing biographical details 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:43.760 about him online, but not in very solid looking sources. 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.200 That and I couldn't find them backed up anywhere that 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.520 looked more solid. So so frustratingly, I can't report a 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:52.080 lot about him with confidence. But if, for example, some 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:55.520 of the like user submitted biographies I found of him 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.200 on various sites have any truth to them, uh, he 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.480 was a strange and interesting figure. He was allegedly known 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:05.440 for writing Tohoe monster movies with a more gloomy outlook 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.840 and and serious political themes, as opposed to the happy 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:13.359 golokie beat downs of other you know repeat Kaiju screenwriters. Well, 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.399 and as we turned to the cast here, let's go 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.000 right to the beat down. We're gonna talk about the 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.160 human characters played by human actors, but let's start with 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.480 the monsters. Oh yeah, So here's something about this movie. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.879 Despite the fact that it has a much darker tone, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.080 the Godzilla in this movie is kind of sassy. I 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:33.840 really detect a sense of humor in Godzilla's gestures and 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.440 expressions in this film. There's even a really funny moment 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.200 later on where the military is trying to do something 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.440 to defeat the opposing monster and fails, and Godzilla does 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:47.119 almost kind of a shrug, like, oh boy, do I 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:50.200 have to do everything myself? Yeah? Yeah, there's a little 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:51.600 bit of sass. He's a he's a bit of a 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.399 showboat at times. I mean, he's on the ropes a 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.639 lot in this but he but he does. He shows 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.520 he's a little bit of a showboat in a few scenes. 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.680 And he also takes some really inventive bumps, like he'll 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:03.919 get shot with a laser and do a complete front flip. 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.000 So there are times like that where I was really 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:10.160 admiring the performance. And indeed the performer here is Haruo 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:16.440 Nakajima who lived nineteen sev He is uh is kind 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:19.240 of an all star of the of the Godzilla franchise. 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.720 He played Godzilla in twelve consecutive films. He was also 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.680 in Mathra and the War of the Gargantua's uh as 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:29.000 as All, as well as Akira Kua SAWA's Seven Samurai 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.879 uh Most people forget that in the original cut of 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:35.400 that the Seven Samurai Battle the Giant Monster. No, not 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.679 not really, but he played a non monster in that. 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:42.160 But generally he's considered a legend of the rubber Monster suit, 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.240 the rubber Suit actor par excellence. I haven't seen Mosra 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:48.000 in a long time, but I remember that one. This 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.199 is known for being one of the best of the 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:55.080 meat slams. It's like a really great monster throwdown. Now, 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.960 the enemy in this cetera is played by uh Kimpachiro Satsuma, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.840 who was born in seven and as of this recording 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.119 is is still alive. Um And while he plays Godzilla's 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.000 enemy in this picture. Satsuma would go on to play 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:13.480 the King of Monsters himself after Nakajima retired, so Satsuma 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:19.160 served as Godzilla um from through. Seeing those dates though, 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.120 did make me a little bit sag with sadness as 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:27.560 I imagine the transition from Godzilla and and his monster 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:29.840 enemies being a person in a suit to being a 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:33.440 c G. I creation, M. Yeah, I mean, you gotta 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:35.520 love love the suit and you know there there. I 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:37.960 think there's been a whole documentaries about about what was 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:43.240 required of these gentlemen because these were very physical performances. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.680 They involve suits that were often not very well ventilated, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:50.000 and you're, you know, you're you're sweating profusely inside them. 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.399 And as we mentioned, like with Godzilla, there's a certain 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.119 it's not just a stammer around and smash a building. 0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:00.640 There's a certain physicality to the performance that really shines through. Uh. 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:04.720 You have to betray more than just brute lizard strength 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:07.800 or anything like that. There is a character there that 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:18.320 the actor is portraying. All right, well, let's get into 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:20.639 the human characters. Now. Most most of these characters are 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.760 going to be members of the Yanno family, the Yano 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.920 family being the key family of humans. And um, let's 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:30.640 start with the child the boy. Uh. This is um 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:34.960 Hiroyuki Kawasi playing Kenyano and he was This actor was 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.520 born in nineteen sixty four. Child actor was also uh. 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.840 I think he showed up in ninety three's Godzilla versus 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:45.520 Megalon as well, and he wasn't in much, but he 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:51.000 was in a TV series called Sorrow Sorrow Nu Guandan, 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.280 which I believe is Army of the Apes uh if 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.280 you translated. Uh. This was eventually cut and released as 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.760 a film in the US by Sandy Frank as Time 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:04.399 of the APESCE Theater three thousand. Viewers will be familiar 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.840 with this film, um, which is a lot of fun. 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:10.879 But i've i've I have never had the chance to 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.800 watch the original TV series, but there's a lot of 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.040 it and it has huge fans in Japan. Uh people 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.040 still follow it, and it seems like there's a lot 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:20.480 more like well, what you see in Time of the 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.000 Apes is very much a compressed uh plot line. There's 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.919 apparently a lot more going on. There's a robot in it. Uh. 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:29.040 I would love to know more and I'd love to 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:31.480 hear from anyone who's watched it in full. I don't 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:34.680 think it's been really widely available on DVD or Blu 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:38.560 ray or even uh like you know, streaming services outside 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:41.240 of Japan. Now, Rob, I have a Kaiju question. Maybe 0:21:41.240 --> 0:21:43.840 you can shed some light on this for me. In 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:47.960 Godzilla versus Hetera, this young boy Ken has a kind 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:52.480 of psychic connection with the monsters. He has apocalyptic visions 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:56.400 of the small creature Hetera, and he has uh and 0:21:56.440 --> 0:21:59.760 he he sort of has omens about when Godzilla will 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:03.080 pere to save the day. So and and this is 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:05.159 not the only film where there is some kind of 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:09.879 psychic or at least emotional bond between the Kaiju monster 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:12.000 and a young child. It's often true in like the 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:15.720 Gammera movies. And do you know, is there a reason 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.840 for this recurring theme. I don't know. It's it's one 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.439 of those things that is often with Gammer's Like Gammer 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:24.240 is a friend of children, you know, there there is 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:27.200 this innate connection. I don't think I have personally seen 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.440 a Kaiju film other than this one where it's described 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:34.120 as an overt you know, psychic link, a telepathic link 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:37.040 between monster and child, like there's some sort of sacred 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:39.760 bond there. I feel like it's something, And I could 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:41.760