WEBVTT - Weirdhouse Cinema: Mothra vs. Godzilla 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:08.760 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:16.000 Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:17.800 and this is Joe McCormick. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.239 And today on Weird House Cinema, we are going to 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.440 be talking about the nineteen sixty four giant monster movie 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.280 Mathra Versus Godzilla, directed by Ishiro Honda. 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.560 This is our third Godzilla movie, following nineteen seventy one's 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:35.519 Godzilla Versus Hetera and nineteen sixty nine's All Monsters Attack. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.200 That's films eleven and ten, respectively. This is also our 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.160 third Ishuro Honda film. He directed this All Monsters Attack 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.040 and a nineteen sixty nine film titled Atragon we've talked 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.480 about on the show before that has a flying submarine 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.040 and another Kaiju creature. 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:52.320 He is. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.280 He is one of only a handful of directors that 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:59.520 we have featured on three or more Weird House Cinema selections. 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.920 You know, we are really doing the Godzilla films in 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.560 a strange order, and by that I mean we're working 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:11.160 first of all, backwards through time, but also we started 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.520 with what are widely seen as some of the weirdest, 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:19.960 most divergent films in the Showa era Godzilla catalog. So 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:22.399 the first one we did, like you said, was Godzilla 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:26.400 versus Hetera. That's from nineteen seventy one. That was indeed 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:30.160 the eleventh film in the Godzilla canon, and that one 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:35.000 was a psychedelic ecological doom trip in which Godzilla is 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:40.120 summoned to defend Japan from a toxic sludge monster that 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:44.959 powers up by huffing pollution out of factory smokestacks. A 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.800 lot of Godzilla fans regard Hetera as one of the 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.960 worst films in the series. I do not share that opinion. 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:53.040 I like it a lot more than some of the 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.320 more mainstream monster slams in the middle of the original run. 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.360 I think it's weirdness actually kind of makes it more unique, 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.560 really makes it stand out. But I will agree, yes, 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.000 it is one of the most unusual Godzilla films. 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.000 Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, if 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:12.960 you're watching a Godzilla movie or any Kaiji movie, it's 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:14.679 like you're in a good place. Yeah. 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.320 Yeah. So we did that one, and then the next 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.240 one we covered was based on a listener suggestion, that 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.280 was All Monsters Attack from sixty nine. This was the 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.120 tenth Godzilla film, as you said, And once again, this 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.280 one was a departure from the established format at this 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:37.240 time because while the main series, starting from pretty early, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:41.919 had been especially popular with kids, I think All Monsters 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.399 Attack was the first Godzilla movie that you could really 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.880 say was explicitly just made for children. It was just 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:52.280 a kid's movie. The main character is a lonely little 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.040 boy whose parents are always busy working, and so he 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.520 sort of has Godzilla in the previously introduced ab Zilla 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:04.880 creature known as Manila, like Mini Godzilla as imaginary friends. 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:10.000 All Monsters Attack was also a very budget conscious film, 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:14.360 making extensive use of archival footage from previous Godzilla movies, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:18.720 recycling fights and inserting them in creative ways into this 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.120 framing narrative about the little boy who imagines the adventures 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.880 of Godzilla and Manila. This one was also unusual for 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:30.240 the series because within this frame narrative, it was understood 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:35.200 that Godzilla and the other monsters are basically fictional beings, 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.560 so they're not being portrayed as acting within the real 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.720 universe of the movie, but they are being dreamed about 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:45.960 or imagined about by the main character. So in All 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.280 Monsters Attack, they are creatures of the imagination, and the 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.600 main point of the story was about what they mean 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.480 to the children who love them. There's actually a monologue. 0:03:55.480 --> 0:03:56.840 I don't know if you remember this, Rob there's like 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.000 a monologue at the end of the movie that exploit 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.839 makes the case that the Kaiju are for children what 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:05.920 the gods are for adults. 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:07.000 Yeah. 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.880 Yeah, that one was very interesting in that in many 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.120 ways you could see it as a lesser Godzilla film 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.840 because it is clearly, you know, aimed at children, and 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:17.680 it has a has a mini Godzilla and so forth. 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:19.719 But yeah, it does like chew a little bit on 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.800 the meaning of a of a Kaiju film. So I 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:25.360 really did appreciate that one as well. 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:28.520 Yeah, so those were number eleven and then number ten, 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.880 and now we're doing a big hopscotch down the chronology 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.080 ladder to number four. Mathra Versus Godzilla was the fourth 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:40.839 film in the Godzilla franchise, and it represents the third 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:45.360 time that Godzilla would face off against another giant monster 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:50.360 in battle, the first time a Godzilla movie would include 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.000 a monster that I think you should regard as explicitly 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.400 good or as a protector of humans against a greater threat. 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.200 This is a role god' Zilla would himself usually take 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.560 in later films, but here the protector is not Godzilla 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.440 but rather his antagonist Mathra. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.160 Yeah, the title is Mathra versus Godzilla, which kind of 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.080 does imply that Mathra has top billing. We'll get into 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:16.960 that a little bit. But also it is like Mathra 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:21.440 against Godzilla. Mathra is a force in opposition to Godzilla. 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:26.120 And yeah, Mathra is absolutely good. Mathra is a protector. 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.120 It's not one of these like though the enemy of 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.240 my enemy monster is my friend monster. No, like Mathra 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:36.719 is a divine being. The Mathra is the creature of 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:37.279 the gods. 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.719 But also Mathra is not cute and friendly and cuddly 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.960 the way that say Manila is right, Mathra is a 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.000 somewhat frightening being, but frightening to protect us, to you know, 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:52.520 frightening on the side of good. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.440 But she also looks very soft, like you know, she's 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.200 kind of free. So I mean there is a a 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.760 very nice touch the fur vibe with Mathra as well. 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.640 I didn't think about the furriness. You are right there, 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.839 more texturally pleasing than most of the monsters in the 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.760 Godzilla series, which are often quite spiny and scaly. Looking, 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.600 but also mathra Versus Godzilla is the last film of 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:23.440 the original Toho run to make Godzilla a bad guy. 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:27.160 You could argue that Godzilla is more or less the villain, or, 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.000 if not a morally culpable villain, at least a threatening 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.600 and destructive force to humans in the first four movies, 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.039 So I think maybe we should run through those really 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:43.520 quick to figure out how we get to mathra Versus Godzilla. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.440 So you've got the original Godzilla in nineteen fifty four. This, 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.000 as we've talked about in the past, is a dark, haunting, 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:55.960 somber tale about a monster created by nuclear weapons testing, 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.040 which rises up out of the sea and attacks Japan. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.200 The first movie here was inspired in part by some 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.920 events in the real world. You can obviously think about 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.200 the events of World War two and the atomic bombing 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.320 of Japan, but then also there were more recent events 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:16.320 that I've read were a major influence on the original Godzilla. 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:20.520 One of these was the so called Lucky Dragon five incident, 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.800 which happened earlier the year Godzilla was released. This was 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.840 when the crew of a Japanese tuna fishing boat called 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:31.320 the Lucky Dragon five were exposed to high levels of 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.760 radiation as a result of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.960 test at Bikini Atole, And you can see the influence 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.840 of the anxiety caused by this event in the way 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:47.880 the movie articulates anti nuclear and anti militarist themes. A 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:52.840 lot of Godzilla fans trained on the silly, sometimes themeless 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:55.400 monster suit wrastle in matches that you would get in 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.560 later movies, I think will be quite shocked by the 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.400 dark and serious time of the first movie. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.240 Yeah, the original Godzilla black and white, Godzilla is an 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:10.960 absolute destroyer and a thing that arises out of humanity's 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.080 atomic age sins. Really. 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.400 Yeah, And now this first movie was directed by Ishiro Honda, 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:19.880 the same as the director of mathra Versus Godzilla. So 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.120 it's not a question of like totally different creative inputs. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.920 We have the same main creative force behind these two movies, 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.880 but we can talk about reasons they might be different 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.520 across time. But the first movie was by Honda and 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:38.360 it was a huge hit for Toho. So in this movie, 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.360 Godzilla is not a protector. I don't know if it 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.560 makes sense to call him a villain, but he certainly 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.080 has I think he's pretty close to a villain in 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.240 the first movie certainly a destructive force of nature or 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.679 a destructive force of nature having been twisted by human 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:55.079 sins and technology. 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:57.199 Yeah, I think that's the way to look at it. Like, Yeah, 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:01.640 it's not like he has of a persona beyond that. 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.600 I mean, he is like some sort of dark anti 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:10.560 god that has been summoned by human technology and human advancement. 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:11.320 Not here to help. 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:11.800 Yeah. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.000 Yeah, then after that, so that's fifty four. Then after 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.240 that you've got Godzilla raids again in nineteen fifty five. 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:22.520 This was a fast follow up movie to capitalize on 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.600 the success of the original Godzilla. This one not directed 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:30.280 by Ishi ro Honda but by Modeyoshi Oda. Mostly gone 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.520 in this one are the anti war, anti nuclear themes. 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.760 I haven't actually seen this movie, but from what I've 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:39.640 read it, it's described as kind of a fast paced 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:44.400 adventure where Godzilla ends up fighting another giant monster. I 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.239 believe based on an ankylosaur model. It's like a quadrupedal 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:53.839 dinosaur covered in spines called anguirras. Worth noting here that 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.200 the Godzilla of this movie was not supposed to be 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.640 the same individual as the original Godzilla, who died at 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:03.679 the end of the first movie is just another giant 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:04.920 radioactive reptile. 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.800 Yeah. Yeah. At the end of the first movie, Godzilla 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.760 is destroyed, and there's just kind of there's this warning. 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:12.920 It's like, if we don't change our ways, there could 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.440 be more Godzillas. Yeah, and yeah it came to pass. 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.640 Here they come. Yeah, and then after this there actually 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.600 would not be another Godzilla movie for eight years. But 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:29.840 Toho did not abandon the Kaiju the giant monster format. Instead, 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.920 they introduced new monsters in their own films, such as 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.360 Rodin in nineteen fifty six. This is a movie about 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:42.760 a giant flying taranadon basically. This one is also directed 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.679 by Ishiro Honda, and then Mathra in nineteen sixty one, 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.480 again by Honda, about a giant moth worshiped as a 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.560 god by the people of a remote island. And I 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:57.200 think you could argue that Mathra was the second most 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:00.520 popular original Toho Kaiju after Godzilla. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.480 Yeah, that seems to be the case. I was reading 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.120 a bit about this in Godzilla. The show What Era 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:10.880 Films nineteen fifty four through nineteen seventy five, which is 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:14.439 the book Slash Blu Ray collection that the Criterion collection 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.880 put out with the textual part written by Steve Rifle, 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.120 who is, as far as I can tell, like the 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.640 main English language authority on Godzilla films. I've heard him 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.440 on Fresh Air with Harry Gross before talking about Godzilla films. 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:31.640 We were just talking about this off Mike, but we 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.320 both just ordered this Criterion collection disc set and it's 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:38.360 a magnificent collection. Yeah, the book that comes with it 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:39.120 is excellent. 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:43.000 Yeah, it is a testimony to just how beautiful physical 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:45.680 media can be for films. But one of the points 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.080 I'll keep coming back to some of the things that 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:50.000 Rifle has to say about these about these movies, the 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.360 Rifle points out that during this period, this is like 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:56.480 a golden age of Japanese cinema. Japanese film studios were 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.920 really cooking. A lot of great serious films were coming out, 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.760 but also in these other buckets of content, there was 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.120 like a lot of innovation. People were trying new things, 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:07.160 and I think that's part of what we're seeing here 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.640 is like Godzilla was a success, but they were trying. 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.480 They were expanding what Kaiju could be as well. So 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:15.199 it's like they weren't going to rest on their laurels 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.559 necessarily and just put out Godzilla films, though they will 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.080 eventually kind of return to form with this, Like let's 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.520 come back to Godzilla, and maybe we'll bring in some 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:26.439 things that we learned and some creatures we created from 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:27.280 these other pictures. 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.240 That's right, And so here we finally get to that. 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:34.240 In nineteen sixty three with King Kong versus Godzilla. They 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:36.640 got the rights yep, Gong, or at least got some 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.840 kind of rights to King Kong. So this was a 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.640 sort of appointment meet slam between as the poster said, 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:49.080 the two mightiest monsters of all time. From what I've read, 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.320 By the way, I think King Kong was one of 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:55.600 the inspirations for the original Godzilla, Like there was a 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.560 producer at Toho who had been thinking about King Kong, 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.240 which had just had been made in the nineteen thirties, 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.319 but I think it had just been recently re released internationally. 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.880 And then I think there were also some other creative inspirations, 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:11.440 maybe the Beast from twenty thousand Fathoms. But anyway, so 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.160 here we've kind we finally get to mash the flavors 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:20.280 together King Kong Versus Godzilla. It continued the giant monster 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:23.720 conflict theme I believe it is in this movie that 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.599 we really start to see the first signs of silly 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:32.080 moves taken from professional wrestling, and the monsters start to 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:37.040 act a bit less scary and more funny and anthropomorphic. 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.160 Yeah, and Rifle says that Honda was not a big 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.240 fan of this sort of treatment of Godzilla, and certainly 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.360 some of the stuff we see in some subsequent films 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:51.439 where Godzilla is essentially dancing and doing pratfalls. Yeah. I 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.640 think he makes a strong point that when Honda is 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.480 on board for a picture, there is to you're going 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.400 to see more of a move towards capturing something serious 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.760 about Godzilla and maybe leaning a little bit more into 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.679 social commentary than some of the other pictures. Are those 0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:10.920 Some of the non Honda pictures, like the Hetero picture, 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.840 are actually quite serious in their own right as well. 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.200 Yeah, Yeah, I mean, I don't take it to be 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:21.280 that Ishiro Honda was against having a silly fun time. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.160 I think it's more like that, you know, he made 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.320 the original movie, and he made it with serious themes 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:30.360 in mind. This was inn like anti nuclear weapons, anti 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:35.320 war film, and now this same creature is just out here, 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.520 you know, doing touchdown dances and stuff. 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.480 Yeah, like he did. He seemed to be opposed to 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.760 ignoring the legacy of Godzilla and what Godzilla originally meant. 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.640 You can certainly drift and evolve the brand, but you 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:52.160 don't want to abandon some of the key principles of 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:52.520 the thing. 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.720 Yeah. But anyway, so you have King Kong versus Godzilla, 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:58.640 and then finally you get to the movie we're talking 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:02.440 about today, Mathra versus Godzilla in nineteen sixty four, where 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.960 contrary to our expectations trained on the later movies, there 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:10.040 is a protector monster, but it is Mathra, not Godzilla. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.880 Godzilla is on the loose again, smashing things up after 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.720 being awoken from the dirt, and in the story, the 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:21.960 people of Japan must It's interesting what they have to 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:26.120 do to defend themselves. It is essentially to humble themselves 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.840 before nature and before the gods. To they have to 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.800 humble themselves in like go to an island and ask 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:37.920 the people there to allow them to petition their great 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:43.200 godlike moth deity to come to their aid, and the 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:45.640 moth does come to their aid, but not before making 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.840 them feel bad about their greed and arrogance. 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.440 And they should feel bad. Yeah, I will discuss. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.760 But remember I started talking about these four movies in order, 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:58.120 because this is the last time in this original run, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:02.479 at least, that we really see Godzilla as the antagonist, 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.720 the villain as opposed to the protector. After this movie, 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:10.560 Godzilla starts his Long Face turn, repeatedly being called upon 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:15.360 to battle more evil and more destructive monsters, essentially to 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:20.880 himself do what Mathra does in this movie. I believe 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.760 Godzilla would wouldn't really get to be the villain again 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.040 until some films later in the seventies and eighties. 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.640 Yeah, when they essentially a relaunching Godzilla and going back 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:33.360 to its roots to some extent. 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.880 But anyway, since we've been going backwards through time through 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:38.760 the series, I wonder, are we eventually going to work 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:40.680 our way back to the fifty four original. 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.840 Yeah? I think we should. It's interesting to think about 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.480 all this in comparison to the way I think most 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.680 of us have consumed Godzilla media, like, most of us 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.680 have probably not seen them. First of all, most of 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:55.680 us have not seen all of them, and most of 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.320 us have certainly not seen them in order. I know 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.560 growing up it's like I would catch Godzilla movies on 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:06.120 television exclusively. I don't know that I had ever rented 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.240 a Godzilla movie growing up. Maybe one of the later 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.639 and one or two of the later you know, films 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:13.840 from the nineties or something, But for the most part, 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.000 it's just Godzilla movies came on. You might not catch 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.960 all of them, you might just catch parts of them 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.200 even you don't didn't know where in the in the 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.800 order they fell. And then you're just continually making new 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.080 discoveries about what a Godzilla movie can be. 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:30.840 Wait, do you remember what the first one you saw was? 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.480 Ooh, that's a tough one, because you know, there were 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.600 some There was a there was a there was one 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.880 Godzilla movie in particular I remember seeing on Mystery Sens 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:39.959 Theater three thousand as a kid. But then there were 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:42.960 some others that they would just play on various Turner 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:48.480 broadcast stations. I want to say that it was Godzilla 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:50.680 versus the Sea Monster. I think that was the one, 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:52.720 one of the big crab Monster. I think that might 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.840 have been the first one I saw a bia. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.480 it was also released as Godzilla Versus the Sea Monster. 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.120 I'm not sure this is the earliest one I saw, 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:05.720 but my earliest memory of seeing one was a TV 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.480 broadcast of the one that's now usually called Godzilla Versus. 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.000 Actually not Godzilla Verses, just called the Invasion of the 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:17.720 Astro Monster. It's the one where Godzilla fights an alien 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:22.119 kaiju called Monster Zero. I remember the scene on the 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.000 other planet where like there's like a big I don't know, 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.480 in my memory, it was like a football field on 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:28.800 the surface of another planet. 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.800 I don't think i've seen that one. Yeah, but yeah, 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.160 obviously I'd love to hear listeners tell us what their 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.720 experience was with the Godzilla franchise. What was the first 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:41.879 Godzilla film you saw, and then what was your what 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.240 subsequently did you get into, Like where did you go 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.320 from there? Did you move forward in time or backwards 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.560 in time. I'm sure there's some listeners who haven't even 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.280 seen any of the show era Godzilla films. You might 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.680 be more familiar with some of the current big Hollywood 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:57.520 blockbusters that feature Godzilla. 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:01.360 Yeah, you know, I don't know if where's the best 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.320 place to talk about this in the episode, so maybe 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:05.720 I'll just say it here. One thing I was thinking 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:09.879 about was how it feels like you can really detect 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:15.440 a zeitgeist shift from the post war fifties to the 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:21.560 mid sixties in Godzilla nineteen fifty four compared to Mathra 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:26.040 versus Godzilla in nineteen sixty four, Like I was thinking 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:31.200 about how in the original Godzilla, the main human hero 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:36.800 the main human heroes are scientists, and especially one scientist 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.600 who bravely sacrifices his own life to carry out a 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:47.040 scientific plan to defeat the rampaging monster while also not 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:51.359 bringing into being a weapon that would you know, potentially 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.760 be abused by all humanity. In Mathra, the main human 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.919 heroes are, by contrast, journalists. There is a scientist to 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.239 there's like a professor who tags along with them, but 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:07.040 the main tour journalists and their real struggle is resisting 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:14.280 capitalistic excess and greed, not by performing heroic acts themselves, really, 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:18.879 but by acting as representatives of humanity or at least 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.679 of the nation of Japan, and humbling themselves before nature 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:28.600 and traditional religion to ask the embodiment of these forces 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:32.000 to have mercy on them. And the difference is also 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:36.280 there so much in the environment, like the kind of haunted, diminished, 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.919 destroyed kind of environment of the original movie is so 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.360 different in math reverses where the environment feels like it's 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.800 just bustling and full of public works and things being 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:50.800 built in industry and moneymaking. 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:55.199 Yeah. Yeah, the world of mathra Versus Godzilla was a 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:58.000 world on the move, a world on the grow. Everyone 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:02.719 is very distracted with the the capitalist exercise here, and 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:04.560 that's kind of the whole point of it is that 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.439 Godzilla is going to happen again. But if we're just 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:11.880 too greedy and too bound up in our and chasing 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:16.000 riches and growing everything, we're not going to be in 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:20.040 a place where we can resist him again when he attacks. 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:22.720 In fact, as we'll discuss, it's like all this greed 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.800 is getting in the way of various preparations that could 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:27.879 have been made to prevent this sort of thing from occurring. 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:32.240 Yeah, but the great human sin lying behind the original 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:40.080 Godzilla is actually a horrible, deadly destructive collective project of humanity, 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:45.560 whereas the sin in the human sin in mathra Versus 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:48.800 is individual acts of greed and selfishness. 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:49.280 Yeah. 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.080 Yeah, that's a great point. But the solution again is 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:54.040 getting out of that and getting into more of a 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.679 collective approach towards problems. 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:57.680 Yeah. 0:21:57.760 --> 0:21:59.959 All right, Well, let's go ahead and listen to just 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.919 a little splash of the trailer here. This is, I 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:03.920 believe from the original Japanese. 0:22:03.440 --> 0:22:05.520 Trailer, mh. 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:39.880 Nots in my ivan Tony card in what's it. 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:46.000 Say? You know that? What's what's a short. 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:03.680 Crack Joel's pool making out of Joelku? 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:04.640 Then tonight. 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:19.920 You all right? 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:23.359 If you would like to watch Matha versus Godzilla, you 0:23:23.400 --> 0:23:25.520 should be able to get a hold of it. To 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.600 be clear, though, this is Mathra versus Godzilla, not Godzilla 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:32.679 versus Mathra, because Godzilla versus Matha is the name of 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:36.360 a later Godzilla film that features both of these kaiju. 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:39.919 It's it's a mistake that you would be forgiven for making. 0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:42.240 And if you make this mistake, you're still going to 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:44.840 get to watch a Godzilla movie. So uh, you know, 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:48.520 it's no big deal. But this is Mathra versus Godzilla. 0:23:48.720 --> 0:23:51.040 Put the year in there, nineteen sixty four. That'll do 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:51.439 it for you. 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:53.480 Yeah, yeah, you can get it in a number of 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:57.240 places again. The Criterion Collection Godzilla the Showa era Films 0:23:57.240 --> 0:23:59.879 fifty four through seventy five blue ray set is a 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:04.160 amazing hard back, beautifully illustrated book has no fewer than 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:07.120 fifteen Godzilla films on Blu Ray in there if you're 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:10.320 looking to stream. Criterion Channel currently offers this among many 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:12.879 other Godzilla films, and there may be other places you 0:24:12.920 --> 0:24:13.760 can get it as well. 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:16.720 I streamed it on the Criterion Channel before my discs 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:19.680 came in, and it looks great on their transfer as well, 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:22.960 so the streaming option there is really good. But yeah, 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.480 apart from this Criterion release, I noticed that this movie 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:28.760 is hard to get on a good Blu Ray. I 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.000 think there's like there's one that's out of print or 0:24:31.040 --> 0:24:33.720 maybe some at least in the US region. 0:24:34.080 --> 0:24:36.040 Yeah, I know it's a Japanese Blu Ray that was 0:24:36.480 --> 0:24:40.520 being sold as well. Yeah, I watched it on Blue Ray, 0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:42.480 but I also had the pleasure of seeing it on 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:45.760 the big screen at Atlanta's Historic Plaza Theater a week 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:47.680 or so ago as part of the Silver Scream spook 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:51.840 Show series. It was pretty great. It was a packed crowd, 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:55.720 like the entire theater was packed out at very enthusiastic bunch. 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.560 There were people in their Godzilla and Mathra jackets that 0:24:59.560 --> 0:25:01.280 people were we were in Mathra merks. There were some 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:04.159 big Mathra fans there. They had a big Mathra puppet 0:25:04.200 --> 0:25:07.600 that they paraded around before. We watched it. A whole 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:09.800 lot of fun. I got to see it with my kid. 0:25:10.160 --> 0:25:13.919 And if you're interested in the Silver Screams Spook Show series, 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:17.359 they're going to be showing nineteen seventy seven Sinbad and 0:25:17.400 --> 0:25:18.920 the Eye of the Tiger in July. 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:21.760 Oh man, I grew up with the vhs to that one. 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:24.560 Oh wow, So we might come back to that one 0:25:24.560 --> 0:25:25.679 on Weird House. We'll see. 0:25:25.960 --> 0:25:28.160 From what I recall it, it's a hoot in terms 0:25:28.200 --> 0:25:32.280 of story and acting, and it has some really really 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:38.600 great stop motion monsters in it, a particularly a minotaur 0:25:38.920 --> 0:25:42.280 robot that's like a bronze or gold minotaur robot called 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:43.200 the Mino Ton. 0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:55.399 All right, let's roll through the folks involved in this picture. 0:25:55.440 --> 0:25:57.159 I'm not going to hit everybody. There are going to 0:25:57.240 --> 0:25:59.080 be some that we may come back to later to 0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:01.879 credit with the actor was, but I want to hit 0:26:01.920 --> 0:26:04.880 the major points. So starting with the director again, it's 0:26:04.880 --> 0:26:07.640 Ishie Ohanda, who lived nineteen eleven through nineteen ninety three, 0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:11.760 legendary Toho film director who helmed nineteen fifty four of Godzilla, 0:26:12.640 --> 0:26:14.920 the movie that started at All. He directed forty four 0:26:14.960 --> 0:26:18.280 pictures in total eight of those Godzilla films, culminating in 0:26:18.320 --> 0:26:21.560 the nineteen seventy five film Terror of Mecca Godzilla, which, 0:26:21.560 --> 0:26:24.720 according to Steve Rifle, kind of comes back and serves 0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:27.560 as a proper cap to a lot of the silliness, 0:26:28.720 --> 0:26:30.920 you know, coming back and making maybe a little more 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:34.600 serious and a little darker look at the Godzilla world. 0:26:35.320 --> 0:26:40.080 He also directed Rodin the Mysterians, The Human Vapor Metango, 0:26:40.560 --> 0:26:44.640 Frankenstein Versus Beragon, The War of the Gargantuan Space Amiba, 0:26:44.960 --> 0:26:48.280 and more. He was a friend of director Akira Kurosawa 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:52.800 and served as director counselor or chief assistant director on 0:26:52.920 --> 0:26:57.040 Kurrosawa's nineteen eighty five epic Ron, and his name continues 0:26:57.040 --> 0:27:00.440 to appear in the credits on Godzilla movies and other 0:27:00.560 --> 0:27:06.840 homages to the Godzilla franchise. According to Steve Rifle, Honda 0:27:06.920 --> 0:27:09.600 started out directing more like sort of like lower budget, 0:27:09.640 --> 0:27:14.240 thoughtful films about youthful characters and sort of you know 0:27:14.880 --> 0:27:18.440 the challenges of growing up. But then you know, ends 0:27:18.520 --> 0:27:22.919 up getting thrown into this world of Godzilla, and this, 0:27:23.080 --> 0:27:25.280 you know, comes to define him as a filmmaker, and 0:27:25.520 --> 0:27:27.919 you know, he kind of stuck to his guns as 0:27:28.000 --> 0:27:33.439 much as possible about the seriousness of the original Godzilla picture, 0:27:34.119 --> 0:27:36.160 and so when his name is attached to it, yeah, 0:27:36.200 --> 0:27:40.200 there does seem to be this this pivot back towards 0:27:40.400 --> 0:27:43.160 the darker roots of the being. All right, so that's 0:27:43.200 --> 0:27:47.400 the director. A writer once more is Shinichi Sakazawa, who 0:27:47.400 --> 0:27:50.879 of nineteen twenty through nineteen ninety two frequent collaborator with 0:27:50.960 --> 0:27:54.840 Honda and describe of many Godzilla movies, beginning with sixty 0:27:54.840 --> 0:27:59.680 two's King cong Versus Godzilla. There Godzilla credits stretch from 0:27:59.720 --> 0:28:02.879 here all the way up to nineteen eighty nine's Godzilla 0:28:03.040 --> 0:28:06.600 versus Bio Lanta. It's just a story credit, but still 0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:11.080 that's kind of like the full saga of their credits 0:28:11.119 --> 0:28:12.400 with the Godzilla franchise. 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:16.199 Speaking of tone and seriousness, I think another one of 0:28:16.200 --> 0:28:19.080 the things Rifle mentions in that book is that there 0:28:19.080 --> 0:28:22.680 were a number of writers who contributed to this early 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:26.199 run of Godzilla films, and Sekizawa, i think, is the 0:28:26.240 --> 0:28:29.399 one more often associated with a somewhat lighter tone and 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:33.800 more openness to comedy, which is there in Mathra to 0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:38.000 be clear, like this one is it's not as silly 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:40.360 as some of the later movies, but it does have 0:28:40.800 --> 0:28:44.080 a lot of comedy, Like the villains are very clownish 0:28:44.240 --> 0:28:44.440 in it. 0:28:44.520 --> 0:28:48.000 Yes, the human villains, Yeah, yeah, it has some great 0:28:48.240 --> 0:28:54.520 human comedy. The monsters are mostly treated with abjects seriousness, 0:28:54.720 --> 0:28:56.760 but there's some very silly human antics in there as well. 0:28:57.000 --> 0:29:00.000 Yeah. And also the guy who just is always eating. 0:28:59.800 --> 0:29:03.200 A Yes, we'll get to him in a second. But yeah, 0:29:03.400 --> 0:29:06.360 So we'll start with talking about the humans here and 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.240 the monsters. I want to start with the forces of 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:13.680 liberty progression and also eggs. We mentioned that the leads 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:17.920 the main characters here are journalists, and our main hero 0:29:18.120 --> 0:29:23.840 journalist is the character Ichiro Sakai played by Akira Takarata, 0:29:23.960 --> 0:29:28.000 who lived nineteen thirty four through twenty twenty two. Cocky 0:29:28.080 --> 0:29:32.360 but honorable journalist, a little tough to love at first. 0:29:32.360 --> 0:29:34.400 He comes off a little rough around the edges, but 0:29:34.480 --> 0:29:36.640 you grow to realize that he really cares about the 0:29:36.640 --> 0:29:40.080 truth and about doing what's right in the world through 0:29:40.080 --> 0:29:40.840 his journalism. 0:29:41.120 --> 0:29:45.360 Yeah, he from the beginning has integrity. He's not as 0:29:45.520 --> 0:29:48.400 likable in the beginning, just because he's kind of he's 0:29:48.440 --> 0:29:52.360 sort of bossy, and he's like demanding of respect from 0:29:52.400 --> 0:29:55.920 people around him, and I don't know, maybe maybe they're 0:29:55.960 --> 0:30:00.240 not giving him enough respect. I don't know, but yeah, 0:30:00.640 --> 0:30:02.760 you come around to him throughout the movie. 0:30:02.960 --> 0:30:06.040 So Takarata has the top billing here, but he actually 0:30:06.120 --> 0:30:10.520 appeared in different roles in numerous Godzilla films, including fifty 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:14.880 four's Godzilla Invasion of the Astro Monster in nineteen sixty five, 0:30:14.960 --> 0:30:17.960 Godzilla versus the Sea Monster from sixty six, as well 0:30:17.960 --> 0:30:21.600 as nineteen ninety two's Godzilla versus Mathra and Godzilla Final 0:30:21.640 --> 0:30:24.600 a Wars from two thousand and four. He's also in 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:28.000 King Kong Escapes from sixty seven. That's one I haven't 0:30:28.040 --> 0:30:30.880 seen yet, but it's always been on my list because 0:30:30.920 --> 0:30:34.240 it features not only King Kong in Kaiju form, but 0:30:34.280 --> 0:30:39.240 also a mecha Kong called Macanni Kong. So he's in that. 0:30:39.640 --> 0:30:42.880 And then Tagarata is also in the nineteen fifty five 0:30:43.000 --> 0:30:47.400 I Believe Yeti horror film Half Humano all right, so 0:30:47.480 --> 0:30:50.600 he's our lead journalist, but then his photographer is the 0:30:51.000 --> 0:30:56.080 character Djunko Nakanishi played by Yuriko Hoshi, who lived nineteen 0:30:56.120 --> 0:31:00.880 forty three through twenty eighteen. She also appears in Gidora, 0:31:01.000 --> 0:31:03.880 the three headed monster from sixty four in a different role, 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:09.120 as well as in Godzilla versus Mega Gurius in two thousand. 0:31:09.560 --> 0:31:13.080 Her other credits include nineteen sixty eight's Kill and nineteen 0:31:13.160 --> 0:31:17.040 ninety six's Night Trains to the Stars. This was a 0:31:17.080 --> 0:31:20.280 supporting role that earned her a Japanese Academy Award. 0:31:20.800 --> 0:31:24.520 In this movie, she plays a character who is sometimes 0:31:24.560 --> 0:31:28.560 kind of impractical or overly concerned with the artistic side 0:31:28.560 --> 0:31:32.520 of life. For certainly for her boss at the paper here, 0:31:32.560 --> 0:31:34.760 who's like, you're not doing art, just snap the pictures 0:31:34.800 --> 0:31:35.320 and move on. 0:31:35.680 --> 0:31:38.080 Yeah, you don't have to focus your camera, just take 0:31:38.120 --> 0:31:39.000 a picture of it. 0:31:39.360 --> 0:31:42.840 But she's also really kind of the conscience of the movie, 0:31:42.840 --> 0:31:45.280 Like she gives a speech on the island of Ewa 0:31:45.440 --> 0:31:48.840 that our ticket that is sort of like what motivates 0:31:49.000 --> 0:31:52.160 the people to say, okay, Mathra can come to your aid, 0:31:52.640 --> 0:31:55.880 and she and multiple points along the film, is kind 0:31:55.880 --> 0:31:59.320 of the voice of reason and conscience when other people 0:31:59.320 --> 0:32:00.280 are doing wrong. 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:04.160 Absolutely yeah, yeah, she's no mere sidekick here. 0:32:04.280 --> 0:32:07.680 But she's also amusingly pushy. Like there's one part where Ichi, 0:32:07.760 --> 0:32:11.000 the other reporter, is like trying to get a question 0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:13.080 with this professor, and the professor is like, I don't 0:32:13.120 --> 0:32:15.440 have time for this, and then she butts in and 0:32:15.480 --> 0:32:18.400 she is like, wait, one question, and then he's like okay, 0:32:18.400 --> 0:32:20.400 what is it? And then she just steps aside and 0:32:20.440 --> 0:32:21.960 it's like okay, yeah, ask. 0:32:21.880 --> 0:32:25.040 Him, all right. So those are our journalists. But we 0:32:25.080 --> 0:32:27.440 do have a scientist in the Mixed Professor Mura, played 0:32:27.440 --> 0:32:31.600 by Hiroshi Kozumi, who lived nineteen twenty six through twenty fifteen. 0:32:31.880 --> 0:32:36.080 He'd also played a scientist character in Mathra, the previous 0:32:36.120 --> 0:32:40.280 film to feature this monster, and return playing the same 0:32:40.320 --> 0:32:44.320 professor character in Godora the Three Headed Monster. His other 0:32:44.360 --> 0:32:49.320 films include Atragon, nineteen sixty three's Matango, Godzilla Versus Mega, Godzilla, 0:32:49.520 --> 0:32:52.760 Godzilla Raids Again, and Akiu from nineteen fifty two. 0:32:53.080 --> 0:32:54.400 Oh the course Alba movie. 0:32:54.560 --> 0:32:56.880 Yeah, it's kind of a when you start looking at 0:32:56.920 --> 0:32:59.960 the actors in Godzilla film, it's pretty typical to see that. Okay, 0:33:00.160 --> 0:33:04.640 they've been in various other Godzilla and Kaiju films from Toho, 0:33:05.200 --> 0:33:08.960 and they also have bit or supporting roles in various 0:33:09.040 --> 0:33:12.880 Kusawa films. Okay, so that's a trend that will continue 0:33:12.880 --> 0:33:13.480 to sit here. 0:33:13.680 --> 0:33:16.600 One thing I didn't realize is that this character also 0:33:16.680 --> 0:33:19.680 appeared in the standalone Mathra film which came earlier. 0:33:19.720 --> 0:33:23.720 Well, the actor did not the character, Yeah, I see, okay, 0:33:24.040 --> 0:33:26.480 but he does. The confusing part is he does return, 0:33:26.520 --> 0:33:29.240 apparently playing the same character in a later Godzilla movie. 0:33:29.440 --> 0:33:33.600 Okay, okay, Well, because there's a point where these like 0:33:33.840 --> 0:33:35.920 the fairy twins in this movie show up and start 0:33:35.960 --> 0:33:38.880 talking about Mathra and it's kind of like, oh, Mathra. 0:33:39.040 --> 0:33:44.800 Yeah, well, you know they've made probably made headlines, right, Yeah, Okay, 0:33:44.840 --> 0:33:50.240 we mentioned the comic relief character. This is Yiro Nakamura, 0:33:50.320 --> 0:33:53.520 played by you Fujuki, who of nineteen thirty one through 0:33:53.520 --> 0:33:56.400 two thousand and five. He's pretty great here again, he 0:33:56.480 --> 0:33:59.000 is a comic relief character. My favorite thing about him 0:33:59.040 --> 0:34:02.360 is that, as you mentioned, he's always eating eggs and 0:34:02.800 --> 0:34:05.360 he has an egg cooker on his desk at work, 0:34:06.400 --> 0:34:07.440 which I love. 0:34:07.520 --> 0:34:07.720 Good. 0:34:08.320 --> 0:34:11.200 Yeah, I love egg cookers. I think it's it and 0:34:11.280 --> 0:34:14.480 the rice cooker are two of the most fabulous un 0:34:14.640 --> 0:34:18.960 tasker devices that have been developed for the kitchen. But 0:34:19.040 --> 0:34:21.160 the idea of having one on your desk at work 0:34:21.200 --> 0:34:24.319 and making the whole office smell like boiled eggs is 0:34:24.400 --> 0:34:25.960 just in and of itself comedic. 0:34:26.239 --> 0:34:29.120 Huh. So, I'm a big fan of the rice cooker. 0:34:29.160 --> 0:34:31.319 I love my rice cooker. I use it all the time. 0:34:31.320 --> 0:34:34.080 I've never used a dedicated egg cooker. I don't even 0:34:34.120 --> 0:34:36.560 know how does it work? Is it hard boil. 0:34:36.440 --> 0:34:39.879 Or well, you can do hard boiled and to some 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:44.320 degree of softer boils. They're like different levels that you 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:47.680 fill the water up to, but then there's still kind 0:34:47.760 --> 0:34:50.040 of you still have to catch them at the right 0:34:50.080 --> 0:34:52.360 moment and then ice them down before they finish cooking. 0:34:52.440 --> 0:34:57.440 So we've had one for ages and I'm still refining 0:34:57.480 --> 0:34:59.359 exactly how to use it. The best way to try 0:34:59.360 --> 0:35:02.799 and get those of those precious runny eggs for you know, 0:35:03.040 --> 0:35:05.280 for you know, to go in ramen and so forth. 0:35:05.640 --> 0:35:08.160 Oh yeah, I do love a soft boiled egg. But 0:35:08.239 --> 0:35:10.279 this guy eats so many of them in the movie. 0:35:10.280 --> 0:35:13.600 He's always just munching on a soft boiled while they're 0:35:13.640 --> 0:35:16.359 talking about a big like alien egg or monster. 0:35:16.120 --> 0:35:18.399 Egg, right, and sometimes like the solution is right there. 0:35:18.400 --> 0:35:20.279 He's the first one to realize that the solution to 0:35:20.280 --> 0:35:21.760 a problem might be egg based. 0:35:22.000 --> 0:35:25.640 Yes, by the way, just unpaid product endorsement. The Zoji 0:35:25.719 --> 0:35:28.279 Rushi rice cooker. It's like, that's gotta be one of 0:35:28.320 --> 0:35:31.360 my top brand loyalties. I love that thing, makes me 0:35:31.400 --> 0:35:32.600 happy every time I use it. 0:35:33.239 --> 0:35:35.320 Well, maybe one day we'll come back and discuss nineteen 0:35:35.360 --> 0:35:37.960 sixty seven's Branded to Kill. That's another Japanese movie, and 0:35:38.000 --> 0:35:41.560 that one prominently features rice cookers. Oh nice, all right, see, 0:35:41.560 --> 0:35:43.880 I'm gonna skip over the newspaper editor. We may come 0:35:43.880 --> 0:35:46.080 back to him. I will say point out that the 0:35:46.440 --> 0:35:50.480 actor that is generally credited with playing Mathra in one 0:35:50.480 --> 0:35:53.920 form or the other here is Katsumi Tazuka born in 0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:58.840 nineteen twelve. His death date is not comparently known. Played 0:35:58.920 --> 0:36:04.120 various monsters and different Toho films alongside Nakajima, our main 0:36:04.160 --> 0:36:07.320 Godzilla actor. He apparently served as an assistant to Nakajima. 0:36:07.840 --> 0:36:12.239 And then we have the twin fairies, the Shobajen, and 0:36:12.320 --> 0:36:15.279 they are played by the Peanuts. The Peanuts were a 0:36:15.880 --> 0:36:19.720 singing duo, a twin singing duo, Emmy and Yumi Eto. 0:36:20.680 --> 0:36:25.440 Here they are reprising their roles from the earlier Mathra film. 0:36:26.080 --> 0:36:27.680 If even if you haven't seen one of these movies, 0:36:27.719 --> 0:36:32.080 you've probably seen clips or stills. They are two tiny 0:36:32.160 --> 0:36:38.040 identical Japanese women who sing to Mathra. Sing for Mathra. 0:36:38.400 --> 0:36:41.799 It's kind of like a form of worship. Really, that's 0:36:41.840 --> 0:36:44.240 the way I interpret it. The Mathra is a divine being, 0:36:44.680 --> 0:36:49.480 and Mathra must be awoken and appealed to through some 0:36:49.520 --> 0:36:50.840 sort of worshipful song. 0:36:51.120 --> 0:36:55.040 But also they are kind of divine beings, which is interesting. 0:36:55.080 --> 0:36:58.680 They're like the intercessors on behalf of regular humans. Are 0:36:58.680 --> 0:37:02.520 these two tiny humans, all sized humans who like pray 0:37:02.600 --> 0:37:04.320 to Mathra for us? 0:37:04.600 --> 0:37:07.960 Yeah, they're kind of intermediaries between us and the gods, 0:37:08.080 --> 0:37:11.799 between us and Mathra, and maybe in a sense too, 0:37:11.880 --> 0:37:15.839 they are Mathra. There's lots to chew on here. So 0:37:15.920 --> 0:37:19.080 Emmy lived nineteen forty one through twenty twelve and Umi 0:37:19.160 --> 0:37:23.239 lived nineteen forty one through twenty sixteen. Both were born 0:37:23.280 --> 0:37:25.640 in Nagoya, which will be important because that's the main 0:37:25.800 --> 0:37:30.319 city where everything happens in this picture. They have a 0:37:30.360 --> 0:37:34.000 string of credits before nineteen sixty one's Mathra, and apparently 0:37:34.000 --> 0:37:37.279 we're already a sensation in Japan, in America as well 0:37:37.280 --> 0:37:40.560 as parts of Europe I believe, especially like Germany and Austria. 0:37:41.239 --> 0:37:45.000 And their subsequent credits include not only this nineteen sixty 0:37:45.000 --> 0:37:48.840 four film, but also Gudor, the three headed monster Mathra 0:37:48.920 --> 0:37:51.680 shows up, so the twins need to show up. A 0:37:51.760 --> 0:37:54.400 handful of musical comedies followed, and they performed on The 0:37:54.520 --> 0:37:57.640 Ed Sullivan Show in nineteen sixty six. They retired from 0:37:57.680 --> 0:38:01.759 performing in nineteen seventy five, but their music goes seem 0:38:01.800 --> 0:38:04.240 to be have been again quite a hit. It ranged 0:38:04.280 --> 0:38:08.360 from folk songs like Japanese folk songs, to covers of 0:38:08.400 --> 0:38:11.560 various Western hits. They toured quite a bit, and if 0:38:11.560 --> 0:38:13.239 you look them up on discogs, you can find all 0:38:13.239 --> 0:38:17.399 sorts of amusing album covers, both from Japan and also 0:38:17.520 --> 0:38:19.040 various international releases. 0:38:19.320 --> 0:38:22.520 Did we mention that they not only sing songs to Mathra, 0:38:22.680 --> 0:38:27.200 but they also speak all of their lines together in unison. Yes, 0:38:28.200 --> 0:38:30.200 it's a striking effect. 0:38:30.719 --> 0:38:32.719 Yeah, I was reading that. That's apparently. That was one 0:38:32.719 --> 0:38:34.600 of the appeals of their act too, is that their 0:38:34.680 --> 0:38:40.480 voices were essentially identical, and so it made for some 0:38:41.160 --> 0:38:42.320 great vocalizations. 0:38:42.719 --> 0:38:45.680 It's by turns funny and creepy in the movie. Yes, 0:38:45.960 --> 0:38:47.279 so it works out well. 0:38:47.760 --> 0:38:49.799 All right, let's get into the forces of corruption and 0:38:49.840 --> 0:38:53.760 destruction here. First of all, we have the character Kuma Yama. 0:38:53.960 --> 0:38:59.960 He's the greedy guy with the mustache played by Yoshifumi Tajima, 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:02.600 who lived nineteen eighteen through two thousand and nine. Another 0:39:02.640 --> 0:39:06.800 regular Toh performer with credits that include various monster films, 0:39:07.920 --> 0:39:10.960 with also some bit parts in Krosawa movie sprinkled in 0:39:11.040 --> 0:39:11.480 as well. 0:39:11.960 --> 0:39:15.200 He is a comical villain in this who shows up 0:39:15.239 --> 0:39:20.120 to just beam with greed, like if greed was embodied. 0:39:20.160 --> 0:39:22.359 It's like in the way this guy plays the role 0:39:22.719 --> 0:39:27.120 that he has not a Hitler mustache, but it's in 0:39:27.160 --> 0:39:31.239 the ballpark. It's like a shrunken What I would say 0:39:31.280 --> 0:39:34.279 is it's like if you imagine a handlebar mustache, but 0:39:34.320 --> 0:39:36.839 then you shrink it down so that it only takes 0:39:36.920 --> 0:39:39.719 up about a third of the width of his upper lip. 0:39:40.200 --> 0:39:42.880 Yeah, it feels I'm not sure if this is this 0:39:42.960 --> 0:39:46.360 is something that would have resonated at the time within 0:39:46.440 --> 0:39:49.960 the intended audience, but it feels like a very carny mustache, 0:39:50.000 --> 0:39:50.160 you know. 0:39:50.280 --> 0:39:54.560 Yes, Yeah, So he's just always behaving crudely and greedily. 0:39:54.640 --> 0:39:58.600 It's like, you know, the director told him in every scene, 0:39:58.719 --> 0:40:01.359 just think about I want to get money. Yeah, that's 0:40:01.400 --> 0:40:02.680 what he's doing now. 0:40:02.719 --> 0:40:07.200 His financial backer is the character Euro Torajada, played by 0:40:07.280 --> 0:40:11.360 Kenji Sahara born nineteen thirty two, and as of this recording, 0:40:11.400 --> 0:40:14.640 I believe still out there. He actually played the dad 0:40:14.680 --> 0:40:18.680 in All Monsters Attack and was also in Atragon. So 0:40:19.480 --> 0:40:22.799 he's a Japanese actor who has the distinction of being 0:40:22.840 --> 0:40:25.280 I think in the most Godzilla films thirteen of them, 0:40:25.640 --> 0:40:28.680 in addition to numerous other Toho pictures. He was in 0:40:28.719 --> 0:40:31.840 the first Godzilla movie Pops Up as a newspaper reporter, 0:40:32.880 --> 0:40:34.799 and then I think a party guy in a boat 0:40:34.840 --> 0:40:37.240 as well, so you know, he's all over the place. 0:40:37.400 --> 0:40:40.480 His last Godzilla film was two thousand and four's Final Wars, 0:40:40.960 --> 0:40:44.719 and it looks like he was last active around twenty eleven. Also, 0:40:44.800 --> 0:40:47.000 I believe he was the star of Mighty Jack, the 0:40:47.080 --> 0:40:51.560 Japanese television series that MST three K fans should know about. 0:40:51.960 --> 0:40:54.080 Now, there were some things about this character I didn't 0:40:54.120 --> 0:40:58.920 fully understand. He is like the secret partner of Kumuyama. 0:40:59.600 --> 0:41:02.600 Was it applied that he's involved in crime or something. 0:41:02.680 --> 0:41:04.799 He's got like a big cabinet full of. 0:41:04.800 --> 0:41:09.319 Money and uh, and he's you know, he's being like 0:41:09.400 --> 0:41:12.640 sort of kept secret, like Kumayama is the public facing 0:41:13.360 --> 0:41:15.800 owner of the egg, and this guy is like his 0:41:15.800 --> 0:41:19.239 his secret backer, but is also scamming Kumayama. 0:41:19.520 --> 0:41:19.800 Yeah. 0:41:19.920 --> 0:41:22.400 I I didn't get as much a sense of organized 0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:25.120 crime here. I feel like if that had been the case, 0:41:25.120 --> 0:41:28.080 there would have been more obvious tells to that effect. 0:41:28.600 --> 0:41:31.200 But it did feel like they're sort of two sides 0:41:31.280 --> 0:41:35.359 of the core the the capitalist problem has received at 0:41:35.360 --> 0:41:38.240 the time in Japan. You know, it's like one guy 0:41:38.360 --> 0:41:42.400 is the more obvious, greedy, uh you know, cash fisted 0:41:42.480 --> 0:41:46.880 individual and the more you know, overt corruptive force, and 0:41:46.960 --> 0:41:49.160 the other side is like standing back and saying like, oh, 0:41:49.239 --> 0:41:51.560 I'm you know, I'm not the idea man here. I'm 0:41:51.600 --> 0:41:54.600 just the guy with the big locker full of cash, 0:41:54.680 --> 0:41:55.520 you know, like they're. 0:41:55.360 --> 0:41:57.160 Yeah, you know, he's he need a loan. 0:41:57.480 --> 0:42:01.239 Yeah, but I agree his his role in everything is 0:42:01.239 --> 0:42:03.880 maybe a little more cryptic to figure out it, you know, 0:42:04.080 --> 0:42:06.360 at least you know from our standpoint as viewers. 0:42:06.560 --> 0:42:06.759 Yeah. 0:42:06.840 --> 0:42:17.640 Yeah, Oh, and then we got to come back to 0:42:18.239 --> 0:42:23.320 Haro Nakajima playing Godzilla again. We've mentioned him on the 0:42:23.320 --> 0:42:26.239 show before. He lived nineteen twenty nine through twenty seventeen, 0:42:26.680 --> 0:42:30.160 played Godzilla in twelve consecutive films. He was also in 0:42:30.239 --> 0:42:33.400 Mathra in War of the gargantuas as well as a 0:42:33.520 --> 0:42:35.759 character I saw with seven Samurai and a bit roll 0:42:35.880 --> 0:42:39.200 not as a giant monster, and he's yet generally considered 0:42:39.520 --> 0:42:44.080 an absolute legend when it comes to monster suit performers, 0:42:44.520 --> 0:42:46.720 and I have to say his physicality in the monster 0:42:46.800 --> 0:42:49.640 suit in this movie is especially good. There's kind of 0:42:49.640 --> 0:42:55.480 a wild abandon to the way Godzilla moves as he stumbles, tumbles, 0:42:55.480 --> 0:42:58.000 sprints and lurches through the landscape. 0:42:58.480 --> 0:43:03.120 Godzilla really feels angry and full of rage in some 0:43:03.280 --> 0:43:06.319 of his scenes. Yeah, I'm thinking of the scenes later 0:43:06.400 --> 0:43:09.480 on when he's getting silked up by the grubs and 0:43:09.760 --> 0:43:12.480 he's he just looks furious at what's happening. 0:43:12.800 --> 0:43:16.120 Yeah, or like when he destroys Nagoia Castle uh, which 0:43:16.160 --> 0:43:18.000 which which I've seen in real life. I've been to 0:43:18.040 --> 0:43:21.840 Nagoya Uh. But when he destroys it, we'll get to 0:43:22.400 --> 0:43:24.359 it's kind of kind of like trips and falls into 0:43:24.440 --> 0:43:25.960 it and then is mad at It's kind of like 0:43:25.960 --> 0:43:27.800 when you stub your toe on a coffee table and 0:43:27.840 --> 0:43:29.560 you're like, what is this coffee table doing here? You 0:43:29.640 --> 0:43:33.799 dumb coffee table. Yeah, there's a there's a lot to 0:43:33.880 --> 0:43:37.239 unravel there about Godzilla the menace in this picture and 0:43:37.239 --> 0:43:40.600 how I believe others have commented on this. Maybe it 0:43:40.600 --> 0:43:43.600 was Steve Rifle that was writing about this that while 0:43:43.880 --> 0:43:48.120 Godzilla is definitely the threat and the villain and the 0:43:48.120 --> 0:43:51.359 the you know, the monstrous antagonist of this picture, there's 0:43:51.400 --> 0:43:54.120 also a sense that maybe he's like a little less 0:43:54.160 --> 0:43:57.080 of a vehicle of vengeance compared to the original Godzilla, 0:43:57.160 --> 0:43:59.960 you know, like he's maybe more akin to a natural 0:44:00.239 --> 0:44:00.959 force here. 0:44:01.239 --> 0:44:05.520 Yes, that he's He's not nice, but it does feel 0:44:05.520 --> 0:44:07.799 a little bit more like he's doing these things kind 0:44:07.800 --> 0:44:12.200 of accidentally or at least recklessly. Yeah, though he does 0:44:12.280 --> 0:44:13.680 I think get mad at Mathra. 0:44:13.920 --> 0:44:16.040 He does. There is some heat between these two. 0:44:16.280 --> 0:44:17.080 Yeah. 0:44:17.320 --> 0:44:19.440 And then finally getting to the music, we have legendary 0:44:19.480 --> 0:44:23.680 Japanese composer Akira Ifukube, who lived nineteen fourteen through two 0:44:23.719 --> 0:44:26.080 thousand and six. Not only did he give us the 0:44:26.160 --> 0:44:30.240 incredible Godzilla theme music, which is just at its best 0:44:30.440 --> 0:44:33.640 in this picture, but he also created that signature roar. 0:44:34.280 --> 0:44:35.239 Oh I didn't know that. 0:44:35.600 --> 0:44:38.800 Yeah, it was apparently achieved by rubbing a resin covered 0:44:38.880 --> 0:44:42.439 leather glove across the loosened strings of a double bass. 0:44:42.719 --> 0:44:45.759 Oh okay, it's hard for me to picture how that 0:44:45.800 --> 0:44:48.440 all comes together because I'm so used to hearing Godzilla's roar. 0:44:48.520 --> 0:44:51.319 It just it feels organic. It feels like that's just 0:44:51.360 --> 0:44:52.520 the sound Godzilla makes. 0:44:52.719 --> 0:44:55.759 Yeah. The sound Mathra makes in this movie is great too. 0:44:56.040 --> 0:44:59.239 That high pitched metallic chirp, that's great. 0:44:59.320 --> 0:45:02.360 Yeah, it's sing yeah, and that again, his music is 0:45:02.400 --> 0:45:06.600 just an inseparable part of the true Godzilla franchise. His 0:45:06.680 --> 0:45:11.640 other films include Atragon Space Amba from seventy nineteen fifty 0:45:11.680 --> 0:45:14.840 six is the Burmese Harp that's a non Kaiju film. 0:45:15.120 --> 0:45:18.840 But his theme music here for Godzilla, especially Godzilla's key theme, 0:45:19.360 --> 0:45:23.040 is just incredible. And if we didn't didn't have this theme, 0:45:23.040 --> 0:45:27.400 we wouldn't have that really awesome Pharaoh manch track, Simon says, 0:45:27.440 --> 0:45:30.719 which heavily samples not only the Godzilla music, but the 0:45:30.840 --> 0:45:34.000 specific Godzilla music from this movie. So if you're a 0:45:34.040 --> 0:45:36.360 hip hop fan, old school hip hop fan, you know 0:45:36.440 --> 0:45:36.920 this track. 0:45:37.200 --> 0:45:38.880 It's conspicuously used. 0:45:39.120 --> 0:45:42.960 YEA, yes, in an amazing way. I think, dare I 0:45:43.000 --> 0:45:43.839 say a loving way? 0:45:44.160 --> 0:45:47.840 But yes, in general, if Akube's music for the Godzilla 0:45:47.880 --> 0:45:52.080 films is wonderful, I'd loved I think we've talked about 0:45:52.080 --> 0:45:55.160 this before, but one thing that really got my blood 0:45:55.480 --> 0:45:58.200 going for shin Godzilla when it was coming out is 0:45:58.239 --> 0:46:01.600 the way that it used the like the old sounding 0:46:01.680 --> 0:46:05.160 theme from the original film, but with the new movie footage. 0:46:06.120 --> 0:46:08.440 You know, that minor key theme bu da dun duh 0:46:08.520 --> 0:46:11.640 duh dun. Oh. Man, it's so good. But also his 0:46:12.040 --> 0:46:15.400 original music for Mathra itself or for Mauth re Versus 0:46:15.400 --> 0:46:19.160 Godzilla is a whole new ballgame, and it's wonderful. 0:46:19.480 --> 0:46:21.920 Yeah, the Godzilla theme music, I kept thinking about this. 0:46:22.040 --> 0:46:25.320 It has a lumbering feel to it, like it feels 0:46:25.400 --> 0:46:28.440 like the great footsteps of a Titanic monster, but then 0:46:28.480 --> 0:46:32.960 there's also this sense of rising and it just works 0:46:33.000 --> 0:46:36.320 so exceptionally well with the visuals of pretty much anything 0:46:36.360 --> 0:46:37.720 Godzilla is doing on the screen. 0:46:37.840 --> 0:46:39.839 All right, you ready to talk about the plot, Let's 0:46:39.840 --> 0:46:43.200 get into it. So we begin with, as expected, that gorgeous, 0:46:43.280 --> 0:46:48.080 familiar mid century tohoscope logo, which I love. Every time 0:46:48.120 --> 0:46:50.000 I've said this before, every time I see it makes 0:46:50.040 --> 0:46:53.560 me happy. It makes me think of precious gems. You know, 0:46:53.600 --> 0:46:56.120 when it comes on screen, it's like I've been kind 0:46:56.160 --> 0:46:58.600 of scratching through a bunch of gravel and I come 0:46:58.719 --> 0:47:00.279 upon a cache of emerald. 0:47:01.000 --> 0:47:03.240 I have to admit I loved it watching this live. 0:47:03.320 --> 0:47:06.799 There was thunderous applause for the Toho logo alone, so 0:47:07.719 --> 0:47:09.160 I love the enthusiasm of that. 0:47:09.800 --> 0:47:13.080 So during the credit and title sequence, you've got lead, 0:47:13.160 --> 0:47:16.960 heavy doom horns, that great score. We were just talking 0:47:16.960 --> 0:47:19.879 about playing over a dark shot of the open sea 0:47:20.000 --> 0:47:23.520 in a typhoon and rain is hammering down, the waves 0:47:23.560 --> 0:47:27.120 are huge lightning flashes, and the clouds in the sky, 0:47:27.680 --> 0:47:30.560 and as the credits wrap, we cut from the black 0:47:30.800 --> 0:47:34.000 mid ocean to somewhere along the shore where waves are 0:47:34.040 --> 0:47:37.160 crashing against a sea wall, and then we get a 0:47:37.200 --> 0:47:40.680 close up on a sign that says in Japanese, congratulations 0:47:40.760 --> 0:47:45.239 karatea coast reclamation project complete. I think there's supposed to 0:47:45.280 --> 0:47:47.640 be some humor here, contrasted with the weather and the 0:47:47.680 --> 0:47:49.840 fact that the music is still in Death of the 0:47:49.960 --> 0:47:54.840 Universe mode. And we pan over to appear beside the sea. 0:47:55.680 --> 0:47:57.520 There's a bunch of stuff set up for a party. 0:47:57.520 --> 0:48:00.600 There's like a tent pavilion, and streamers and pick tables, 0:48:00.800 --> 0:48:02.960 and we watch all this stuff just get buffeted by 0:48:03.000 --> 0:48:06.680 winds and eventually swept away, and the waves surge over 0:48:06.719 --> 0:48:09.240 the sea wall and tear down a bunch of power lines. 0:48:09.440 --> 0:48:12.720 We see a boat washed ashore and it crashes into everything. 0:48:12.800 --> 0:48:16.440 It's a monster storm. The next day there are blue 0:48:16.440 --> 0:48:19.880 skies overhead as hundreds of people gather at the coast 0:48:19.920 --> 0:48:22.920 we just saw, and the beach is now piled with 0:48:23.080 --> 0:48:26.600 rubble washed ashore by the typhoon, and we get an 0:48:26.680 --> 0:48:29.759 interesting effects shot I think done in miniature of the 0:48:29.840 --> 0:48:33.520 sea wall with a long row of giant yellow pump 0:48:33.600 --> 0:48:37.880 stations in operation. I assume draining water out from behind 0:48:37.920 --> 0:48:40.239 the wall and blasting it back into the ocean of 0:48:40.280 --> 0:48:44.600 these pipes that look like cannons. So a visual metaphor 0:48:44.680 --> 0:48:50.000 for civilization and technology, re establishing dominance over the forces 0:48:50.040 --> 0:48:54.360 of the natural world, with a kind of violence implied 0:48:54.400 --> 0:48:59.640 because the pumps look like gun barrels, as I mentioned earlier. 0:48:59.719 --> 0:49:04.400 Great in contrast to the haunted, diminished Japan of the 0:49:04.400 --> 0:49:07.120 original Godzilla, this movie takes place in the middle of 0:49:07.120 --> 0:49:11.120 what feels like an economic and industrial boom. There's just 0:49:11.320 --> 0:49:17.200 capitalistic exuberance. Everything's under construction, everybody's making money. Businessmen feel 0:49:17.280 --> 0:49:22.160 like gods, and they just they cannot be resisted. And 0:49:22.280 --> 0:49:24.040 here in the crowd at the coast, we meet a 0:49:24.040 --> 0:49:28.360 couple of our major characters. We meet Ichiro Sakai Ichi, 0:49:28.840 --> 0:49:32.120 a reporter for the Micho Times, and when we first 0:49:32.200 --> 0:49:37.040 meet him, he's very impatient, focused strictly business. And also 0:49:37.320 --> 0:49:42.799 Junko Nakanishi, his photographer assistant, again more flighty and kind 0:49:42.840 --> 0:49:46.719 of contemplative. As she's observing the scene, she says she's 0:49:46.760 --> 0:49:49.040 trying to come up with a theme for her photo spread, 0:49:49.239 --> 0:49:54.160 and Ichiro tells her, your theme is typhoon. Come on. Now, 0:49:54.200 --> 0:49:58.000 we see Ichi confronted by a clownish local politician who 0:49:58.040 --> 0:50:00.480 is angry at the fact that he wrote an article 0:50:00.560 --> 0:50:04.319 about the destruction caused by the typhoon. The assemblyman here 0:50:04.400 --> 0:50:07.480 does not like that Ichi has been reporting on the destruction. 0:50:08.440 --> 0:50:12.000 He insists that their coastal reclamation project will be the 0:50:12.040 --> 0:50:14.439 best ever. It's you know, it's gonna happen on time? 0:50:14.719 --> 0:50:18.319 How dare you write about this? And nearby, Junko is 0:50:18.320 --> 0:50:21.479 setting up for a photograph of all the garbage washed 0:50:21.560 --> 0:50:24.319 up on the shore, and she realizes one thing in 0:50:24.360 --> 0:50:28.440 the frame is a weird shimmering blue green object, kind 0:50:28.440 --> 0:50:31.600 of like a giant scale. I wonder what that is. 0:50:33.080 --> 0:50:36.400 But here's one of the scenes where Ichi is telling her, like, 0:50:36.440 --> 0:50:39.240 don't waste time with light meters, just start clicking that shutter. 0:50:39.320 --> 0:50:42.799 This is not high art, But I think Junko just 0:50:42.840 --> 0:50:46.000 feels differently. She has more of an artistic sensibility. She's like, 0:50:46.040 --> 0:50:46.920 we should do. 0:50:46.880 --> 0:50:49.319 This, right, yeah, yeah, And I think I think he 0:50:49.400 --> 0:50:50.879 takes her craft for granted here. 0:50:51.080 --> 0:50:54.479 Yeah. So back at the newsroom, we meet a few 0:50:54.480 --> 0:51:00.360 more characters. We meet Ichi and Junko's boss, the news editor, 0:51:00.400 --> 0:51:03.360 who is, oh, I don't know. I figure like he 0:51:03.440 --> 0:51:06.120 comes off as kind of brusque, but then later maybe 0:51:06.200 --> 0:51:08.920 it reveals a kind of practical wisdom, would you say. 0:51:09.040 --> 0:51:12.719 Yeah, yeah, Like he's he's a very busy man, and 0:51:12.760 --> 0:51:16.480 he has no time for silliness. He's got to get 0:51:16.480 --> 0:51:18.319 that paper out, you know, very much a cliche in 0:51:18.360 --> 0:51:22.360 many ways, but ultimately does care about the truth and 0:51:22.360 --> 0:51:26.960 and is really behind journalism's you know, key principles in 0:51:27.000 --> 0:51:27.400 the world. 0:51:27.719 --> 0:51:30.319 Right. And then there's also this comic relief character the 0:51:30.360 --> 0:51:34.319 reporter who's eating soft boiled eggs. Yeah, such a and 0:51:34.480 --> 0:51:36.640 he's always doing it in a scene where they're talking 0:51:36.680 --> 0:51:40.319 about giant monster eggs. For example, this scene because the 0:51:40.560 --> 0:51:43.400 editor gets a call on the phone and it is 0:51:43.480 --> 0:51:46.440 revealed that the next big news event is a giant 0:51:46.480 --> 0:51:49.719 egg has been spotted off the coast of Japan at 0:51:49.719 --> 0:51:51.040 a place called Niche Beach. 0:51:51.560 --> 0:51:52.720 Yeah, and it is a big one. 0:51:52.880 --> 0:51:57.680 It's big. It's like a blimp. There's a big blue, green, blue, green, 0:51:57.880 --> 0:52:01.799 white oblate spheroid floating in the water. And we go 0:52:01.880 --> 0:52:05.400 to the local fishing village, which is portrayed as full 0:52:05.480 --> 0:52:11.160 of somewhat sympathetic but also easily frightened bumpkins who are 0:52:11.880 --> 0:52:16.200 first possessed by terror and then gradually by greed. They 0:52:16.239 --> 0:52:19.120 decide that since fishing has been bad lately, it's been 0:52:19.120 --> 0:52:22.000 a bad catch, they're going to go out and claim 0:52:22.080 --> 0:52:25.200 the egg as the prize of their waters. By right. 0:52:25.400 --> 0:52:28.080 They have a whole discussion about it. They're like, wait, 0:52:28.360 --> 0:52:31.480 whatever comes out of that water, fish or egg, belongs 0:52:31.480 --> 0:52:33.800 to us. So this is an egg, it's in the water, 0:52:33.920 --> 0:52:34.520 it's ours. 0:52:35.000 --> 0:52:37.360 Yeah. There's actually a lot here that you could unravel. 0:52:37.400 --> 0:52:40.120 You could do a whole shin Mathra movie based on 0:52:40.400 --> 0:52:41.120 this conflict. 0:52:42.160 --> 0:52:44.480 Oh, just the court cases about who the egg. 0:52:44.280 --> 0:52:48.040 Belongs to belong to, you know, the parties here or 0:52:48.080 --> 0:52:50.040 some of the parties that are going to be revealed 0:52:50.040 --> 0:52:50.560 here in a bit. 0:52:50.840 --> 0:52:54.960 Let's have a meeting about it and maybe a few depositions. Yeah, 0:52:55.000 --> 0:52:57.479 So the villagers take their boats out and they bring 0:52:57.520 --> 0:52:59.880 the egg ashore, where it is transported to the beach, 0:53:00.040 --> 0:53:04.040 and we see shots of astonished crowds forming this cautious 0:53:04.440 --> 0:53:09.000 circle around it. Afterwards, Ichi and Junko arrive on the 0:53:09.040 --> 0:53:13.160 scene and they meet a new character, the scientist Professor Mura, 0:53:13.239 --> 0:53:17.080 who is taking example, taking samples to better understand the 0:53:17.120 --> 0:53:21.839 giant egg. And this is the scene where at first 0:53:21.920 --> 0:53:24.600 the professor doesn't really have time for them, but Junko 0:53:24.719 --> 0:53:26.800 is pushy enough to get a question on the record. 0:53:27.560 --> 0:53:31.560 And the question that Ichi asks is is this egg dangerous? 0:53:32.400 --> 0:53:35.920 The quote is could it explode or release toxins? And 0:53:36.040 --> 0:53:37.960 the professor is like, well, that's what I'm trying to 0:53:38.000 --> 0:53:40.919 find out. But they don't get a chance to find out. 0:53:41.000 --> 0:53:43.279 They are interrupted in the middle of that research by 0:53:43.320 --> 0:53:45.960 the arrival of the new big head guy in charge 0:53:46.080 --> 0:53:51.200 This is mister Kubayama, a vain, greedy businessman, the proprietor 0:53:51.280 --> 0:53:56.120 of Happy Enterprises. I love the choice the name of 0:53:56.200 --> 0:53:59.919 the business. There, it feels apt. There's something sinister about 0:54:00.120 --> 0:54:01.080 banality of it. 0:54:01.840 --> 0:54:02.080 Yeah. 0:54:02.160 --> 0:54:03.920 Yeah, it's like, you know, don't you want to be happy? 0:54:04.080 --> 0:54:04.480 Yeah? 0:54:04.520 --> 0:54:06.279 How can you be opposed to happiness? 0:54:06.560 --> 0:54:09.680 So it turns out Kumayama has bought the egg from 0:54:09.719 --> 0:54:13.319 the local fisherman. It is now rightfully his, and there's 0:54:13.360 --> 0:54:16.799 a funny scene here where he explains how much he 0:54:16.880 --> 0:54:18.960 paid for it, like how he arrived at the price, 0:54:19.000 --> 0:54:21.440 and it was by multiplying the cost of a chicken 0:54:21.480 --> 0:54:25.040 egg by the size difference between a chicken egg and 0:54:25.040 --> 0:54:25.759 the giant egg. 0:54:26.040 --> 0:54:27.680 Well that's just logical. Yeah, yes. 0:54:28.080 --> 0:54:31.840 Now the reporters protest, They're like, wait a minute, should 0:54:31.840 --> 0:54:34.360 this egg maybe not be thought of as private property? 0:54:34.440 --> 0:54:37.000 Isn't this kind of a wonder of nature? Maybe it 0:54:37.040 --> 0:54:40.480 belongs to all of humanity or none of us? And 0:54:40.719 --> 0:54:43.400 Kumayama is like, well, that's why we're gonna let everybody 0:54:43.440 --> 0:54:46.200 come look at it. We're going to watch it incubate 0:54:46.239 --> 0:54:48.680 and hatch, and everybody can come see for a small 0:54:48.719 --> 0:54:52.000 fee of course, so's he's trying to go for the 0:54:52.080 --> 0:54:54.480 King Kong thing, right, He's going to take this wonder 0:54:54.480 --> 0:54:57.239 of nature and he's going to put walls around it 0:54:57.280 --> 0:54:58.160 in sell tickets. 0:54:58.800 --> 0:55:00.520 Yeah, there's like a hole. They have a whole map, 0:55:01.000 --> 0:55:03.879 have everything planned out how it's gonna work. Everyone's gonna 0:55:03.880 --> 0:55:06.000 come and see the egg and maybe it'll be some 0:55:06.000 --> 0:55:09.799 some some additional rides. Who knows this is This is 0:55:09.840 --> 0:55:11.760 going to really remake the whole area. 0:55:11.840 --> 0:55:13.960 Also the plot of Gorgo remember. 0:55:13.800 --> 0:55:16.400 Oh, yeah, that's right, and I guess kind of the 0:55:16.440 --> 0:55:17.760 plot of King Kong, right. 0:55:17.880 --> 0:55:19.719 Yeah, yeah, that's what I was just saying. Yeah, King 0:55:19.800 --> 0:55:23.360 Kong and then sort of Jurassic Park too, though Jurassic 0:55:23.360 --> 0:55:25.440 Park has the cloning element that's so different. 0:55:25.600 --> 0:55:28.040 But yeah, this is a spectacle. People will pay to 0:55:28.080 --> 0:55:28.400 see this. 0:55:28.920 --> 0:55:33.879 But Kubayama taunts the reporters and the scientists for their ideals. 0:55:33.960 --> 0:55:36.239 He offers to pose for a picture for Junko and 0:55:36.239 --> 0:55:38.719 then he just blows cigar smoke in her face when 0:55:38.719 --> 0:55:41.280 she uses the camera. What a jerk? 0:55:42.760 --> 0:55:42.880 Uh? 0:55:42.960 --> 0:55:47.280 And then later at the nearby hotel, Kumayama is revealed 0:55:47.320 --> 0:55:50.480 to have this secret business partner. This creepy guy named 0:55:50.520 --> 0:55:53.400 tora Hata who lent him the money for the deal. 0:55:53.960 --> 0:55:57.800 Uh tora Hata has this giant file cabinet full of cash, 0:55:58.000 --> 0:56:01.400 just cash money, and it's I don't know why he 0:56:01.440 --> 0:56:04.040 has that. But the idea is they're going to build 0:56:04.040 --> 0:56:07.560 this amusement park based around the egg, which they are 0:56:07.640 --> 0:56:10.480 now going to be keeping in this steel enclosure, I 0:56:10.480 --> 0:56:14.560 think presumably, so if it hatches whatever hatches, can't get away. 0:56:15.280 --> 0:56:17.440 Yeah, or to some degree, they might be incubating it 0:56:17.480 --> 0:56:20.360 a little bit. Yeah, they're doing that too, the appropriate 0:56:20.400 --> 0:56:21.640 temperature and so forth. 0:56:22.040 --> 0:56:25.879 But the two businessmen are interrupted in their scheming by 0:56:25.920 --> 0:56:31.160 something quite strange. Two tiny women the size of dolls, 0:56:31.200 --> 0:56:34.280 who appear in their hotel room as if by magic, 0:56:34.600 --> 0:56:37.840 and start chanting in unison about how they must return 0:56:37.920 --> 0:56:40.919 the egg and how it doesn't belong to them. These 0:56:40.920 --> 0:56:43.520 are the Fairy Twins again, these are the musical act 0:56:43.760 --> 0:56:46.520 the Peanuts. Is that what they were calling peanuts? Yes? 0:56:47.200 --> 0:56:50.200 How are they dressed here? At the beginning they look 0:56:50.280 --> 0:56:54.240 kind of like cupcakes. They've got like a white fur 0:56:54.440 --> 0:56:56.640 and then a white hat with pink things on top, 0:56:56.680 --> 0:56:59.239 so there's kind of an icing effect. And then they're 0:56:59.239 --> 0:57:01.560 wearing a yello in pink dresses below that. 0:57:02.400 --> 0:57:06.680 Yeah, they're wearing something to be interpreted as like, yeah, 0:57:06.719 --> 0:57:09.880 traditional garb. They are, you know, in a way, they 0:57:09.880 --> 0:57:12.880 are their voices and representatives of the old world and 0:57:12.920 --> 0:57:17.120 not this new world of hyper activity and progress. It's 0:57:17.240 --> 0:57:20.840 like literally building things around an egg, which in and 0:57:20.880 --> 0:57:24.080 of itself is an interesting scenario. You're building permanent structures 0:57:24.360 --> 0:57:27.600 around this thing that is, by its very nature impermanent 0:57:27.840 --> 0:57:30.640 and is going to lead to like some other different 0:57:30.720 --> 0:57:33.400 form that needs to be free. But they're like, nope, 0:57:33.440 --> 0:57:35.800 let's build it. It's all about right now. 0:57:36.080 --> 0:57:38.200 Yes, an egg is made to be broken out of 0:57:38.240 --> 0:57:39.640 and you build a cage around it. 0:57:39.800 --> 0:57:40.000 Yeah. 0:57:40.200 --> 0:57:44.160 Yeah, So obviously the business guys do not heed the message. 0:57:44.520 --> 0:57:46.440 Are they going to be like, oh, okay, we'll give 0:57:46.480 --> 0:57:48.800 you the egg bag now. Instead, they try to capture 0:57:48.840 --> 0:57:51.360 the fairy twins. They're like running around the hotel room 0:57:51.440 --> 0:57:52.640 trying to get them under a coat. 0:57:53.080 --> 0:57:56.680 There's some fun hijinks here. I think it's always important 0:57:56.680 --> 0:57:59.160 to drive home with a good kaiju movie. That. Yeah, 0:57:59.320 --> 0:58:02.680 kaiju movie have great scenes where monsters battle each other, 0:58:02.920 --> 0:58:06.160 but the best Kaiju movies are also very enjoyable when 0:58:06.200 --> 0:58:08.800 the monsters are not on screen, and it takes a 0:58:08.840 --> 0:58:11.400 long time before we get to the monster battles here. 0:58:11.920 --> 0:58:15.240 But for my own money, I was never like missing 0:58:15.280 --> 0:58:18.600 the monster battles when we hadn't gotten there yet, because 0:58:18.640 --> 0:58:20.880 there was just plenty of fun high jinks with you know, 0:58:20.920 --> 0:58:25.280 these miniature these maximize sets for these miniature characters, and 0:58:25.800 --> 0:58:28.560 the comedy with the egg Man, and the social commentary 0:58:28.760 --> 0:58:32.160 that was going on regarding like greed and corruption plenty 0:58:32.200 --> 0:58:32.880 to show on here. 0:58:41.520 --> 0:58:44.920 So after they fail in appealing to the businessmen, the 0:58:44.960 --> 0:58:49.040 fairy Twins appeal instead to our heroes, to junko Ichi 0:58:49.160 --> 0:58:51.920 and the Professor. I think this happens in the woods 0:58:51.960 --> 0:58:54.320 outside the hotel. I forget how they get out there. 0:58:55.640 --> 0:58:59.360 But they let the heroes know that the egg actually 0:58:59.400 --> 0:59:03.240 belongs to the giant godlike being of Ewa Island, a Mathra, 0:59:03.720 --> 0:59:06.680 and it was brought here by the storm. They say 0:59:06.720 --> 0:59:09.680 there's great potential for disaster when the egg hatches, so 0:59:09.720 --> 0:59:12.320 they must help the Twins return the egg to Ewa 0:59:12.400 --> 0:59:13.800 Island where it belongs. 0:59:14.560 --> 0:59:14.800 Yeah. 0:59:14.880 --> 0:59:15.080 Yeah. 0:59:15.240 --> 0:59:17.840 One of the interesting things about the Twins is when 0:59:17.880 --> 0:59:21.600 they make themselves known. At first, you just hear them 0:59:21.760 --> 0:59:27.040 like a voice of one's own conscious, you know, urging 0:59:27.080 --> 0:59:29.120 you to make the right choices in life instead of 0:59:29.120 --> 0:59:30.440 the greedy path you're following. 0:59:30.960 --> 0:59:32.560 That's right. Yeah, there are a lot of scenes of 0:59:32.560 --> 0:59:35.280 them talking in unison, and the characters are like looking 0:59:35.320 --> 0:59:40.680 around and yeah, where's that coming from? Now? At this point, 0:59:40.720 --> 0:59:43.040 I think maybe I'm going to skip more lightly over 0:59:43.120 --> 0:59:45.160 some of the machinations in the middle of the movie, 0:59:45.200 --> 0:59:48.880 but I'll summarize what happened. So the two evil, greedy 0:59:48.920 --> 0:59:53.520 businessmen keep scheming. We see them counting money and trying 0:59:53.520 --> 0:59:56.760 to scam everybody, including each other, and being possessive over 0:59:56.800 --> 1:00:02.080 the mathra egg Ichi, Junko and the try to expose 1:00:02.160 --> 1:00:04.680 the corruption of happy enterprises, but they don't seem to 1:00:04.720 --> 1:00:08.920 be able to stop them. Suddenly, there is a shift 1:00:09.200 --> 1:00:11.880 in the middle of the movie. Remember that blue green 1:00:12.040 --> 1:00:16.120 scale found in the rubble after the typhoon. Well turns 1:00:16.160 --> 1:00:19.360 out the professor has some news about it. It's radioactive 1:00:19.960 --> 1:00:22.680 and Junko and Ichi touched it. There's a cool scene 1:00:22.720 --> 1:00:25.240 where we see them getting like date, I don't know, 1:00:25.280 --> 1:00:29.560 they're getting decontaminated. They're standing in these purple pink kind 1:00:29.600 --> 1:00:33.680 of chambers, and that's not a good sign because what 1:00:33.800 --> 1:00:39.800 else is radioactive? It's Godzilla baby. So nearby suddenly Godzilla 1:00:39.920 --> 1:00:42.800 starts to rise up out of the earth from out 1:00:42.840 --> 1:00:45.920 of this desolate field of mud. Do you remember what 1:00:46.080 --> 1:00:49.920 the field was? Was it a construction site or something else. 1:00:51.040 --> 1:00:54.880 You get the sense that it's like reclaimed maybe a 1:00:54.920 --> 1:00:59.520 mix of reclaimed c and also the like damaged area 1:00:59.520 --> 1:01:01.880 from the tie because you see, like you know, there's 1:01:01.920 --> 1:01:04.640 like a boat wreck in there and so forth. And 1:01:04.680 --> 1:01:07.280 also that's the idea that like Godzilla has been returned 1:01:08.000 --> 1:01:11.640 to Japan via the storms. But this scene where he 1:01:11.720 --> 1:01:14.160 rises up is pretty amazing. We get that great theme 1:01:14.280 --> 1:01:16.560 song and people are like, oh, oh. 1:01:16.440 --> 1:01:20.640 Goodness, it's happening again, happening again, It's happening again. And 1:01:20.720 --> 1:01:24.240 here he is. He attacks Japan once again, wandering into cities, 1:01:24.360 --> 1:01:28.400 smashing up buildings and infrastructure. So we see him, I think, 1:01:28.480 --> 1:01:32.840 knock over like a TV tower and attacks attack of castle, 1:01:32.920 --> 1:01:36.240 roa castle. Any highlights from this rampage here? 1:01:36.760 --> 1:01:41.680 Oh well, this is there's some great physical movement of 1:01:41.720 --> 1:01:44.960 Godzilla here. I love that he's at times lumbering, other 1:01:45.000 --> 1:01:48.080 times kind of scrambling again that sense of rage you 1:01:48.200 --> 1:01:52.080 referenced when he destroys Nagoya Castle. Well, even when he 1:01:52.520 --> 1:01:56.760 destroys that antenna tower, he kind of it's almost like 1:01:56.800 --> 1:01:59.320 he does so accidentally and it falls on him and 1:01:59.360 --> 1:02:02.480 it makes him even more angry. And then he kind 1:02:02.480 --> 1:02:04.840 of like trips and falls in Indigoya Castle, like he 1:02:04.840 --> 1:02:06.919 didn't really mean to destroy it, but then he's mad 1:02:06.960 --> 1:02:08.880 at it because he fell on it, and then he 1:02:09.080 --> 1:02:12.400 just bashes it the rest of the way. I was 1:02:12.440 --> 1:02:15.680 watching rewatching this particular scene with my wife and she 1:02:15.840 --> 1:02:18.440 was like, well, why is Godzilla so dumb in this movie? 1:02:18.440 --> 1:02:21.160 And I'm like, no, he's not dumb. That god don't 1:02:21.200 --> 1:02:25.640 insult Godzilla's intelligence. But there is the sense it's almost 1:02:25.680 --> 1:02:29.080 like he's been thrown out into He wasn't prepared for this. 1:02:29.120 --> 1:02:31.040 He didn't want to go on a rampage today. He 1:02:31.120 --> 1:02:34.280 was slumbering. Now you've woken him up. He's cranky and 1:02:34.360 --> 1:02:37.400 he's going to destroy stuff. It's not necessarily what he 1:02:37.480 --> 1:02:39.160 wanted to do with this day, but it's. 1:02:39.040 --> 1:02:43.760 Happening exactly right. We're here now. Yeah, So the Japanese 1:02:43.800 --> 1:02:46.960 Self Defense Forces they try to fight Godzilla. But since 1:02:47.000 --> 1:02:47.760 when has that done. 1:02:48.080 --> 1:02:52.680 I should note that in the US version of this picture, 1:02:52.720 --> 1:02:55.000 which is I think what titled Godzilla Versus the Thing, 1:02:56.520 --> 1:03:00.000 they actually, instead of it being just the Japanese Self 1:03:00.040 --> 1:03:03.400 Defense Forces, they actually call in the US military, and 1:03:03.440 --> 1:03:05.720 so the scene instead of having the scene where it's 1:03:05.720 --> 1:03:08.040 the Japanese Self Defense Forces having a meeting about how 1:03:08.080 --> 1:03:11.400 to attack Godzilla, it's a meeting between the Japanese Self 1:03:11.440 --> 1:03:14.600 Defense Forces and the US military, and the US military 1:03:14.640 --> 1:03:16.880 does like a missile strike on Godzilla, which of course 1:03:16.920 --> 1:03:17.479 doesn't work. 1:03:18.760 --> 1:03:22.240 So finally, our heroes come up with an idea. I 1:03:22.280 --> 1:03:25.560 think they're in the newsroom, I believe when they come 1:03:25.640 --> 1:03:27.280 up with this, right, so they're like talking to the 1:03:27.400 --> 1:03:30.680 editor and stuff. The idea is what if they request 1:03:30.840 --> 1:03:34.040 help from Mathra Rob Do you remember how they arrive 1:03:34.160 --> 1:03:35.600 at this idea is. 1:03:35.520 --> 1:03:38.160 I believe the Eggman is the one who look at 1:03:38.240 --> 1:03:39.880 he's like eating an egg back there, and he's like, hey, 1:03:40.240 --> 1:03:42.520 I've got an egg related idea, and I think this 1:03:42.600 --> 1:03:44.600 is our solution, And they're like, well, you know, actually 1:03:44.640 --> 1:03:45.840 that's it. We should roll with that. 1:03:46.320 --> 1:03:49.280 So the reporters and the professor make the journey to 1:03:49.360 --> 1:03:52.360 Ewa Island to speak with the people there for the 1:03:53.080 --> 1:03:56.000 ideas they're going to beg Mathra to help defend them 1:03:56.040 --> 1:04:00.040 from Godzilla. But when they arrive at Ewa Island and 1:04:00.560 --> 1:04:05.960 they discover devastation. The island has been used for nuclear 1:04:06.000 --> 1:04:06.840 weapons tests. 1:04:08.480 --> 1:04:11.720 Yeah, and it is ravaged. It does not look good. 1:04:11.720 --> 1:04:14.720 It is You might be forgiven for expecting it to 1:04:14.720 --> 1:04:17.600 be like a tropical paradise that they're traveling to, and 1:04:18.200 --> 1:04:22.240 it probably was, but now it is just devastation. 1:04:22.640 --> 1:04:24.160 Should we mention skeleturtle? 1:04:24.640 --> 1:04:27.360 Oh yeah, this was Skeleturtle's deal because at first I 1:04:27.360 --> 1:04:29.560 thought it was just the skeleton of a turtle. But 1:04:29.640 --> 1:04:30.480 it moves a little. 1:04:30.760 --> 1:04:34.280 Yes, yeah, this is a thing that Godzilla fans have 1:04:34.400 --> 1:04:37.240 talked about for years. Actually that so we see all 1:04:37.240 --> 1:04:40.840 these bones on this desolate beach where the nuclear tests 1:04:40.840 --> 1:04:44.000 have happened. It's supposed to be scoured of all life. 1:04:44.360 --> 1:04:46.680 And we see like the giant rib cage of some 1:04:46.880 --> 1:04:50.560 huge animal don't know what it is, but also a 1:04:50.600 --> 1:04:53.880 turtle and it's bones. It's like a skull and a 1:04:53.920 --> 1:04:58.680 shell and vertebrae. But it's moving around and there's no 1:04:59.240 --> 1:05:02.800 attempt to a this, no explanation. I don't know why 1:05:02.880 --> 1:05:04.800 it's moving around. I don't know if it's moving around 1:05:04.800 --> 1:05:07.840 by accident, if it is supposed to be a skeleton 1:05:07.920 --> 1:05:11.400 that is somehow still alive. The characters don't comment on it, 1:05:11.480 --> 1:05:13.800 even though it's right there in front of them, so 1:05:14.000 --> 1:05:15.960 I don't know. It's one of the most mysterious things 1:05:16.000 --> 1:05:18.520 about this movie. What is meant by the skeleturtle. It's 1:05:18.520 --> 1:05:21.240 a haunting image, actually, I mean it kind of suggests 1:05:21.320 --> 1:05:22.400 a living death. 1:05:23.320 --> 1:05:24.280 Yeah, it really does. 1:05:24.480 --> 1:05:28.240 Yeah that like the nuclear testing has been so evil 1:05:28.320 --> 1:05:31.240 in fact, that it has doomed these these animals to 1:05:31.320 --> 1:05:34.480 a kind of to a kind of hell existence where 1:05:34.480 --> 1:05:37.200 they're like dead but they're still there somehow. 1:05:37.520 --> 1:05:39.960 Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be played for comedic effect, 1:05:40.640 --> 1:05:42.040 and it's not elaborated a buon. 1:05:42.240 --> 1:05:45.760 So anyway, so they go to the people of Ewa Island, 1:05:45.800 --> 1:05:49.440 who worship Mathra as their god. The local chief is 1:05:49.480 --> 1:05:53.160 initially not sympathetic to their pleas for help. They're like, wait, 1:05:53.320 --> 1:05:57.200 you're from the outside world that stole Mathra's egg and 1:05:57.240 --> 1:06:00.800 wouldn't give it back and does nuclear testing on our 1:06:00.800 --> 1:06:04.120 island and made skelet turtles here. Why should we help 1:06:04.120 --> 1:06:04.480 you now? 1:06:04.640 --> 1:06:06.600 Yeah, they're like, yeah, that's that's true. We would love 1:06:06.600 --> 1:06:10.600 your unconditional support now in our battle against Godzilla, creature 1:06:10.600 --> 1:06:13.040 that we are also responsible for. Yeah. 1:06:13.120 --> 1:06:17.480 Yeah, But Junko makes a plea. Basically, she's like, yeah, 1:06:17.640 --> 1:06:20.160 there are bad people out there. They're bad people everywhere, 1:06:20.200 --> 1:06:23.360 bad people in Japan who took the egg. But they're 1:06:23.360 --> 1:06:26.400 innocent people there too, they didn't do anything to hurt you. 1:06:26.960 --> 1:06:29.480 They're worth defending. And then she makes the point, you know, 1:06:29.600 --> 1:06:32.920 even bad people don't deserve to be killed by Godzilla, 1:06:33.520 --> 1:06:36.840 so please help us. And this lands somewhat. 1:06:37.200 --> 1:06:41.320 Yeah, I mean it lands with the local people who 1:06:41.400 --> 1:06:43.400 are hearing the message, and also I think lands of 1:06:43.440 --> 1:06:46.320 the audience. I mean it's as potent a message today 1:06:46.360 --> 1:06:47.080 as it ever was. 1:06:47.560 --> 1:06:49.720 So the Fairy Twins appear and they get a whole 1:06:49.800 --> 1:06:52.240 musical number here, like they sing for a long time, 1:06:53.120 --> 1:06:56.320 and the singing they're singing a song to Mathra to 1:06:56.760 --> 1:07:00.080 enlist her. Aid, So I think we're getting Mathra on 1:07:00.080 --> 1:07:00.520 on the team. 1:07:00.760 --> 1:07:03.480 Mathra is gonna happen, But again, Mathra has to be 1:07:03.520 --> 1:07:07.080 appealed to through song and worship, and then once that 1:07:07.120 --> 1:07:10.200 message is received, action can take place. 1:07:10.560 --> 1:07:12.560 Now back on the mainland. We got to check in 1:07:12.600 --> 1:07:15.600 with our two greedy businessmen. They keep double crossing each 1:07:15.600 --> 1:07:18.200 other until one finally kills the other one and tries 1:07:18.280 --> 1:07:20.440 to take all the money for himself. But then I 1:07:20.480 --> 1:07:24.120 think he dies pretty much immediately because Godzilla crushes the 1:07:24.120 --> 1:07:24.880 building he's in. 1:07:25.040 --> 1:07:28.800 Yeah, they're scrambling over a pile of money and shooting 1:07:28.800 --> 1:07:32.360 at each other while Godzilla is approaching visibly in the distance, 1:07:32.480 --> 1:07:36.760 looming like a great siege tower, moving in on their headquarters. 1:07:36.760 --> 1:07:39.880 And yeah, so they both face a fitting destruction here 1:07:40.640 --> 1:07:42.600 under the heels of Godzilla. 1:07:42.960 --> 1:07:48.040 But eventually, uh oh, Godzilla's rampage sends him in the 1:07:48.080 --> 1:07:49.920 direction of the egg enclosure. 1:07:51.000 --> 1:07:53.000 That's right, And this is where you get a sense that, 1:07:53.120 --> 1:07:59.880 you know, Godzilla's violence towards the infrastructure of Nagoya maybe 1:08:00.440 --> 1:08:03.000 more or less accidental, like he's just he's here, he's 1:08:03.000 --> 1:08:05.520 gonna rambage. He didn't ask to be here. But when 1:08:05.560 --> 1:08:07.800 he sees that egg, I don't know, there's a sense 1:08:07.840 --> 1:08:11.280 that like he knows this is Kaiju business, maybe he 1:08:11.320 --> 1:08:14.880 even knows that what Mathra is or to some extent, 1:08:15.120 --> 1:08:17.320 but he sees this as an enemy. And there's this 1:08:17.439 --> 1:08:21.720 sequence where where Godzilla stares down the enclosure, and this 1:08:21.800 --> 1:08:24.719 is about the same time that Mathra is physically arriving. 1:08:25.320 --> 1:08:28.360 And oh my goodness, the look that Godzilla put pulls 1:08:28.360 --> 1:08:31.760 here just absolute daggers for eyes. Yes, they just gave 1:08:31.800 --> 1:08:35.280 me the chills. As he decides as he starts destroying 1:08:35.320 --> 1:08:37.559 the egg facility, I mean, why would why would you 1:08:37.600 --> 1:08:40.559 mess with Godzilla here? I mean this look. I included 1:08:40.600 --> 1:08:42.960 a still for you here, Joe, it's just, oh my goodness, 1:08:43.000 --> 1:08:45.400 the most intimidating Godzilla stare I've ever seen. 1:08:45.600 --> 1:08:48.479 Like we're seeing mostly the whites on the underside of 1:08:48.479 --> 1:08:51.080 his eyes or his pupils are kind of rolled up, 1:08:51.439 --> 1:08:54.800 and he's got his head hanging down, just like utter 1:08:54.960 --> 1:09:00.320 contempt and destruction. Yeah. So Godzilla starts smashing the Egging 1:09:00.479 --> 1:09:04.320 incubation building by side, whipping it with his tail. We 1:09:04.400 --> 1:09:09.400 see metal crunching, steel beams are falling. But then, oh, intervention, 1:09:09.800 --> 1:09:12.920 here comes Mathra. Though the mom is the mom is here. 1:09:13.479 --> 1:09:16.160 So at this point, somehow Ichy Junko in the gang 1:09:16.200 --> 1:09:18.720 are back. They're on a they like run to a 1:09:18.800 --> 1:09:20.840 hilltop nearby to watch the battle. I think I may 1:09:20.880 --> 1:09:22.400 have skipped over. However, they got back. 1:09:22.880 --> 1:09:24.559 You know, I want to throw in this about the 1:09:24.600 --> 1:09:29.160 battles that take place between especially between Godzilla and adult 1:09:29.200 --> 1:09:32.599 for Mathra here. Yeah, I think one of the reasons 1:09:32.640 --> 1:09:36.639 that I long avoided Godzilla versus Mathra is that I 1:09:36.680 --> 1:09:41.519 didn't in my youth see the potential of the physical battle. 1:09:41.560 --> 1:09:44.200 Like I was more about like the goofy fun of 1:09:44.400 --> 1:09:47.920 one Kaiju battling another of two dudes in rubber suits 1:09:48.600 --> 1:09:51.120 wrastling on a minute on a set with a bunch 1:09:51.160 --> 1:09:51.840 of miniatures. 1:09:51.920 --> 1:09:53.400 Can you suplex them off? 1:09:53.760 --> 1:09:54.000 Yeah? 1:09:54.080 --> 1:09:55.280 I think that was part of it. I was like, 1:09:55.360 --> 1:09:58.600 I just kind of imagined like the hokiest version of 1:09:58.640 --> 1:10:01.120 this battle where it'd be a puppet a stick versus 1:10:01.120 --> 1:10:03.880 a guy in a costume. But they do such a 1:10:03.920 --> 1:10:07.960 great job. It never feels like that here. Mathra never 1:10:08.160 --> 1:10:12.280 feels like a like a rough puppet. I mean, obviously 1:10:12.439 --> 1:10:15.479 Matha is created in large part through puppetry, but it's 1:10:15.600 --> 1:10:19.559 it's it's done superbly, and I just completely bought into 1:10:19.600 --> 1:10:21.599 the combat between these two entities. 1:10:21.840 --> 1:10:24.719 Absolutely agree this is one of the best monster battles 1:10:24.720 --> 1:10:25.360 in the series. 1:10:25.760 --> 1:10:27.839 Yeah, and it doesn't. I think I've seen other folks 1:10:28.080 --> 1:10:30.120 maybe it was Michael Weldon pointing out that like this 1:10:30.160 --> 1:10:33.839 one doesn't get rastly and therefore doesn't have as much silliness. 1:10:33.920 --> 1:10:36.240 It's it's you know, it's it's out there. It has 1:10:36.280 --> 1:10:39.720 a lot of like crazy Kaiju weaponry, for sure, but 1:10:39.720 --> 1:10:40.519 it's a lot of fun. 1:10:41.000 --> 1:10:43.280 So I think I said this earlier, but one thing 1:10:43.320 --> 1:10:46.599 I really love here is the sharp metallic ping of 1:10:46.720 --> 1:10:49.840 Mathra's call. It's like a I don't know, it sounds 1:10:49.840 --> 1:10:53.760 like a like a dagger piercing the air somehow. Yeah, 1:10:53.800 --> 1:10:56.759 And so we hear that, and Godzilla is still busy 1:10:56.840 --> 1:10:59.240 like smashing up the buildings trying to get to the egg, 1:10:59.600 --> 1:11:04.120 but begins furiously flapping her wings and that generates this 1:11:04.280 --> 1:11:09.040 humongous gale which pushes Godzilla to and fro and it 1:11:09.120 --> 1:11:11.599 also though knocks over the rest of the building. And 1:11:11.640 --> 1:11:15.280 now the egg is exposed and Godzilla attacks and ooh, 1:11:15.320 --> 1:11:17.759 the attack on the egg is actually kind of scary. 1:11:17.800 --> 1:11:20.920 He's like striking and clawing at it, blasting it with 1:11:20.960 --> 1:11:24.040 the radioactive breath, and was just thinking like, oh, no, 1:11:24.160 --> 1:11:24.759 poor egg. 1:11:25.320 --> 1:11:29.400 Yeah again, Godzilla is betrayed. Is very very much the 1:11:29.520 --> 1:11:34.240 aggressive beast here, so there's a real frenzy to his 1:11:34.360 --> 1:11:35.760 movements that I really liked. 1:11:35.920 --> 1:11:39.920 But Mathra intervenes. She grabs Godzilla by the tail and 1:11:40.080 --> 1:11:43.120 drags him away from the egg. I know, we said 1:11:43.240 --> 1:11:45.120 it's not too rasseliny, but. 1:11:45.120 --> 1:11:47.000 This seems kind of like a little rastling. 1:11:47.120 --> 1:11:49.599 Yeah, this is like when a wrestler like drags another 1:11:49.600 --> 1:11:53.680 wrestler out of the ring by his leg. Observing from 1:11:53.720 --> 1:11:57.360 afar by the way, the professor asks what's that yellow powder? 1:11:57.400 --> 1:11:59.320 And the Fairy Twins are there and they're like, it 1:11:59.400 --> 1:12:02.280 is Mathra's final weapon, and they explain that it's a 1:12:02.360 --> 1:12:05.880 kind of poisonous pollen. So she's like coating Godzilla in 1:12:05.960 --> 1:12:07.879 this like yellow pollen powder. 1:12:08.120 --> 1:12:10.559 Yeah, like an aerial bombardment of the stuff. 1:12:10.840 --> 1:12:13.640 So they fight some more, and at one point Godzilla 1:12:13.680 --> 1:12:16.960 gets the upper hand. He blasts a Mathra with his breath, 1:12:17.360 --> 1:12:20.400 and Mathra starts to look more and more ragged as 1:12:20.439 --> 1:12:23.439 she's beaten up in this battle. Oh, I didn't mention this, 1:12:23.520 --> 1:12:25.280 but we were told earlier by the twins on the 1:12:25.320 --> 1:12:28.600 island that Mathra is she's sort of like near the 1:12:28.680 --> 1:12:32.800 end of her life cycle, that she's dying, And so 1:12:32.880 --> 1:12:35.479 she flies away from battle back to the beach toward 1:12:35.520 --> 1:12:39.160 the egg, and the Fairy Twins remind us that Mathra 1:12:39.280 --> 1:12:41.599 is near the end of her life, so she glides 1:12:41.680 --> 1:12:44.320 down to lot to land beside her egg, and then 1:12:44.360 --> 1:12:47.719 she dies and Godzilla does here kind of do a wicked, 1:12:47.760 --> 1:12:50.719 gloating victory dance of swords, but not a silly dance. 1:12:51.080 --> 1:12:55.519 Right right now here, the military resumes fighting Godzilla. Is 1:12:55.520 --> 1:12:57.519 this going to do much? Of course not. They shoot 1:12:57.560 --> 1:13:00.040 some rockets and bombs, we see planes flying around, and 1:13:00.400 --> 1:13:03.320 there is one part here that I will also say 1:13:03.360 --> 1:13:07.920 that this is better than the average military bombardment of 1:13:08.000 --> 1:13:11.759 Godzilla scene because there are some effects that are actually 1:13:11.840 --> 1:13:14.559 kind of visceral. Like there's one part where Godzilla's head 1:13:14.680 --> 1:13:18.520 catches on fire and oh yeah, looks awesome, but Godzilla 1:13:18.600 --> 1:13:21.040 just kind of shakes it off. He also gets into 1:13:21.080 --> 1:13:24.360 a tussle with some high voltage power lines. They also 1:13:24.439 --> 1:13:27.800 try a big net dropped from a formation of helicopter. 1:13:27.920 --> 1:13:30.479 They drop like three nets on him, and it looks 1:13:30.520 --> 1:13:31.800 like it might work, but of. 1:13:31.680 --> 1:13:35.320 Course Godzilla he hates this, and he proceeds to breathe 1:13:35.360 --> 1:13:38.960 on and melt a bunch of tanks. Meanwhile, down at 1:13:39.000 --> 1:13:41.759 the beach, the Fairy Twins are doing a musical number. 1:13:41.800 --> 1:13:44.880 They have gone down to Mathra's egg and they are 1:13:44.960 --> 1:13:48.120 singing a song to it, I believe, imploring it to hatch. 1:13:48.520 --> 1:13:51.320 Yeah, yeah, and to bring Mathra back into the world again. 1:13:51.439 --> 1:13:56.720 Mathra is apparently a divine entity of continual death and rebirth. 1:13:57.000 --> 1:13:59.759 Yeah, And this is intercut with shots of the people 1:13:59.800 --> 1:14:02.679 on Ewa Island also doing a dance for the egg. 1:14:03.439 --> 1:14:06.439 And then suddenly at the climax of the song, lightning 1:14:06.520 --> 1:14:09.920 flashes and the egg hatches, and you know what, it's 1:14:10.000 --> 1:14:13.640 not just one baby Mathra, but two. It's twins, just 1:14:13.800 --> 1:14:15.120 like the fairy twins. 1:14:15.320 --> 1:14:19.600 Yeah, two larval Mathras emerge, and so now they have 1:14:19.800 --> 1:14:23.240 the numbers advantage over a Godzilla. I'm not sure if 1:14:23.240 --> 1:14:25.920 Godzilla realizes this, but like this is really the point 1:14:25.920 --> 1:14:26.719 at which he's cooked. 1:14:26.960 --> 1:14:30.360 Yeah, But so to emphasize, it's not like two little 1:14:31.000 --> 1:14:36.440 moths with wings. It's grubs. It's like two caterpillars larval mathras. 1:14:36.600 --> 1:14:39.679 And there are hilarious shots of these two like giant 1:14:39.800 --> 1:14:44.400 red brown grubs humping through the ocean towards the after. 1:14:43.800 --> 1:14:47.400 Like it's like, yeah, it's kind of like the their 1:14:47.479 --> 1:14:50.200 sea serpents or something. You know, or but also kind 1:14:50.200 --> 1:14:51.200 of like water buffaloes. 1:14:51.479 --> 1:14:51.639 Yeah. 1:14:51.720 --> 1:14:54.519 Yeah, they're going through the water because we learned there's 1:14:54.560 --> 1:14:58.160 this whole subplot about like there are some school children 1:14:58.280 --> 1:15:01.800 on Ewa Island and they're still there, and then Godzilla 1:15:01.840 --> 1:15:04.280 starts going towards Ewa Island and they're like, oh no, 1:15:04.360 --> 1:15:06.920 the school children and they're in danger, and almost as 1:15:06.960 --> 1:15:10.480 if to protect them, the grubs like chase after Godzilla 1:15:10.520 --> 1:15:13.800 through the water and they go to the island. The 1:15:13.840 --> 1:15:16.360 three human protagonists go there as well, and they sort 1:15:16.400 --> 1:15:19.879 of get busy rescuing the school children while Godzilla fights 1:15:19.960 --> 1:15:23.280 these two little moth grubs. And this fight is funny 1:15:23.320 --> 1:15:25.240 and I think it is meant to be, Like one 1:15:25.360 --> 1:15:28.040 bites Godzilla on the tail and he starts whipping it 1:15:28.080 --> 1:15:31.280 all around to get it off. But in this battle 1:15:31.280 --> 1:15:34.760 between Zilla and two grubs, who's gonna win? And how 1:15:35.600 --> 1:15:38.760 well I love the final way they defeat him. The 1:15:39.240 --> 1:15:43.799 moth larvae start blasting Godzilla with their silk. They shoot 1:15:43.840 --> 1:15:46.240 like spider silk, but they're, of course, you know, these 1:15:46.240 --> 1:15:51.000 little grubs, and they essentially cocoon him alive. They're spinning 1:15:51.000 --> 1:15:54.000 more and more silk, throwing it over him. He's furious. 1:15:54.040 --> 1:15:57.880 He's breathing radioactive breath. He's whipping all around. But he 1:15:57.920 --> 1:16:02.400 eventually gets wrapped up and incapacitated and just breathing all 1:16:02.439 --> 1:16:05.880 over in random directions, furious, and he finally falls to 1:16:05.920 --> 1:16:08.559 the ground, rolls down over the edge of a cliff 1:16:08.640 --> 1:16:11.320 and into the ocean, sinking out of sight. It's a 1:16:11.360 --> 1:16:13.360 glorious way to defeat Godzilla. 1:16:13.960 --> 1:16:16.240 I think it's clear that Godzilla is not killed, you know, 1:16:16.360 --> 1:16:19.439 It's like he is just defeated for now. He will 1:16:19.439 --> 1:16:22.960 probably be back, and hopefully humanity can get it together, 1:16:24.320 --> 1:16:27.840 maybe avoid some of their greed and self interest in 1:16:27.920 --> 1:16:30.559 order to better prepare for his eventual return. 1:16:30.880 --> 1:16:33.200 Yeah, and we see the grubs swimming away. We can 1:16:33.240 --> 1:16:35.960 hear the fairy twins yelling goodbye in unison. I guess 1:16:36.000 --> 1:16:38.080 they're going with them. I don't think we see them. 1:16:38.840 --> 1:16:42.760 And then the humans watch the baby Mathras leaving and 1:16:42.920 --> 1:16:45.760 one of them says, shouldn't we thank them? But then 1:16:45.840 --> 1:16:48.120 Iachi says the only way to thank them is to 1:16:48.160 --> 1:16:51.120 build a better world, and the Professor says, that's right, 1:16:51.360 --> 1:16:56.800 a world based on mutual trust. There's a little direct there. 1:16:56.880 --> 1:17:00.320 It's not super subtle, But you know, I appreciate the sentiment. Right, 1:17:00.360 --> 1:17:03.160 that is, you have plainly stated the moral of the film. 1:17:03.640 --> 1:17:07.800 Well, you know I like it, Yeah, firmly stated. It 1:17:07.880 --> 1:17:11.439 serves for us to be reminded because we'll inevitably forget 1:17:11.520 --> 1:17:14.559 and build a world that is highly susceptible to Godzilla's attack. 1:17:15.080 --> 1:17:17.800 Yes, it will happen again in Godora the Three Headed Monster. 1:17:17.880 --> 1:17:20.840 I forget what the precipitating event is in that one, 1:17:20.880 --> 1:17:24.960 but you know they're gonna do. Something's gonna happen, all right, 1:17:25.000 --> 1:17:27.960 Any other business about Mathra versus Godzilla before we wrap 1:17:27.960 --> 1:17:28.240 it up? 1:17:28.400 --> 1:17:30.799 Oh, just to say that I think it's absolutely solid. 1:17:30.880 --> 1:17:34.640 It has a great message. Again, the monster battles are amazing, 1:17:34.760 --> 1:17:38.200 but everything else is also richly entertaining and at times 1:17:38.240 --> 1:17:44.800 intentionally hilarious. Looks great, sounds great. Would I would be 1:17:44.840 --> 1:17:47.280 inclined to say, again, I can't pretend to be a 1:17:47.320 --> 1:17:50.400 Godzilla completest. I haven't seen I haven't even seen all 1:17:50.439 --> 1:17:52.439 of the show era films. I certainly haven't seen all 1:17:52.479 --> 1:17:54.800 of the Godzilla films period, and I haven't seen the 1:17:54.880 --> 1:17:58.360 recent ones, which I'm to understand also feature Mathra. But 1:17:58.880 --> 1:18:01.439 I would say if you've never seen a Godzilla film before, 1:18:01.520 --> 1:18:06.799 and you're open to watching films from previous decades, Mathera 1:18:06.880 --> 1:18:10.160 versus Godzilla is a pretty good place to start. I mean, 1:18:10.160 --> 1:18:12.800 if you're not gonna start with the original one. In 1:18:12.840 --> 1:18:16.240 the original Godzilla film, this is this is really good. 1:18:16.280 --> 1:18:20.280 You get, you get heal Godzilla, you get beautiful Mathra get, 1:18:20.840 --> 1:18:23.640 you get amusing performances and a nice message. What more 1:18:23.680 --> 1:18:24.360 can you ask for? 1:18:24.640 --> 1:18:27.840 I would say this is the most Godzilla film of 1:18:27.920 --> 1:18:30.960 all the Godzilla films I've seen it. It has all 1:18:31.040 --> 1:18:34.240 of the core elements in their most perfect form. 1:18:34.520 --> 1:18:37.400 Right right. And you might enter into this film being 1:18:37.640 --> 1:18:39.960 a Mathra skeptic like I think I used to be, 1:18:40.360 --> 1:18:42.280 but you will be won over by Mathra and you 1:18:42.280 --> 1:18:45.200 will realize that she is indeed the Queen of monsters. 1:18:45.240 --> 1:18:47.840 All hail, All right, We're gonna gohe and close out 1:18:47.880 --> 1:18:50.840 this episode of Weird House Cinema, but we'd love to 1:18:50.840 --> 1:18:52.679 hear from all of you. We know you have thoughts 1:18:52.720 --> 1:18:55.920 on this Godzilla film and many other Godzilla films will 1:18:55.920 --> 1:18:57.799 remind you that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is primarily 1:18:57.880 --> 1:19:00.599 a science and culture podcast with core episode on Tuesdays 1:19:00.600 --> 1:19:02.920 and Thursdays, but on Fridays we set aside most serious 1:19:02.920 --> 1:19:04.640 concerns to just talk about a weird film here on 1:19:04.680 --> 1:19:07.320 Weirdhouse Cinema. 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