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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019) The Last Great Hope for a great movie before lockdown...but no
I wanted to give this film a full score of 10 stars, but I just couldn't. The cast we're quite good in the first part of the movie, like the first hour of it, then it took a turn for the worst.
Started out with what appeared to be a great story and great acting but then....it turned into a chaotic bunch of yelling and screaming with nonsensical situations to the point that I could no longer suspend my disbelief.
You had main actors and the monsters fighting right above them with chaos all around them, and pieces of buildings falling all over, and nothing happens to them. They're just fine. How does that happen? Too many impossible scenarios that were just too much.
Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, and Ken Watanabe head a very talented cast, but it all soon turns to garbage.
Supporting players include: Millie Bobby Brown, Aisha Hinds, Charles Dance, O'shea Jackson Jr., and Bradley Whitford, not to be mistaken for Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, in fact Whitford is the only character I couldn't stand.
As much as I don't like CGI, it was well done in this film. However, having said that, one thing I noticed in this film and have noticed all the way back to GODZILLA (1998) is where the monster looks the human squarely in the eye up close. That is so STUPID!! That would never happen in real life, he would've destroyed that person or eaten them.
I've never heard of most of these people (actors), like Kyle Chandler, but they all did well in the first part of the film.
I liked that they didn't waste any time from the previous film to now in bringing Mothra, Rodan, and Ghidorah to life in this film. They might as well have just called the film GODZILLA VS. GHIDORAH, because that's essentially what it was. Ghidorah was definitely the main antagonist.
7 STARS.
Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (1994)
A Brand New Era With Gamera in GAMERA, THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (1994)
This Gamera film is much better than at least 4 of the last era's film's had to offer. The beginning of a new era of Gamera and hopefully no more movies with terrible plots and annoying children yelling ad nauseam "Gamera, Gamera," Don't do that", "Use your fire" Gamera, Gamera. All that is gone in this film folks. Maybe the filmmakers finally figured out that audiences largely don't want to watch that continuously.
The movie has a very intelligent story. A large sloth of Japanese Navy ships are carrying enough plutonium to create 100 Nagasaki bombs, according to the movie. Some prehistoric bird creatures reffered to as Gyaos' have appeared and seem to be interested in the plutonium. They also like human flesh also. I personally like the Gyaos Bat- like creature from the 1967 movie RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS better, but these costumes weren't that bad. ROTGM had only one Gyaos, this one has three. And Gamera seems strangely drawn to them as well.
The movie is intelligently written and acted and the dubbing seems to be a lot better than the 1960's -70's dubbing of Gamera and Godzilla films.
The special effects are also well done. The Gamera flying scenes where he spins around were better done in the 60's, but I have hope that maybe the sequels will show improvement. The Gyaos scenes with his laser beams coming from his mouth are much more improved than before.
Godzilla (2014)
GODZILLA (2014) Bryan Cranston turns in a great performance , oh and Godzilla too
This was a very good Godzilla story. One that was not too over the top. Bryan Cranston plays a geologist for a Japanese nuclear power plant and has to watch as his wife dies doing some type of emergency stuff for the plant. I don't know what her position was.
Their son however watches from his abandoning classroom as the entire nuclear plant collapses, very traumatic. Fast forward 15 years and Ford Brody is a grown up in the US military and has to rescue his driven father for trespassing in an off limits area near the plant site.
It turns out something called a motow? I guess? Caused all the Earthquakes that killed his mother. And Godzilla is attracted to them(The Motows) for some scientific reason I don't understand.
Along with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen also turn in fine performances.
8 STARS.
Bad Grandpa (2013)
Johnny Knoxville hits it out of the park with this one
I first saw this at a friend's house about a month ago. One month later I had to watch it again to write my IMDB review for it. This movie really took me by surprise, I've known about Jackass but I've never actually watched it, but I sure got a lot of laughs watching this, imagining what the show must've been like.
With incredible life like makeup, Johnny Knoxville transforms himself into an old man of about 70-75 and performs pranks along with a story upon unsuspecting bystanders. And some of the stunts that happen in this film could get a person seriously injured but that's what he does for a living. I will also point out that Knoxville is a fine actor because if he had come up to me I would've thought he was the real McCoy, meaning being a senior citizen with a sometimes foul mouth.
This movie has a lot of laughs and a story that won't put you to sleep. Well worth viewing.
10 STARS.
San shi liu mi xing quan (1977)
Pure Kung-Fu. THE 36 CRAZY FISTS (1977)
I watched this movie on the advice of a friend and after a second viewing, I find that I really like it. It brings me back to the days of my youth in the early 80's when a particular TV station had a slew of these kung-Fu movies all dated 1980. But I was certain there must've been others before those 80's films and this film shows me that there are.
The story is that of a young man who is beaten up by some punks and two Chinese monks who really know Kung-Fu fight the young man's aggressors. It turns out that his father refused to pay for "protection" and so a top thug of the area decides to make things rough for the family.
Shi-Kwan Yen is the main star in this film, with many other people I've never heard of. The Kung-Fu and stunts are very fun to watch. The story is very weak, but the Kung-Fu action makes up for it.
The movie is also a period piece, so it gives you an idea of what ancient China was like. The dubbing is TERRIBLE, however it's still a great movie to watch for midnight or late night viewing.
The Hitcher (1986)
I Didn't Care For It. Wasn't That Good
I wasn't impressed with this movie. My friend suggested we watch it, he having already seen it and saying how good it was. Well, it wasn't. This is one of those stranded in the middle of nowhere films with nobody else around save for a few people and chances are they could very well turn out to be bad guys or bad women.
This story is about a young man bringing a car from the east coast to California I believe. I'm at least right about the California bit. So this man picks up a hitchhiker in the middle of a torrential rain storm probably in New Mexico or Arizona. The film never says. Anyway this person turns out to be a phychopath played by Rutger Hauer. C. Thomas Howell is the young man. Howell finally pushes Hauer out the door after Hauer threatens to cut him up.
This film continues with the most fantastically idiotic situations where Hauer shows up and somehow law enforcement always thinks it's Howell who's the criminal.
Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a waitress in a diner out in the middle of who knows what town or state? She doesn't bring much to the film. It's not her fault, she just isn't given a lot to work with.
At the end it's one of those movies where it's a comedy where it doesn't matter how many times you hit or shoot the bad guy, he just keeps getting up until FINALLY he dies.
I didn't care for Rutger Hauer in this film. I didn't care for all the outrageous impossible situations that happened.
1 STAR. And even that's too many.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)
NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T(1972) Definitely the best in the series
This is my favorite movie of the Dexter Riley movie series starring Kurt Russell as Dexter, Joe Flynn as Dean Higgins, Cesar Romero as A. J. Arno and William Windom as Prof. Lufkin.
This movie is much funnier and entertaining than the last movie, THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1969), not that it was a bad movie, just that this one's better.
Russell's character of Dexter Riley accidentally discovers how to turn physical matter invisible, and with said abilities sets out to find out what paroled crime boss A. J. Aro wants so badly with investment in Dexter's Alma Mater Medfield College.
On top of all that, the Dean of the school, played masterfully by Joe Flynn thinks he's a golfing pro when he's not, and gets a little help from an invisible Dexter. All the golfing tournaments in this film are HILARIOUS!! I laughed so hard.
Cesar Romero turns in a great performance as crime boss Arno. Romero is better known to younger audiences as The Joker from the 1960's Batman series starring Adam West.
Russell is backed up by supporting actors Michael McGreevy as Skylar spelled Schuyler but pronounced Skylar, and Joyce Menges as Debbie.
10 STARS.
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
The first of three Dexter Riley movies with Kurt Russell, the good ol' days of Disney
I found this film rather enjoyable. It's been years since I've seen it.
The movie stars a very young Kurt Russell, William Schallert, Joe Flynn and Cesar Romero as the main stars, with a cast of supporting players, mainly Debbie Paine, Frank Webb and Michael McGreevey as Dexter's friends in college.
Basically, Medfield College can't afford a computer for it's students to learn from, keep in mind this was 1969 when computers were still relatively new and bulky as heck, taking up most of a medium size room back then. When Medfield gets a computer donated from crime boss A. J. Arno and finds the logic activator is burned out, Professor Quigley sends Dexter Riley to pick up another one in a rainstorm some 70 miles away. Dexter gets electrocuted while at the Capitol Electronics building handling the circuits he somehow takes in all the Data from a computer that makes him super smart like a computer.
A. J. Arno eventually hears Dexter running off information while on a national contest between colleges that could put his criminal career out of business, and makes it a point to capture Dexter, use him for criminal activities, then dispose of him.
The film is really fun and reminds me how much I loved earlier Disney films.
9 STARS.
Uchu kaijû Gamera (1979)
GAMERA SUPER MONSTER (1980) Awful just utterly awful. Gamera's swan song
Well I finally saw it. I finally watched GAMERA SUPER MONSTER released in 1980. I remember being a kid in 1980 and thinking great! A brand new Gamera film, there's hope for the Gamera franchise. Not so. This film is so bad that I don't know which one is better GAMERA VS. ZIGRA or this one. I think it's a tie, they're both equally bad. It took 9 years for this movie to come out and it was not worth the wait.
The vast majority of the movie is stock footage from all of Gamera's past movies, no new monsters to battle in this film. Even the Gamera image in this movie looks cheap and ready to throw away after the movie is done.
The story has a group of "space women" living on Earth trying to prevent Earth from being taken over (what else). A young irritating boy is once again the focus of this movie besides the alien women and the boy dubbing in particular is especially bad. The movie is cheap and INCREDIBLY BORING.
Nothing but a bunch of rehashing old movie scenes with a very weak story.
NO STARS.
Godzilla (1998)
GODZILLA (1998) with Roger Ebert as mayor and Gene Siskel as his campaign assistant, HILARIOUS! WHAT A HOOT!!
This is /was never my favorite take on Godzilla but I still find it very entertaining!! Despite what other reviewers are saying, I think Matt Broderick and Maria Pitillo were fantastic in this film In fact, Maria is the ONLY reason I found to go watch the film again in theaters.
Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, and especially Kevin Dunn were NOT reasons to watch this movie again. Dunn played a piece of human excrement colonel who I could not stand. Awful was his performance.
Michael Lerner on the other hand portrayed the late movie reviewer turned Mayor of New York City of all things, with fellow movie critic Gene Siskel as his campaign manager/ adviser. I found their back and fourth interactions/ arguments to be HILARIOUS and laugh out loud funny. Who'da thought they'd make Ebert Mayor of NYC? Why not Chicago where he got his start?
Anyway, the SPX are good. Not great. A lot of CGI in this film of which I am not a fan of CGI. I did think the film did seemed to be plodding along. Another thing is IT'S TOO LONG!!! I got real bored after a while. The typical Japanese giant monster movie is 90 minutes or close to it. It was much longer than it needed to be.
And the parts where the monster doesn't eat or attack anyone particularly Matt Broderick was very unrealistic and I didn't buy it. Also, the idea that Godzilla just "Disappeared" into the ground only to reappear from the ground destroying Madison Square Garden I just wasn't buying it.
Overall a good film but not a great film.
Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967)
Before MECHA GODZILLA, there was MECHA KONG!!...KING KONG ESCAPES (Jap. 1967, US 1968)
This was a nice fun little film to watch from Toho pictures, Universal Pictures, and Rankin/Bass Productions. WOW!! Universal Pictures and Rankin /Bass working alongside Toho Studios is fascinating to me. Rankin/Bass is the company here in the US that gave us Christmas classics like SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN (1970), and interestingly the villain in this movie is voiced by what sounds like Paul Frees who voiced The Burgermeister Meisterburger in SCICTT.
We've also got Rhodes Reason, Linda Miller, and Akira Takarada in this film.
The usual cast for these Toho films is present and accounted for: Director Ishiro Honda, SFX Director Eiji Tsubaraya, and Akira Ikufube as the film composer.
Basic premise: King Kong is now on Mondo Island. Yeah when Skull Island was destroyed by a typhoon in SON OF KONG (1933) Kong said that's it, I'm outta here. And wouldn't you know it, there's dinosaurs on Kong's new home island as well. Who'da thought it? Certainly not I.
A UN submarine commanded by Commander Carl Nelson(Reason) makes it's way to Mondo Island and comes across Kong fighting a Tyrannosaurus and doing a pretty bad job of it. In fact I submit that Kong's battle with a T-rex was far superior in the original KING KONG (1933).
Kong is also sought out by mad scientist Dr. Who, how creative, actually, how cartoonish. He abducts Kong the same way he was taken to fight Godzilla in KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1962 Jap.,1963 US), by extra large handcuffs and flown in the air by helicopters.
Speaking of abductions, our human heroes get taken to what seems like the North Pole or at least Alaska. There, Dr. Who has Kong mining or digging for a certain mineral, Element X ooohh, scary, which he will give to an unnamed nation to create nuclear weapons after Dr. Who's Robot Kong failed to accomplish this.
Fast forward, after Kong escapes he makes his way to Tokyo, Japan (where else?) followed by Mecha Kong, this was at least 8 years before Godzilla fought Mecha Godzilla the first time. The climactic battle between the two Kongs is fought high atop Tokyo Tower.
The film climaxes with Kong stoping Dr. Who's ship and sinking it and then heading home similar to how he did at the end of KKVG.
My one main complaint is the Kong suit for this film. Just like the earlier KING KONG VS GODZILLA, this Kong suit is horrible, especially the face. Both Kong movies from Toho are guilty of this. The only film I can think of that looks waaay better as an ape suit and the face is KING KONG (1976). The Japanese costume makers are usually quite good at their craft but NOT when it comes to American monsters, particularly King Kong. I could even see the zipper on his back during the fight with Gorosaurus (Tyranosaurus Rex).
Seven stars.
Gamera tai Shinkai kaijû Jigura (1971)
GAMERA VS. ZIGRA (1971 Jap./1987 U.S.) is the worst Gamera film in the franchise so far
Wow! What a terrible film. The worst in the entire franchise up to this point. Hopefully it gets better by the time I review GAMERA SUPER MONSTER from 1980 or the mid '90's Gamera series. I hope they're better than this terrible movie.
As has been written about previously, it's another space aliens invade Earth scenario, this time involving a giant shark like fish from outer space. I think the writer and director just plain ran out of ideas or something.
The constant meandering story that leads to nothing. It is definitely a story for kids but a stupid story at that. This movie was so bad that the Japanese release was 1971, but it wasn't until 1987 that it came to American TV, not to American theaters.
Two curious things about this movie are that it's a Japanese movie with Japanese in it and no Americans for a change, but the Japanese kids are called Kenny and Helen, Huh? What? And the adults last names are curious too. Dr. Wallace and Dr. Henry, What? Who? And they're Japanese you can plainly see, but with American names. Whatever.
The Zigra conflict finally ends but what a waste of one's precious time. I'm not even sure if this is a good enough film for late night viewing.
And once again, this film has the ever annoying kids that almost every Gamera feature has.
Director Noriaki Yuasa and writer Niisan Takahashi clearly had no where else to go with this franchise, and it shows and is sad.
No Stars. I guess I'm stuck with at least one star 'cause I can't take it off.
Gamera tai Daimaju Jaiga (1970)
Original American release title and the proper title for this film: GAMERA VS. MONSTER X (1970) Great movie!
This is the second Gamera movie I ever saw and I have to say it holds up well. Released to American TV in 1970 under the title GAMERA VS. MONSTER X, it never got released to American theaters like many of Gamera's films in the U. S.
The story is similar in many ways to a previous Gamera film DESTROY ALL PLANETS (1969), in which two young boys, one Japanese and one caucasian American use a mini sub in their adventures with Gamera.
Monster X arises from the ground on a pacific island when a statue is removed from it's sacred place. Brought to Japan, it is discovered that the statue has a connection to the monster. Monster X starts wrecking havoc in Japan, primarily Osaka, I believe. Who comes to the rescue but Gamera. The two monsters fought earlier on the aforementioned island when Monster X left Gamera helpless.
Things get worse for Gamera when monster X pokes him with an injection from his tail and makes him really sick and paralyzed.
After the 2 boys enter Gamera with their mini sub to destroy a monster within Gamera, the two monsters have a final showdown with Monster X getting the statue impaled through his head, courtesy of Gamera.
This movie is an improvement over the last couple of Gamera films. The two things I could do without are the typical annoying kids of these films. But, they're not always annoying, but enough that I have to say something. And the second is that terrible Gamera theme song, even as a kid I didn't care for it.
Directed by Noriaki Yuasa and Shigeo Tanaka
writer: Niisan Takahashi, sounds like a car.
Released by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan and American International Television in America.
9 STARS.
Gamera tai uchu kaijû Bairasu (1968)
Original American release title and the proper title for this review: DESTROY ALL PLANETS (1969), not Gamera vs. Viras
This is the first Gamera film I remember seeing as a kid. Back in the early 70's, and back then, this was great entertainment for kids. Although now, I can see with adult eyes how bad it is.
The story is about a couple of boy scouts, one Japanese and one Caucasian American who get into a lot of trouble. First, they mess with a visiting scientists' mini sub, then they get kidnapped by aliens.
The movie starts out with a strange striped spaceship intent on conquering Earth. Suddenly they are attacked by the prehistoric nuclear powered turtle Gamera. Gamera destroys the ship, but how did Gamera know whether it was good or bad? And how was Gamera able to breathe in space? He/she may have some unusual abilities, but she still has to breathe, and there is no oxygen in space children.
So the director and writer of this film decide to waste our precious time by giving us a history lesson on Gamera via flashbacks to other Gamera movies. Now to someone like myself, who had never seen a Gamera film before, this was quite helpful and entertaining to learn what I'd missed on the flying Saber toothed turtle, but to others and those of us who finally got to familiarize ourselves with these adventures, upon second viewing this becomes a colossal waste of time.
Once the aliens realize children are Gamera's weakness, they capture the boy scouts Maseo and Jim. The scouts have a fun time roaming about the alien spaceship until they lasso one of the aliens.
Because the aliens have kidnapped the boys they know they have power over Gamera. It also helps to have a mind control device attached to Gamera to guarantee control. They order Gamera to destroy Japanese cities, in particular, Tokyo.
Things get so dire for Earth that The United Nations gets involved and refuses to take action, sound familiar?
The special effects are really cool in this film. There are scenes where their Asian eyes glow in the dark, makes them creepy. They also fly down corridors and can remove their arms from their bodies if need be.
The conclusion of this film has the aliens' leader, a normal sized squid kept in a cage? Assemble his men to decapitate their heads only to reveal that they too are squids and must sacrifice their bodies to enlarge their leader to take on Gamera.
So Gamera and the giant squid apparently called Viras, battle it out to the death. And at one point it looks like Gamera has had it when he is impaled 4 times through the chest. Oh but even being stabbed 4 times is not enough to kill Gamera.
In this movie Gamera jumped the shark not once, but 2 times. The first is attacking the ship in outer space without a helmet, the second was being impaled 4 times and still able to function. That doesn't happen in real life boys and girls.
And finally the 2 cub scouts yelling to Gamera. Gamera, Gamera, Gamera, Gamera. Even as a kid I found this incredibly ANNOYING AND STUPID.
And I forgot 1 more thing. This movie premiered the Gamera theme song. TERRIBLE. I just can't stand it!!
3 STARS for a great final fight scene and other SPX.
Daikaijû kûchûsen: Gamera tai Gyaosu (1967)
Original American release title and the proper title for this film is: RETURN OF THE GIANT MONSTERS (1967) not Gamera vs. Gyaos
I've never seen this movie in its entirety before. The only time I've seen parts of it was by watching flashbacks from the next film DESTROY ALL PLANETS. This film and the last one WAR OF THE MONSTERS, would be the only tolerable movies of the Gamera series for much of the run of the series.
Volcanos erupting in Japan apparently unleash a bat-pterodactyl hybrid of some type which first comes to the attention of the Japanese when lasers from a Forrest slice a plane carrying scientists in half. It turns out it is the aforementioned creature that they name Gyaos.
This creature can only come out at night. Interestingly, the monster from the last film only came out at night also. I wonder why they made the stories like that.
This is the film that would bring children as major players in all future Gamera films. While the dubbing was tolerable for the most part, the dubbing of the child was irritating.
The monster fight scenes are well done. The special effects are also great. The Gamera and Gyaos costumes are surprisingly good, in some ways better than the Godzilla costumes.
Gamera defeats Gyaos finally by pulling him into a volcano with his teeth. Funny similarity here is that that's how Gamera defeated Barugon from the last film. Pulling him with his teeth into something that would kill him. In that case it was water, in this scenario it's lava.
The kid can be annoying at times but it's still a good movie with a story that can keep adults interested.
10 STARS for a good story and special effects.
Gamera tai daiakuju Giron (1969)
ATTACK OF THE MONSTERS (1969) a lame entry in The Gamera series
I've never seen this film before. I've seen a lot of the previous entries but not this one. I found it mostly boring and dull. The kids in this film weren't as irritating at first as the kids from the previous Gamera entry, DESTROY ALL PLANETS, but over time this film became worse than the previous entry.
Two boys enter a spaceship which takes them to another planet. The inhabitants of said planet are two women with the traditional B movie space outfits. The 2 boys discover a silver copy pf the monster Gyaos and a new monster Guiron. Guiron kills the silver Gyaos by cutting it up with his knifelike head.
Gamera finally arrives. A lot of times I have to suspend disbelief when it comes to sci-fi, but the idea of Gamera traveling all the way from Earth through space with his head outside his shell is just too much. Even Gamera is a living breathing creature that needs oxygen, or maybe not. Maybe this movie is Gamera's "Jumping The Shark" moment. I think director Noriaki Yuasa and his crew over at Daiei Motion Picture Company had simply run out of ideas at this point.
2 STARS.
Daikaijû kettô: Gamera tai Barugon (1966)
WAR OF THE MONSTERS (1967) Is A Welcome Sequel To Gamera's First Film
I've never watched WAR OF THE MONSTERS aka GAMERA VS. BARUGON all the way through till now. And I really liked it a lot. The first film GAMERA THE INVINCIBLE was too talky and slow and nearly put me to sleep. But this film is a vast improvement over the former.
Gamera escapes his fate from the last film where he was trapped inside a rocket ship destined for Mars. To Gamera's good fortune, a meteorite just happens to strike the rocket ship and set Gamera free.
Gamera returns to Earth to exact his revenge on his captors by destroying a dam in Japan. As we move along, we find a group of Japanese men seeking an opal jewel placed somewhere on an island in the pacific during the war. The opal is discovered and at the behest of the natives one evil man takes the opal back to Japan.
The opal is actually an egg that releases a baby monster that rapidly grows into a giant monster. What else would it be? It's Japan in the 1960's. The monster wrecks havoc in Japan until Gamera arrives seeking out heat signatures to satisfy his appetite for fire and energy. Barugon, as the monster is known, like many Japanese kaiju has a special talent of extending his tongue out of his mouth and freezing whatever he wants. He also has a rainbow come out of his back to destroy Japan's tank force. After freezing Gamera, the Japanese military along with Japan's brightest try to figure out how to defeat Barugon.
Gamera finally thaws out and the monsters duel it out with Gamera pulling Barugon into the water which is his one weakness and drowns him in the water.
Noriaki Yuasa returns to direct along with Shigeo Tanaka.
This movie, unlike the last, was shot in color which helped add to it's appeal along with great special effects also directed by Yuasa, with Toru Suzuki, his assistant.
10 STARS.
Gammera the Invincible (1966)
First there was KONG...Then GODZILLA...And now GAMMERA THE INVINCIBLE (1966)
This is Gamera's first feature film. For some reason the American distributor decided to spell his name Gammera with 2 M's, all the other films would spell the name simply as Gamera. It was released in Japan in 1965 then in America a little over a year later.
This movie is HEAVILY AMERICANIZED. There is a lot of American screen time even though this is a Japanese movie.
Gammera is awakened by a Soviet bomber supposedly in American airspace in what appears to be Alaska. When the bomber is shot down it crashes with a nuclear explosion, thus awakening the prehistoric turtle that is Gammera.
A lot of time in the movie is spent talking involving The United Nations, and American military personnel in the northern hemisphere trying to figure out how to destroy Gammera.
A lot of the slow moments involving politicians and military personnel seem to go on forever and does make the film rather slow and boring.
After many failures, Gammera is finally lured to a giant space capsule where he is shot into space. Hopefully for good. Nope, Gammera would be back in one of many sequels.
Gammera has the unique ability of pulling his arms and legs into his shell, along with his head then blasts jet engines out of the holes where his limbs were and flies through the sky spinning in a circle the whole time.
The movie stars lots of American actors I've never heard of except for Brian Donlevy. And a host of Japanese actors who I've also never heard of.
The American portion of this film was directed by Sandy Howard while the Japanese half was directed by Noriaki Yuasa.
The film was produced by The Daiei Motion Picture Company, not Toho film Company, which is Godzilla's home. Gammera was inspired by the success of Toho's Godzilla movie series and other Toho monsters. Released in America by NTA productions. A good first start of The Gammera series. A good film but not a great film.
5 STARS. Mostly for slow and dull.
Gojira tai Megaro (1973)
Godzilla finally jumps the shark in GODZILLA VS. MEGALON (1976)
GODZILLA VS. MEGALON was released in Japan in 1973, but released in America in 1976. I often forgot why I always connected this movie to the KING KONG remake of 1976 and then it dawned on me, they both came out the same year. Unfortunately for Godzilla lovers, the KONG remake was superior.
The premise of this movie is that the atomic testing of the surface dwellers of Earth has been detrimental to an ancient and unknown society that lives under the Earth, calling itself Seatopia, why not just call it the lost continent of Atlantis. Anyway, the denizens of Seatopia have had enough and their leader, poorly played by American Robert Dunham calls on their "God" Megalon, A giant bug like creature, to take revenge on the humans who live above.
The Seatopians also call on an alien race to send them Gigan from the previous Godzilla feature GODZILLA VS. GIGAN (1972) which hadn't even made it's way to America or Europe until 1977.
The story on the human level revolves around a Japanese inventor of sorts, along with his son and a friend. The inventor has a life sized robot he calls Jet Jaguar. The Seatopians want to gain Jet Jaguar in order to control Megalon while on it's destructive path.
This movie has way too much stock footage derived from GHIDRAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, and WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS. It seems like Toho pictures and director Jun Fukuda were getting cheap or lazy.
The part of this film that everybody talks about laughingly is the famous Godzilla flying kick, where Godzilla backs up and twice just levitates off the ground to kick Megalon. No running , just levitating. Completely stupid. I hate to speak badly about Godzilla or kaiju films because I'm a fan too, but this movie is that bad. This is where Godzilla finally "Jumped The Shark" and went too far as outlandishly and idiotic as it could go.
Megalon is actually a cool monster. His talents include electrical bolts from his antennae and explosive lava bombs from his mouth. He can also fly when he wants to. All Gigan can do is fly. And he seems to have some type of buzzsaw on his chest, but it doesn't really do much, he doesn't really bring much to the monster gathering.
Jet Jaguar is sort of like an Ultraman type of hero. He decides after seeking out Godzilla to make himself the same size as the giant monsters. Together He and Godzilla fight Megalon and Gigan and find themselves surrounded by a wall of fire. Then at the end there's a nice little handshake I believe, and then that's it.
I said Jun Fukuda's films would get worse and they did. As far as sci-fi giant monsters for 1976 go, I preferred KING KONG.
4 STARS.
American Graffiti (1973)
A Nice Little Romp Down Memory Lane in The Late 1950's, Even Though It Takes Place In 1962
For many years I believed this film took place in the late 1950's, specifically 1957. I've only recently learned that it took place in 1962, but to me, it will always have the feel and the look of the late 50's.
A lot of the cast of this film had their first big break starring in this film. Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfuss, and Harrison Ford. And some actors that never became household names but still bring a lot to this film. Names like Candy Clark, Charles Martin Smith, and Paul Le mat.
Masterpiece is a word too often overly used, but I think it could apply here. George Lucas really has outdone himself here. How a director who had virtually no name recognition was able collect a hoard of 1950's -early 1960's cars and assemble them in just a way that he truly recreated the early sixties in 1973 is just mind blowing to me. The whole atmosphere really makes me feel like I'm in that time period and it's wonderful.
The film also stars : Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, Manual Padilla Jr., and Wolfman Jack, with a brief cameo of then unknown and recently deceased Suzanne Somers.
Ron Howard most know for HAPPY DAYS.
Cindy Williams best known for LAVERNE & SHIRLEY.
And Manuel Padilla Jr. Best known as Jai, on the 1966 TV series TARZAN.
8 STARS.
Shin Gojira (2016)
At Times Slow and Plodding Along, But SHIN GODZILLA (2016) Is Very Realistic And Modern
WOW! That was a long movie, but I liked it. The realism in this film is like none I've ever seen in a monster or sci-fi film before, very admirable. Hard to believe it's been around for almost 8 years and I'm just now getting to see it.
Toho has gone back to basics in this film and made Godzilla into what he started out as waaay back in 1954. A villain, a destructive force that should be feared, and in my book, they did just that.
One of the flaws of this film but also very realistic are the constant ministers and committee meetings and government "experts" that we see take place in this film, one wonders how anything gets done in politics, both in Japan AND The United States.
And speaking of The United States, there comes a point in the film where there is serious talk of The US using a nuclear bomb against Godzilla by way of The US and The United Nations, and the reaction of The Japanese Prime Minister and his assistants is "Is this what it's come to?" Not one Japanese stands up of all The PM's men and says, "Screw The US, they're not gonna drop another bomb on us" and that's what I wish I'd heard, but didn't. Hopefully The UN and The US will NEVER have that type of power to determine another country's outcome by way of destruction.
The special effects are the best bar none. The best SFX I've ever seen in a Godzilla film. I don't know about the latest release, GODZILLA MINUS ONE, but I hope to watch very soon.
The story is very real in the way it's presented, and at times, it can seem quite slow and tedious. I do like the way an outsider of Japan gets to see the most realistic portrayal of Japanese life however.
The film has a great climactic showdown with Godzilla that doesn't compare with any other.
The film was directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.
I give this film 8 STARS mostly for fantastic visual effects.
Chikyû kogeki meirei Gojira tai Gaigan (1972)
GODZILLA VS. GIGAN aka GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (1972, 1977)
This movie was better than I remembered it. The story revolves around a Manga artist looking for work and finds it with a company behind a project called "Children's Land". What our hero doesn't know is that he's actually working for space aliens bent on settling here on Earth (what else would it be?)
The company the artist works for is based out of a building that resembles Godzilla. He accidentally runs into a girl afraid for her life with a tape she's stolen. On this tape is a language only monsters understand, pretty soon Anguirus shows up on a Japanese shore, and after waiting without any violence from the monster the military begins firing at which point Anguirus heads back for home on Monster Island.
The aliens, deciding they are in the final stages of takeover, bring in some special guests, King Ghidorah and Gigan, a new monster to the franchise.
One thing I enjoyed about this film is how the Japanese aknowledge how the world was changing at that point. In this film we see young Japanese males with medium to very long hair, common for those times in the west and I guess in Japan too.
Not a single familiar face from the 1960's Godzilla films, which is good. Puts a fresh approach on things in the 70's. No Jun Tazaki or Akira Kubo.
This movie has some nice newly filmed monster sequences with Ghidorah, unfortunately the film relies too heavily on stock footage from GHIDRAH, THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, MONSTER ZERO, and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, which sometimes makes the film look cheap.
At least the audience got to see more monster fighting action this time around. And the plus is the aliens use deadly rays from the Godzilla building which almost kill him, along with Gigan's numerous blows to Godzilla's head.
Jun Fukuda directed. Akira Ifukube returns with the good film score. Now that Eiji Tsuburaya has passed on, SFX are directed by Teruyoshi Nakano.
I give this film 7 STARS.
Gojira tai Hedora (1971)
Original American release title: GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (1972) franchise dips into counterculture, psychedelia
I liked this film a lot. It took the Godzilla franchise in a totally different direction. For once we didn't see the usual recurring cast of actors like Yoshifumi Tajima, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and especially Jun Tazaki who ALWAYS plays a general or a scientist, and last but not least Akira Kubo, who practically stars in anything Toho Sci-fi or Kaiju related. Not that these are bad actors, it's just nice to see a different cast now that we are in the 1970's.
The premise: Hedorah, The Smog Monster, was born from all the garbage and pollution Japan and The World has put into the environment. Actually, he was first a space rock or something, it's not entirely clear, and then kept evolving more and more from his intake of pollution and smog. He also has the ability to change shape.
A marine biologist, his wife and son are the people this film steadily revolves around. Trying to destroy the monster for fear of what it will do to the Earth.
This movie has a different feel and direction. We no longer see Japan's mighty military might in this film, instead, there is a lot of focus on the Japanese counterculture, believe it or not. This movie has similar themes that were going on in The US and The UK at the time. A lot of peace and love themes.
Enter Godzilla, he even has his own theme song in this film and I think it would last for a few more movies. My estimate is that Godzilla had become so huge in Japan that they felt it was time to give him his own song whenever he appears in the movie.
Everything is new in this film: the director and co-writer is Yoshimitsu Banno. The special effects come from a different SFX director now that Eiji Tsuburaya has passed away. Also Akira Ifukube no longer provides the music. It's more of a young themed movie with rock and roll.
The American title of this movie, GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER is a good one ,only they could have used the title of the 1964 Godzilla film GODZILLA VS. THE THING for this movie as Hedorah really is a "Thing" whereas Mothra was definitely not.
There is also a part of this film where viewers could say the filmmakers have gone too far past the point of ridiculous, but while "Jumping The Shark" is one way of looking at it, I feel "Jumping The Shark" is yet to come in a future feature. Anyway, all the hoopla is about Godzilla using his atomic breath by firing at the Earth and propelling himself through the air in order to stop The Smog Monster.
I give this film 10 STARS for overall entertainment and a new way of presenting Godzilla.
Gojira-Minira-Gabara: Oru kaijû daishingeki (1969)
Original American title: GODZILLA'S REVENGE. Different Than The Others, Not As Good
This film is different than all the other Godzilla movies. For one, it's based entirely around a Japanese child named Ichiro, who has waaay too much time on his hands away from school and when he's home tends to drift off into the world of imagination that he's on Monster Island with Godzilla and son with giant insects ,spiders, crabs etc.
The movie is basically a rehash of the last two films before DESTROY ALL MONSTERS. This movie was released in Japan in 1969 but made it's way to The US in 1971 for some unknown reason. The dates of release of a lot of the Godzilla films from this era don't always match up. For instance, this movie takes fight sequences from both SON OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER, yet that was before DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, and while there's a lot of stock footage of Godzilla fights from the previous two films, there's none from DESTROY, add on top of that Jun Fukuda directed both of those Godzilla "Island" movies, not Ishiro Honda, who directed this one with some new storylines, but mostly stock.
Basic premise: Ichiro is a young boy in Japan who faces bullies on a daily basis and his parents both work a lot. Ichiro is an only child with one friend his own age and then a wannabe inventor much older than he. As described earlier, Ichiro drifts off into dreamland a lot.
A side topic story is that criminals in Japan have stolen 50 million Yen. Ichiro comes across these criminals and learns from his dreams on Monster Island where he meets Godzilla's son Minya, or Minilla, how to fight bullies and people stronger than himself.
Minya in this film actually talks in a goofy American cartoon voice. At the end of this movie Ichiro fights the bank robbers, and the bullies he deals with after school and wins out. The only bad part about all that is that Ichiro knocks down a painter for a billboard at the end to prove he's okay and he's cool with the other kids. NOT a good way to end this film.
I give this film 1 STAR because it's okay, but not great. I did like the way it gave outsiders from Japan a glimpse into postwar Japan and the industrial part of Japanese living.
Kaijû sôshingeki (1968)
Why Weren't Kong and Gamera Invited to The Biggest Onscreen Monster Bash Ever, DESTROY ALL MONSTERS Released in America in 1969
I have a lot of fond memories of DESTROY ALL MONSTERS(1969) always played on Saturday afternoons in my east coast home in the early 70's on Creature Double Feature and always followed by DESTROY ALL PLANETS as the second feature on Saturdays, always.
IMDB has some of their info incorrect as I just watched the beginning and the sole Director credit goes to Ishiro Honda, not shared by Honda and Jun Fukuda as IMDB says.
Special effects are directed by Sanemasa Arikawa and supervised by Eiji Tsuburaya for a change. This is the first time I've seen Tsuburaya as supervisor, not director of.
The premises of this film from the beginning is that all the Earth's monsters have been "collected" and put on an island called "Monsterland", sounds like an amusement park. Why not just call it "Monster Island" instead? And my introductory title asked the question, why weren't King Kong and Gamera invited to this all star fest of Japanese giant monsters? It's true that Kong was owned by RKO General and was asked for permission to use in KING KONG VS. GODZILLA and probably KING KONG ESCAPES as well, so why couldn't Toho do it again? Because this was basically a Godzilla production and he got most of the spotlight along with longtime pals Rodan, Mothra, Anguirus and a few others. Even the Tyrannosaurus from KING KONG ESCAPES showed up but no Kong. Maybe he was behind on his rent and needed any gig he could get.
Gamera is owned by Daiei film company and to this day no one knows why The Big G hasn't taken on the other Big G.
And then you've got other monsters like The Gargantua brothers and the Frankenstein Monster who were not asked, but Baragon showed up, that is Baragon from FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, not the Baragon from the Gamera films. Still other monsters were not invited like the GAPPA twins from MONSTER FROM A PREHISTORIC PLANET although once again owned by another company Nikkatsu. But Toho could have made it happen.
Akira Kubo is the star of this film and he's good at what he does. He stars as spaceship Captain Yamabe commanding a ship in the future..1999? It was believed in 1968 that the world would be making regular travels to outer space by 1999 and that Earth would have a permanent moonbase. Oh well, we can all dream. The moonbase and "Monsterland" seem to keep in constant contact. Suddenly Monsterland has a gas attack, no kidding!! This yellow smoke/gas enters the control center of monsterland and we soon find the monsters on a rampage throughout the world. Godzilla in New York, Tyrannosaurus in Paris, Rodan in London etc.
We soon discover this is all due to alien invaders called The Kilaaks and their leader The Queen, played wonderfully by Kyoko Ai. One of the first victims of her mind control is Dr. Otani, played by Yoshio Tsuchiya, also known as The Controller of Planet X in MONSTER ZERO.
The film has a lot of monster action and destroying of buildings, explosions, military action, lots of spaceflight, shootouts with aliens, it's got it all. My only complaint is that I haven't seen this in decades and I was surprised how bad the English dubbing is. And by how sometimes the story isn't complete, plot holes I guess. But because this is a favorite from my childhood I'm willing to let that slide.
Oh and one more thing SPOILERS: The guest appearance of Ghidrah, The three Headed Monster is a delight toward the end and Ghidrah finally meets his end. But in a couple of years, he would be back.
A great fun adventurous movie with lots of action. 10 STARS.