Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Following the success of Godzilla, Toho set out to build on its success with a sequel: Godzilla Raids Again. On its own, this film is fun and entertaining, but it lacks the top quality of the original masterpiece. While Godzilla’s image of an atomic threat is still present in this film, the gravely feel of a post-world war climate is gone. Also, half of the camera shots of Godzilla in the film look like cheap hand puppets. And the puppet doesn't look anything like the face on the monster suit! And the face of the suit has a slight grin, giving the monster a less threatening appearance. The deep roar is kept from the original film, as is the overall suit impression.

     What makes this film so unique is that it is the first to feature a one on one monster battle, thus laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. Godzilla’s nemesis is called Anguirus, a mutated Ankylosaurus that too was awoke from nuclear testing. As a result, they fight first on an island, then carry it to Osaka. Again, half of the close-ups of the fight are two hand puppets grappling with each other, so it can be disappointing for some fans looking for a great battle. But it’s still entertaining, and the fight’s conclusion boosts Godzilla’s image as a powerful threat.

     The golden moment of the film is the military’s unique attack on Godzilla, as its jets fire missiles at an icy mountain wall, causing avalanches to bury him. What’s amazing is that the military actually prevails, and the beast is buried. This conclusion also provides viewers with continuity, for this is precisely where they find Godzilla in the next film. But we will get to that in the next review.

Overall, Godzilla Raids Again is a transitional film. It carries the serious gravity of the original Godzilla, but also gives audiences a first glimpse of the cheap monster fights and model sets that the series is so renowned for. With that said, it doesn't deserve the negativity it gets from critics. It’s an old fashioned 50’s monster movie. It’s not supposed to be overly serious or saddening. The film is just good Saturday night fun. I give it 3 out of 4 stars! 

~Seth

Didja Know?

• This is George Takei (of Star Trek fame)'s first film project. 
• Although special effects director Eiji Tsuburya wanted the fights filmed in slow motion, the camera crank operator misunderstood and under-cranked instead of over-cranking. The resulting faster fight scenes won Tsuburya over, and they kept it in the final version.
• Unaware of Godzilla's impending runaway popularity, American producer Paul Schreibman inexplicably changed Godzilla's name to "Gigantis" for the American print!

Yor, the Hunter From the Future

Yor, the Hunter from the Future struck with a vengeance in 1983.  It is widely considered to be one of the most enjoyable bad movies ever made, especially among my generation-kids of the 80’s.  Part prehistoric adventure, part sci-fi, and all fun, this beast of a movie has it all for fans of campy B-movie fare: a silly plot (and I use that term loosely), questionable acting, hilariously bad dialog, and laughable effects.  These components are not meant in a derogatory way; it’s part of the immense charm.  Without movies of this stature, I would probably be writing about something boring!

Our movie follows the exploits of Yor, a barbarian hero who travels around bearing a constant wide grin and toting an axe, which he uses frequently when he crosses dinosaurs, giant bats, and purple cavemen, while on a quest to discover his people. I will discuss the film with specific plot points, so if you do not want to read any spoilers…you are probably at the wrong site.  You should skip to the bottom of the article where I grade the film.  Suffice to say, you should locate a VHS or burned copy of this ASAP, especially if you enjoy movies like those you would see on a typical episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The choppy narrative of the film is often attributed to it originating as a mini-series in Europe, and then edited down to its theatrical length.  While I have not confirmed this, it would explain the odd tone and pace of the story.  As he marches around, he meets up with a clan of hapless but friendly cavemen.  They are being attacked by a triceratops, which is actually an herbivore, but go figure.  He swings his axe, and saves the day.  In return for saving them, he is granted a new wife, in the form of Ka-laa, played with great 80’s big-hairiness by Corrine Clery. Yor travels around with her and her adoptive father for the rest of the movie, encountering strange and entertaining threats.

At one point, our hero gets in a skirmish with the purple cavemen, who steal Ka-laa in hopes to populate their purple clan with beautiful big-haired people I guess. Yor and Ka-laa’s guardian Pag try to figure out a way into their cavern without being overwhelmed.  As fate (and script) would have it, they are attacked by a giant bat creature. They shoot an arrow at it, and it dies immediately, falling to the earth with instant rigor mortise.   Yor gets an inspiring idea, and what follows is perhaps the greatest single scene in movie history.

Yor decides to hoist the dead rigor mortise bat over his head and use it like a hang-glider to enter the cavern, taking the cavemen by surprise and kicking much butt to the tune of his awesome theme song.  I love that.  I wish that every time I did something epic, I’d have my own theme song blaring. He flies in, and all you hear is “YOR’s WORLD! HE’S THE MAAAAN! YOR’S WORLD!”  If the energy of hearing your own theme doesn't inspire you to accomplish great things, something is wrong with you!

I won’t divulge the whole movie in this review, but I have to tell you about the final act. Yor and his friends travel to a mysterious island to search for clues about his origins.  While there, he encounters The Overlord, who runs things with his army of androids.  These guys look like a love child between Darth Vader and one of his Storm Troopers.  Yor battles the Overlord, who we’re told is the bad guy, although, come to think of it, I never really saw him to anything particularly evil.  We just know he has a dark cloak, and a beard; so, these two factors are enough to communicate to audiences that he is the bad guy.

Yor and his friends meet up with some other blond good-looking people who are decedents of his relatives.  They stage an uprising, and Yor and his caveman friends demonstrate an amazing mastery of futuristic weapons and technology, firing laser cannons and using time-bombs as if they were trained by Seal Team Six. Hey, if you’re looking for logic you are not in the right place! Yor has to swing across a chasm to deliver the bomb which is going to go off in 8 minutes. Unfortunately, he lets the cable he swung on go, and can’t swing back.  What follows here is the second most awesome scene ever, right behind the bat-glider incident.

Gal, despite being in his 60’s, grabs the cable and literally swings out to Yor, and flips upside down, allowing Yor to jump out and grab his wrists. They swing back, land safely, and Gal flips back up and jumps down, too.  This movie is flipping awesome.  Naturally, they escape just in time to not be blown up, and the narrator tells us how they live happily ever after, but he doesn't tell us how the caveman knows how to fly the star ship. Who cares, this movie is the greatest thing ever.

Yor was played by Reb Brown, a former athlete who boxed professionally and also played football at USC.  Here, he kind of looks like a cross between Steve Oedekerk from “Kung Pow” and He-Man from Masters of the Universe.  His acting is not real deep, but it is not a requirement in this project. He handles action scenes well, and is likable.  The film was directed by Antonio Marghereti, a prolific film maker who is also known for “War of the Planets” and “Hercules Against Karate”….man, how have I not reviewed that last one? Note to self: Locate “Hercules Against Karate”, like, now.  Marghereti made too many movies to list here, and his influence is wide, as noted by Quinten Tarantino’s film “Inglorious Basterds”, when a character shouts ‘Marghereti!  Marghereti!”.  It’s kind of a subtle reference, kind of a gift for the small group of the population who even know who that is.

Overall, this movie is great.  It has everything for people like me who like Bad Cinema.  It is mostly clean, with some bloody violence involving Yor hacking up the occasional dinosaur, but violence with other humans is fairly bloodless.  My only beef is the way some of the characters dress.  Their loin cloths do not hide much, so you see a little more of Yor than you would probably like to when he jumps around. It’s not anything you don’t see at the beach, but…yikes, it’s not my thing. Oddly enough, the women are better covered than he is.  The special effects are about what you would expect from a low-budget indie movie.  The dino’s are animatronic, and the sci-fi elements are pretty basic; not the same level you’d see in Star Wars, that’s for sure.

Still, I’d recommend this to anyone who is already a fan of B-Movie’s with a sci-fi/fantasy theme. 3 out of 4.

The Mysterians (1957)

"Some escaped. The nations of the world must now stay united in the struggle against unknown forces instead of fighting each other." ~ Dr. Tanjiro Adachi (Takashi Shimura)

 

(Review by Dax and Seth Bradley)

It was the Atomic Age of movies. In the 1950's, film makers were determined to show us that playing with nuclear weapons would only result in our doom. Besides the obvious result of being vaporized, we were warned that radiation would create our next nightmare: Giant monsters! These movies, known collectively as kaiju, began with the most recognizable fictional reptile in the world, Godzilla. The Big G rose to fame first as an over sized tyrannosaurus, given his enormous size because of atomic testing. He was soon joined by Rodan, Mothra, and many others. One thing the Japanese know how to do is beat a horse until it is really and truly dead. 

Japanese film company Toho became synonymous with giant atomic monsters, and as the genre grew in popularity, they began marketing them toward children. Gamera always had that goofy Japanese kid following him around for no reason, there was the creepy twins who could summon Mothra to vanquish Tokyo's monstrous threat of the week, and even Godzilla had a young-un, bizarre little Minya.

 

Before the genre devolved into childrens' fare, Toho made a statement not only with atomic testing, but also against Zionism with 1957's "The Mysterians". This tale, aimed at grown-ups, involved a group of aliens who visit Earth after their home is destroyed by nuclear war.  They promise all they want to do is occupy 3 kilometers of land, oh and one more thing; intermarry with Earth women.  The leaders listened to their proposition in a meeting that went something like this:

 

 

"We would like to occupy only 3 kilometers of your land."

 

"Hmmm...ok, go on."

 

"We are advanced, and could share amazing technology."

 

"Well, doesn't sound so bad..."

 

"And...marry some of your women to propagate our species. Who's hungry?"

 

"Wait, wait, what? What did you say? What was that last thing?"

 

"Hungry, who's hungry?"

 

OK, so it didn't go exactly like that. At any rate, the scientists and military leaders were not too hip to give up their women, and the fight was on.  Actually, it was on before any negotiations took place.  The aliens presented their mecha-Godzilla knock-off, known as Moguera. He is a Giant Robot With Frickin' Lasers, which didn't sit too well with the military. Obviously, they had to fight back, only to be quickly as the kids say now, "pwned". Interestingly, Moguera would be brought back to the movies in 1994's Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla as a protagonist.

In films of this genre, generally one of two things happen to resolve the threat:  One, you can summon another giant atomic monster to kill the threat.  Or, two, you have a crack team of scientists build some advanced weaponry, stat. Since this isn't one of the monster vs. monster movies, we have the scientists built stuff now scenario.

The team puts together an electronic ray which has been on the drawing board for a while. The weapon, combined with the Air Force fleet, stages an all-out battle that saves mankind. There is also a sort-of romantic sub-plot involving a young science guy and his love-starved fiance. He is aloof, and basically brushes her off for reasons we don't fully understand until later. It seems he has been in contact with the Mysterians this whole time, and now has to help defeat them from the inside, kind of like a sleeper cell.

I won't tell the whole story, but suffice to say there is more than enough action to keep you watching.  If this genre isn't your cup of saki, you might not want to check it out. However, if you are a fan of Toho films, especially the ones that were just a little darker than the many Godzilla vs. Whatever movies, you'll have a rollicking good time.

If you watch the movie for the first time, and feel that it is familiar all the same, there is a reason.  The Mysterians was directed by none other than Ishiro Honda. He is the director of the original Godzilla, as well as Godzilla's Revenge, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Rodan, and too many others to list here. His films all follow a set of rules, so if you love one you'll love them all.
The score is better than expected, giving just the amount of tension and drama without going overboard. Special effects were outstanding for a movie made in 1957. Rather than using solely toy cars and planes, the makers opted to use real vehicles as often as possible. In a twist of irony involving a movie about the dangers of occupation by powers with the pretense of peace, they got much of their military footage filming planes and other vehicles at an American military installation!  Scenes involving destruction of buildings and natural environments were especially well done. The scale is often a dead giveaway, but the attention to detail was such that I never felt I was looking at miniatures.

I thought I heard familiar sound effects in the scenes where the giant robot and the scientists' 'ray gun' would shoot lasers. It seems to be lifted right from the soundtrack of the U.S. film War of the Worlds (1953). It isn't unheard of, especially in films made overseas, then re-dubbed and redistributed in the States.

If I had one bone to pick with the movie, it would be that the Giant Robot With Frickin' Lasers didn't seem to be in the movie enough. I'm used to movies in which the mecha is the main focus, creating havoc, and destroying Tokyo like a live-action Rampage video game. Yes, I worked an 80's game reference into my review.

Overall, I found the movie to be a nice distraction. Its effects, story, music, and acting are above its peers. There was plenty of action, though as I said I would like to see more of the awesome mecha. Check it out if you enjoy giant monsters as much as I do! I give this: 2 1/2 out of 4.

Didja Know?

When Toho was only allowed one hour to film footage of the Military Air Transport Service cargo plane unloading, producers shut down production of the film and used all available cameras to shoot the operation from different angles. By hiding the plane number, it appears that multiple planes have landed. Toho did a similar thing in "Gojira/Godzilla." Only allowed to film the movement of one military convoy, producers simply put their cameras in jeeps and raced ahead of each section of the convoy to make it seem as if the convoy was massive. (Source: www.imdb.com)