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!

Battle Beyond The Sun (1959) aka. Nebo Zovyot (Russia)

The late 1950's represented something of a cross-roads in human history. The US was past World War 2, rock and roll began to surface, and a new dawn in scientific discovery was just around the corner.  Now that the world had defeated the Nazis, there would be a new threat to peace: The Atomic Age. This was due in no small part to the race to be the first country to explore space.  The first moon landing would not be complete until 1969 (that is, unless you are part of the conspiracy movement who believes we were never there, but that's another blog).  President Kennedy challenged the U.S. to be the nation leading the way to this new frontier of scientific achievement. While we were told that the advancement of knowledge was the endgame, make no mistake: It was about defense.  And at the moment, the Russians were whipping our tails. 

I really will get to the movie; bear with me :-)

In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik, officially kicking off the Space Race.  The same year, they also launched Sputnik 2, the first spacecraft with a living animal on board, the ill-fated dog Laika.  I've said before that B-movies, and in particular science fiction B-movies, often reflect cultural and social issues that people don't like to discuss.  For some reason, against the backdrop of space and set in the future, the issues are much more palpable. Film makers give the best social commentary, a fact still true today. I would make the case, for example, that Bryan Singer's X-Men is just as much about gay rights as it is a series about mutants fighting the bad guys, but I digress.

Enter Battle Beyond the Sun.  This Russian-made science fiction movie came out in 1959 in the U.S.S.R. and was brought to America in 1964.  The story is about two superpowers racing to the planet Mars. The two political factions presented to us are separated by hemispheres.  They go by the very creative North Hemis, and South Hemis.  The North Hemis sent a team of astronauts to their space station to prepare for the first flight to Mars. While there, they notice another ship coming in. They identify it as a South Hemis ship, which is in need of repair.  The two astronauts get permission to land, and we learn that their ship is in a state of disrepair.  The North Hemis scientists decide that science is above politics, and they help them repair the ship.  While there the South Hemis scientists learn that their political adversaries might be the first to get to Mars, and national pride takes over.

They decide to take their ship out despite the fact it's not 100% ready for the flight. They choose to take the risk of certain death in order to be the first team to Mars.  Naturally, they experience difficulty, discovering that their boosters are inadequate to counter the sun's gravitational pull.  It is up to the South Hemis team to rescue them.  They do manage to extract them from their doomed ship, and they all try to make it to Mars. They do, sort of, by landing on a moon or planetoid orbiting the Red Planet, but lack the fuel to make it to Mars itself.  Still, the scenes on the rocky moon are the best in the film. The sets are large, atmospheric, and moody.  The scene that sticks out in my mind the most is the one in which the men watch the horizon as Mars rises, much like we would watch the sun come up here, except they are right next to Mars, so the planet is large and overwhelming. For a movie from the late 1950's, the scene is well-done, and for a geek like me, kind of moving.

They also discover two monsters (one shaped like a giant space vagina and the other sort of phallic looking) on the moon which battle each other, but from what I can tell, were not a threat to the humans.  There was also a sub-plot about them needing a fuel ship to come and deliver rocket fuel which crashes on the surface.  One of the astronauts ventures out by himself and is critically injured somehow.  The plot here, believe it or not, gets a little weird.  He dies, but one of the scientists speaks of how he "gave his life up for them".  The print of the movie that I observed is missing some scenes, so it is never clear what the guy did to save the crew, or how they miraculously now have fuel to get back home, despite it being established that the fuel ship crashed and was useless to them.  Anyway, they return home to a glorious heroes welcome, roll credits.  OK. Grab a glass of wine and get comfortable, I have lots to say about this one.

The first thing I noticed about Battle Beyond the Sun is the pace of the movie.  Today, we like our movies with quick, stylized cuts and a fast beat with the dialog.  This movie will absolutely try your patience if you are part of the MTV generation who enjoy fast pacing.  They absolutely take their time to deliver dialog and exposition. The scenes which involve the NASA-like commander have a woman talking on the radio at a very slow, deliberate pace.  Another odd thing to Americans now would be the uncomfortable distance between the male leads.  Today, especially in America, we have a very solid concept of personal space. You stay in your space, this is my space, don't come near my freaking space.  In this movie, everyone seems like they are inches away from each other, especially during emotional scenes.  Also, there are several instances of older mentor types talking to their younger counterparts.  During these segments, you see things like the younger guy sitting, while the older father-figure type seems to hover over them in an uncomfortable way.

This will make American viewers today a little uncomfortable.  There is no need to be though, as it's a cultural thing.  In much of Eastern Europe, it is acceptable to invade someone's space like that, showing trust and friendship.  Another interesting thing about this story that struck me is how the protagonists place science above nationalism.  This seems counter intuitive for the time, given the condition of the U.S.-Soviet space race.  The idea that they could work together with the whole being greater than the sum of the parts was highly progressive.  It makes you wonder what we could have achieved in the 1950's and 1960's had the superpowers shared everything.  Maybe we really would have a base at Mars by now, who knows?

From a technical standpoint, the movie is full of very large holes.  They perform space walks out on their ships without flying out into space.  There is no explanation, not even a mention of magnetic boots.  They make the trip to mars very quickly, without so much as a nap.  They do earn points for detail, however.  The space station, rocket interiors, and the space command headquarters are all large and  very believable.  Lots of techno-babble at least makes them sound like they know what they are doing, and given the probable lack of common knowledge about space in 1959, it likely seemed pretty advanced. 

Special effects range from pretty decent to very good.  Unfortunately, to show rockets flying they always rely on the sideways still of the ship with stars flying by quickly shots. Every single shot is a profile like that; no views of a rocket flying toward or away from the viewer.  The set of the Martian moon is pretty amazing.  The monsters are okay, but I can't really credit the original makers as that was tacked-on for the American release.

The editing for this film in the version I saw was very heavy-handed.  A character would be talking, and in mid-sentence the movie would jump to the next scene.  Entire scenes are missing, making for a sometimes-awkward plot.  As I said previously, the pace is very different from what most people are used to.  About the most popular example of something similarly-paced is 2001: Space Odyssey.  While that film was superior in other ways, it had a similar slow beat to it.

Overall, it was a decent movie experience.  I enjoyed it for its themes, and, uh, well...I like the themes of cooperative exploration and sacrifice.  Visuals are above average for 1950's space fare, the music was wonderfully eerie and mysterious, and the  acting was pretty good. I rate it two out of four.

DIDJA KNOW?

Thomas Colchart was credited with creating the two space monsters for the American release.  Colchart has another professional name: Francis Ford Coppola.

Godzilla (1954) aka. Gojira (Japan)

By Guest Reviewer Seth Bradley:

A massive storm blows through an island. The villagers are fast asleep, except one family of three. Something is shaking the house, but it’s not the wind. Finally, in a dead panic, the younger brother bolts outside to confront the invader, with the others remaining in the home, doomed to their fate, as the house crumbles around them. An ancient roar rips through the air, as a bipedal behemoth rumbles through the village. The year is 1954, and Japanese audiences have just met Godzilla.

By far, Godzilla (1954) is the best and one of the most influential of all Science Fiction films. Even if you’re not into the big kiddie camp of the Japanese monster movies, this one is a must see! It follows the resurrection of a dinosaur, reawakened by radioactive weapons testing. Suspense fills your mind as a dark and foreboding animal raids through a village in the dead of the night. This is not a misunderstood creature, like the 1998’s Godzilla. This animal has purposely vaporized ships, killing its crew members, for no reason in particular. Sure, it sounds cliché in retrospective, but remember this is still the early 50’s. The film follows Godzilla as he rips through 300,000 volts of electrical wire, wipes out a tank division, and purposely pulls down a tower full of reporters, who annoy him with flash photography. At one point during the raid on Tokyo, he even breathes his trademark radioactive fire on the highway in front of him for no apparent reason. Clearly, this creature is looking for total destruction of Japan, as vengeance for waking him. No creature sympathy here.

The sadness comes into play in the second half of the film, after Godzilla destroys Tokyo. The city’s survivors are being corralled into field hospitals. As the camera pans over the miserable scene, you hear a baby crying somewhere in the background, reminding viewers that even the innocence of children were destroyed, along with homes and lives.

Before you start to say how silly and unrealistic a guy in a rubber suit looks on screen, I have to say in advance that the director actually made Godzilla look better in a suit than in stop motion, for the suit’s movements are slow and lumber some, as if he were actually a thousand tons.Another cool trick is that most monster scenes are shot with a low camera angle, so the audience feels like it’s looking up at something tall and massive, and not just a six foot tall guy in a suit The pitch-black night sky also casts a little darkness on the suit, hiding some of the less convincing prosthetics. One noteworthy feature is that this Godzilla design sports a pair of blank, crazed-looking eyes that stare down wildly at the fleeing people. It also has a pair of fangs, jutting out from his top jaws, like a viper. Its roar also has a much deeper pitch than the later models, giving it the sense of something powerful and angry. The sound of Godzilla’s roar was conceived by rubbing a pair of resin gloves across a bass violin, then slowing down the sound when the recording was played. 

The big G is the grand-daddy of the many giant-monster-destroys-city genre, and its influence can still be felt, including in the upcoming Pacific Rim.  This dark intro to the series is still the best, and highly recommended. Four out of Four.

(Editor's note: Did you know the director of this film, Ishiro Honda, also directed The Mysterians, as well as many other movies in this category. See the review here.)

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)