GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER
© Columbia TriStar

Mania Grade: B+
Disc Grade: B+
Reviewed Format: DVD
Rated: PG
Stars: Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Toru Watanabe, Chotaro Togin, Hideo Sunazuka, Toru Ibuki, Akihiko Hirata, Jun Tazaki
Writer: Shinichi Sekizawa
Director: Jun Fukuda
Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Original Year of Release: 1966
Suggested Retail Price: $24.96
Extra: Anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1; HD; English & Japanese DD 2.0; English subtitles; trailers

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GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER

A fisherman named Yata is lost at sea when a huge sea monster (Hiroshi Sekita) attacks his boat. His younger brother Ryota (Toru Watanabe) fails in his attempt to win a sailboat in a dance contest, so he and his friends steal one to search for Yata. Yoshimura (Akira Takarada), the "owner" of the boat, turns out to be on board at the time they set sail, though he acts suspiciously. The boys soon find out that he's really a thief, who happened to be hiding out on board. They're all shipwrecked on an island guarded by a gigantic monster crustacean known as Ebirah. The island is the secret headquarters of a group of terrorist criminals known as Red Bamboo (an obvious parody of Red Chinese), who are manufacturing atomic weapons in a quest for world domination. In a desperate gamble for survival they decide to awaken Godzilla (Haruo Nakajima), found sleeping in a cave, and the monster mayhem begins. Godzilla and Ebirah rumble, interfering with Red Bamboo's plans. But when the terrorists set a nuclear time bomb to destroy their own base in retreat, how will the castaways escape?

This engaging adventure film was originally planned as a King Kong film, produced to tie in with the Kong cartoon series. But the script wasn't close enough to the cartoon's premise, and Toho substituted Godzilla, finally putting the big ape in KING KONG ESCAPES. Having Godzilla stomping around on a South Pacific island made for a novel (and inexpensive) setting. Kumi Mizuno adds her always-welcome presence as Daiyo, a slave of the terrorists brought from her infant island home. She turns out to be of great aid, helping to bring special guest star Mothra into the story, but the Kong rewrite is especially apparent in a scene depicting Daiyo's close encounter with Godzilla. A singing duo called Pair Bambi fills in for the Ito sisters as Mothra's tiny twin priestesses for some reason. This was the first Godzilla film for director Jun Fukuda (SECRET OF THE TELEGIAN), who would go on to helm four others, although none would turn out quite as well as this one.

Though fans may be intensely familiar with this series entry via numerous local TV broadcasts (I saw it on a Chicago UHF station at least twice a year while growing up), once again DVD makes something old new again. This is the first US presentation of the film uncut, in its original widescreen aspect ratio, in a gorgeous High Definition transfer to boot. Purists should be delighted to find the original Japanese track intact, with optional English subtitles. Those fond of the old AIP-TV English dubbing may want to hold on to their videotapes, as the English track here is from the international version, trading off some silly voice characterizations for some just as silly. However, at least on the DVD you get the full dialogue and a better translation Ebirah is called by his name, for example. Both language tracks have the full original soundtrack, which is terrific, though it's surprising to hear surf rock as Godzilla fights off a squad of jets. Masaru Sato returns to the series, contributing a much better score than he did for GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN. His peppy music perfectly compliments the action adventure nature of this entry's story. In all, another fine addition for everyone's Godzilla library.

Copyright © 2005 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS. Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at feedback@cinescape.com.