When two miners from a small village vanish, Shigeru Kawamura, the head of security, goes to investigate. One of the bodies is discovered, having died from severe and unusual lacerations. The culprit is revealed to be a giant insect larva, and soon thereafter, the second body is found inside of the mine, having perished via the same means. While attempting to rid themselves of this harmful pest, an earthquake hits the area, trapping Shigeru inside. Later on, he is found wandering the area, though the man has suffered amnesic trauma. Through unexpected means, his memory is jarred, and he reveals that a greater, ancient threat, also dwelling inside of these caverns, is about to be unleashed.
1956's Sora No Daikaiju Radon, also known by its more fun-sounding and more memorable names of Rodan and Rodan! The Flying Monster!, is my first "cheat" film that I've discussed on my yearly marathon. By my own definition, it means that I have previously watched this little monster flick in the past. So why did I choose to include it this year? Well, for starters, I have not seen Rodan in almost twenty years, so my memory was quite poor of everything that didn't revolve around the titular beast. The other reason had to do with having never seen the film in its original Japanese language and cut.
Then I remembered one critical thing: how can I make a comparison between both versions when I have virtually no recollection about the original cut? Eh, screw it. Rodan is one of Toho's more well-known kaiju pictures, featuring one of Godzilla's more recognizable allies and occasional foe, though I've come to find out that a large portion of fans that I've talked to over the years have never sat down and actually watched the flying monster's starring vehicle and debuting picture. This is a real shame, since you have more than just a fun creature feature flick, and is serves as a surprisingly good followup (in terms of destruction, anti-nuclear message, and tone) to the original Gojira. It's also the first Kaiju-based motion picture produced by Toho Studios to be filmed and released in color, and it went on to gross a significant amount of money in North America.
Since I know that most of you don't care a lot about the cast of human beings in pictures such as these, I'll just get my analysis of the main characters out of the way right now. Toho veterans Akihiko Hirata (Dr. Serizawa in Gojira) and Kenji Sahara (of Terror of Mechagodzilla and The Mysterians fame) are competent and fairly likable, though not as memorable as I had hoped that they would be. Mind you, it isn't necessarily their fault, but outside of the latter having some good reactions (or lack thereof) during his scenes post-cavern exit, they just doesn't connect with you in the way that you would expect either of the men to do. But now that they're done for, let's talk about these pteranodon antagonists. Rodan itself has never been the most complex-looking creation, but this is undeniably the best he/she has ever looked. The facial features look menacing, with the addition of visible teeth and a broader, jagged-looking beak really helping to bring this to life. Coupled with this, Rodan's own wingspan isn't too absurdly long either, and hell, even the costume's skin tone doesn't look distorted or too off-puttingly ugly. It's one of Toho's more expressive creations of the "Showa" era, ranking up there with the designs of fan favorites such as Anguirus, Mothra, and peculiar oddball Gigan. I wish that I could say the same for the giant insects (aka the Meganulon) though. I was going to try and be nice about this, but simply put, they just look terrible. The color schemes are fine, but the expression on their faces is so damn goofy, and the puppeteering and body movement just don't convince you that these could be a threat whatsoever. They also come across as a poor man's version of the giant ants from Them!, even going so far as to constantly screech when they are encountered by the public. At least the main perpetrators were portrayed by veteran suit actor Haruo Nakajima, and if that man could make Gojira's legendary creation look impressive, as well as bring life to the prominent namesake of Rodan, then why not let him work on these bugs too? Wait a minute….I just checked online and saw that the Meganulon WERE in fact played by Nakajima-san. Well, I guess someone just wanted to get that work out of the way while they had the chance to.
To go along with a memorable horror that terrorizes both the skies and the ground below, Rodan boasts some nice set pieces and fairly good effects work. I've never quite understood why people such as Eiji Tsuburaya and his crew are lambasted by snobbier movie fans these days. The man knew how to do a hell of a lot with what he had, and despite a lot of this material looking dated in the day and age of CGI, they can put together some great action sequences and create some iconic images (the shot of a post-Rodan Fukuoka engulfed in flames is tremendous). There's also the rather fantastic score of Mr. Akira Ifukube, a brilliantly underrated composer who could always make these type of films feel more epic than they probably deserved to be. His ending theme, the obviously-titled "Finale," is a somber, moving piece that I think deserves to be heard by most fans of foreign cinema.
Despite some little technicalities and complaints that I may have, including Toho's own decision to reuse the flying monstrosity's roar for future creations such as Varan and Battra (not a real knock on this flick though), Rodan has every right in the world to be considered a classic by not just fans of the Toho universe, but by fans of science fiction in general. It boasts a lot of the best work from the "Four Horsemen" of classic Japanese movies, contains a powerfully tragic ending, and just makes for a great time all around.
And before you ask the question, I can assure you that I will not be reviewing Valley Of The Dragons, wherein Rodan makes a "cameo" via stolen stock footage. You know that doesn't count as a real motion picture anyway.
While retrieving treasure off the coast of Ireland, a sea captain and his crew are interrupted by an erupting volcano. At first, the boat is almost sank by the incoming waves, but once it has subsided, and the men return to shore, they notice that an abundance of marine life has been killed, and they fear that something has awoken from the blast. Their assumption proves to be correct, as a leviathan rises up from the sea to attack, but is instead repelled and eventually captured. Taking the creature back to London, and having dubbed it "Gorgo," they sell it to a circus for the public's amusement. During this imprisonment, local scientists discover an odd little fact: Gorgo is still an infant, and his guardian may be searching for him.
Unlike most of the giant monster pictures being released around the time of Godzilla and its ilk/sequels, 1961's Gorgo was filmed and set in the United Kingdom, making it one of the few exceptions from this period to not have a backing from high-profile studios such as Toho and Daiei. Thankfully not feeling deterred or intimidated, this British picture was distributed stateside by the far more well-known MGM, and boasts a surprising list of somewhat-notable names who would go on to work for more prestigious theatrical projects, including Dr. Zhivago (cinematographer Freddie Young), 2001: A Space Odyssey (costar William Sylvester), and Orson Welles' Othello and Chimes At Midnight (composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino).
Not mentioned above, mostly due to him already having years' worth of experience in the creature feature department, is director Eugene Lourie. Previously the man heading productions such as The Giant Behemoth and the now-legendary feature-length flick The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (which along with King Kong, was the inspiration behind the creation of Godzilla), he does a mostly good job of commanding his leads and helps to keep them from getting too bored by the occasional silliness that surrounds them. Keep in mind, I did say "mostly," since there are quite a few instances of every performer, be they adult or child, resorting to the old-time acting from back in the 1940s and 1950s that I've repeatedly stated to not being a fan of.
Speaking of entertainers, and I do hate to speak ill of the dead, Mick Dillon's performance as the titular beast is one of the reasons as to why I champion the art of suit acting. IN JAPAN. Over the years, I've come to discover that this is such a lost art to those who aren't involved with Eastern cinema, and while its more-advanced cousin can be utilized to great effect no matter which country is involved, there just doesn't seem to be much life coming from Gorgo other than typical "Rarrrr, I'm angry." Take for example the admittedly-stupid Son Of Godzilla. The monsters in that aren't just destructive and angered, they have a wide array of emotions told just through simple body language. Like its Japanese counterparts, Gorgo does possess the same usage of miniature sets and special effects that were pioneered by Eiji Tsuburaya, and some of them, dare I say, look rather good. The mother's rampage throughout London has some very good backdrops and shots (except for a brief moment where she smashes Big Ben), which almost made up for the sheer amount of green screen that I had to suffer through for the first twenty or thirty minutes.
In terms of a plot, and the message of not assuming that humanity could be the greater and more horrific of monsters, it does bear a striking resemblance to Toho's own production Mothra, even though both pictures were released in the same year (and only a few months apart from one another). The choice to make the monster a "freak show" attraction to the general public is also borrowed from King Kong's infamous final act. There's also that distinct feeling of dread and panic from the city once the beast attacks, trying to evoke the same feelings from Gojira. Hell, save for the amphibian ears and more demonic-looking eyes, the Gorgos even LOOK like Godzilla. So, despite all of that nitpicking, would I recommend Gorgo to anybody outside of the obvious diehard kaiju fanatics? At this time, I'd probably say that it's leaning slightly towards a yes, but with an extreme amount of caution.
At the very least, should you not want to suffer through it alone, maybe these three guys below can help you out.
Tomorrow, we're turning on the TV for a trip to the cornfields with Dark Night Of The Scarecrow!
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