Gojira tai Hedorâ (1971)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Yoshimitsu Banno

Writers:

Yoshimitsu Banno (writer)
Takeshi Kimura (writer)

Release Date:

February 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Music | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Our environment is doomed!

Plot:

From Earth's pollution a new monster is spawned. Hedorah, the smog monster, destroys Japan and fights Godzilla while spewing his poisonous gas to further the damage.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Pollution | Japanese | Godzilla | Gojira

Cast

Akira Yamauchi	...	Dr. Yano
Toshie Kimura	...	Toshie Yano
Hiroyuki Kawase	...	Ken Yano
Keiko Mari	...	Miki Fujiyama
Toshio Shiba	...	Yukio Keuchi
Yukihiko Gondo	...	Mean general
Eisaburo Komatsu	...	Fisherman
Tadashi Okabe	...	Scientist
Wataru Omae	...	Helpless police officer
Susumu Okabe	...	Interviewer
Haruo Nakajima	...	Gojira
Kenpachiro Satsuma	...	Hedora (as Kengo Nakayama)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Teruzo Okawa
Kôji Uruki

Also Known As:

Godzilla vs. Hedora (International: English title) (informal literal title)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (UK) (video title)
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi monster violence and brief mild language.

Runtime:

Germany:96 min | USA:87 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | West Germany:12 (nf)

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

This was the first film that featured Kenpachiro Satsuma to wear the Smog Monster suit. Though small in stature, Satsuma was quite strong for his size, and was the only one capable of supporting the 300 pound suit for long periods of time. (Though there were some wire works to help support.) Satsuma then went on to wear the Gigan costume for the next two films. After a break of over 10 years, he would be asked to wear the Godzilla costume for Godzilla 1985, and would continue to wear it through the Heisei series, and retired after Godzilla vs. Destroyah in 1995.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. Yano and Yukio are discussing going to rescue Ken, fish can be seen swimming in the aquarium behind them even though all the fish in it were destroyed by the acid mist a few minutes earlier.

Quotes:

Yukio Keuchi: There's no place else to go and pretty soon we'll all be dead, so forget it! Enjoy yourself! Let's sing and dance while we can! Come on, blow your mind!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Godzilla and Other Movie Monsters (1998) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hedora wo yattsukero!

Possibly the best 70's Godzilla

Innovative is the word here: and because he went so far to break with the formula, director Yoshimitsu Banno got into some deep trouble with the Powers-that-Be at Toho. Banno used split-screens, animation, dream-sequences, even a black-and-white sequence that creeps in so subtly you don't really notice until the color suddenly springs back in... all kinds of experimental tricks that make the film completely different from Jun Fukuda's by-the-numbers series entries.

Most interesting are all the references to the original GOJIRA: early on, Dr. Yano when he encounters Hedorah, making him resemble the doomed Dr. Serizawa of the 1954 movie... and Banno even goes so far as to re-stage the famous and frightening fish tank scene. For the first time since the 50's, we see human casualties and measure the destruction in human terms. A sympathetic character is even (apparently) killed. In fact, the only thing that really disappoints in the movie is... the monster battle scenes. Long tense minutes go by, and the monsters just stare at each other.

It's been said of horror movie sequels that audiences aren't really looking for new installments; deep down, they want the same movie, over and over again. That's pretty much what we got from Godzilla, from the late 60's through today -- except for All Kaiju Daishingeki (Godzilla's Revenge) and this movie.

Finally, let's not forget this is the movie where Godzilla learns to fly, by tucking his tail between his legs and breathing fire with all his might.