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Gojira tai Hedorâ (1971)

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60 comments in total

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Craziest movie ever!, 22 November 2001
Author: BrunoMatteisNumberOneFan from Trondheim, Norway

Something spooky is happening on the Japanese coast; pollution is killing the fish in the ocean, but it also gives life to a monstrous mutated fish-monster. A professor and his genius kid watch it's destructions on TV, and the kid remarks: "- Oh, that was a tadpole-monster." Japan and the entire world is soon threatened by the unearthly Creature, who's named Hedorah by the Professors kid.

At the same time a funky teenage assistant of the professor gets drunk at an absurdly psychadellic disco and has visions of all the party-people being mutated fish. Hedorah inhales polluted smoke from factory- chimneys and seem to get high, the kid is psychic and has visions of Godzilla coming to save the world, and the Professor is attacked by the Hedorah underwater and his face gets malformed. Godzilla and the "Smog Monster" (as it is sometimes referred to as) start fighting only 25 minutes into the movie. The Hedorah mutates from ocean- dweller, to reptile to flying creature, and experts conclude that "He" is probably from a distant Nebula in outer space. Scenes of havoc and the Professor's family is intercut with cartoon- style sequences with strong enviromental messages.

One scene has the Hedorah flying over a group of people working out, and they turn blue-faced and ultimately into gushy skeletons. A man at a construction site screams out (extremely) loud, and then falls to his death. Hedorah has the ability to corrode metal, and people on TV quarrel intensely on the fate of the planet. The Professors assistant knows the end is near, and has a hippie-styled party on top of a mountain; "- Let's have fun as we die!!" The party is interrupted by the space/pollution freak, and most of the kids are melted by its poisonous vomit/droppings when they try to set it on fire.

The Professor's kid has found the solution to defeat the grotesque beast: "- Dry it - it's only sludge!", and with the aid of the friendly Godzilla it finally works. Some scenes, as well as the sounds the Hedorah makes are beyond description; like the scene were it's covering Godzilla with its tons of toxic puke, and at the same time "laughing" diabolically. There are weird crosscutting throughout, the kid yells "Papa" alot and the groovy rock score helps to its remarkably insane mood. The PG- rating should be reconsidered. This one is too dark and demented in so many ways, I don't think a ten year- old should watch it. It's mad nightmarish, art-cinematic style could cause damage.

A TV- reporter calls the Hedorah "a freak organizm" - much like this movie itself.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Godzilla up against a very strange foe., 27 December 2000

Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK

This movie is so weird, it is almost comical. Better known as Godzilla vs The Smog Monster, this flick tries to take on a different format that resembles a poor man's James Bond movie. Seems to be put together kind of haphazardly, but really pretty interesting. Godzilla battles Hedrah or Hedora, a creature spawned from industrial pollution and rank waste material. Probably the strangest in the Godzilla series.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
The weirdest, creepiest Godzilla flick of 'em all!, 18 March 2006

Author: Tom Benton from Springfield, VT USA

I've loved Godzilla for as long as I can remember, but "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" (or "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster", the original U.S. release title) has always been my least favorite - until the last time I saw it.

The 70's produced the worst of the Godzilla flicks - a series of dark, hokey, and dull films which ultimately caused the end of the Godzilla film line (until the beginning of a new series in 1984). Executive producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was in the hospital for much of the time while the film was being made, so he didn't see the different direction which "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" took. For the first time since 1964, the film had a strong social message: stop the pollution! A series of grim, grungy images show the pollution which is seeping into the air and the sea. From it rises Hedorah, the smog monster, intent on gobbling down the world's smog and pollution whilst killing off Earth's people. Bullets go through it, knives do nothing to it. Who will stop this "demon of drudge"? Why, Godzilla, of course! Yoshimitsu Banno pointed the series in a different direction (which enraged producer Tanaka upon his release from the hospital), inserting funky tunes, a scene in a revolting dance club, and entirely unnecessary animations. Then there's the creepy-looking Hedorah, which actually becomes quite scary when you see it's glowing eyes in the dark gray night sky, while the eerie bass guitar plays quietly amongst the soundtrack's instruments. This is certainly the weirdest, creepiest Godzilla flick of 'em all.

A sequel to this film was planned, hence the "And yet another one?" title at the end of the film. In it, Godzilla would travel to Africa and battle another smog monster. But the project was shelved when Tomoyuki Tanaka banned director Banno from ever coming near a Godzilla film again, claiming that Banno had ruined the series. I can't really say that I'm sorry for that decision.

"Godzilla vs. Hedorah" is one of the most unique of the Godzilla films, and because of that, it's one of my favorites. It's a weird, creepy film, that becomes much more fun (and funny) when you watch it with the terrible English dubbing.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Faaaaaaaaaaaaaar out!!!, 2 March 2002
Author: Poona Kan Ng from Hong Kong

"Godzilla vs. Hedorah" is probably my favorite Godzilla from the 1970s (the others being the one with Gigan in them, he RULES TOO!). There sure is alot going on in this crazy movie.

There are:

ACID TRIPS! Strange anime sequences! Really upbeat soundtrack and theme song (KAAAAAAAAISEN!)! Kids in hot pants! Ecology made fun! Haiku! Nightclubs! Hippies galore! Godzilla flying! Hedorah, the strange looking beast of Smog!

This film has everything a B-movie enthuaist wants!

Even though a lot of people hated Hedorah, but I don't. He is one of the most interesting looking and powerful foes in Godzilla's old days. He pretty much hacks up on Godzilla a lot, changes shape at will, plus, it FARTS out acid!

Anyways, watch "Godzilla vs. Hedorah"! You'll have a B-movie blast!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
weirdly hyperactive entry., 22 May 2000
Author: lartronic from Akron, Ohio

Oh man, what a movie! I can't believe this is even part of the series. All the others were really so staightfoward, this one is hyperactive. Lets see all the things our pal Yoshimitsu Banno threw in: There's the song "Save the Earth"(In the American print it sounds like a bunch of drunk guys for the backround singers!), The trombone music that was played throughout, the stupid and pointless cartoons that popped in at the most inappropriate times, all the Japanese hippies, the fish hallucination sequence, the guitar playing scene in black and white, the multiple screens showing the complaining citizens, the annoying little kid, the badly designed Hedorah, the garbage acid, the bad special effects, and a whole lot of other garbage that you simply won't believe. To this day my favorite 70's Godzilla film and one of my all time favorite Godzilla films. It's so wonderfully goofy, you won't believe MST3K didn't recycle this. A must see, it's always wild and not for once ever stops.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Godzilla: Environmentalist. Not great, but still my favorite Godzilla flick, 22 February 2005

Author: mstomaso from Vulcan

Godzilla vs Hedora (AKA The Smog Monster) is less slick than many of the later productions. It is also somewhat less serious, and features a Godzilla who is more mythic than consistent with his earlier and later portrayals. The Godzilla in this film is a force of nature in more than just a figurative sense. She is also highly intelligent and a defender of the earth and, to some extent, its people.

Even from the title, its easy enough to figure out what this film is about. Tadpoles mutate because of the mutagenic properties of pollution in Tokyo Bay (interestingly, this somewhat silly idea is far less absurd than most of the latter pseudoscience used in Godzilla scripts - almost as bad as Star Trek Voyager sometimes was). The mutant tadpoles fuse at the cellular level and grow into a giant tadpole which then mutates three or four times, spewing out its own toxic pollutants, first as terrestrial and eventually as air pollution. The visuals are good, but the special effects are admittedly below even Toho's usual standards.

Created in the early 1970s, this film is metaphorical and symbolic, although it is still, at heart, a Godzilla film. Hedora is an unsubtle metaphor for the ecological state of the world, and is, in that sense, a monster of our own making. Godzilla is an embodiment of nature, and is to be viewed as a positive force for all life on earth. These symbols are particularly apparent in the use of cartoons as transitional devices from one plot point to another.

Godzilla Vs Hedora walks a very thin line between giant-monster violence and a kid-oriented film. As somebody who has since his early teens, been interested in the environment and as somebody who always liked Japanese Monster films, I developed a sentimental attachment to this film very early on. In fact, this is my all-time favorite Godzilla film, and more than any other film, it is the reason why I consider myself a fan of the big green lizard. This is the film which establishes Godzilla as an environmentalist and a friend to young people - his two best roles.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Give a hoot. Don't pollute!, 25 January 2007

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Mankind's constant thoughtless pollution begets severely dire consequences in the form of one Hedorah. Man, does Hedorah rate as one fabulously foul'n'freaky beast: this grotesque and unsightly gigantic mutant humanoid tadpole has glowing red eyes, inhales noxious fumes from smokestacks, drips disgusting acidic goop all over the place, and probably stinks worse than dirty old socks to boot. Luckily, the almighty Godzilla comes to the rescue. The expected monster fights scenes are shockingly brutal and drawn out: Hedorah drenches Gozilla in vile sludge while Godzilla tears out Hedorah's eyes and blithely destroys them! The whole shebang concludes with Godzilla literally beating the crap out of Hedorah! Wonderfully weird touches abound: a cute little kitten gets covered with ghastly gunk, wild'n'crazy hedonistic teenagers party hearty at a swingin' night club to groovy psychedelic rock music (said kids later decide to hold an ill-advised anything-goes bash at Mount Fugi!), Hedorah leaves slimy skeletons of victims in its lethal wake, and there's these strange cartoon segments featured throughout. Better still, the heavy-handed anti-pollution message is articulated in the most clumsy and unsubtle way imaginable. The insanely catchy "Save the Earth" theme song in particular is a total riot (choice lyrics: "Stop all pollution/That's the solution"). Director Yoshimitsu Banno treats the laughably ludicrous premise with utmost seriousness, thus ensuring that this film remains an absolute campy hoot from start to finish.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best of the '70s, 12 June 2006

Author: PresidentJennings from United States

In my opinion, this is the best in the '70s. One reason is that the monster, Hedorah, almost kills Godzilla in this movie. Also the monster Hedorah is one of the best looking villains in the whole Showa Series.

One of the best parts in the movie is the first fight scene. Godzilla's blasts makes Hedorah conduct electricity. Another great scene is when Hedorah is smothering Godzilla in a toxic liquid.

The strangest part of the movie, which made me laugh, is when Godzilla learns how to fly. This is the only movie that I can recall that has Godzilla flying. That should get the top award for wackiest scene in a Godzilla movie.

Thirty-five years after this movie was made, I wish they would make a sequel to it. The last scene shows another Hedorah rise out of polluted waters. Toho had planned a sequel for the movie, but did not get around to make it. I wish they would have.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Godzilla's Court-Ordered PSA, 4 February 2006

Author: stmichaeldet (stmichaeldet@yahoo.com) from Detroit, MI, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Godzilla vs. Hedora (or the Smog Monster, to the old-school Saturday afternoon horrorshow crowd) is, in some ways, one of the most ambitious films in the G canon. It's got a heavy environmental message, snazzy cinematic tricks including split-screens and animated transition sequences, and attempts at multi-generational appeal (though still heavy on the kid-friendly elements of its era). For the most part, all this baggage manages to mesh together well with the giant monster rampages that we really came looking for. (And if you weren't looking for that, why'd you come here?)

And there's certainly more than enough rampage to go around. Hedora is the first of G's multi-form mutant foes (unless you count Mothra), and each form - giant tadpole, crawling worm, flying pancake, and finally quasi-upright slug-thing - has to get its fair share of screen time wandering from place to place consuming pollutants and transforming them into even nastier chemical attacks. Throw in several good fights against Godzilla and/or the military, and one might almost be willing to forgive the famously embarrassing "Godzilla uses his atomic breath to 'fly'" sequence.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A Retro Godzilla Film., 20 June 2001
Author: OllieSuave-007 from Sacramento, California USA

When the Godzilla series entered the 1970s, a retro and hippie feeling could be seen in this movie. This film starts off with a singer, played by Keiko Mari, singing a song titled "Save the Earth." Like 1964's Godzilla vs. Mothra, this film delivers a message of environmental danger. The story's about heavy pollution problems occurring in Japan. When an alien spore from outer space enters Earth and lands on a pile of toxic waste in the sea, a towering monster of sludge, crap, smog, and goo attacks Japan. This is the first Godzilla (Gojira) film in many years that depicts numerous human casualties. Scenes of humans deforming are a gruesome sight and echo elements in the original Gojira film. Like a viewer said, the fish tank scene is a similar scene of the fish tank in the original Gojira film.

The central character in this movie is a boy, played by Hiroyuki Kawase, who idolizes Godzilla. Godzilla, by this time, is regarded as a hero. Mostly, there are no hints of fears from the people upon Godzilla's appearances. Godzilla battles Hedorah the Smog Monster to "Save the Earth." The line "Get'em Godzilla!" is a real charmer and rooter for Godzilla, making him look more and more like a hero and defender of Japan.

Yoshimitsu Banno did a good job directing and assembling the cast out, staging them in places like nightclubs, hills, and amusement parks. The retro feel could be seen in the nightclub scene, where the singer sings the title song as blobs of retro paint move in a movie screen behind her. Also, the scene of the teenagers "celebrating" on a hill like a woodstock is also a retro feel.

Takeshi Kimura gave us a dark and scientific story, but some lighthearted scenes can be seen, like the scene where Godzilla flies (I think this is the only time we see Godzilla fly). Teruyoshi Nakano's special effects were believable, with the monster battles being pretty entertaining. The only problem I have with the monster battles is the part where Godzilla and Hedorah virtually move towards each other, staring at each other for minutes. And, this movie lacks excitement and spirit in the characters. They are mostly monotone throughout the movie and displayed no real emotions, making this movie look dull. And, this film lacks an effective music score. The music is not really harmonic or melodic and lacks charm to it. Riichiro Manabe composed a theme for Godzilla-a theme played by overblown trumpets. Though somewhat wacky, this theme sounds heroic for Godzilla. Overall, a pretty entertaining Godzilla movie, but some excitement and spirit from the characters and a more effective music score would of been better.

Grade C+

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