Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
G | 01 February 1972 (USA)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah Trailers

An ever evolving alien life-form arrives on a comet from the Dark Gaseous Nebula and proceeds to consume pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity nor Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.

Reviews
Pluskylang

Great Film overall

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Stellead

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

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Spidersecu

Don't Believe the Hype

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Josephina

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

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William Samuel

Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster is the kind of movie that doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be. It must be a kid's movie, because the protagonist is an annoying kid who idolizes Godzilla. Yet some scenes would be more at home in a horror film; as when crowds of people are asphyxiated and skeletonized by the smog monster's noxious emissions. At other times there are signs that this movie wants to be a drug fueled exploitation flick. There are weird cartoon sequences that seem inspired by Yellow Submarine, and at one point a character in a dance club starts hallucinating, for no apparent reason, that his fellow party-goers have paper Mache fish for heads. There's also a perfunctory astronomy lesson with no real connection to the rest of the film, plus a shot where Hedorah, the titular Smog Monster, flies through a construction site, and the structure collapses, but with no sound. Was the recording track for scene damaged at some point? If that were the case, you would think the filmmakers could re-record the sound effects, or substitute a clip from the studio's library.But I'm forgetting what this movie is all about, which is Godzilla- and the need to protect the environment. In 1971, when the film was released, this message had not yet become a cliché in children's movies. It was also a very relevant at a time when there was little to no regulation of factory emissions and hazardous waste disposal, and when rivers in downtown Cleveland could suddenly burst into flames.But Godzilla makes a very odd environmental spokesman, to say the very least. When he first appeared in 1954's Gojira, he was the embodiment of the death and destruction that nuclear weapons could, and had, unleashed on Japan and on the world. Now however, he is Tokyo's savior, a completely benign figure who doesn't knock over a single building, even by accident. Godzilla doesn't always have to play the villain, but he should at least be an anti-hero, dangerous to man even when he's protecting us from other monsters. Godzilla also makes one of his least dramatic entrances in this film. Instead of slowly rising from the sea, or bursting out of an iceberg, he ambles out of the sunrise as annoying trumpet music blares. Regrettably, this score will be repeated in most scenes where the big guy appears. As for Godzilla's opponent, Toho has come up with one of its cooler ideas here. Hedorah is not a single organism, but rather colony of billions of rapidly splitting microorganisms. This means that it can change form at will, and can repair almost any damage suffered by producing new cells. Unfortunately, the idea just didn't work. What we end up with, at least in the monster's final form, is a giant, misshapen blob of rubber under which the actor can barely move. This brings us to the battles between the monsters, usually the high point of any Godzilla film. Some of the earlier fights aren't too badly staged, but once Hedorah learns to fly, Godzilla's main tactic seems to be standing around and failing his arms angrily. And as for the final battle near Mount Fuji, having the military build a pair of giant electrodes to dehydrate the Smog Monster is a fairly good idea, since by this point it's clear that Godzilla can't do it on his own.But why oh why did this have to mean a protracted sequence in which our hero rips apart his now helpless opponent piece by piece (twice!), to make sure that every drop of moisture is evaporated? Wouldn't it have been more effective for Hedorah to instantly dry out and crumble to dust, like a vampire exposed to sunlight? This isn't Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, it's Godzilla vs. the giant mud pie.There's also the question of how Godzilla knew the purpose and operation of the electrodes, and why his atomic breath provided power to them, rather than blasting them to bits like everything else it touches. But this isn't where our suspension of disbelief is really tested. I mentioned earlier that Godzilla had to go through the process of drying out Hedorah twice. This is because the first time, there proves to some life still left in the blob of filth, and its prior flying form escapes into the sky. So how does Godzilla catch up to his rival and bring him back? Simple, he flies after him. That's right; Godzilla actually flies by using his atomic breath as a form of jet propulsion. This may be the single most ridiculous sequence in the history of Japanese cinema.I'm not recommending that no one ever see this movie. It achieves a sort of campy grandeur, almost to the point of being so bad that it's good. I would suggest viewing this film just once, so you can gawk in amazement at its sheer awfulness. Or, if that's too much for you, just type in "Godzilla flies" on YouTube. You won't be disappointed by the result.

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AaronCapenBanner

Eleventh Godzilla film is the strangest by far, but also among the most interesting, as Godzilla officially becomes the defender of the Earth when a horrible monster created from pollution(called Hedorah) surfaces to attack Japan, and threaten the world with toxic sludge which oozes from its body. It also learns to fly, and pushes Godzilla to the limit until the rousing finale. While not really a success, this is so well-intentioned(and a product of its time) that it is more entertaining that one would expect. Unusual use of music(and Japanese singers) decrying the pollution is really something to see. Undeniably bizarre, but does have a certain appeal.

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darthsmythe1138

For Godzilla's first entry into the 1970s, amateur director Yoshimitsu Banno was chosen to direct. Banno was a rather different breed of director, inspired by films such as Africa Addio and other exploitation and art-house cinema. Helping him create the story was veteran Godzilla screenwriter Takeshi Kimura, who read Rachel Carson's call to arms for the environmentalist movement Silent Spring as inspiration for his story treatment. Banno created an extremely unorthodox film, combining split-screens to show people's reactions to Hedorah's rampage with odd anime sequences to show random parts of Hedorah's attacks, as well as poetry in one scene. What is unique about Godzilla vs. Hedorah's story treatment is how the film parallels to the original 1954 opus. The scientist Dr. Yano (played by television star Akira Yamaguchi) is an eye-patched scientist, and the devastation wrought by Hedorah has elements unseen since the original namely on screen human deaths, depicted in rather graphic fashion by effects master Teruyoshi Nakano, who specialized in showing hideous injuries to both monsters and humans as well as pyrotechnics. Godzilla is portrayed as a hero for the first time in the series, an image which both benefits and harms the character. Providing the music for the series was Riichiro Manabe, a composer known for being Nagisa Oshima's composer of choice. His Godzilla theme, derived from a cue culled from the 1970 war film A TURNING POINT IN SHOWA HISTORY: THE MILITARISTS, is unorthodox, utilizing trumpets, light synthesizer work, and pipe organ. The films theme song, Taiyou Kaese, is sung beautifully by famed nude model and singer Keiko Mari(with backing from the male choral group Honey Knights, who also do renditions of the song in various points of the film), who also acts in the film. His score is very fitting for such an unorthodox film. The acting is well directed, with Hiroyuki Kawase being not that annoying as young Ken Yano. Also in a lead role is teen idol Toshio Shiba, who seems rather happy and carefree as Ken's uncle. Teruyoshi Nakano's effects are well done considering the restraints put on him time-wise. He filmed much of the scenes with director Banno, giving them a much larger scope. I recommend this film, it's bizarre and very avant-garde but very fun.

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FoxWolf87

This is the worst Godzilla movie I've seen so far. In fact, it's so bad... I've been showing friends scenes from the movie so we can laugh at it together. This movie... in all seriousness... is Godzilla vs. a s*** monster. Literally, a s*** monster. The film is supposed to give the message that we have to stop polluting the environment, or it'll kill us. The result is the s*** monster, Hedorah, which rises from human waste. The problem with this movie isn't the plot... I actually think it has a very interesting plot. The problem is the execution. The way in which the film was shot and handled was weird, goofy, and just plain ridiculous.EXAMPLESContinuous repetitive use of shots of garbage. - Hedorah's magical wonder twin powers. - Long unnecessary scenes that don't go anywhere. - Drowning Godzilla in diarrhea. - The science makes no sense, even for Godzilla. - Sulfuric acid turning people funny colors, and why does Hedorah shoot out sulfuric acid? - Random animations. - Most of the fight scenes are Godzilla and Hedorah standing across from each other making hand gestures and blinking. How riveting. - The ending just goes on... and on... and ON!!! - Just when you think it's over, a TWIST!!! That makes NO SENSE!!! - And psychedelic, early 70's Bulls***.And the ultimate WTF moment...Godzilla FLYING. This movie gets a 1. It is a grueling chore to watch, unless you skip to the most goofy scenes and make fun of them. Like Godzilla flying. Or Godzilla ripping off what I can only describe as Hedorah's testicles.I only recommend it if you want to get drunk with some buddies and play a game of MST3K home edition.

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