Rodan (*1/10) and War Of The Gargantuas (***3/10) box set. Out tomorrow. (********8/10)
At first, it may seem incongrous. Alliance Films is releasing a box set of two classic Japanese monster movies from fifty years ago on October 14th. And I gave one of those movies, Rodan, three stars. And I gave the other, War Of The Gargantuas, one star. And yet the box set itself gets eight. I know what you’re thinking. That doesn’t make sense. Packaging two terrible movies together does not make for a great box set. It is merely a whole lot of garbage packaged together to make a slightly bigger heap of garbage. And you would be right. However, that garbage is absolutely glorious. And it really does deserve a positive rating, one that will likely be appreciated only by the few people who have a highly developed sense of irony, or the few people who are obsessive over Japanese monster movie history. Like me. First, the movies themselves.
Rodan (***3/10): The first major monster movie after Godzilla for Toho studios in Japan. The original director of Godzilla, Ishiro Honda, was at the helm for this one as well, and much like Godzilla, the movie is a fairly thinly-veiled political and social comment. Of course, there are nuclear experiments off the coast of Japan that harm the Earth. And the Earth responds to these attacks by releasing Rodan, a giant pterodactyl-like beast that besieges Tokyo. (There are also some giant man-eating bugs.) This is the standard Japanese monster movie set-up. The human impact on the environment creates a massive blowback that threatens to consume mankind. We human beings do violence to the Earth, (like a nuclear test), and the Earth returns the favour by creating a strange, unfamiliar menace. We don’t know how to react to that menace, and we respond to that with violence as well. The violent reaction of the human beings makes the situation worse, and we’re left to wonder at the end of the movie - who is the bad guy here, the monster or us?
That being said, this is not a very good movie. In that old guy-in-a-monster-suit destroying a miniature city tradition of Japanese cinema, there are a lot of obvious blue screen shots and some hilarious smashing of toy tanks and helicopters and boats. For it’s time, 1956, the special effects are pretty good, especially the amazingly detailed miniature cities. But that was the entire point of the movie. After the special effects, the story is weak at best, featuring human beings running away from the creature, the army going after the creature, more people running, more army intervention, and then the big finish. The narration and the dialogue are ludicrous. The dubbing into English is hilarious. The final narration, when the whole movie is done, must be seen to be believed. It is one of the most cheesy, nonsensical speeches delivered on film this side of Ed Wood. And yet, it manages to somehow achieve a sort of poignancy. Bizarre!
War of the Gargantuas (*1/10): Again, Ishiro Honda took the helm for this one, which is far worse than Rodan. First of all, there is no social comment in the film whatsoever. There is an attempt, toward the end, to create in the audience a bond with one of the giant destructive creatures, in the vein of King Kong. It doesn’t work. The movie opens with a weird, froggy looking octopus in the sea attacking a ship. But at the last second the crew of that ship is saved by a monstrous green giant who rises from the sea and kills the octopus. Then HE sinks the ship. And that sets the tone for the entire movie. A guy in a green gorilla suit capsizing toy ships and flipping over houses and throwing tiny trees at another guy in a brown gorilla suit. These are not, technically, gorillas, because that had been done in King Kong. Instead, these are “gargantuas”, a term that appears to be arbitrarily chosen to describe two giant hairy humanoids that are destroying Tokyo.
The dialogue in this movie is weak, even for badly-dubbed Japanese monster movies. The plot contrivances are terrible, even for badly-thought-out Japanese monster movies. You see, the good, kind gargantua escaped from his cage where he lived with humans, caught his flesh on a rock, that flesh floated out to the sea where it bonded with plankton and created the new, sea-dwelling, evil gargantua. The military plan to trap that evil one by luring it into a trap, where they can shine lights on it and make it run away. Ummm….what kind of trap is that? The bad gargantua growls a lot, and it sounds a LOT like a jet engine. But here’s what makes this movie entirely enjoyable for those with a highly developed sense of irony:
This movie looks, a lot, like it was written, produced, directed and acted by seven-year-olds. That explains the bizarre plot contrivances and unintentional red herrings. There are laser guns, and electricity being shot at these giant creatures in the form of lightning bolts. But the real idiocy (or, genius, if you will) comes from the creatures themselves. Both of them move around as though there are un-coordinated four year olds in the suits. They shamble around like very, very small children who are still not fully accustomed to walking. The final showdown between the two gargantuas begins with them both posing AT each other, like two eight-year-olds doing “I know karate” moves. It is simply bizarre, but watched a certain way, it is amazing.
Bringing Godzilla Down To Size (*******7/10): This is a 70-minute documentary included in the box, on the Rodan disc. The history of Japanese monster movies, from Gojira (Godzilla) in 1954 until today. The documentary focuses on the craftsmen who created these movie worlds in the 1950s and 1960s. They speak passionately about the tradition of their monsters and their movies. The guy-in-a-rubber-suit style that so many North Americans make fun of today is essential to the ethos of the Japanese. And that’s exactly what I love about it. Yes, it’s cheesy. Yes, it’s OBVIOUS that it’s a guy in a rubber suit. But the craftsmanship that went into that suit, and into the little city that was incredibly rendered over many months only so it could be destroyed in a few hours, is unbelievable. The love these artists have for their creations is wonderful. And the tradition is magnificent.
The tradition arises from the context of World War II, the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan, and the American nuclear tests that took place near Japan in the 1950s. The tradition also arose from the American film King Kong in 1933. The Japanese did not have the time or the budget to do the stop-motion animation that created King Kong, so they were forced to create the man-in-a-beast-suit effects. Which some would suggest are far cooler. Then there was the politics and social environment. In the early 50s, there was a real-life nuclear scare. After an American nuclear test, the crew of a Japanese fishing boat developed radiation poisoning. There were tuna boycotts across Japan, and many demonstrations against war and against the bomb. Ishiro Honda, the original Gojira director, was an avowed pacifist, who saw Godzilla as a great way to put his anti-war, anti-bomb protest up there on the screen. If we do this to the Earth, it’s only a matter of time before the Earth does this to us.
There is one scene in this documentary that brings together three guys who have played Godzilla, that is, have been the guys inside the rubber suits in different movies. Listening to them recall the mishaps that took place on the sets, when they couldn’t see in the suits and fell over and wrecked the sets before it was time, or when they almost drowned in the water scenes, is priceless. These guys absolutely love the fact that THEY have been Godzilla. Not CGI, not stop-motion animation, they have been THAT guy in THAT suit. Their love for this creature and this tradition is palpable, and this entire box set might be worth it for that scene alone.
The Japanese monster tradition goes far beyond Godzilla, beyond Mothra and King Ghidorah and Gigan. All of it is worthwhile, for one reason or another, and this box set is an excellent place to start.