Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
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is a 1966 tokusatsu film, directed by Jun Fukuda, and was released by Toho studios. The movie is also known by its International English title, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. The special effects were by Eiji Tsuburaya (although his direct involvement was limited) and Sadamasa Arikawa. It also features supporting monsters Mothra and Ebirah. It was the first Godzilla film since Godzilla Raids Again not directed by Ishiro Honda and shows a turn toward a more action-adventure approach to the Godzilla films instead of Honda's customary science-fiction approach. Set mostly on a tropical island, the film also required fewer miniatures and therefore had a lower budget than the previous Godzilla films.The concept was originally intended for King Kong under the title The film was planned as a co-production with the American production company Rankin-Bass to coincide with their animated series The King Kong Show. However, Rankin-Bass rejected this script. The King Kong project was eventually made from a different script as King Kong Escapes, but Toho salvaged Operation Robinson Crusoe by re-writing it to feature Godzilla instead of King Kong. Some of Godzilla's unusual behavior in the film, such as living in a cave, receiving power from electricity, throwing rocks at Ebirah, and taking notice of a beautiful native girl, reveal the script's origin as a King Kong vehicle.
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was released directly to U.S. television syndication through the Walter Reade Organization. It was the first Godzilla film to forgo a theatrical release in the United States. For the television version, the film's title was written as Godzilla versus the Sea Monster.
Synopsis
After his brother Yata is lost at sea, young Ryota steals a yacht with his two friends and a bank robber. This motley crew runs afoul of sea monster Ebirah, and washes up on the shore of an island, where a terrorist organization manufactures heavy water for their nefarious purposes, as well as a chemical that keeps Ebirah at bay. The organization, Red Bamboo, has enslaved a native population to help them, but the natives hope to awaken a dormant Mothra to rescue them. In their efforts to avoid capture, Ryota and his friends, aided by a native girl, stumble across Godzilla asleep inside a cavern. In a desperate bid to defeat the Red Bamboo and escape from the Island, they plan to wake Godzilla.Trivia
- The U.S. television version and early video versions have a different opening to the film. The opening scenes of Ryota at the Maritime Safety Agency searching for news of his brother have been replaced with a scene supposedly showing Ebirah destroying Yata's boat. This sequence was created by editing a later scene in the movie. The current DVD version of the film restores the Japanese cut.
- The Japanese singing duo Pair Bambi play the tiny twin Mothra priestesses known as the shobijin ("little beauties"). In earlier movies, these characters were played by twin sisters Emi and Yûmi Ito of The Peanuts, another Japanese singing duo.
- In the scene right after he destroys the Giant Condor, Godzilla rubs his nose. This was a reference to Toho's popular Wakadaisho/Young Guy movie series, in which the titular character, Yuichi Tanuma (played by Yuzo Kayama), was known for doing the same thing.
- The name Ebirah is derived from the Japanese word for shrimp, ebi and ra was a common add on too japanese monster names. (GojiRA MosuRA)
- Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was one of the two Godzilla films used as episodes of American television comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000, which frequently mocks monster movies. The other one was Godzilla vs. Megalon. The running gag of the episode was that J&tB arrived in the theater late, and did not catch the movie's title card; therefore because of that oversight, they lacked knowledge of the title even though the movie blatantly featured Godzilla fighting with a sea monster.
- In 1991, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster was distributed under the Film Ventures International name. The company replaced the opening with a generic credit sequence, using footage from Son of Godzilla.
See also
External links
The Godzilla Franchise
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