Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster (1964)
Produced and Released by: Toho Co. Ltd.
Director: Ishiro Honda
By Dr Kain

Introduction

Toho released two Godzilla movies in 1964, the first being “Mothra vs Godzilla,” and the second one being “Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster.” “Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster” introduced a new monster foe for Godzilla,who would become so popular that ended up appearing in every series of movies and even starred in four of the movies from the Showa era. This movie also marked the return of Mothra in his larvae form and brought about the resurrection of Rodan, who had not been seen since his own movie in 1956.

The Story

A group of scientists are watching the skies for a meteor shower that is expected to take place after two in the morning. A reporter named Noako Shindo (Yuriko Hoshi) interviews them about it when it finally happens.

That same night Noako’s brother Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned to protect the princess of the Republic of Sergina, Mas Selina Salno (Akiko Wakabayashi), who is currently on her way to Japan. While she is alone on her plane she is warned by some voice that her life is in danger, so she jumps out of the plane just moments before it explodes. A shooting star also crashes in Korobe Gorge.

The next day, Professor Miura (Hiroshi Koizumi) and a group of scientists investigate the area where the meteor fell to study it and they discover it has a magnetic polarity that pulls their tools towards it. At the same time, Noako is sent to interview some woman that claims to be a prophet from Mars, who has come to Japan to warn them about the dangers ahead.

While Naoko and Shindo are at home, Shindo turns on the TV to watch the news, but Naoko changes the channel to watch a program that has some kids talking to the Mothra twins. The kids ask them how Mothra is doing and one of the girls tells them that one of the larvaes died, but the other one is doing just fine. After they turn off the TV, Shindo goes to read the newspaper and sees the picture of the prophet and recognizes her as Mas.

Mas warns everyong that Rodan is sleeping in the volcano at Mount Aso, but no one believes her. Someone’s hat goes flying down into the mountain, and another guy offers to get it for some money, which he agrees to after a few times. After the guy grabs the hat, the mountain erupts and Rodan breaks out of it. After noticing Mas was still alive, the guys who wanted her dead, led by a man named Malmess (Hisaya Ito), arrive in Japan to do the job properly.

When the twins are about to leave on a boat headed back to the island, Mas warns them that the ship will be destroyed that night. Worried, Naoko offers to take the girl somewhere. Shindo also talks to his boss about the situation and a villager brings in a bracelet he found. He instantly identifies the picture of the prophetic girl with the picture of Mas as being the same person. Naoko takes Mas with her to a hotel room, where the twins also joined in secretly because they believed her. Malmess and his gang recognize her as they go into the room and wait for Naoko to leave before they try to kill Mas. The attempt fails thanks to the twins, but they get away.

Godzilla emerges from the ocean and destroys the very ship Mas said would be sunk earlier that day and soon makes his way towards Japan. Rodan also appears in the sky close to where Godzilla is, but neither of them bother each other for a while.

Naoko and Shindo take Mas to Dr. Tsukamoto (Takashi Shimura) at Tsukamoto Labs to try to get her memory back. While that is happening, the meteor in the mountains begins to glow and a three headed monster named King Ghidorah is born out of it. Godzilla and Rodan finally begin to fight each other and during a press conference in Tokyo, the twins tell everyone that Mothra will come to help stop the monsters’ attacks.

Another attempt to kill Mas takes place at Tsukamoo’s office, but thanks to Rodan dropping Godzilla into the powerlines, it fails. After a gun fight, the killers drive off just so all of them but Malmess could be killed by Ghidorah’s attack. During a gun fight between Malmess and Shindo, Mas is injured and falls over a cliff, but it causes her to remember who she really is. Malmess is killed just after injuring Shindo thanks to the monsters above.

Godzilla and Rodan constantly fight each other, and ignore Mothra’s plea for help to fight against Ghidorah until they see Mothra trying to beat Ghidorah on his own. The three monsters fight against Ghidorah, and Mothra uses his silk to bind Ghidorah’s heads together before he flies off in defeat.

Mas has an interview with Dr. Tsukamoto and Naoko, asking if she really did say she was from Mars, and then says goodbye to Shindo before leaving for home. Mothra and the twins set out to return to Infant Island, saying goodbye to Godzilla and Rodan.

Review

“Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster” has always been an enjoyable movie because you get four of the coolest monsters ever created in it. The movie is driven very much by the story rather than monster action, which can be either a good thing, or a bad thing. It all really depends on the person, and what kind of mood they're in. If you are in a mood for mindless monster action with little plot, you might want to avoid this one. On the other hand, if you want some good monster action that is covered with a lot of plot development, this is a good choice.

The monster designs are pretty decent in this movie. Godzilla’s costume is similar to the last movie’s costume, which is not surprising considering they both came out the same year. He has three toes like he did in the last one, which started with “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” rather than four toes. Fortunately, his snout does not look like it is about to fly off in this one, but Toho still needs to do something about those bad looking neck twists. The eyes have a little unrealistic feel to them as well. Rodan looks similar to his original design, only his neck is a lot longer, and his beak seems to be thinner. Again, the neck is the thing that is the most bothersome because it has a habit of killing the seriousness (as serious as this can be) of the monster. There is really nothing to comment on Mothra since he is a little brown piece of poop. At least that is what he looks like. Ghidorah is a really interesting piece of work. He has three heads, large wings, two legs, and two tails. The lack of arms gives Ghidorah a distinct look on him, and that really helps his overall design. He is golden, and looks taller than the other three monsters.

Fortunately for the humans, most of them have standard dress clothes on, which is a good thing because some of the clothing shown is just ugly. The characters from Sergina look really ridiculous with their accordion-like collars (similar to what the Spanish used to wear, maybe that is who they are supposed to be)

The special effects were excellent in this film. There is a lot of destruction in some cities and villages, especialy during Ghidorah’s attacks, which looks realistic. The worst looking ones would have to be the effects done during the Godzilla and Rodan battles when they show close ups on their faces and when their necks twist. Not to mention the rock volleyball contest is a little out of character, at least from the Godzilla movies Toho had produced up to this point. Wires can be seen in quite a few scenes, especially on Rodan and Ghidorah during the final battle, but the battle itself is unique.

Bringing all the above together is another great score from the master, Akira Ifukube. His theme for King Ghidorah is one of his best ones since Godzilla’s theme. The movie flows through like a roller coaster ride, and it is usually half way through before you realize it.

Conclusion

Just like “Mothra vs Godzilla,” this is definitely a Godzilla movie no fan can miss. Even if you are not a Ghidorah fan, chances are you do like one of the three monster guest stars. Highly recommended.

I give this movie 4/5 stars.

Dr Kain