Godzilla's Revenge (1969)
Production: Toho Co. Ltd.
Director: Inoshiro Honda
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By Scikaiju

Introduction

Often considerd to be one of the weaker Godzilla films, Godzilla's Revenge is the third film to feature Minya, Godzilla's son. First time I saw it I went what the hey? I was eight what did you expect? Relying on footage from previous movies we get a tail of of a young boy who slowly finds courage. And you parents said you couldn't learn anything from Godzilla.

The Story

As the movie begins we're introduced to a young boy named Ichiro, who's parentswe learn are gone most of the time. Except for a toy maker who lives down the hall he's usually alone. A shy child, he often run away when confronted by a bully named Gabara and his gang. His main intrest seems to be giant monsters, Ichiro can even hear a monster cry in a car screeching around a corner.

Much of his free time is used imagining he is visiting Monster Island. There he befriends Minya, who also has a courage problem and a bully monster also named Gabara. Together they watch Godzilla battle various monster and slowly learn what it means to have couarge. Eventually Minya, with a little help from Ichiro, is able to defeat Gabara. Of course Godzilla lays the smackdown on Gabara (It is his movie after all).

While this is going on a pair of bank robbers kiddnap Ichiro because he found one of their wallets. While they plan to use him as their ticket out of town, Ichiro uses what he learns from Godzilla and Minya to hold them off until the police arrrive. Ichiro also takes care of his own bully problem by standing up to his own Gabara.

Review

Definitely one with the little kiddies in mind. Originally titled All Monsters Attack, it is directed by Godzilla legend Inoshiro Honda. You feel sorry for Ichiro, his father is a train operator and is gone for length of time and his mother job often keeps her away overnight. While capable of taking care of himself he is looked after by an old man who invent toys. He's a bit of a surrogate uncle, often letting Ichiro test the toys he makes. His only other friend is a girl he walks to school with, but we don't see much of her.

Then there is Gabara and his gang of bullies. He pushes Ichiro around, taking things from him and trying to make him do things. For example, telling Ichiro to press the horn of a sign painter's mortorcycle. They also tease Ichiro when he runs away. There is also a pair of bank robbers, one who is obviously the brains and the other is the brawn. These two are brought into the story after Ichiro finds the drivers license of the dumb one.

As the film progresses we quickly learn that Ichiro's main goal in life is to visit Monster Island. Goind so far as picking up old electronic parts, such as vacuum tubes he finds to build a "computer". Something that always bothered me about this is that he actually plugs it into the wall. I guess I always pictured the kid electrocuting himself later or something. He uses it to contact Monster Island, interperting the noises it makes as to take a jet to get there. In his head he does, surrounded by some american looking actors before making them all dissappear, pilots and all.

After arriving on Monster Island he explores and sees Kamacuras, Kumonga, Godzilla, Angilas, Manda, Gorosaurus and Ookonduro. All of these monster are seen through old footage from other movies in the series. Kamacuras (a giant mantis) and Kumonga (a giant spider) are from "Son of Godzilla". Angilas and Manda footage are from "Destroy All Monsters". Ookonduro (a giant vulture) is from" Godzilla vs the Sea Monster" (or "Ebirah, Horror From the Deep"). Gorosaurus footage is from, I think,"King Kong Escapes", but it might be from "Destroy All Monster" as well. Although there is some brief original footage of Kamacura looking down the hole Ichiro falls in the puppet has seen better days. It's not long before he meets up with Minya and the two becomes fast friends. Together they watch Godzilla battle Kamacuras, Kumonga, Ebirah (from sea monster), Ookonduro and some jets. We also find out about Minya's Gabara problem.

Gabara, in my opinion, looks like something a child would make up. He's green with all these little round bumps and orange hair. There are also these horns on top of his head that can generate electricty when he touches a monster. While this is his only movie appearance Gabara does make an early appaearance in the TOHO sreies Yukes! Godman. Unless TOHO decides to revive Gabara for Grandseizar we might have seen the last of this one.

Minya in this one has the ability to shrink down and talk like a human. Of course when he grows to his regular size he sounds like a monster again. As usual, he spits out smoke rings when he tries to use his fire attack, unless something smashes his tail then watch out. Godzilla almost takes a back seat in this one, his only original footage being a slight remake of him trying to teach Minya to use that fire breath and a brief fight with Gabara. Highlighting the problem with using old footage is the godzilla suit itself. They changed the suit design between Sea Monster and Son of Godzilla. This is most noticable in the head, the eyes are bigger in the Son of Godzilla suit and the head is slightly taller.

In the end Ichiro through what he learns in Monster Island is able to outsmart the robbers. He also uses the *ahem* skills he learned on Monster Island to toss around his Gabara. Then he marches off and decides to press the horn on the bike, causing the painter to fall off the ladder and spill paint on himself. Everybody runs off in different directions only to meet up later, best friends all of the sudden. These kids are easily impressed.

Conclusion

Not one of the best Godzilla films out there. The only reason I can see to own this is that you are either a completist or a really hardcore fan. That being said, if you have a child or a younger sibling who act like they're interested in Kaiju films, then this might be a good starter flick. This way you can ease them into it before showing them the better films.

Scikaiju