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Film: Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (Gojira, Ebirâ, Mosura: Nankai no daiketto)
Year: 1966
Director: Jun Fukuda
Writer: Shin’ichi Sekizawa
Starring: Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno and Chôtarô Tôgin
Review:
This film begins with a mother talking to a psychic. The mother continues to consult with her until she tells her that she has seen her son in the land of the dead. She hasn’t yet. We learn that her other son is trying to keep the search going.
The other son is played by Tôru Watanabe. He goes to the police, but they tell him they do not have a boat. He then goes to the press, but they ignore him. While he was there, he sees something about a marathon dance competition. He then goes to this. While there, he meets two people who were competing, but have lost, they are played by Chôtarô Tôgin and Hideo Sunazuka. They decide to take Watanabe to the marina to show him boats.
The two think that Watanabe is a maniac. They find a yacht and climb aboard. They find that there is clothing and food, as it appears ready to set sail. They end up finding a man aboard; he is played by Akira Takarada. He has a rifle, but allows them to sleep on the yacht.
Takarada wakes up in the middle of the night and finds his rifle missing. Watanabe comes down and we learn it was a toy. He hits him and goes up on the deck to find that they sailing. The radio runs later we hear that Takarada does not own the yacht they are on. We also learn there was a robbery and the two guys think Takarada did it. He won’t admit to it though.
They then run into a storm and are attacked by a giant lobster known as Ebirah. They end up on an island know as Letchi Island or Devil Island. They all survive, and start to investigate. They find there is a secret base on this island. A ship arrives that is spraying yellow liquid into the water. This is actually a terrorist organization known as Red Bamboo. They have enslaved people and are bringing them in.
There are two people that escape. They get shot at, but make it into the water. They don’t get far when Ebirah attacks them, killing them both. There is one woman that does sneak away; she is played by Kumi Mizuno. They are chased by soldiers and make their way to a cliff. They find a cave and hide inside. They come to find that Godzilla is sleeping inside of this cave.
We then learn that Mizuno is from Infant Island and she is trying to pray to Mothra to get her to come to the island to save her. She states that Mothra is asleep currently though. Watanabe asks about his brother to see if he was marooned there. She confirms that there is someone the same age and profession there. He now wants to get off this island and make it there.
They then decide to try to free the prisoners. Takarada has made a skeleton key that he believes will help them get into the base. It does work and they investigate. It appears that Red Bamboo is trying to make nuclear weapons. An alarm is sounded, so they try to flee. Before they can, Sunazuka is captured and Watanabe gets tangled with a balloon. The rest get back to the cave. Tôgin comes up with the idea of using lightning to wake up Godzilla for his help.
They succeed in waking him up and he does battle with Ebirah. It becomes a stalemate and then he does battle with a giant Condor. As he does this, he is protecting Mizuno. Watanabe on the other hand ends up on Infant Island, where he finds his brother, played by Tôru Ibuki. They decide to go back to the island to free everyone. Before they go, they are told to make a net.
Can Red Bamboo be stopped before they complete their weapon? Can their prisoners be free? Can Godzilla defeat all the monsters that challenge him?
I have to say that the Godzilla films do evolve. This one has a story of a brother looking for his older brother. Godzilla definitely becomes a monster that helps them to free themselves from the island. The giant lizard also plays a pivotal role in defeating Red Bamboo and securing their freedom. The acting isn’t bad and the characters are different from previous films. The story isn’t bad, but Godzilla is definitely not the focus, even though this is a giant monster film.
Now I do have some issues with this film. I discovered that this originally was going to have King Kong as its hero, which makes sense. Godzilla in this one is sleeping in a cave, when he usually sleeps in the ocean. He also is awaked by lightning, which is something that is new to this one. He is afraid of electricity. This doesn’t ruin the film though. There was some cheesy comedy, which I wasn’t a big fan of, like when Godzilla and Ebirah playing tennis with a boulder. Also Mothra is in this film, but only at the end. I actually just wanted more from her.
With that said, this film isn’t horrible, but it is not one of the better ones. The story is okay and the acting is decent. Godzilla is a secondary part of this film, which was a bit disappointing. The fight scenes were kind comical, which I wasn’t a fan of. If you like the Godzilla and giant monster films, I would recommend giving this one a viewing. This one is not that good though, so keep that in mind.
My Rating: 5 out of 10