Year: 1965
Director: Ishiro Honda
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Godzilla Raids Again started the trend of having Godzilla show up, wreck the hello kitty out of Japan, and then fight another monster. At this point Godzilla was still the antagonist of the series but he was more a force of nature rather than a doom & gloom nuclear metaphor. By 1965, though, the Godzilla series was on its sixth movie and the King of the Monsters wasn’t such a bad guy anymore. Rather than destroying the world he was saving it.
In this film, Aliens from Planet X request the use of Godzilla and Rodan to fight off King Ghidorah, but have a better use for the three monsters.
Monster Zero represents the creative apex of the usual Toho team (Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Akira Ifukbie). After this film all four of them would work together only four more times. Godzilla’s next two films would be less destructive however as they would take place on tropical islands rather than cities. The miniatures would be less costly, but it really a Godzilla movie if monsters aren't destroying huge buildings?
Unfortunately the special effects budget on Monster Zero was lower than the previous films thus giving the film the dubious distinction of being the first Godzilla film to rely on stock footage from other entries. Thankfully the acting is very good; the chemistry between the human characters give this picture a more down-to-earth feel (even though ironically it is very much a science fiction film)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero is a pretty good film in the series. It isn't as much of a spectacle as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is, but the element of human drama keeps this from just being a movie about monsters fighting. It is a worthwhile watch to fans and non-fans alike.
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