Son of Godzilla (1967)
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Son of Godzilla (怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 is a Kaijū-tō no Kessen: Gojira no Musuko, lit. Monster Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla's Son)1967 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the eighth installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 16, 1967.
Plot
A team of scientists stationed on Solgell Island attempts to perfect a weather control system. Their efforts are hampered by the presence of giant praying mantis-like creatures and by the arrival of a nosy reporter. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, now called Kamacuras, the scientists find the creatures digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby's cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Soon Godzilla himself arrives on the island, incidentally stomping the scientists' base as he rushes to defend his offspring. Godzilla kills two Kamacuras. One is killed by being beaten up in an action move based off of the Waltz, and the other is blown up by Godzilla's atomic breath.
The baby quickly grows to about half the size of his father, and Godzilla instructs the child on the important monster skills of roaring and using his radioactive breath. At first, the baby has difficulty producing anything more than smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions, such as stomping on the baby's tail, produce a true radioactive blast. Dubbed Minilla, the baby comes to the aid of Saeko Matsumiya when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga, a giant spider. The spider attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding, and Minilla stumbles into the fray.
The scientists decide to complete their experiment, thereby freezing the monsters so they can escape. Godzilla comes to the aid of his offspring, and together the two are able to defeat Kumonga, with Minilla finally learning to control his radioactive blast. As the scientists escape to a waiting submarine they witness Minilla succumbing to the cold. Unable to abandon his offspring, Godzilla shelters his son in his arms, and the two fall unconscious. The scientists realize that the cold has placed the two monsters into a state of hibernation, but they will awaken once the snow melts and live in peace on the island.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Jun Fukuda
- Written by Shinichi Sekizawa, Kazue Shiba
- Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Music by Masaru Sato
- Cinematography by Kazuo Yamada
- Edited by Ryohei Fujii
- Production design by Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
- Special effects by Teisho Arikawa, Eiji Tsuburaya
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Akira Kubo as Goro Maki
- Bibari Maeda as Saeko Matsumiya
- Tadao Takashima as Doctor Kusumi
- Akihiko Hirata as Fujisaki
- Yoshio Tsuchiya as Furukawa
- Kenji Sahara as Morio
- Kenichiro Maruyama as Ozawa
- Seishiro Kuno as Tashiro
- Yasuhiko Saijo as Suzuki
- Susumu Kurobe as Navigator
- Kazuo Suzuki as Pilot
- Wataru Omae as Radio Operator
- Chotaro Togin as Surveyor
- Osman Yusuf as Submarine Captain
Appearances
Monsters |
Weapons, Vehicles, and Races |
Gallery
- Main article: Son of Godzilla/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Son of Godzilla (Soundtrack).
Alternate Titles
- Monster Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla's Son (Literal Japanese Title)
- The Son of Godzilla (El hijo de Godzilla; Spain; Mexico; Il figlio di Godzilla; Italy; Syn Godzilla; Poland)
- The Planet of the Monsters (La planète des monstres; France; French Belgium; De planeet der monsters; Dutch Belgium)
- Frankenstein's Monster Hunt: Godzilla's Son (Frankensteins Monster jagen Godzillas Sohn; Germany)
- Godzilla's Son (Godzillas son; Sweden)
- Frankenstein's Island (Frankensteinin saari; Finland)
Theatrical Releases
View all posters for the film here.
- Japan - December 16, 1967 [view poster]; August 1, 1973 (Re-Release) [view poster]
- United States - 1969 (TV)
- Italy - 1969 [view poster]
- Germany - 1971 [view poster]
- Sweden - 1973
- Finland - 1976
- Netherlands - 1978
- Spain [view poster]
- Mexico [view poster]
- Poland [view poster]
U.S. Release
Like Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla was released directly to American television by the Walter Reade Organization in 1969, with an English dub recorded by Titan Productions, Inc. The only edit made to the film was the removal of the opening sequence where the crew of a military plane sees Godzilla swimming towards Solgell Island. It was replaced by a black screen with a red Son of Godzilla title card. The dub also makes numerous name changes. Kamacuras is called "Gimantis," Kumonga is called "Spiega," and Saeko Matsumiya is renamed "Reiko."
DVD and Blu-ray Releases
Toho DVD (2003)
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono and 5.1 Surround)
- Subtitles: Japanese
- Special Features: Audio commentary by special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa, 8mm version (5 minutes), theatrical trailer, storybook with narration
TriStar Pictures DVD (2004)[2]
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono), English (2.0 Mono, international dub)
- Subtitles: English
- Special Features: Trailers
- Notes: Out of print.
Madman DVD (2006)[3]
- Region: 4
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono and 5.1 Surround), English (2.0 Mono, international dub)
- Subtitles: English
- Special Features: Japanese trailer, poster gallery, Madman-made trailers
Box Office
When Son of Godzilla was released on December 16, 1967 in Japan, it sold 2,480,000 tickets. When the film was re-issued on August 1, 1973, it received 610,000 attendees, adding up to a rough attendance total of 3,090,000.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews. Critics enjoyed the style and monster fights, but thought the film was too childish. It currently owns a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film sold 2,480,000 tickets. It was released for TV in the US in 1969, and was not screened for critics.
Videos
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Trivia
- Son of Godzilla is very similar to the previous year's Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. Both take place largely on a south Pacific island populated by monsters, and both include a "native girl" among the cast. Also, both end in a similar way, with the heroes waving goodbye to the monsters as the island is destroyed/frozen. The similarities are due to the faces behind the scenes that worked on both films, including director Jun Fukuda and music composer Masaru Sato.
- The suit in this film, MusukoGoji, was used again in Godzilla vs. Gigan for the water scenes.
- Son of Godzilla was re-released at the Summer Toho Champion Film Festival on August 1, 1973 alongside a theatrical version of episode 1 of Ultraman Taro titled Like the Sun, Mother of Ultra, and various cartoons.
- The lever-action rifles used by the heroes resemble the Marlin Model 336.[4]
- Son of Godzilla is one of two Godzilla movies currently out of print on home video in the United States, the other being Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. However, digital copies of both films' English dubs can be purchased through an online content delivery network called Vudu.
External Links
References
This is a list of references for Son of Godzilla. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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