Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)

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Godzilla Films
All Monsters Attack
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Godzilla vs. Gigan
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
The Japanese poster for Godzilla vs. Hedorah
Alternate titles
Flagicon United States.png Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (1972)
See alternate titles
Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno
Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by Yoshimitsu Banno, Kaoru Mabuchi
Music by Riichiro Manabe,
Mari Keiko ("Return the Sun!" and "Defeat Hedorah!")
Distributor TohoJP
AIPUS
Rating GUS, 1972
PGUS, 2004
Budget ¥90,000,000
Box office ¥300,000,000[1]
Running time 85 minutes
(1 hour, 25 minutes)

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (ゴジラ対ヘドラ,   Gojira Tai Hedora, lit. Godzilla Against Hedorah) is a 1971 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the eleventh installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on July 24, 1971.[2]

Plot

The movie starts out with a long shot of polluted water where Hedorah rises slowly, the title shows onscreen. Credits roll with shots of sludge and garbage floating past on the water mixed with images of a woman singing "Save the Earth" in Japanese. We then come to the home of the Yano family, consisting of Dr. Toru Yano, a marine biologist, his wife, Toshie, and his son, Ken. A fisherman comes to their house with a large black-colored tadpole-esque fish. A friend of the Yano's, Ken, the Doctor, and the fisherman agree it couldn't be a tadpole for a few reasons (Size, area where it was found, color, etc.). The doctor asks where the fisherman caught it, and he said it was down where he normally went shrimping, saying it was strange he didn't get any. As the family and their friend are eating. a news report comes on about a large creature, similar to the fish they found, attacking two boats, destroying them. One theory put out was that it was a military weapon. A clear photo of the creature comes onscreen in the report. Ken exclaims it was the same as the fish the man brought earlier. They travel down to where the fish was caught in Suruga Bay, the doctor in scuba gear, the boy with a knife and pail. The doctor tells his son he'll be back in thirty minutes and dives in. Dr. Yano swims around for a while without finding anything other than garbage on the bottom of the water. As Ken cracks open oysters attached to the rocks in the water, finding nothing, the creature causes a wave to crash into him as it is swimming toward him. He holds his knife up in the air as it jumps above him, creating a large gash in its underbelly. It swims off, leaving Ken on the rocks, calling out to his father. The doctor soon sees the creature, it goes toward him and burns his face with acid. He is brought back home later on, having been treated for burns. In an interview with the press, they discuss the two creatures (as the one that attacked Ken and Dr. Yano was much smaller), Ken refers to them as "Hedorahs", however the name appears to catch on. They discuss how both of the Hedorahs were found in polluted water. Another news report states three more tankers were taken down by the larger of the two. A crude cartoon of a green-colored Hedorah drinking oil from the tankers among hundreds of dead fish is shown. In the background, smoke billows from several chimney stacks.

Classic Godzilla music plays momentarily on a picture of a sunset/sunrise as Godzilla slowly comes on-screen and roars. Various shots of polluted water appears again. Ken has a short monologue about nuclear fallout and waste being put into the sea as Godzilla sets fire to the sludge on the water (apparently for a report of some kind, as evidenced by his lines at the end).

Hedorah then appears in land form, and begins to feed on pollution from a factory. Godzilla appears and attacks Hedorah, only to find out that the monster is immune to his heat ray. Hedorah then retreats back to the ocean with Godzilla on his tail.

Ken is at an amusement park and rides on the roller coaster when he spots Godzilla. Hedorah, now in flying form, appears and attacks the city. Meanwhile, Dr. Yano studies Hedorah's blood to find sulfur. He realizes that Hedorah can only be defeated by high temperatures, and kills the small Hedorah he had locked in his lab by electrocuting it. The army is notified of this weakness, and proceeds to build a machine to kill Hedorah at Mount Fuji.

Ken goes to a party at Mount Fuji where Hedorah attacks. Godzilla attacks Hedorah, but it changes to its final form. Hedorah then defeats Godzilla, and the humans at the party begin to throw fire at it. Hedorah is about to kill them, but Godzilla intervenes. Godzilla fights valiantly, but is once again defeated by Hedorah, with the power lines getting destroyed in the process. The army lures Hedorah to the weapon, only to find out that they do not have power. Godzilla grabs Hedorah and activates the weapon with his heat ray, frying him. He removes two white spheres from Hedorah and destroys them. The weakened Hedorah tries to fly away, but Godzilla flies after him. Hedorah returns to land form, and is drug back to the weapon by Godzilla. Godzilla activates the weapon again and finally kills Hedorah. Ken says his goodbyes to Godzilla as he heads back to the sea.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Akira Yamauchi   as   Doctor Toru Yano
  • Toshie Kimura   as   Toshie Yano
  • Hiroyuki Kawase   as   Ken Yano
  • Toshio Shibaki   as   Yukio Keuchi
  • Mari Keiko   as   Miki Fujiyama
  • Yoshio Yoshida   as   Fisherman Gohei
  • Haruo Suzuki   as   JSDF cadet
  • Yoshio Katsube   as   JSDF engineer
  • Tadashi Okabe   as   News anchor #1
  • Kentaro Watanabe   as   News anchor #2
  • Wataru Omae   as   Policeman
  • Shigeo Kato   as   Fireman
  • Takuya Yuki   as   Communications officer
  • Yukihiko Gondo   as   Helicopter pilot
  • Saburo Iketani   as   News Reader
  • Susumu Okabe   as   Interviewer
  • Haruo Nakajima   as   Godzilla
  • Kenpachiro Satsuma   as   Hedorah

Appearances

Monsters

Weapons, Vehicles, and Races

Gallery

Main article: Godzilla vs. Hedorah/Gallery.

Soundtrack

Main article: Godzilla vs. Hedorah (Soundtrack).

Alternate Titles

  • Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (United States)
  • Hedorah, the Toxic Bubble (Hedorah, la burbuja tóxica; Spain)
  • Godzilla Against Monsters of Smog (Godzilla contra monstruos del smog; Mexico)
  • The Monsters of Smog (Los monstruos del smog; Mexico)
  • Frankenstein's Battle Against the Devil's Monster (Frankensteins Kampf gegen die Teufelsmonster; Germany)
  • Godzilla: Fury of the Monster (Godzilla - Furia di Mostri; Italy)
  • Godzilla Against the Monster of Fog (Godzilla contre le monstre du brouillard; French Belgium)
  • Godzilla Against Hedorah (Godzilla kontra Hedora; Poland)
  • Satan's Creature (Satans creatuur; Netherlands)
  • Monster Hedorah (Canavar Hedorah; Turkey)

Theatrical Releases

View all posters for the film here.

  • Japan - July 24, 1971[2]   [view poster]Japanese poster
  • Germany - 1971   [view poster]German poster
  • Spain - 1971
  • United States - April 1972   [view poster]American poster
  • Italy - 1972   [view poster]Italian poster
  • Belgium - 1972
  • Mexico - 1973   [view poster]Mexican poster
  • Poland - 1973   [view poster]Polish poster
  • Turkey   [view poster]Turkish poster
  • Israel   [view poster]Israeli poster

U.S. Release

American Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster poster

Godzilla vs. Hedorah was released theatrically in the United States in 1972 by American International Pictures, under the title Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. It was dubbed into English by Titan Productions, in the company's last work on a Godzilla film. No footage was cut or replaced, apart from shots of Japanese text, and the opening song, Return the Sun!, was replaced by a new version with English lyrics called Save the Earth, written and performed by Adryan Russ. This version is only available on VHS.

Toho also commissioned an international English dub from a company in Hong Kong, which went unreleased until it aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990's. It has since been included on DVD and Blu-ray releases by TriStar Pictures and Kraken Releasing.

Box Office

Godzilla vs. Hedorah was the main feature of the 1971 Summer Toho Champion Film Festival, alongside an edited version of episodes 5 and 6 of The Return of Ultraman, simply titled The Return of Ultraman, and various cartoons. It recorded 1,740,000 admissions, grossing ¥300,000,000 against a budget of ¥90,000,000. It was Toho's second-highest earner in 1971, and fifth among Japanese films overall.[3]

Reception

Godzilla vs. Hedorah has received a broad range of reviews from negative to positive. In general, the film's special effects were praised, while the film's bizarre and inconsistent tone has often received criticism.

DVD and Blu-ray Releases

Power Multimedia DVD (Year Unknown)

  • Region: N/A
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: English (Mono, international dub), Mandarin (Mono)
  • Special Features: None
  • Notes: Presents an unaltered 16mm transfer of the film's international version, albeit cropped to 1.33:1. Includes traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles. Out of print.

Toho DVD (2004)

  • Region: 2
  • Audio: Japanese

TriStar Pictures DVD (2004)[4]

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese, English (2.0 Mono, international dub)
  • Special Features: Trailers
  • Notes: Out of print.

Madman DVD (2006)

  • Region: 4

Kraken Releasing DVD/Blu-ray (2014)[5]

  • Region: 1 (DVD) or A/1 (Blu-ray)
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese, English (2.0 Mono, international dub)
  • Special Features: Japanese trailer

Videos

Trailers

Godzilla vs. Hedorah Japanese trailer
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster American trailer and TV spots
Frankenstein's Battle Against the Devil's Monster German trailer
Ad for the 1996 Sci-Fi Channel premiere

Behind the Scenes

Filming the battle between Godzilla and Hedorah's final form

Miscellaneous

Complete audio of the Titan Productions English dub

Trivia

  • Godzilla vs. Hedorah includes a scene that is the first, and only, time Godzilla demonstrated the ability of flight in a film, using his atomic breath as jet propulsion. Yoshimitsu Banno reportedly added the scene to provide a light moment in what is otherwise a fairly dark movie compared to many of those which preceded it. Godzilla also demonstrated this ability in the comic series Godzilla: Ongoing and in Bandai Namco's Godzilla.
  • Despite Tomoyuki Tanaka reportedly prohibiting Yoshimitsu Banno from ever working on another Godzilla film, Toho attempted to produce a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah with Banno as director, though this never made it past the concept stage. After Tanaka's death, Banno attempted to create a spiritual successor to Godzilla vs. Hedorah called Godzilla 3D to the MAX, which was scrapped in favor of Legendary Pictures' Godzilla, for which Banno was credited as an executive producer.
  • During the fight against Hedorah in the countryside, Godzilla tries to fend off one of Hedorah's eye beams by forming a cross with his arms, a reference to the pose Ultraman strikes when firing his Specium Ray.
  • Hedorah is the last monster that Godzilla battles in the Showa series that acts independently and is not under the control of some other being.

External Links

References

This is a list of references for Godzilla vs. Hedorah. 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]

  1. ゴジラ対ヘドラ - Wikipedia
  2. 2.0 2.1 ゴジラ対ヘドラ|ゴジラ 東宝公式サイト (official Godzilla.jp page)
  3. Stuart Galbraith IV (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 276.
  4. Amazon.com: Godzilla Vs Hedorah (1972)
  5. Amazon.com: Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (1971)

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