San daikaijû: Chikyû saidai no kessen

Plot synopsis:
Police Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned to guard Princess Selina Salno of Selgina (Akiko Wakabayashi) during the Princess' visit to Japan, due to a suspected assassination plot. Although Shindo is smitten with Selina's photograph, her plane never makes it to Japan, as it is destroyed by a bomb en route. At exactly the same time a meteorite shower draws the attention of Professor Murai (Hiroshi Koizumi), who along with his team of scientists strikes out into the wilderness to examine the largest of the meteors, which has magnetic properties.
To Shindo's surprise, the supposedly deceased Selina turns up in Japan, without her royal garb (including the golden bracelet that proves she is heir to the throne of Selgina), claiming to be from the planet Mars, and preaching to skeptical crowds of forthcoming disaster. To their surprise however, her prophecies begin coming true. First she predicts Rodan, thought dead in the eruption of Mt. Aso, will emerge from Aso's crater. Subsequently, none other than Godzilla will arise from the sea and destroy a ship. Both of these events transpire.
In the meantime, Selina's uncle (Shin Otomo), who was behind the assassination attempt, learns of her survival and sends his best assassin Malmess (Hisaya Ito) to Japan to dispatch the Princess and steal the golden bracelet. Malmess and his henchmen are stopped by Shindo, who was warned of their attempt by the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito), who were in Japan appearing on a television show. The Shobijin had been scheduled to return to Infant Island aboard the ship sunk by Godzilla, but opted not to go after overhearing Selina's prophecy. A further attempt by the assassins is thwarted when both Godzilla and Rodan attack the city and engage in battle, forcing everyone to flee.
Convinced that Selina is insane, Shindo takes the Princess to see a renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Tsukamoto (Takashi Shimura), in the hopes of curing her. However, Tsukamoto can find nothing wrong with her, mentally or physically. He concludes she must therefore truly be possessed by a Martian as she claims. As if emboldened by the doctor's diagnosis, Selina reveals her final prophecy—that Mars' once thriving civilization was destroyed by an evil, golden three-headed dragon named King Ghidorah, and furthermore that Ghidorah itself has already arrived on Earth. No sooner has she revealed this than Professor Murai and his colleagues at the meteor crash site receive a nasty surprise—the "meteor" is actually an egg, which hatches into the fearsome King Ghidorah. Ghidorah begins razing the countryside.
To combat the combined threats of the three monsters, the Japanese government enlists the aid of the Shobijin to summon Mothra (the surviving larva from the previous film). Upon arriving on the Japanese mainland, Mothra attempts to persuade the quarreling Godzilla and Rodan to team up against the evil alien (which is translated to the humans by the Shobijin) but both refuse, with Godzilla stating they have no reason to save mankind as both it and Rodan "have always had trouble with men and men hate them", to which Rodan agrees. Despite Mothra stating that Earth belongs to them as well and that it is their duty to defend it, Godzilla and Rodan still refuse and the pair refuse to forgive each other, wanting to continue their fight. Unable to convince them and despite being vastly outmatched, Mothra calls the pair of them "bullheaded" and resolves to fight Ghidorah by herself. Mothra engages Ghidorah and is continually blasted by its gravity beams. Fortunately for Mothra, Godzilla and Rodan, impressed by her courage and selflessness, arrive to help, and a titanic battle against Ghidorah begins. Meanwhile, Shindo and Dr. Tsukamoto are forced to protect Princess Selina as Malmess and his men converge on Tsukamoto's clinic; they manage to fend off the killers and escape into the mountains as the dueling monsters draw closer.
The assassins attempt to follow, but a stray blast from Ghidorah buries their car in an avalanche. Only Malmess remains uninjured enough to continue. He attempts to snipe the Princess from an elevated position, but only injures her. In her pain, she regains her memory and is no longer possessed by the Martian. Before Malmess can take another shot, another stray blast from Ghidorah buries the assassin under a second avalanche. With the heroes thus saved from the human menace, they gather at a safe distance to watch the battle between Earth's monsters and Ghidorah. After now gaining a clear advantage over Ghidorah, the three monsters coordinate their attack; Godzilla grabs hold of Ghidorah's tails while Mothra (riding on Rodan's back) sprays the three-headed dragon with her silk. Finally, Godzilla throws the alien beast off the cliff and the battered dragon flies off, back into outer space.
As Mothra and the Shobijin return to Infant Island while Godzilla and Rodan go their separate ways, Selina, having retained the memories of her time with Shindo, bids farewell to her guardian as she meets her bodyguards at the airport to return home.

Tags: murder

Review:
Many fans of Japanese monster movies regard the late 50s/early 60s as the Golden Age,and they are generally right.There is a terrific feel to the Toho Studios films made in that period-imaginative,exciting,fun without generally descending into camp,a good stock company of actors,etc.This film,to call it by it's western name Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster,is a direct sequel to Godzilla Vs Mothra,perhaps the apex of the Godzilla series.It is not as completely satisfying as the previous instalment but it is probably even more entertaining.The build-up is somewhat muddled and lengthy,but the plot is just about intriguing enough to keep one ticking over until,after perhaps too long a wait,the monsters appear and the film really kicks into high gear.The appearance of Godzilla,the pterosaur-like Rodan,and the three headed dragon Ghidorah {surely Godzilla's greatest foe} are all well staged and effective,while Ghidorah's attack on Tokyo remains impressive and was often 're-used' in later films.The Godzilla/Rodan battle is just funny,as is the bit where Mothra tries to communicate with Godzilla and Rodan and get them to fight Ghidorah,a really wacky scene that could only exist in a Japnese monster movie, but the climactic fight,as the three Earth monsters Godzilla,Rodan and Mothra combine their strength against the alien creature is the most rousing climax of a Godzilla film,aided by Akira Ifikube's fantastic theme music.As usual,the US version was altered and,once again,for the worst,although not as badly as King Kong Vs Godzilla.Still,scenes were cut and shifted about,tightening the pace of the first half and weakening continuity,and some of the music was replaced.Once again,to get a real appreciation of this tremendously enjoyable and exciting movie,you need to seek out the Japanese version..
Mothra is called to Japan to ask Godzilla and Rodan to fight against King Gidora, but the two monsters aren't exactly interested in helping mankind.The plot of this movie is superbly written with each element supporting the entire flow of the story.
Many die hard Godzilla fans might not like the campy flavor of this movie, but so many elements crammed into this movie that runs just over 90 minutes has intricacies and originality never seen in previous Japanese monster movies.
The monster is none other than Ghidrah(Ghidorah), perhaps the greatest enemy faced by Godzilla in any of his films.
With the help of Mothra's fairies who just happen to be visiting Japan during this "global" crisis, Mothra is sent to Godzilla and Rodan to try and convince them to help the people of the world and fight Ghidrah.
Rodan and Godzilla are wary of helping mankind, and would rather beat on each other, making one Japanese spectator remark, "These monsters are as stupid as human beings!" This is a fun film.
Mothra (larval) tries to ask Godzilla and Rodan (who are still evil) to help her fight Ghidorah.
The effects by Eiji Tsuburaya are dazzling and the Godzilla and King Ghidorah suits look the best they've ever looked while unfortunately Mothra looks like a living poop and Rodan looks like a chicken.
Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster was a turning point in the Godzilla series.
Godzilla, Mothra (in larvae form), and Rodan team up to battle a new monster named Ghidrah (or Ghidorah in the Japanese version).
Despite the fact that the Monsters Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra look and act a little goofy in this one, it doesn't change the fact that this film is loads of fun to watch.When a new monster named Ghidrah (who doesn't love seeing this three-headed beastie?) threatens to destroy the world, our only hope is Mothra.
However Mothra is still much too young to possibly have any chance in a battle with Ghidrah and so seeks the unlikely aid of both Godzilla and Rodan, who prove most stubborn yet in the end neither it seems can resist a good fight.The film has some great lines (here's one example: "these Monsters are as bad as human beings!") and some fun subplots (a police Inspector trying to protect a Princess who claims she's really a Martian from assassination attempts, the involvement of Mothra twin fairy protectors).
With Ghidorah threatening to destroy Earth, it requires the combined strength of Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra to stop him.
By the way, this is the first movie that Godzilla journeys into as "the good guy." While Godzilla and Rodan weren't too happy to meet each other, it was actually Mothra who urged the two monsters to cooperate to battle Ghidorah and help mankind.
And, this movie has a whole lot- towering monsters, a Martian, a princess, detectives, doctors, reporters, and, of course, Mothra's tiny twin fairy priestesses, who once again did their little song and dance and chat in unison.
The key to a good Godzilla flick is a solid plot (even if it's just interesting in a hokey B-movie sci-fi way) and interesting human characters, because let's face it, the monster action only actually makes up less than a third of the movie itself, so if the rest is torture to sit through there's almost no point to watching it (unless you're a completist, like myself)."Ghidora, the Three Headed Monster" doesn't quite have the most interesting story of any of the Godzilla movies, but it's solid enough and we get a healthy dose of the lovable singing fairy girls.
When a world ending three headed monster by the name of Ghidorah arrives on earth chaos ensues!Godzilla, Rodan & Mothra are all on the scene but fighting one another.
And yet somehow/someway this is actually the best Toho film I've seen.It suffers with all the usual tropes and arguably the plot is even worse than usual but it works and makes for a fun monster epic.The Godzilla films are certainly niche and not for everyone but this is a fun little effort.The Good:By this point it's actually starting to feel like a franchiseBuilds up to a solid climaxThe Bad:Opening is really daftSome of the outfits are embarassingly badPlot is a tad confuddledGodzilla moves like a teletubbyFranchise is getting goofyThings I Learnt From This Movie:The mini martian ladies are growing on meMid battle giant monsters often enjoy games of catch with boulders.
They are many reasons why people rooted for Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra when they fight the three-headed golden dragon-like Goliath.
They play a big part in the film, convincing Godzilla and Rodan to join forces with Mothra and save Earth from Ghidorah.
The climactic battle has Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra versus King Ghidorah -- what's not to love about that?.
This is probably the most purely entertaining of the Inoshiro Honda "Godzilla" films, and proves that Honda (who could get pretty heavy-handed with these puppet monster movies) was capable of real wit.
And the special fx are still credible for this series in its time.One sad note: apparently the Japanese version lacks a line that is an all-time favorite of the series, and which must have been added by the dubbing team - Shobijin: "Oh Godzilla, such terrible language!" - spoken while Godzilla and Mothra are arguing whether to save the human race.However, when this film is re-released on DVD, it really must be this DVD that gets to America.
The movie is rather good, it comes on the heels of Godzilla vs Mothra and I was happy to here about the death of the other Mothra in the Japanese version as I don't think they went over this in the American one.
At the end you have a big monster battle royal featuring Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra against the new threat who I thought should have had a few more scenes of him destroying things to establish him a bit more as a super heavy hitter.
For the first time we get to see Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra all together as they battle the infamous monster from outer space, King Ghidorah (the preferred spelling).I say the film is a little uneven only because there are a lot of different story elements going on simultaneously, and a good deal of the time is spent on the human characters.
When the woman arrives in Tokyo, she has been taken over by strange alien forces and reveals herself as a "Venusian" prophet who warns of impending Earth disaster in the form of Ghidorah, a dragon-like, three-headed monstrosity who has already wiped out all the life on another planet.In the meantime, Godzilla and Rodan have awakened from their usual slumbers, and they have a quarrel with each other while the latest version of Mothra (the younger caterpillar type) tries to intervene by urging these two to drop their personal grievances and join forces to help protect the world against the threat of Ghidorah.
The delightful twin fairies of Mothra's island always help make these films fun, and this time they're actually able to translate "monster talk" when Mothra attempts to convince Godzilla and Rodan (who are reluctant at first) to team up to fight Ghidorah.
Here you can already see how the films are beginning to get a little more juvenile at this point, as evidenced not only in the monster conversations but also in the comical encounter between Godzilla and Rodan (they play volleyball by bouncing a boulder back and forth!).
Still, these goofy exchanges are kind of charming in their own way, and this would be the start of turning Godzilla into a more heroic figure for the children (which I never thought was a completely bad idea by this time, personally).Godzilla starts to look more like Sesame Street's Cookie Monster with this chapter, but the effects are generally quite good when seen in the original Japanese widescreen edition, and the multi-monster teamup at the climax is well done.
While secret agents continue to attempt to kill the princess/Venusian (James Bond films having become very popular), the miniature twins from Infant Island appear and recruit Mothra to fight Ghidorah.
Another revision to the canon is the obvious sentiency of the monsters as Mothra (in her larval form) argues with Godzilla and Rodan (translated by the twins) about the ethical and pragmatic pros and cons of helping mankind defend the Earth.
Like many of the later entries in the "Showa" era films, "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" is the kind of silly fun that most "westerners' expect from Godzilla films.
Although there is a bit of blood spilled as the assassin stalks the princess and some of the language in the subtitles is more adult that the story calls for, the movie is essentially for the kids, with heroic monsters cooperating to take on a three-headed bully and a simple 'why can't we all get along' message.
Ghidorah the Three Headed MOnster is a very significant Godzilla Film.
THe aspect of a bad guy turning good has worked on other characters in movies and comics and television but I do not like how they did this with Godzilla.
But it is not the end of the world, I just like him way better as a bad guy.Rodan shows up for his first appearance in a Godzilla film.
Rodan looks better when he is flying in this film, helps tremendously against Ghidorah and also he gets in some good action with Godzilla.
That bugged me because Rodan and Godzilla never got their own film against each other and when they actually do fight Mothra comes in and stops it.
So is the sinister sub plot regarding the Princess.Brings a lot of elements & characters from other Godzilla movies together - sort of a best of.
After a meteorite unleashes a three-headed beast upon Tokyo, Mothra tries to unite with Godzilla and Rodan to battle the extraterrestrial threat.This film has pretty decent effects, particularly during the "birth" of Ghidorah.
Sequel to both "Mothra Vs. Godzilla" & "Rodan" sees the debut of Ghidorah, a three-headed monster from outer space bent on the destruction of the Earth.
This movie features Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra teaming up for the first time against Ghidorah.
There's a subplot in this involving an attempted kidnapping of the princess.In the end it's Mothra and his two fairy companions who persuade Godzilla and Rodan to team up and the three of them face Ghidorah in a handicap match and combine their skills to defeat the really alien dude.
You have to admire the way Rodan and Mothra worked together on this with Godzilla providing a finishing move with some foreign objects.These films are so cheesy, but they're lots of fun..
This movie, featuring Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah in his first motion picture ever, is a surprisingly good film considering it was about this time that Godzilla changed from a nuclear terror icon to a hero for children.
And this movie also gives us Godzilla (of course), Rodan and Mothra.
The monster fights are really good, I especially liked the clash between Godzilla and Rodan.
The story is very good and I really love the way Godzilla looks in this film.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is one of the best of the Godzilla series.
I am a long time fan of Godzilla but this film suffers from a long, boring intro (29 minutes) before we get to the first monster, Rodan, who appears for about 30 seconds.
It's a full 51 minutes before we see action which amounts to Rodan knocking Godzilla down and flying away; 54 minutes before Ghidorah finally appears.The special effects budget must have been microscopic, it isn't the worst of the G films but it's pretty bad.
Finally it breaks down into a volleyball match at which point Mothra persuades them to combine their silly antics against the only impressive and fearsome monster in this movie: Ghidorah.Many other G films suffer from poor effects and silly fighting but I can't put this even in my top ten G films.
It may interest you to know before seeing Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (and by the way thankfully Toho didn't go with the original title of Godzilla & Rodan & Mothra Jr vs Ghidorah, though they'd later have such ungainly titles in the early 2000's), that most of the monsters don't show until the halfway point.
I don't think this is necessarily a negative for any monster movie as long as the human characters give me something to keep my attention or, if they're daring enough, do something that's really out there (i.e. satirize bureaucracy in Shin Godzilla).In Ghidorah, we get a story that could have come out of a pulp comic book or paperback (I'll get to the comic book element in a moment), where the start of the movie has a Princess on a plane getting word from, uh, somewhere, telekinetic-like, that she has to get off the plane and run.
This plot is the stuff of B-movie trash, but it's directed and written and performed so straight that it comes around to being sincere and believable and clever; this part of the movie, with maybe a scene or two exception, doesn't have to be enjoyed as a guilty pleasure thing, it works as a legit pleasure.Of course we're waiting for the monsters to come, and they do, with the Big Bad space invader Ghidorah, a three-headed winged serpent that has destroyed all of Venus except for the spirit of the being inside the Princess, and it's up to Mothra to stop him...
It's the first true monster mash in this series of Toho movies (prior to this it was one-on-one fights between Godzilla and someone else), and it's pretty spectacular as far as these movies go.I think I liked how the filmmakers were able to balance human characters we could at least partially invest in, that had the modicum of depth and personality that should be there (and there is, genuinely), so that by the time the monsters come we have people to latch on to, including the Space-being-possessed princess.
There are also moments where humor comes in with the monster fight, or what they try to do (at one point Godzilla and Rodan toss rocks at each other like it's a game of tennis), but it's the unintentionally funny moments that stick out.All this said, I'd put Ghidorah as one of the major efforts from Toho during this period, or even overall for the entire franchise, it's that good; there's hypnotic music with the twin ladies, exciting monster fights, and not half-way bad human characters.
Wow a three headed beast from outer-space, so powerful that it requires the help of Rodan, Mothra and Godzilla to take him out.
Fortunately a pair of tiny priestesses from Infant Island happen to be on the mainland for a TV show in which they telepathically let a pair of young boys get their wish of "seeing" Mothra; they are able to summon Mothra to help with the aim of convincing Godzilla and Rodan to stop their battle and team up to defeat Ghidorah.Considering this film is about several rubber monsters bashing each other around, there is a whole heck of a lot of plot and characters going on – my summary above doesn't even mention the journalist and her cop brother who are involved in proceedings or the fact that the film makes time for the Mothra priestesses to do their song not once but twice!
And this is my problem with the film because it is at is "best" whenever it is being silly rubber monster fun – for example with Mothra spraying her web to stop a fight between Godzilla and Rodan; a fight which it must be said is essentially Godzilla kicking rocks at a giant turkey while that turkey flaps its wings to keep the rocks at bay.
Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah.
Mothra gets Godzilla and Rodan to team up with him to destroy King Ghidorah.
It also features a fan's dream team as he teams up with Rodan and Mothra to combat what many would consider to be Godzilla's greatest enemy, King Ghidorah, introduced here in this movie.
In the end, all three monsters team up and send Ghidorah back to outer space.Great Godzilla movie, I'd give it a 7 out of 10.