Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: A Great Duel In The South Seas

— Japanese poster and trailer tagline

 Directed by
 Budget

Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: A Great Duel In The South Seas (also known as Godzilla Ebirah Mothra Nankai Great Duel) is an 1966 toho kaiju film, that was released in the US under the title Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster in 1969.

## Plot

a group of teenagers arrive at an unnamed island were the red bamboo and Ebirah Own it ends up them running away from the red bamboo and finding a sleeping Godzilla that they awaken to fight Ebirah and Mothra comes to save the humans from the exploding island from the red bamboos bomb Godzilla after killing ebirah barely escapes alive!.

## Cast

* Akira Takarada   as   Yoshimura, thief
* Kumi Mizuno   as   Daiyo, Infant Islander
* Akihiko Hirata   as   Red Bamboo Captain Ryui
* Jun Tazaki   as   Red Bamboo base commander
* Hideo Sunazuka   as   Nita, college student
* Chotaro Togin   as   Ichino, college student
* Toru Ibuki   as   Yata Kane, fisherman
* Toru Watanabe   as   Ryota Kane, Yata's brother
* Hideyo Amamoto   as   Red Bamboo captain
* Ikio Sawamura   as   Infant Islander
* Hisaya Ito   as   Red Bamboo scientist
* Shigeki Ishida   as   Newspaper desk editor
* Shoichi Hirose, Kazuo Suzuki   as   Infant Islanders fleeing by canoe
* Yutaka Sada   as   Villager
* Noriko Honma   as   Itako
* Chieko Nakakita   as   Kane, Yata and Ryota's mother
* Seiji Ikeda   as   Fisheries Association President
* Tadashi Okabe   as   Red Bamboo scientist
* Wataru Omae   as   Middle-aged reporter
* Kenichiro Maruyama   as   Young reporter
* Rinsaku Ogata   as   Red Bamboo guard
* Yoshio Katsube   as   Red Bamboo soldier / Infant Islander
* Hideo Shibuya   as   Red Bamboo officer
* Haruo Nakajima   as   Godzilla / Infant Islander
* Hiroshi Sekita   as   Ebirah
* Pair Bambi   as   Shobijin
* Studio No. 1 Dancers   as   Infant Islander dancers

### International English dub

* William Ross   as   Yoshimura / Red Bamboo captain / Red Bamboo scientist / Newspaper editor
* Carole Wyand   as   Daiyo
* Cliff Harrington   as   Nita / Red Bamboo scientist / Policeman
* Burr Middleton   as   Red Bamboo commander / Ichino / Fisheries Association President / Reporter / Radio announcer

### Titan Productions English dub

* Hal Linden   as   Yoshimura
* Lucy Martin   as   Daiyo
* William Kiehl   as   Red Bamboo commander
* Larry Robinson   as   Nita
* Peter Fernandez   as   Ryota

## Staff

* Directed by   Jun Fukuda
* Written by   Shinichi Sekizawa
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Music by   Masaru Sato
* Cinematography by   Kazuo Yamada
* Edited by   Ryohei Fujii
* Production design by   Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
* Assistant director   Ken Sano
* Director of special effects   Eiji Tsuburaya

## Monsters

* Godzilla
* Ebirah
* Mothra
* a Giant Mother Condor

## Titles

* Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: Great Duel in the South Seas (Literal Japanese title)
* Monster No. 1 Godzilla (Japanese 8mm title)
* Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (United States)
* Ebirah - Terror of the Deep (United Kingdom)
* The Monsters from the Sea (Los monstruos del mar; Spain)
* Godzilla versus the Terror of the Seas (Godzilla contra el terror de los mares; Mexico)
* Ebirah, horror of the seas, versus Godzilla (Ebirah, terror de los mares, vs. Godzilla; Mexico)
* Ebirah, Horror in the Depths! (Ebirah, horror en las profundidades!; Colombia)
* Ebirah versus Godzilla (Ebirah contre Godzilla; France)
* Frankenstein and the Monsters from the Ocean (Frankenstein und die ungeheuer aus dem meer; Germany)
* The Return of Godzilla (Il ritorno di Godzilla; Italy)
* Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Godzilla, uhyernes konge; Sweden)
* Ebirah: Monster of the Depths (EBIRAH - POTWOR Z GŁĘBIN; Poland)
* Mothra the Flying Dracula Monster (Motta het vligiende Dracula monster; Holland)
* Ebirah: Monster Island (Ebirah, canavarlar adasi; Turkey)
* Godzilla vs Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (Madman Australia and New Zealand release title)
* Ebirah, Horror of the Oceans (Ebirah, Horror dos Oceanos; Brazil)

## U.S. release

"Ebirah, Horror of the Deep" was released directly to television in North America by the Walter Reade Organization in 1968 under the title Godzilla versus the Sea Monster. It was the first Godzilla film to bypass theatrical distribution in the U.S. and, with Monster Zero not released in the U.S. until 1970, the first released out of sequence. To date, it's the only Godzilla film in which the word "versus" isn't abbreviated in its English title.

Few alterations were made for the Americanization:

* Deleted: The opening credits sequence. This version features only a title card reading "Godzilla versus the Sea Monster" set against a black background.
* Altered: Some footage showing Ebirah's attack on the Yahlen, standing in for Yata's fishing boat, was moved to the beginning of the film. The U.S. version then picks up where the original version begins with brief narration placing the events of the film two months after the previous sequence.
* Despite the existence of Toho's English dubbed international version, a new English soundtrack was produced in New York under the direction of an uncredited Peter Fernandez.[citation needed]
* Captain Ryui is renamed Commander Yamoto. (He is referred to only as "Guard Commander" in the Frontier Enterprises dub from which the new script is based.) Ebirah and the Red Bamboo are never referred to by name.
* Deleted: Ryota goes to the Maritime Safety office for help but is turned away.
* Deleted: Ryota next visits a newspaper's office about his brother's story. He notices the dance contest poster in a waiting area.
* Deleted: When asked where he intends to take the Yahlen, Ryota produces a newspaper clipping (in Japanese) explaining the loss of Yata's fishing boat.
* Deleted: Additional dialogue from Yoshimura about collaborating with Ryota to somehow turn the Yahlen around.
* Deleted: A stock Masaru Sato surf rock piece from the film High and Low that played in the Japanese and international versions during Godzilla's battle with the Red Bamboo air force.
* Deleted: Several short scenes of the Infant Islanders' prayer during the final reel.
* Altered: Toho's versions of the film place the end title over the final shot of Mothra flying to Infant Island. The U.S. version cuts the final shot short and places its end title (in the same typeface as the main title) against a black background.

By the 1970's, the three Godzilla films originally released in the U.S. by Walter Reade Organization were being distributed by Alan Enterprises. Around this time, the original end title was replaced with a new Toho-copyrighted variation. Alan Enterprises was sold to CST Entertainment, Inc. in 1986 and the film was released on video in North America several times over the next fifteen years by distributors Video Treasures, GoodTimes Home Entertainment, and in Canada by HGV Video Productions. This version of the film also remained in circulation on television into the early 2000's.

Unlicensed home video versions during the 1980's were released on the assumption that the film had entered public domain. These releases were derived from the pre-Alan Enterprises version with the original end title. One unique "assumed public domain" version was first shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000 on February 2, 1991. This version of the film, titled Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster and copyrighted to Film Ventures International, featured an entirely new credit sequence over footage from Son of Godzilla with new opening and ending music composed by Karl Demer.

In 2005, TriStar Pictures released Ebirah, Horror of the Deep on DVD in North America for the first time. This DVD release included the original Japanese audio track for the film as well as the Toho-commissioned Frontier Enterprises international English dub. TriStar opted to release the film as Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster rather than the official international English title as it had done in most of its previous releases. TriStar also created new credits in the style of the original international version albeit with the new title. This version was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kraken Releasing in 2014, although the packaging refers to the film with both its international and American titles.

### United Kingdom release

Nat Miller brought Ebirah, Horror of the Deep to UK theaters in August 1969, as part of a double feature with Son of Godzilla. It received an U (Universal) rating from the British Board of Film Censors, perhaps in part because Miller replaced the Horror in the title, a loaded word following decades of British censorship of the genre, with Terror. PolyGram Video released it on VHS in 1992 with Invasion of Astro-Monster and Destroy All Monsters, followed by 4 Front Video in 1998. Sony released the Japanese version of the film on Blu-ray in 2019 as part of the The Criterion Collection's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 box set.

## DVD

Toho released the film first on DVD in (2003)

**Madman** DVD (2005)

* Region: 4
* Discs: 1
* Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono and 5.1 Surround), English (2.0 Mono, international dub)
* Subtitles: English
* Special Features: Poster gallery, Japanese trailer, Madman-made trailers

**TriStar** DVD (2005)

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

## Gallery

The Original Japanese Logo for the film.a poster for the film.an Original Japanese Poster