Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Directed by
 Music by
 Budget

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (also known as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) is a 1971 film. Part of the Toho studio's Godzilla series, it was directed by Yoshimitsu Banno with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The score was composed by Riichiro Manabe.

Tomoyuki Tanaka, who produced the first 22 Godzilla films! was in the hospital during the time the film was made. Upon recovery and actually seeing the film, it is said that he told the director of the film he ruined the Godzilla series and that he would never direct at Toho again. Although Banno's soon-to-be released work featuring the monster Deathla (Godzilla 3D to the MAX) may prove otherwise.

Hedorah was an alien lifeform that landed on Earth and began feeding on pollution. Thanks to his toxic nature, as well as his acidic, poisonous body, Hedorah very nearly put an end to Godzilla in their struggle. Godzilla finally put an end to Hedorah by completely drying him out using electrical generators set up by the military and his own radioactive breath. The movie contains several strange impressionistic animated scenes portraying the smog monster at his evil work.

On a side note, this was the first - and only - time we see Godzilla fly. He uses his atomic breath as jet propulsion. 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.

## Plot

In Suruga Bay where marine pollution is increasing , strange creatures resembling tadpoles were found, and tanker accidents by monsters similar to them were occurring one after another. Fishermen brought a strange organisms from Islay marine biology , but of who Yano go out the survey along with the son of Ken, Yano is seriously injured is attacked by a mysterious organism in the sea floor, Ken giant tadpole-shaped in coastal Witness the creatures.

Kenji, who loves Godzilla, thinks, "Godzilla will get angry when he sees a sea full of sludge." A mysterious creature named **Hedra** because it is a "monster born from the dirty sea" arrives one night in search of factory smoke. Yukio and Miki, who were dancing at the go-go café , encounter Hedora, and Godzilla appears there. Godzilla and Hedorah have a fierce battle, but no settling. The next day, in a town where the damage by sulfuric acid mist was widespread, Yano uncovered the terrifying ecology from the scattered Hedra cells, and the sightings of the two men suggested Hedra's new ability.

Initially, Hedra was supposed to land only at night or in rainy weather, but grown Hedra gained flight ability and appeared in daylight. At the destination of Hedra, sulfuric acid mist is sprayed, and people fall down one after another. Godzilla appears again, but Hedra is missed.

The damage caused by hedra is more and more serious and becomes a serious social problem. Yano came up with the idea of ​​defeating Hedra based on the idea of ​​the lab, but hedra finally grows larger than Godzilla and appears at the foot of Mt. Fuji. And Godzilla appears three times, and the final decisive battle with Hedora begins.

Hedra crushes Godzilla's left eye with light rays and makes his right arm white bones, and damages the giant electrode plate installed by the Self-Defense Forces, etc. Electric current begins to flow as Godzilla fires radiant heat rays. Hedra receives a high-voltage current of 3 million volts and dries, but only the surface of the body was dried, and a small hedra appears from the body. Godzilla chases the flying Hedra by radiant heat rays and crashes it, squeezing it while pushing it between the electrode plates again, completely drying it with high-voltage current and radiant heat rays to destroy it.

Godzilla quietly returns to the sea when he glances at the Self-Defense Forces who are part of the humans that made Hedora so grown up. Ken says the parting words and sees them off.

It seemed that peace had been restored, but a new hedra was being born in a sea somewhere full of sludge.

## Cast

* Tohru Yano: Akira Yamauchi
* Yano Lab: Hiroyuki Kawase
* Toshie Yano: Toshie Kimura
* Miki Fujinomiya: Keiko Mari (Victor)
* Yukio Mouchi: Toshio Shibamoto
* Old man Gohei: Yoshio Yoshida
* Hedorah: Kengo Nakayama
* Godzilla TV people, non-commissioned officers (three roles): Haruo Nakajima
* SDF executive officer Suzuki  : Haruo Suzuki
* SDF Technical Officer Katsube  : Yoshio Katsube
* Scholar: Tadashi Okabe
* People: Yasuzo Ogawa
* Policeman: Wataru Omae
* NCO: Eisaburo Komatsu , Koji Uruki
* Correspondent/Yuki  : Takuya Yuki
* Helicopter pilot: Yukihiko Gondo
* Youth: Haruo Nakazawa
* Announcer Watanabe: Kentaro Watanabe ( TBS )
* Okabe announcer: Tatsu Okabe (TBS)

\*Non-credit performers below

* Mahjong guests: Kazuo Imai , Saburo Kadowaki , Masaki Shinohara , Nobuo Katsura
* People TV Shows: Kusama Akiraotto , UBUKATA Takeshiji
* Tobi job at the construction site: Shigeo Kato
* NCO: Yutaka Oka

## Staff

* Directed by   Yoshimitsu Banno
* Written by   Yoshimitsu Banno, Kaoru Mabuchi
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka
* Music by   Riichiro Manabe
* Cinematography by   Yoichi Manoda
* Edited by   Yoshitami Kuroiwa
* Production design by   Taiko Inoue
* Director of special effects   Teruyoshi Nakano
* Assistant director of special effects   Koichi Kawakita
* "Return the Sun!" performed by   Mari Keiko, Honey Knights, Moon Drops
	+ Lyrics by   Yoshimitsu Banno
	+ Arranged by   Hiroshi Takada

## Production

Director Banno initially conceived the idea for Godzilla vs. Hedorah*Godzilla vs. Hedorah* after seeing cities like Yokkaichi covered in black smog and the ocean filled with foam from dumped detergent and formulated the story of an alien tadpole transforming into a monster as a result of the pollution.

The film marked director Banno's directorial debut; however, the budget for *Godzilla vs. Hedorah* was significantly lower than previous *Godzilla* films. Banno was only given 35 days to shoot the film and only had one team available to shoot both the drama and monster effects scenes. Veteran Godzilla director Ishirō Honda was later tasked by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to watch Banno's rough cut and provide advice.

Kenpachiro Satsuma, the actor who played Hedorah, was struck with appendicitis during the production. Doctors were forced to perform the appendectomy while he was still wearing the Hedorah suit, due to the length of time it took to take off. During the operation, Satsuma learned that painkillers had no effect on him.

Director Yoshimitsu Banno was going to make a sequel to this film, but it was scrapped due to the fact that Tomoyuki Tanaka reportedly hated *Godzilla vs. Hedorah*, so he fired Yoshimitsu Banno. The next film was going to be called *Godzilla vs. Redmoon*, but this was scrapped and later became *Daigoro vs. Goliath*[*citation needed*], then they planned a new film called *Godzilla vs. The Space Monsters: Earth Defensive Directive*, but this was also scrapped and then became *The Return of King Ghidorah*, which was also scrapped, after which they ultimately made

God *Godzilla vs. Gigan*.

## 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 Monsters (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)

## Alternate Endings

There are two distinct versions of American International's "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster." The first, presumably the original 35mm theatrical version, features an English language cartoon sequence (reworked from a similar Japanese one in the original film). A similar insert replaces a shot of a newsreader with an English language map of Fuji. Furthermore, AIP removed all Japanese text from the scenes of various "science lessons" given by Dr. Yano. This is the version released on video and Laserdisc by Orion Home Video in 1989. The second version has none of these unique shots. The Hedorah cartoon and newsreader shot are unchanged from the Japanese version and Dr. Yano's science lessons feature onscreen Japanese text. This version seems to have been the standard 16mm release for television and can be seen in unlicensed copies of the film such as the 1990 Simitar VHS release and the Canadian DVD release by Digital Disc.

At the end of the original Japanese and international English versions, right after the closing shot of Godzilla walking away into the open field, a still of Hokusai's ancient ukiyo-e illustration, "Mt Fuji from the Offing in Kanagawa"/"The Big Wave," which depicts a huge wave about to trample on fragile ships on the waters below (with Mount Fuji in the background), can be seen. This was followed by a title card (against a black background) reading "Soshite mo ippiki?"/"And yet another one?" The film then closes with the same still shot from the film's prologue of Hedorah rising out of the water, with "The End" superimposed. In American International's US version, the scenes were cut out. After Godzilla walks away into the open field, the film simply cuts to a black background, with a superimposed "The End - an American International Release" dissolving in. Then, the film fades out, and you can still hear the rest of Riichiro Manabe's closing music for another 10 to 15 seconds (where the original closing scenes used to be).

There are two different English versions of this movie. The first is titled "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" and was dubbed by an uncredited Hong Kong company for Toho. It's unedited from the original Japanese film, and notably all songs were left in Japanese. This version, often called an international or export version by fans, went unreleased in the United States until January 1996 when it was first broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. It's since become the only version available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the U.S. The second English version is titled "Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster." This version was produced by Salvatore Billitteri for American International Pictures and released in the United States in 1972. Despite an extant English version, AIP opted to have the film re-dubbed in New York at Titan Productions, Inc. The Japanese-language song featured in the Japanese and international version is translated and replaced by an English version, "Save the Earth," written by Guy Hemric and Adryan Russ and sung by Russ. This American version of the movie was removed from circulation in the mid-'90s when Toho regained control of the film from Orion, which had previously purchased the AIP film library.

## U.S. release

*Godzilla vs. Hedorah* was released theatrically in the United States in February 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. Notably, the anti-pollution song which reappears throughout the film, "Return the Sun!", was replaced by a new version with English lyrics called "Save the Earth," written by Adryan Russ and Guy Hemric and performed by Russ. The AIP version of the film is only available on VHS and LaserDisc.

*Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster* was initially rated PG by the MPAA, but re-rated G despite the unusual amount of on-screen death for a kaiju film. When TriStar Pictures released the international version of the film on DVD, it was rated PG once more. The film does not appear to have been widely released as a double feature, though 103 theaters in the New York City area paired it with *Frogs* and five Houston theaters with *Yog, Monster from Space*.

Prior to AIP's Americanization, Toho commissioned an international English dub from a company in Hong Kong, which went unreleased in English speaking territories until the Sci-Fi Channel aired it on January 20, 1996. It has since been included on the DVD and Blu-ray releases by Power Multimedia, Columbia TriStar Home Video, Madman Entertainment, and Kraken Releasing.

## Sequel

in 2003 to 2007 the Films Director Yoshimitsu Banno wanted to make a sequel to the film called "Godzilla vs. Deathla" but Director Keith Melton who asked to Direct the film changed the films title to 'Godzilla 3D To The Max' it was released on 12 September 2007 World Wide.

## DVD

VHS
It was released in 1986.
LD
It was released in 1996.
DVD
The jewel case version was released on April 28, 2004  . The audio commentary is Akinori Nakano  .
It is included in the "Godzilla DVD Collection III" released on March 28, 2008, and the single-volume version of the tall case was released at the same time.
Also included in the "GODZILLA FINAL BOX" released on April 22, 2005.
On May 14, 2014, a low-priced limited-edition version was also released as "Godzilla 60th Anniversary".
Released on June 15, 2016, <Toho DVD Masterpiece Selection> version.
BD
It was released on July 16, 2014.