King Ghidorah vs. Godzilla: The Giant Monster War

— Japanese Trailer tagline

Against Space Monster King Ghidorah!

 Directed by
 Budget

King Ghidorah vs. Godzilla: The Giant Monster War (also known as?, Godzilla: Invasion of Astro-Monster) is a 1965 kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda.

## Plot

In the year 196X, Fuji Kazuo and Glen Nick of the Earth Federation Space Agency headed for the investigation of Jupiter's 13th new satellite X, and had an advanced civilization, but they lived underground due to the attack of the space monster King Ghidorah. Meet the forced X- alien. The X Alien Controller has offered to borrow the Earth monsters Godzilla and Radon in exchange for a cancer bullet, as a countermeasure against King Ghidorah .

The return of Fuji and others announced the request of X Alien, and the earth has become a welcome mood. In addition, a defense army investigation reveals that Godzilla is in Lake Myojin, Japan, as X Alien pointed out. A few days later, negotiations were concluded with the disciples who visited the earth with a disk, but Fuji and Glen felt some odor. Thus, the two great monsters carried to X-Star repel King Ghidorah. On the other hand, Tetsuo Torii, a lover of Fuji's younger sister Haruno and a townless inventor, is invited to the "World Education Company" where a beautiful girl named Nagawa who rarely bought his invention works. The negotiation does not proceed. While visiting the World Education Company many times, Torii, who was suspicious of knowing that Nagawa was Glen's lover, sneaks into the villa on the Megura Island owned by the World Education Company, but is caught there.

These were all X-alien traps, and the World Education Company was the cover of their Earth Invasion Front base. The King Ghidorah was operated by the electromagnetic waves of the X aliens, and Godzilla and Radon were also their weapons and secretly relocated to Earth. X-Star Controller declares the Earth's colonization on an audio tape disguised as cancer's silver bullet data. Amid the world's turmoil, Nawakawa was executed by his love for Glenn despite being an X-alien, and Glenn was captured by X-alien.

Whether or not the earth will surrender, X Earth people who are pressing for a response within 24 hours while showing force, the Earth Federation Space Agency secretly plans to break X alien monster control with ``A cycle ray'' that cuts off electromagnetic waves Proceed to. On the other hand, Torii and Glenn, who were trapped in Megurajima, learned that the sound wave emitted by Torii's invention ``Lady Guard'' was a weak point of X Alien in a letter entrusted by Namikawa at the end, and he used a hidden Lady Guard. Escape the island. A plan was added to the plan to amplify the sound waves of the Ladyguard and counterattack the X-Stars by their proposal.

Detecting the anomaly, X Alien starts a full attack without waiting for the deadline, and tries to suppress humanity with the total attack of the disk and the three monsters. However, at that time, due to an arrangement by Glen et al., the broadcasting station announced an announcement requesting to maximize the volume of the receiver, and the relay of the sound wave of Ladyguard began. The X-Star is hit deadly with the equipment, and the monster is destroyed by the control of the A-cycle rays and falls down. The X-star control officer, who lost the invasion base in the defense force's attack, detonated himself with the disk while waving an order to escape to the future.

The monsters who began fighting each other away from control fell into the water as if they were entangled, Godzilla and Radon disappeared as they were, and King Ghidorah fled into space. Fuji and Glen were happy, but they were ordered to re-examine the X star.

## Cast

* Akira Takarada   as   Kazuo Fuji, astronaut
* Nick Adams   as   Glenn, astronaut
* Kumi Mizuno   as   Namikawa, Xilien agent
* Keiko Sawai   as   Haruno Fuji, Fuji's sister
* Jun Tazaki   as   Dr. Sakurai, World Space Agency
* Yoshio Tsuchiya   as   Controller of Planet X
* Akira Kubo   as   Tetsuo Tori, inventor
* Takamaru Sasaki   as   Government representative
* Fuyuki Murakami   as   Medical representative
* Yoshibumi Tajima   as   Mobile commander
* Kenzo Tabu   as   President of World Education Corporation, Xilien
* Noriko Sengoku   as   Woman at boarding house
* Somesho Matsumoto   as   Religious representative
* Gen Shimizu   as   Defense representative
* Toru Ibuki, Kazuo Suzuki   as   Xiliens at Earth base
* Yasuhisa Tsutsumi   as   Captain of the First Survey Corps
* Nadao Kirino   as   Captain of the Second Survey Corps
* Toki Shiozawa   as   Women's organization representative
* Mitsuo Tsuda, Takuzo Kumagai   as   JSDF members
* Koji Uno   as   World Education Corporation president's secretary, Xilien at Earth base
* Masaaki Tachibana   as   WSA member
* Yutaka Oka   as   Reporter
* Rinsaku Ogata   as   JSDF member
* Tadashi Okabe, Ryoji Shimizu, Hideki Furukawa   as   WSA staff
* Kamayuki Tsubono, Minoru Ito   as   Reporters
* Haruo Nakajima   as   Godzilla
* Masaki Shinohara   as   Rodan / spectator
* Shoichi Hirose   as   King Ghidorah
* Goro Naya   as   Voice of Glenn
* Saburo Iketani   as   Announcer (uncredited)
* Yoshio Katsube, Akira Wakamatsu   as   Men at World Education Corporation, Xiliens at Earth base (uncredited)
* Haruya Sakamoto   as   JSDF member (uncredited)

## Staff

* Directed by   Ishiro Honda
* Written by   Shinichi Sekizawa
* Produced by   Tomoyuki Tanaka, Henry G. Saperstein, Reuben Bercovitch
* Music by   Akira Ifukube
* Cinematography by   Hajime Koizumi
* Edited by   Ryohei Fujii
* Production design by   Takeo Kita, Akira Watanabe
* Assistant directing by   Koji Kajita
* Special effects by   Eiji Tsuburaya
* Assistant Director of Special Effects   Teruyoshi Nakano

## Titles

* Godzilla vs. Astro-Monster: The Giant Monster War (Trailer and opening Japanese title)
* Great Monster War: King Ghidorah vs. Godzilla (Japanese re-release title)
* Godzilla Goes to Space! (Japanese 8mm title)
* Monster Zero (United States)
* Invasion of the Astros (United States military bases title)
* Invasion of the Astro-Monsters (aborted United States release title; United Kingdom)
* Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (initial United States home video title)
* Godzilla vs. the Three-Headed Dragon (Thailand)
* Invasion Planet "X" (Invasion Planete 'X'; France; French Belgium; Invasie Planeet X; Dutch Belgium)
* The Monsters Invade the Earth (Los monstruos invaden la tierra; Spain)
* Monsters of the Galaxies (Monstruos de las galaxias; Mexico)
* Command from the Dark (Befehl aus dem Dunkel; Germany)
* Gidorra: Command from the Darkness (Gidorra: Befehl aus dem Dunkeln; German DVD title)
* The Invasion of the Astro Monsters (La invasion de los Astro-Monstruos; Mexico; L'invasione degli Astro Mostri; Italy)
* Year 2000: The Invasion of the Astro Monsters (Anno 2000: L'invasione degli Astro Mostri; Italy)
* The Space Monsters Are Attacking (Avaruushirviöt hyökkäävät; Finland)
* Monster Invasion (Inwazja potworow; Poland)
* Monsters Coming from Space (Uzaydan canavar geliyor; Turkey)
* Attack from the Unknown (Utok z neznama; Czechoslovakia)
* Invasion from Space (Invazija iz svemira; Yugoslavia)
* War of the Monsters (A Guerra dos Monstros; Brazil)
* The Invasion of Astro-Monsters (A Invasão dos Astro-Monstros; alternative Brazilian title)

## U.S. release

Invasion of Astro-Monster was licensed to UPA Productions of America, who co-produced the film with Toho, for release in North America. English dubbing was recorded at Glen Glenn Sound in Hollywood by June of 1966. Ironically, since Nick Adams delivered his lines in English on the set, Glenn was the only character whose voice was not dubbed over, although Adams seems to have been involved in at least some ADR that location shooting and other production factors would have necessitated. There were several alterations made:

* Dialogue was dubbed to English, with several changes made to the script. No date is given in the opening expository text, whereas the Japanese version states the film is set in the fictional year 196X, or 197X in the Champion Festival release. Tetsuo Tori was renamed "Tetsui Teri," and Haruno Fuji was renamed "Haruni" Fuji. The Xiliens' fabricated "cure for cancer" ploy was changed to a "miracle drug" capable of curing all diseases.
* Altered: Some of Akira Ifukube's score was re-arranged. The opening title music was changed to a cue from later in the film, "The Electromagnetic Capsule." Music during the film's climax was heavily edited, with some sections of the original, jettisoned opening title piece re-integrated.
* Deleted: All instances of Xiliens speaking in the language of Planet X were deleted or removed from the soundtrack.
* Deleted: Instances of Japanese expository text, including newspaper headlines for the P-1's return to Earth and the discovery of Godzilla in Lake Myojin, a placard inside the World Education Corporation building, and Dr. Sakurai handling the plans for the A-Cycle Light Ray Gun.
* Altered: The location supers for Lake Myojin and Washigasawa were rendered in English accordingly.
* Deleted: Fuji gesturing in anger and uttering "Damn it!" when the concealed Xilien UFOs in Lake Myojin surface.
* Deleted: The JSDF commander played by Nadao Kirino ordering his personnel to retreat from Rodan's location as an Xilien UFO approaches.
* Deleted: Long-distance shot of Godzilla and Rodan's capsules being lifted into the upper atmosphere, followed by a shot of the Earth receding.
* Altered: Part of a shot following the above deletions is moved before a long shot of Godzilla and Rodan's capsules.
* Deleted: Part of a short scene aboard the Controller of Planet X's flagship. Fuji tells Glenn to "be on [his] guard," to which Glenn responds "Tell me about it, pal." This exchange is restored (with Fuji's line in Japanese) in Toho's uncut *Invasion of the Astro-Monsters* version of the film used in the UK and on The Criterion Collection and Janus Films' Criterion Channel streaming platform.
* Added: Footfall sound effects were added to Godzilla's victory jumps on Planet X.
* Deleted: Xilien guards conversing (not in their native language) after Fuji and Glenn evade them in an elevator.
* Altered: The superimposed headlines during the global civil unrest montage were rendered in English accordingly.
* Deleted: Fuji cursing as the Xiliens unveil their control over the monsters.
* Altered: Namikawa's letter to Glenn is replaced with an English insert. Part of a medium shot of Tetsuo and Glenn reading the letter is repeated, making the scene run slightly longer than its Japanese equivalent.

The American version runs 93 minutes, a minute and 20 seconds shorter than the Japanese version. In his book *Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: An Unauthorized History of 'The Big G'*, Steve Ryfle comments "The Americanization...is respectful to the original Japanese version."

Although UPA's English version was finished in 1966, the film didn't see wide release in the United States until the summer of 1970. Distributed by Maron Films, the film was titled *Monster Zero* and frequently played as a supporting feature to UPA's Americanization of *The War of the Gargantuas*. Prior to this, the film had entered limited distribution as *Invasion of the Astros* in March 1970, exclusively screened at military bases in the continental U.S. The film later entered 16mm rental distribution under this title through the 1980's.

In 1980, UPA rechristened the film *Godzilla vs. Monster Zero* for television and home video. The film was released under this title on home video in the U.S. over the ensuing two decades, including in a 1998 DVD release by Simitar. Classic Media released both the original Japanese version of the film and a reconstruction of the initial theatrical American version (*Monster Zero*) on DVD in the U.S. in 2007, as *Invasion of Astro-Monster*. Janus Films provided an uncut English-dubbed version of the film previously distributed on video in the United Kingdom titled *Invasion of the Astro-Monsters* to streaming platforms once it acquired the rights to the film in 2017.

### United Kingdom release

The international version of *Invasion of Astro-Monster* premiered on Channel 4 in July 1990. A letterboxed VHS release from Polygram followed in 1992, in a set with *Ebirah, Horror of the Deep* and *Destroy All Monsters*. 4 Front Video also released it on VHS in 1998. Sony released both the Japanese and international versions on Blu-ray in 2019 as part of the The Criterion Collection's *Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975* box set.

## DVD

DVD Invasion of Astro monster was released on dvd by madman and other Asian country releases.