Son of Godzilla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Son of Godzilla | |
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| Directed by | Jun Fukuda |
| Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka |
| Written by | Shinichi Sekizawa Kazue Shiba |
| Starring | Tadao Takashima Akira Kubo Bibari Maeda Akihiko Hirata |
| Music by | Masaru Satô |
| Cinematography | Kazuo Yamada |
| Distributed by | Toho United Artists (USA) |
| Release date(s) | 1967 December 13, 1968 |
| Running time | 86 min (orig.), 84 min (USA) |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Preceded by | Ebirah, Horror of the Deep |
| Followed by | Destroy All Monsters |
| IMDb profile | |
Son of Godzilla, released in Japan as Kaijū-tō no Kessen: Godzilla no Musuko (怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 Kaijū-tō no Kessen Gojira no Musuko?, lit. "Monster Island's Decisive Battle: Son of Godzilla"), is a 1967 film. The eighth part of the Toho studio's Godzilla series, it was directed by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya and Sadamasa Arikawa.
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[edit] Plot summary
A team of scientists stationed on Sollgell Island attempts to perfect a weather control system. Their efforts are hampered by the presence of giant praying mantises and by the arrival of a nosy reporter. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, now called Kamacuras, the scientists find the creatures digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby's cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Soon Godzilla himself arrives on the island, incidentally stomping the scientist's base as he rushes to defend his son. Godzilla kills two Kamacuras during the battle, while one manages to fly away to safety.
The baby quickly grows to about half the size of his father, and Godzilla instructs the child on the important monster skills of roaring and using his radioactive breath. At first, the baby has difficulty producing anything more than atomic smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions, such as stomping on the baby's tail, produce a true radioactive blast. Dubbed Minilla, the baby comes to the aid of Riko when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga, a giant spider. The spider attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding, and Minilla stumbles into the fray.
Kumonga traps Minilla and the final Kamacuras with his webbing, but as Kumonga begins to feed on the deceased Kamacuras, Godzilla arrives to save the day. Godzilla saves his son and they both defeat Kumonga by using their atomic rays on the giant spider. The scientists finally use their perfected weather altering device on the island and the once topical island turns into an Arctic wasteland. Godzilla and Minilla begin to hibernate as they wait for the island to become tropical again. The scientists are saved by a submarine.
[edit] Cast
- Akira Kubo ................. Gorou Maki, investigative reporter
- Tadao Takashima ................. Dr. Tsunezou Kusumi (scientific team leader)
- Akihiko Hirata ................. Dr. Hujisaki (scientific team member)
- Bibari Maeda ................. Saeko Matsumiya
- Yoshio Tsuchiya ................. Hurukawa (scientific team member)
- Kenji Sahara .................Morio (scientific team member)
- Ken'ichirou Maruyama ................. Ozawa (scientific team member)
- Seishirou Kuno ................. Tashiro (scientific team member)
- Yasuhiko Saijou ................. Suzuki (scientific team member)
- Susumu Kurobe ................. Weather observation airplane captain
- Kazuo Suzuki ................. Weather observation aeronaut
- Wataru Oomae ................. Weather observation airplane radio operator
- Tyoutarou Tougin ................. Weather observation airplane crewman
- Ousmane Yusef ................. Submarine captain
- Godzilla ................ Seiji Onaka, Hiroshi Sekita, and Haruo Nakajima
- Minilla .............. Little Man Machan
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- For this movie, a location shoot was performed in Guam
- The name of "Minilla" was decided by a general open call for participants. It was "Kojira" (child Godzilla) with a script .
- The Godzilla costume's head is noticeably different from that of both the previous film and the next. This would appear to be due to the disproportionately high forehead and large eyes, which apparently did not sit well with viewers. Careful observations also show the dorsal spines curve dramatically upward, in comparison to the other Godzilla costumes being used during the predominance of the Showa era.
- A Japanese fan calls Godzilla of this movie “MUSUKO-GOJI”.
[edit] Box Office
In Japan, the film sold approximately 2,480,000 tickets.
[edit] U.S. Version
Like the previous Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla was distributed directly to television by the Walter Reade Organization (in 1969). There were several small alterations in this version:
- Dialogue was dubbed to English
- Seiko's name was changed to Reiko, Kumonga's name was changed to Spiga, and Kamacuras' name was changed to Gimantis.
- Deleted: the pre-credits sequence, where Godzilla is sighted at sea. This was cut down to Godzilla simply walking to the camera.
The American version runs 84 minutes, slightly shorter than the 86-minute Japanese version. Sony's DVD features the uncut Japanese version, and the optional English dub track is from Toho's 'International Version.'
[edit] DVD Releases
Sony Pictures
- Released: December 14, 2004
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic
- Sound: Japanese (2.0), English (2.0)
- Supplements: Trailers for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., Steamboy, and Kaena: The Prophecy.
- Region 1
- Note: English dub track is Toho's 'International Version'
[edit] External links
- Son of Godzilla at the Internet Movie Database
- Son of Godzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
- Son of Godzilla film review
- Special Effects Director Sadamasa Arikiawa Interview
- 怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 (Kaijū-tō no Kessen Gojira no Musuko) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
