Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

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Terasawa
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Terasawa »

Maritonic wrote:Anyone smarter than me know why they (officially) switched the rainbow design to gold?
From the "Kaiju Guide" for the PlayStation Godzilla game: "The original King Ghidorah was a full-body costume at first, with a blue body and iridescent wings. However, some of the crew mistakenly thought it was supposed to be golden, and special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya liked the idea so much he gave the word, having the crew change the color right before filming. As the arch-enemy of Godzilla, King Ghidorah had a costume that required 25 people to operate its three heads and two tails."
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by canofhumdingers »

I don’t remember the source, but I remember reading somewhere that the original red white and blue space demon was intended as a not-so-subtle commentary about the western style capitalism that had taken the country by storm during and after the U.S. occupation. The change to gold was meant to make it a less on-the-nose and more generic dig at the same greed inspired by the new-style capitalism.

But since I have no reference at the moment, I wouldn’t take that as God-given fact. It’s just what I remember.

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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Crazy Jim Films »

Grievous wrote:Okay...so to me this one is equal parts goofy & weird while also being important & legacy
defining.

I mean it is filled with many, MANY important moments for the franchise as a whole...but
the film itself feels uneven & silly.
I thought it did a good job of balancing the tone. The series was clearly going in a far lighter, more sci-fi/fantasy direction. The talking monsters and alien prophetess stuff is certainly a drastic shift from the somber tone of the '54 original but I have almost come to look at that as existing in a different universe altogether.

I have, however, always wondered how all the families of the people Godzilla killed on that ship, feel about him now getting a hero's ovation.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by eabaker »

Crazy Jim Films wrote:
Grievous wrote:Okay...so to me this one is equal parts goofy & weird while also being important & legacy
defining.

I mean it is filled with many, MANY important moments for the franchise as a whole...but
the film itself feels uneven & silly.
I thought it did a good job of balancing the tone. The series was clearly going in a far lighter, more sci-fi/fantasy direction. The talking monsters and alien prophetess stuff is certainly a drastic shift from the somber tone of the '54 original but I have almost come to look at that as existing in a different universe altogether.

I have, however, always wondered how all the families of the people Godzilla killed on that ship, feel about him now getting a hero's ovation.
It's very much a transitional movie within the franchise/genre, and as such it features some pretty distinct juxtapositions. It works for me, but that's in part because, well, I just love a weird juxtaposition. Godzilla as villain and Godzilla as hero are both pretty great, but there's a special pleasure for me in a movie that goes for both, and throws in a little "Godzilla as petulant child" as a transition.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by MechaGoji Bro7503 »

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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Grievous »

eabaker wrote:It's very much a transitional movie within the franchise/genre, and as such it features some pretty distinct juxtapositions. It works for me, but that's in part because, well, I just love a weird juxtaposition. Godzilla as villain and Godzilla as hero are both pretty great, but there's a special pleasure for me in a movie that goes for both, and throws in a little "Godzilla as petulant child" as a transition.
That's a fair call...but for me its the "tone shifts" that kind of kill it.

Its like I can handle a Godzilla film if its serious OR goofy...just not
when they try & do both in the same film.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by edgaguirus »

I felt it was done pretty well in the film. We see Godzilla as his traditional role of walking disaster, and even after Mothra's speech, he still turns his back on man. Only after seeing the overmatched Mothra bravely go to fight, does Godzilla get shamed into joining the fight. I feel Godzilla only joined the fight because his ego was bruised, and that seems a realistic and convincing reason to see him turn hero.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by PitchBlackProgress »

Really? I didn’t get that feeling at all, if anything I think Godzilla was curious to watch if Mothra really could defeat Ghidorah on his (her?) own, saw how outmatched she truly was and Godzilla decided to go whip up on the “big bully”.

It always thought Godzilla acted/looked offended when he sees Mothra hurled into the air with that gravity beam.
Last edited by PitchBlackProgress on Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Grievous »

PitchBlackProgress wrote:It always thought Godzilla acted/looked offended when he sees Mothra hurled into the air with that gravity beam.
I always thought it was Godzilla being like "Alright! Someone else to wail on! Hey Rodan...lets punch this guy in his multiple faces!"
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Dr. Professor »

PitchBlackProgress wrote: It always thought Godzilla acted/looked offended when he sees Mothra hurled into the air with that gravity beam.
I always saw it like that too. Like he saw Mothra get hurt and just went "NOT ON MY WATCH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by miguelnuva »

To me it was Godzilla and Rodan respecting Mothra trying to fight and after seeing how out matched she was they just said Fuck it.

Its like how in every film where the brave person stands up to a fight they know that can't win and then finally the power shows up to even the fight.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by PitchBlackProgress »

Ok, I’m watching this right now and this is exactly how the scene plays out-

Mothra intervenes during Godzilla and Rodan’s fight and asks the two to join her in battle, Rodan and Godzilla essentially tell Mothra to “fuck off” and she says “fine, I’ll fight Ghidorah by myself”.
Godzilla and Rodan watch in confusion/disbelief as she makes her way to Ghidorah.
Mothra attempts to fight, but gets hurled into the air twice before Godzilla comes over to curiously inspect the battle, sees Mothra get launched into the air and becomes visibly enraged by this and decides to charge into battle.

Seems to me like watching Mothra get whipped up on by a bigger guy really pissed Godzilla off and that’s what sent him into “go mode”.
Yeah, Godzilla wins... sometimes. I mean, he was killed by Dr. Serizawa's patented bubble-bath formula, heartburn, missiles, and poor box office returns, got his ass kicked by a drunken, circus-escaped gorilla, then he was beaten by two newborn worms, yeah some “king”.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Maritonic »

PitchBlackProgress wrote:Ok, I’m watching this right now and this is exactly how the scene plays out-

Mothra intervenes during Godzilla and Rodan’s fight and asks the two to join her in battle, Rodan and Godzilla essentially tell Mothra to “fuck off” and she says “fine, I’ll fight Ghidorah by myself”.
Godzilla and Rodan watch in confusion/disbelief as she makes her way to Ghidorah.
Mothra attempts to fight, but gets hurled into the air twice before Godzilla comes over to curiously inspect the battle, sees Mothra get launched into the air and becomes visibly enraged by this and decides to charge into battle.

Seems to me like watching Mothra get whipped up on by a bigger guy really pissed Godzilla off and that’s what sent him into “go mode”.
Yup, this is how I saw it completely. Their confusion/disbelief being a mix of "you realize Ghidorah will fuck you up right?" and "Why would you bother helping the humans?". But yeah I never saw this as a respect thing, more of a monster 5x in size stomping on little guy pissed Godzilla off.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Grievous »

PitchBlackProgress wrote:Ok, I’m watching this right now and this is exactly how the scene plays out-

Mothra intervenes during Godzilla and Rodan’s fight and asks the two to join her in battle, Rodan and Godzilla essentially tell Mothra to “skreeonk off” and she says “fine, I’ll fight Ghidorah by myself”.
Godzilla and Rodan watch in confusion/disbelief as she makes her way to Ghidorah.
Mothra attempts to fight, but gets hurled into the air twice before Godzilla comes over to curiously inspect the battle, sees Mothra get launched into the air and becomes visibly enraged by this and decides to charge into battle.

Seems to me like watching Mothra get whipped up on by a bigger guy really pissed Godzilla off and that’s what sent him into “go mode”.
So basically...

"HEY ASSHOLE! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!!!"
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by eabaker »

PitchBlackProgress wrote:Ok, I’m watching this right now and this is exactly how the scene plays out-

Mothra intervenes during Godzilla and Rodan’s fight and asks the two to join her in battle, Rodan and Godzilla essentially tell Mothra to “fuck off” and she says “fine, I’ll fight Ghidorah by myself”.
Godzilla and Rodan watch in confusion/disbelief as she makes her way to Ghidorah.
Mothra attempts to fight, but gets hurled into the air twice before Godzilla comes over to curiously inspect the battle, sees Mothra get launched into the air and becomes visibly enraged by this and decides to charge into battle.

Seems to me like watching Mothra get whipped up on by a bigger guy really pissed Godzilla off and that’s what sent him into “go mode”.
It's also worth noting that one of them (can't remember if it's Godzilla or Rodan) has basically just called humans "bullies," so it makes sense that seeing Ghidorah as a bully would put him on their shit list.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by PitchBlackProgress »

^ This is very true, that was Godzilla.
Yeah, Godzilla wins... sometimes. I mean, he was killed by Dr. Serizawa's patented bubble-bath formula, heartburn, missiles, and poor box office returns, got his ass kicked by a drunken, circus-escaped gorilla, then he was beaten by two newborn worms, yeah some “king”.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Zarm »

So, there doesn't seem to be any particular reason that the princess is undressed under a sheet for the hypnosis treatment, as there aren't any leads attached to her, injections that we can see, etc... but even stranger, there is an intense shootout with the assassins after the power fails. Apparently, prompted by the sound of gunfire, the professor is rapidly redressing the semi-conscious princess as this is happening? Because as soon as the fight is over, they are bundling her out of the door back in her old costume.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Grievous »

Zarm wrote:So, there doesn't seem to be any particular reason that the princess is undressed under a sheet for the hypnosis treatment, as there aren't any leads attached to her, injections that we can see, etc... but even stranger, there is an intense shootout with the assassins after the power fails. Apparently, prompted by the sound of gunfire, the professor is rapidly redressing the semi-conscious princess as this is happening? Because as soon as the fight is over, they are bundling her out of the door back in her old costume.
Maybe a scene was cut explaining it?

:shrug:
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by edgaguirus »

Of course he quickly got her dressed when there was a threat to his patient. Can you imagine the lawsuit by Selgina if she had died in his care?

Seriously, it's just the editing. We don't really need a getting dressed scene, unless you have a thing for Wakabayashi. The fight between monsters and cop and assassin are more interesting.
Last edited by edgaguirus on Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Talkback Thread #5: Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(1964)

Post by Zarm »

I didn't necessarily think we needed a dressing scene. In fact, I can't see any reason she was undressed for a single scene anyway. I just think that it's very funny that the editing causes that to happen, because if there was a firefight going on outside, my first thought would not be rapidly dressing a patient. It would just be getting them the heck out of there.

And picturing this guy frantically trying to pull clothes onto a half-conscious subject with the sound of gunfire in the other room is kind of a comical image.
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