Favorite Showa Military Scenes?

[Inferno Rodan]

Yeah, the Frontier Missile sequence was really awesome. The final battle in Mysterians was really cool too.

[Living Corpse]

I also like the Maser assault on Gigan and King Ghidorah. They were proving to be effective with Gigan hiding behind trees for cover until King Ghidorah flinched like "ow that one actually hurt" and blasted it.

[NSZ]

Oh, I think I see the confusion. I think in the Japanese version, the missiles are fired by airplanes. I KNOW those explosions were in the Japanese version (obviously).

No... No they weren't. NOTHING from the Frontier Missile sequence remains in the Japanese version.

It's the part where the suit catches on fire and Godzilla changes direction. Thankfully the actor wasn't harmed and for an accident it's pretty cool looking.

Corpse, the suit catching on fire was when they were dropping Napalm on him later on in the film, not the Frontier Missile sequence.

That said, my favorites would have to be the ones from Mothra vs Godzilla, War of the Gargantuas, DAM, and The Mysterians.

[Tamura]

A shot from the Frontier Missile sequence (an outtake, if I recall) appears in the Japanese trailer to MvsG.

[Rody]

*sigh*

It's been some time since I saw GODZILLA vs. THE THING. This frontier missile sequence, which had Godzilla in it, was in the US version, but not the Japanese? How is that possible?

[Tamura]

^ Things like that happen occasionally, since the US versions were edited from workprints, if I recall. If you look at the King Brothers version of RODAN, there are some special effects bits in it nowhere to be found in the Japanese original. The AIP version of FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD and the UPA WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS have several alternate angles/takes and additional shots. The Universal KING KONG ESCAPES also has a short bit at the beginning not in the original. Let's not forget the infamous extended final shot in the Cinema Shares MEGALON.

[TokyoVigilante]

*sigh*

It's been some time since I saw GODZILLA vs. THE THING. This frontier missile sequence, which had Godzilla in it, was in the US version, but not the Japanese? How is that possible?

There was concern that audiences of Japan would react negatively to seeing Americans bombing Japanese soil. The sequence still isn't available in any capacity to Japanese consumers.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

*sigh*

It's been some time since I saw GODZILLA vs. THE THING. This frontier missile sequence, which had Godzilla in it, was in the US version, but not the Japanese? How is that possible?

There was concern that audiences of Japan would react negatively to seeing Americans bombing Japanese soil. The sequence still isn't available in any capacity to Japanese consumers.

To be honest, I'm glad that scene was cut from the Japanese version of the film. Outside of having another action scene, which the film has plenty of already, that scene really doesn't add anything to the film. The scene just kinda serves as padding. Good padding, mind you, but still padding.

[Rody]

Ah, a deleted-then-re-added scene. Okay, it's clear now; thanks.

[FlamingZilla23]

I enjoyed the classic Godzilla (1954) fight scene with the military, I thought it was fun and memorable.

[Cimmerian Dragon]

Most of the '54 sequences still play exceptionally well. The dark photography really improved the look of those scenes, covering imperfections and giving it a rough, newsreel vibe.

[bentheman]

to be honest its hard for me to choose but I will Go with Godzilla vs mothra

[attilagodzilla]

My favorite military scene is not from a godzilla movie but from the mysterians.
the final battle is great and akiras music makes it really suspends full

[JGAR4Entertainment]

The Military using all their weapons on Godzilla in Mothra VS Godzilla. I hope LPG has a similar scene to that, fantastic way to show the audience how invulnerable Godzilla is.

[20th Century Boy]

Probably not my absolute favorite, but I really liked the scene in Godzilla vs. Gigan when the military attacks Anguirus. It's a well made scene and it puts the focus on Anguirus, one of the most underappreciated monsters in the entire series. A huge plus.

[DoctorMafune]

There was concern that audiences of Japan would react negatively to seeing Americans bombing Japanese soil. The sequence still isn't available in any capacity to Japanese consumers.

Interesting point. I hadn't thought about it that way, before.

I remember when a special effects convention in Tokyo showed the Frontier Missile scene in a large-screen auditorium, and I noticed that the audience was dead silent.

It still ticked me off when a 1994 article in AsiaWeek or some other business magazine, covering Godzilla's continuing popularity, mentioned that despite America's treaty-based obligations to defend Japan, not once in any of the films had American military forces ever intervened to try to stop Godzilla.

Even leaving aside the question of whose troops those are at the NATO base trying to prevent Godzilla from coming ashore in KKVG, I wanted to (but didn't) write to the magazine and say, "That's apparently what Toho wanted Japanese (and only Japanese) audiences to think."

As for the NATO base scene, that's another one of my favorites, too. Not as spectacular as the battle scenes in Mothra vs. Godzilla, but beautifully staged (from the grey arctic skies and the icebergs visible behind Godzilla, and the artillery fire while he's still in the water, to the perfect animation of the glow on his fins when he unleashes Hell on the base), and I always wondered what any actual human being would feel, being driven to combat stations by that klaxon, then looking out in the water and seeing THAT.

Never mind the obviously miniature tanks... I could watch that scene a hundred times and never get tired of it.

[Matt12]

I love when the military attacks Gaira in War of the Gargantuas. It showcases one of my favorite Toho miltary weapons: the laser-beam emiters that look like old-school satellite dishes. Those are so cool!

[Cimmerian Dragon]

To be honest, I'm glad that scene was cut from the Japanese version of the film. Outside of having another action scene, which the film has plenty of already, that scene really doesn't add anything to the film. The scene just kinda serves as padding. Good padding, mind you, but still padding.

Once again, since the entire military effort fails to stop Godzilla, I think you could level the same claim against any phase of their attacks. If you took out all the SFX that don't advance the story specifically via their own existence, you'd be left with nothing but: Godzilla rising - > Brief sequence revealing military effeteness - > Mothra attacking -> egg hatching - > larva attacking.

Granted, the artificial lightning is more interesting than a simple barrage, but a failed barrage does contribute to the sense that conventional attacks are pointless. Having the United States fail to kill Godzilla has the added benefit of showing the most powerful post-war nation proving as impotent as the Japanese in that regard. Even if you ignore this, it's still a standout SFX showcase, and a relatively brief one at that.

[daijinryuu775489]

The scene in Godzilla vs. Gigan where King Ghidorah is stricken only once by a maser cannon and immediately afterwards just relentlessly fires gravity beam after gravity beam is a great scene.