Monster Discussion #31: Hedorah (Showa)

[JVM]

Hedorah was once fairly unpopular, but in the last ten or so years - I'm not sure about the 90s attitudes on him - he's gone under a renaissance among Godzilla fans and has become a huge favorite. I like Hedorah and thinks he's one of Godzilla's best foes and have always found it quite lame he has yet to reappear on the big screen. (I've said it before and I'll say it again - GFW does not count.)

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

Hedorah is a spooky, creative, well-conceived, dangerous and pretty dang awesome kaiju............that starred in an atrocious borefest.

[Battra2346]

I remember back when I was 10 I was scarred of Hedorah because of the close up of those creppy eyes when he was in tadpole form and when he was in his reptilian land form when he jumped into the screen.Those gurgles of his I always liked.IMO,he's cool as an anti-pollution message,especially when the smog when he's in flying form kills the plants,people and throws smog balls and ooze that hurt or most likley kill people and turn them into skeletons.

[JVM]

He's awesome, an interesting monster who has more then just being "a powerhouse" thing going for him and needs to be in more playable roles in games pronto. Nuff said. P.S. Love his shape shifting powers.

I love em myself, and I love his land form for some reason. Sure it's weak but I guess the fact it's the least popular of his forms.

[edgaguirus]

With pollution and global warming a big issue, Hedorah is the perfect symbol. He's dangerous, nearly unstoppable, and gave Godzilla a hard fight. Hedorah's film doesn't rate high with me, but the creative smog monster is a winner.

[HayesAJones]

A cool villain. A shape-shifting, corrosive pile of living sludge? Sign me up for some of that.

[gojimantis]

this is an extremely different Godzilla movie, Hedorah is one of Godzilla's most important foes, and could be reused at any time as an allegory for not being good to our planet, while he took a lot of flack for being an oddity, i think it was very cool to turn the franchise around to a darker theme and having Godzilla fight an enemy that was difficult to defeat. after a few lighter, kid friendly films, Hedorah gave us a reminder of Godzilla's dark roots, and that kaiju can be very dangerous

[Lionblaze]

Love Hedorah, his croaking roar, his powers, and how he is excuted in the film.
He gave Godzilla a very tough fight, making him fight harder than he ever has before.
I also love the film, very entertaining.
He also scared me when he attacked the diver in his tadpole form, though it was when I was 9 or so.

[Toxic Toast]

While I think his movie is fun, I'm not a fan of Hedorah. He is, almost literally, a pile of crap.

[Showa Gyaos]

When I read in a book that Banno was told by Tomoyuki Tanaka (whom I still honor to this day) that he "ruined the Godzilla series," I frowned upon the statement. Hedorah is just as important as Godzilla, since they are both symbols of humanity's transgressions. Not to mention, Hedorah looks badass, even for a pile of crap (as Toxic Toast stated).

[Lionblaze]

When I read in a book that Banno was told by Tomoyuki Tanaka (whom I still honor to this day) that he "ruined the Godzilla series," I frowned upon the statement. Hedorah is just as important as Godzilla, since they are both symbols of humanity's transgressions. Not to mention, Hedorah looks badass, even for a pile of crap (as Toxic Toast stated).

Ive heard about that aswell. I dont see how he "ruined" the series though. It was a good movie in my opinon.

[JVM]

^ Look, we all love GvH now, but the fandom hated it until a decade or so ago, from what I've heard.

The thing that makes GvH popular now is how it's such a VERY different film from the rest of the later Showa series. That's what made it so unpopular though. To the fans at he time, this was NOT the Godzilla they were used to, that they knew and loved.

[Showa Gyaos]

I think Tanaka disapproved of Hedorah because he was sick and didn't have much say in it. After all he had no problem with Megalon and stuff.

Or the "dance" in The Invasion of Astro-Monster.

[JVM]

I think Tanaka disapproved of Hedorah because he was sick and didn't have much say in it. After all he had no problem with Megalon and stuff.

Or the "dance" in The Invasion of Astro-Monster.

Hedorah is still a bizzare film. That's why I love it, but the point remains.

[edgaguirus]

And it's a grim film, too. People were use to the light mood of the Showa films, and then here's a film that's grim and sometimes gruesome.

[I_Am_Gigan]

Godzilla vs the Smog Monster may be a bizarre film.. but I don't think it ruined Godzilla at all.

Hedorah is definitely one of my favorite Godzilla monsters... a monster made of toxic waste... definitely one of the more plausible monsters.. especially with the discovery of life in toxic arsenic recently in real life. I really like it's design, like a monster sludge lurking around looking for pollution... which happens to be around ever hillside, lol.

The overall message to the film was pretty neat too... although the plot could have been pushed in a slightly different direction, without fish-head hippies and and the trippy anime scenes, lol.

[gojimantis]

If Hedorah's final form is immune to Godzilla's atomic ray, how is it possible for him to become dehydrated by the JSDF?

[Goji]

.....because Godzilla doesn't emit electricity from his mouth. Derp.

[Hotrod93]

If Hedorah's final form is immune to Godzilla's atomic ray, how is it possible for him to become dehydrated by the JSDF?

Between the whole "being alien", the mixed amounts of chemicals in his body, the garbage, the sludge, and the etc. Hedorah's body could take it with no problem. G vs H Godzilla's beam IMO wasnt the strongest beam of the Godzilla line.

Have you ever seen what electric can do to a human body after enough of it is gone through it? It pretty much burns it so its going to dehydrated Hedorah.

[gojimantis]

If Hedorah's final form is immune to Godzilla's atomic ray, how is it possible for him to become dehydrated by the JSDF?

Between the whole "being alien", the mixed amounts of chemicals in his body, the garbage, the sludge, and the etc. Hedorah's body could take it with no problem. G vs H Godzilla's beam IMO wasnt the strongest beam of the Godzilla line.

Have you ever seen what electric can do to a human body after enough of it is gone through it? It pretty much burns it so its going to dehydrated Hedorah.

that makes sense, but atomic energy and electricity both generate heat
I would assume that an "atomic heat ray" would have done more damage, a lot more heat evaporates moisture ( whatever that may be in hedorah) so it would have to have more of an effect on him than it seems to in the movie.