| Ebirah, Horror of the
Deep is different from any other Godzilla
film, but in a good and noteworthy way. Rather
than effects and monster fights, this film
is more laid back and focuses mostly on the
characters and story, to create a Godzilla
film that you won’t soon forget. The
film also has several elements that give it
a re-watchability that is unlike any other
film in the franchise, such as comedy and
an atmospheric score. It may not be Destroy
All Monsters (1968) or Ghidorah,
the Three-Headed Monster (1964),
but this film knows what it wants to be, and
does not fail at providing solid entertainment.
A ship is destroyed in the
South Seas, and the 23 crewmen onboard are
presumed dead, including a fisherman named
Yata. Two months later, Yata’s brother,
Ryota, believes Yata is still alive and tries
everything to find him, even after the government
has given up their search. Ryota begins searching
on his own, but needs a boat to do so. He
goes to a dance competition, where the prize
is a luxury yacht, but is three days too late.
Ryota meets up with two of the dancers, Ichino
and Nita, and they drive down to the beach.
They soon find the Yahlen, a yacht ready to
sail across the pacific, and decide to board
it. After examining it, they meet with Yoshimura,
whom is later revealed to be a burglar, hiding
on the boat. Yoshimura sees no harm in letting
the three of them spend the night on the boat,
so he lowers his toy rifle and goes back to
sleep. However, when they all wake up in the
morning, the Yahlen has been launched. Ryota
tells the others that in the middle of the
night, he set the yacht out and is now heading
South, towards the last known location of
his brother. Ichino, Nita and Yoshimura have
no choice but to go along, as they don’t
know how to operate the boat.
Days later, they come across
a large storm, and lose the mast and helm.
Suddenly, a giant claw rises out of the ocean
and destroys the Yahlen with one strike, just
as the four of them abandon ship. They wake
up the next morning on Devil’s Island,
and begin to search. What they find is the
Red Bamboo, a secret terrorist organization.
They also discover the organization is using
Devil’s Island as a heavy water plant.
To make matters worse, an incoming boat unloads
natives from Infant Island, and begins to
use them as slaves. The Red Bamboo force the
natives to make a yellow liquid, which allows
ships to pass through the surrounding waters
unharmed by the giant lobster guarding the
island, Ebirah. When four natives try to escape,
another native, Dayo, goes off in the opposite
direction. She eventually runs into Ryota
and the group, where they quickly befriend
one another, just as the Red Bamboo catch
up. They all climb to the top of the island
to evade the terrorists, and eventually find
a cave to hide in.
While in the cave, Dayo calls
to Mothra, the protector of Infant Island.
It doesn’t work, as Mothra cannot hear
her. Dayo reveals that Yata is on Infant Island,
and Ryota wants to leave immediately. However,
because of the Red Bamboo and Ebirah, there
is no way off the island. Just as all hope
seems lost, Nita finds something within the
cave that could be their ticket off the island:
a sleeping Godzilla. The group sets a plan
in motion to save the captured people of Infant
Island and reunite Ryota and Yata. To make
sure that the Red Bamboo and Ebirah don’t
interfere, Yoshimura, Dayo and Ichino awaken
Godzilla. As time runs out, options grow thin,
and they soon realize that the only way to
get everyone off the island is with the help
of Mothra...
For the acting performances,
there are a few solid ones, but others that
just get the job done. The performance that
sticks out is Akira Takarada as Yoshimura,
who appears to be rough and always in charge,
but loves doing his job, as he smiles throughout
everything. When Yoshimura is introduced on
the yacht, Takarada enjoys people finding
him, because that’s when he can work
best. Another note worthy role is Kumi
Mizuno as Dayo, the Infant Island native,
which is greatly different from other roles
that she has done, especially in the Godzilla
series. While she looks beautiful in her island
native attire, you can tell that she is trying
her best to bring something to the performance.
Before she meets with Ryota and the group
for the first time, there is a certain ferocity
in her eyes, much like a lion about to pounce.
However, outside of Takarada and Mizuno, no
other performances stick out above the others.
That doesn’t mean that they’re
bad or mediocre, but that they did what was
needed to be done and stuck with it. This
is best shown in Toru Watanabe’s performance
as Ryota. Toru keeps the same blank and vague
expression throughout most of the film, because
Ryota knows what he wants, and will not stop
until he gets it. Ryota will not be satisfied
until he finds Yata, so his performance makes
sense, even if Toru offers little. Chotaro
Togin and Hideo Sunazuka’s performances
as Ichino and Nita, respectively, are standard
comic relief, and do a good job for what their
characters were meant for, especially Sunazuka,
whose face is always hilarious to look at.
Toru Ibuki as Yata does what needs to be done,
and seems like the kind of guy who would get
stranded on far away island and put other
people ahead of himself, even if it means
not thinking things through.
The characters have some interesting
aspects to them, which make these guys one
of the main highlights of the film. Yoshimura
is the brains behind the main characters,
and being the one to get everyone to follow
him. Even though he’s a hardened criminal
who robbed a bank of four million yen, Yoshimura
becomes the character to root for as the film
progresses. As previously mentioned, Ryota
is bland, but his heart is in the right place,
even if it means that he has to drag along
three people to find his brother. One of the
weirdest characters is Yata, who will rush
into a dangerous situation without thinking
ahead, which leads to a few hilarious situations,
such as running right at Godzilla to save
the Infant Island natives. Ichino and Nita
provide some decent comedy, even if all the
characters offer up some amusing lines or
moments. They work off of one another, and
seem to make each other better people. Dayo
comes across as a bit dense, such as stopping
to pick up some wire she likes while evading
the Red Bamboo, but is willing to help out
her people and friends. As for the villains,
they don’t really do all the much except
chase the good guys and do evil things, like
capture the Infant Island natives and make
nuclear weapons. Every character has a different
function for the story, and offers something
to make the film whole, which is often rare
in a daikaiju film.
Speaking of daikaiju, now would
be a good time to mention how they’re
used throughout the film. Ebirah’s design
looks like how a giant lobster would appear,
but doesn’t always move like one, such
as when he’s throwing rocks at Godzilla
or rushing towards Godzilla, above water,
right before the final confrontation. The
Mothra prop looks old and worn down, especially
in the wings, but is used well throughout,
appearing majestic and intelligent, such as
how quickly she dispatches Godzilla. The Giant
Condor is ridiculous to say the least, but
moves and looks like an actual condor, so
there isn’t much to complain about.
Finally, there’s Godzilla, who feels
like the same creature from the previous Godzilla
film, Invasion
of Astro-Monster (1965). Not only
is this the same suit from that film, but
is also in a stage where the filmmakers were
trying to decide if he should be a city-destroying
behemoth or a child-friendly superhero. Both
of which come through during this film, such
as when he destroys the Red Bamboo’s
base like it was just another city, as well
as being attacked by their jets, but also
protecting Dayo from the Giant Condor. The
part of Godzilla was originally written for
King Kong, but was changed to Godzilla when
Toho thought it would be more profitable if
it were it’s own individual film instead.
It really shows throughout the film that it
was meant to be King Kong, such as watching
over Dayo and behaving more like hero than
a monster. Overall, the use of the monsters
throughout the film is mixed, such as the
realistic use of Ebirah and Mothra, but it
seems like Godzilla can’t make up his
mind if he wants to protect the world or destroy
it.
Masaru
Sato’s score is different from the
traditional Godzilla score, yet is atmospheric
and effective. Unlike most of Akira
Ifukube’s scores, which are typically
the same amazing pieces of music used several
times, the music in Ebirah, Horror of
the Deep doesn’t tend to repeat
itself and feels fresh throughout the film.
Music during the jungle scenes add to the
overall feeling of the location, and while
in the Red Bamboo base, the music is suspenseful
and dramatic, which gives off a sense of urgency
during the sequence. There is one hilarious
bit, where Godzilla is being attacked by the
Red Bamboo’s jets, and the music sounds
like something you would hear on a California
beach in the late 60s, which always makes
me laugh since I’d never except to hear
that kind of music during that attack, or
at all in a Godzilla film.
One of the more interesting
aspects of the film is something that becomes
noticeable upon multiple viewings: a theme
of rebellion. Almost every character in the
film is rebelling towards some group, people
or society. Ryota does not listen to what
the government has to say about his brother,
and ends up stealing a boat to prove that
Yata is alive. Yoshimura is a burglar, rebelling
against society’s belief of a standard
job and life. Dayo rebells against the Red
Bamboo to escape, and even the Red Bamboo
themselves are rebels against the world. This
could be attributed to the cultural movement
in Japan at the time, as by the late 60s,
the counter culture began to rebel. This can
be fascinating to watch and examine, because
themes like this are seldom seen in daikaiju
films.
However, there is one part
of the film that is distracting, also upon
multiple viewings, and that is how coincidental
many of the actions and events throughout
the film are. Such as how the Red Bamboo happen
to be stealing natives from an island that
has a giant moth as a protector, or that the
Red Bamboo decided to put one of their bases
on the same island where Godzilla is sleeping.
Even Ryota and the group washing up on the
same island as the Red Bamboo is a great coincidence.
The biggest one of all is that when Ryota
accidentally goes up with a “spy”
balloon, it just so happens to take him directly
to Infant Island, the exact place where he
wanted to be. Most of these events fall under
plot convenience, as without each of them,
the story would fall apart, so while the coincidence
of the events do raise questions, it’s
also forgivable.
The last thing worth mentioning
is the use of comedy. Typically, there is
little comedy in daikaiju films, and for good
reason. It either takes away from the monster
action, or fails miserably. Comedy works for
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, because
the monsters are not the main focus of the
film, its the human main characters, as it
is with most Jun
Fukuda Godzilla films. The characters
in the film work off of each other so well,
that simple reactions and expressions are
hysterical. After Ryota reveals that he launched
the boat in the middle of the night, he says
that coming on this boat was essentially a
gift from above. The others tell him to turn
the boat around, and Ryota says that he cannot
return such a gift. What sells that line is
the blank and emotionless expression on Ryota’s
face as he delivers the line. A joke that
is noticeable to Godzilla fans is the eye
patch on the Red Bamboo captain, Yamoto, played
by Akihiko Hirata, who also played Doctor
Serizawa in Godzilla
(1954), and wore an eye patch, but on the
opposite eye of Yamoto. This leads to a great
joke after Dayo escapes, and the Red Bamboo
commander yells at Yamoto, asking him if he’s
going blind. The comedy doesn’t always
work, such as Yoshimura and Ichino joking
about the other sounding like a politician,
but at least it attempts to try comedy in
a daikaiju film and succeeds several times
in making some good jokes.
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep
is an interesting ride from beginning to end.
Unlike most Godzilla films made before this
one, the characters and story are the main
attraction, with the monsters taking a back
seat. With strong performances from Akira
Takarada and Kumi
Mizuno, among others, it propels these
characters to icons of the late 60s Godzilla
films. While the monsters aren’t amusing
as the characters, Godzilla and Ebirah provide
some decent fights. What gives the film its
re-watchability is the theme of rebellion
and how each character acts around rebellion.
For Jun
Fukuda’s first Godzilla film, he
creates one of the more memorable films of
the franchise, and one of my personal favorites.
|
(4/5)