Talkback Thread #7: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)

[Arrow]

This has always been one of my favorite Godzilla movies. Today, it's crept past Godzilla vs. Biollante on my personal Top Ten and inches closer and closer to the Top Five every day. Admittedly, it's got some shoddy effects work and Godzilla's role was all too obviously written for Kong, but I still like it. It's an extremely entertaining movie, directed by Jun Fukuda and scored by Masaru Sato - one of my all time favorite Godzilla movie themes, btw - and I find it to be a sadly overlooked movie. Of the two "Island Godzilla" films, Son of Godzilla is certainly superior, but I still enjoy Sea Monster more.



Discuss!

[Legionmaster]

Always a fun movie. Plenty of that Showa charm and ridiculousness but not too out there. And zomg, we finally see that Godzilla actually is amphibious.

[g2kmaster]

I still remember first seeing this. It was durring the time of Power Rangers Time Force. I got two things from Wal-Mart that day: a 5" figure of the Q-Rex megazord (since I couldn't get the $200+ delux one) and the goodtimes VHS tape of this, which is my favorite VHS art from Goodtimes before they started photoshoping their covers. It was a nice little film and what really made the film "pop" for me was the tropical setting along with the kaiju volley ball scene. It is a fun film which I like to revisit every so often. If only Mothra was in it alittle more. But then again, what do you expect out of a project that was to originaly have Kong in it. :/

[Blackout286]

This is actually my number one favorite showa Godzilla film, second place is Mothra vs. Godzilla.
This film is actually entertaining, and the human cast is very enjoyable and likeable. And Ebirah is pretty good and interesting due to how it's excuted in the movie. And although Godzilla doesn't show up until an hour in, his fights against Ebirah are awesome. Mothra was a nice toss in, seeing Godzilla and Mothra tussle around a bit was a nice treat.

Overall I love this Godzilla film more than any other Godzilla showa film ever made.

[HayesAJones]

A very fun movie. Although Godzilla doesn't show up for a while in, the plot and human characters are interesting enough to make up for it. And the Godzilla-Ebirah fight is just awesome.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

I prefer calling it Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster, thank you very much.

In all seriousness, it is an entertaining flick and it was nice to get some fresh blood in the franchise. Jun Fukuda has this sort of energetic and fast-paced directing style that I love, and it's in full force here. The acting is also among my favorite of the franchise, but that's mostly because the characters really work here. Takarada's thief character is funny and convincing, which makes this my favorite role in his entire career. The SPFX are pretty solid considering this was the first one without Tsuburaya directing, if I recall. Yeah, they aren't PERFECT but even under Tsuburaya, the FX would have SOME flaws. Masaru Sato's music score here is a huge improvement over Godzilla Raids Again, bringing in some of that light-hearted nature of his Yojimbo & Sanjuro scores.

So yeah, a fun and energetic installment. I like it a lot, and it's got a lot of rewatch value for sure. *starts rocking out to Ebirah's theme*

[Blackout286]

I wonder what the movie be like if it had Kong instend of Godzilla in the movie?

Probably wouldn't be as enjoyable for me since I'm not a Kong fan.

[ZigraDude]

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster is definitely one of my favorites. It's a fun movie with an enjoyable human cast and fun monster scenes. It's obvious the movie was originally written for Kong but I don't think that hurts the movie really. It just makes it stand out from other Godzilla films that it takes place on an island (And Son of Godzilla too).

[HedorahLives]

Mothra vs Godzilla is technically the better movie, but this one might be my favorite from the 60s. You get Akira Takarada being a bad ass, a grand adventure story (even though it's pretty illogical), a nice tropical location, and some funny dialogue. On the monster side, Ebirah is a weaker villain, but with plenty of spunk and, hey, he eats people. Godzilla actually has a pretty easy time here, which isn't a bad thing. After fighting King Ghidorah twice, the big guy needed a break. This might be my favorite Nakajima performance since Mothra vs Godzilla. The big lizard just oozes charisma in this one. Dude's just chilling on an island, groggy from hibernation, getting hassled by air strikes, giant shrimps, and nuclear reactors. Plus, he's the anti-hero, not the puppy-faced defender of Japan like in later movies. Also, Mothra's cameo is pretty cool. Oddly enough, it would be the last time Adult Mothra would appear until 1992. Go figure.

Oh yeah and the random giant condor.

[JVM]

I'm a little surprised to see so much acclaim. GvSM is probably one of the least brought-up Godzilla films on these forums.

I bought it on VHS back in the 90s with Godzilla vs. Megalon and always felt it paled in comparison to the latter due to a lack of action. I actually prefer it over Megalon now that I pay attention more to the plots and characters, and frankly, this film has some of the best characters in the series and Ebirah's one of Godzilla's more underrated opponents.

[Jesse]

Akira Takarada for the win!

This is a great movie but you can definitely tell the Kong influence on the film. The soundtrack was a little funky for me but the acting and the monsters were very much entertaining.

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Much like Son Of Godzilla, I did not like this film as a kid, because of its focus on the characters, rather than the monsters. But, after rewatching it a couple months ago, I have recently fallen in love with this Godzilla film. I don't think its that the film has changed at all, its because I've changed. And this film makes me realize how my taste in films have changed over the years. I find every main character relatable, funny and entertaining. I feel like these characters would actually get into the situations that they encounter.

The monster fights are exactly the best of the series, but the fights between Godzilla and Ebirah (especially the first one) are still entertaining. The plot, while somewhat generic at the time (*cough*James Bond*cough*), serves its purpose in this case, and moves the characters along. The score is weird, but provides an atmosphere that really would go unmentioned without it. So yeah, I really love Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster now.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

Was i the only one that thought the main chick an mothra fairies were hot? Maybe that's just me i guess.....

Otherwise i thought this movie was entertaining an fun, Very Slow to start but once they awake Godzilla it pretty much keeps a solid pace of action. His battle with the fighter jet's was awesome... his volleyball game with Ebirah was funny. After a watch recently i remember why it was one of my favorites as a kid.

[Mini-Godzilla]

Here's where things really start to get disappointing. Godzilla is standing in as a last-minute replacement for King Kong, and it shows. Mothra is in the movie, and I cannot help but think that this movie should have been a Mothra sequel with no Big G in sight. The human protagonists are extremely dull, but Ebirah is nice, and I do like the SPECTRE-esque Red Bamboo. (So, Dr. Serizawa survived Gojira and went on to be a terrorist? I jest, of course.)

[TokyoVigilante]

Finished watching this one last night with subs for the first time and it holds up well to when I initially watched it a year or so ago, being one of the last Showa films I hadn't seen. Godzilla looks great (for the first half, but more on that later) Ebirah is realized spectacularly and their fights are energetic, brutal, and funny all at once. It's really refreshing to go from the progressively more elaborate and science-fiction trope heavy Honda films to a straight-up adventure film that's low on the Sci-fi.

My only gripe would be the cast. They're effective in being entertaining, keeping the plot brisk, and being (somewhat) distinct from one another, but the film is so busy we barely get a chance to become attached to anyone. Some of my favorite moments in the film are with the safecracker and the three dopes on the stolen boat, but once we get to the Island we lose this. Replacing the The Peanuts as The Shobijin are another pop twin duo "Pair Bambi" who are about as expressive as their stand-in prop dolls. Their new song is really great, though.

Now, for the first half Godzilla has his basic look from MONSTER ZERO (and certainly one of my favorite ones at that), which is just great. But once he goes to attack the Red Bamboo base, it looks like the suit took a shotgun blast to the face and they tried to fix it. WTH? It looks like one of their touring promo-suits and it's a trifle bit distracting, but doesn't break the movie for me.

Anyways, while not nearly as all around solid as SON OF (which had a much better cast, IMO), it's deffidently one of Fukuda's best Godzilla films. For me, it's;

Son of Godzilla
Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Godzilla vs. Gigan
Godzilla vs. Megalon

[Lord Gappa]

Haven't seen it ina while, but it was pretty good.

[The Dark Uniter]

Godzilla vs the Sea Monster is a fun Godzilla movie. I liked how the story was being fold in a island rather than the city and how laid back the movie's atmosphere was.

[TokyoVigilante]

Now, for the first half Godzilla has his basic look from MONSTER ZERO (and certainly one of my favorite ones at that), which is just great. But once he goes to attack the Red Bamboo base, it looks like the suit took a shotgun blast to the face and they tried to fix it. WTH? It looks like one of their touring promo-suits and it's a trifle bit distracting, but doesn't break the movie for me.

The Red Bamboo sequence was shot after most of the water tank stuff was filmed. So by then the suit was rotting thanks to prolonged exposure to water.

Ah, makes sense. I figured it was something like that, but the deterioration was so bad I wasn't sure if just the water scenes could do it to a more-or-less new suit.

I think I'll be watching SON OF GODZILLA next, and will be bumping the appropriate thread. All this summery weather around here has got me in the mood for a Fukuda guided cinematic vacation.

[The Dark Uniter]

No kidding. Its like 90 degrees in Maryland. Son of Godzilla is indeed the perfect movie for this weather.

[Goji]

^ Yeah dude, it's like 90+ over here in Silver Spring, MD. I was thinking about watching one of the island films myself! Funny how that works.