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

[Spuro]

Anguirus was an armored dinosaur, King Kong an icon of the genre and Mothra an actual goddess. There is a bit step down from them to a giant lobster.

Though I hold the view Godzilla losing to the Mothra Larva is the most embarrassing defeat he ever had. So...

And lobsters, like Anguirus, are armored and posses tremendously powerful claws. We only assume it's not as much of a threat because we as humans are used to lobsters being small, but when everything is scaled up to 50 meter monsters, all bets are off. Entirely ignoring on-screen feats, a giant lobster as an opponent for Godzilla, this early in the Showa era, isn't an unusual concept.

[godjacob]

Anguirus was an armored dinosaur, King Kong an icon of the genre and Mothra an actual goddess. There is a bit step down from them to a giant lobster.

Though I hold the view Godzilla losing to the Mothra Larva is the most embarrassing defeat he ever had. So...

And lobsters, like Anguirus, are armored and posses tremendously powerful claws. We only assume it's not as much of a threat because we as humans are used to lobsters being small, but when everything is scaled up to 50 meter monsters, all bets are off. Entirely ignoring on-screen feats, a giant lobster as an opponent for Godzilla, this early in the Showa era, isn't an unusual concept.

I consider Showa Kumonga to be a threat and it is from an even smaller creature. Plus we were 7 movies into the Showa era by this point, just under halfway through the Showa era so it isn't "early" by a stretch. We already had a three-headed space dragon as an antagonist for the previous two films only for the next antagonist to feel more Giant Octopus tier than something Godzilla fights as the main bad guy.

[JAGzilla]

Anguirus was an armored dinosaur, King Kong an icon of the genre and Mothra an actual goddess. There is a bit step down from them to a giant lobster.

Oh, come on. You got Anguirus right, but Kong is a giant (electric) ape and Mothra is a giant moth*. You could call Ebirah a horror of the deep or something if you wanted him to sound more dramatic and worthy. Anyway, what's wrong with a lobster? They're predators, and well-armed and armored. They never stop growing, and apparently don't die of old age, so actually that makes Ebirah almost semi-believable as kaiju go. Who knows, maybe there could really be a thirty-thousand-year-old lobster crawling around out there somewhere that got freakishly big. Maybe.

*In the 1964 movie, at least. None of her 'goddess' aspects figured into her battle with Godzilla, she just used her wings, claws, and poison powder.

[godjacob]

Anguirus was an armored dinosaur, King Kong an icon of the genre and Mothra an actual goddess. There is a bit step down from them to a giant lobster.

Oh, come on. You got Anguirus right, but Kong is a giant (electric) ape and Mothra is a giant moth*. You could call Ebirah a horror of the deep or something if you wanted him to sound more dramatic and worthy. Anyway, what's wrong with a lobster? They're predators, and well-armed and armored. They never stop growing, and apparently don't die of old age, so actually that makes Ebirah almost semi-believable as kaiju go. Who knows, maybe there could really be a thirty-thousand-year-old lobster crawling around out there somewhere that got freakishly big. Maybe.

*In the 1964 movie, at least. None of her 'goddess' aspects figured into her battle with Godzilla, she just used her wings, claws, and poison powder.

An electric ape who kills dinosaurs and lives in the lost world. Showa Kong least beat up a giant octopus prior to fighting Godzilla. Mothra was literally worshiped as a deity in the film even if her offense was limited to flapping wings. I'll take either of these over a sea creature battling another sea creature who shoots literal atomic death out of its mouth lol.

If a real giant lobster rises up to kill us all, maybe I'll raise Ebirah's threat level a notch higher. Maybe.

[JAGzilla]

An electric ape who throws rocks at retreating cephalopods and chugs wine until he passes out.

Fixed that for ya.

Also, Electric Ape would make a good band name. Or a username, at least.

[godjacob]

An electric ape who throws rocks at retreating cephalopods and chugs wine until he passes out.

Fixed that for ya.

Also, Electric Ape would make a good band name. Or a username, at least.

Maybe a user here will adopt Electric ape XD

[eabaker]

The main point of Ebirah is the direct threat he presents to the protagonists.

[UltramanGoji]

The main point of Ebirah is the direct threat he presents to the protagonists.

You should know by now that barely anybody here talks about these movies in a filmic way.

[godjacob]

Except Ebirah wasn't much of the direct threat to the human protagonists. That was the Red Bamboo's job. Ebirah was merely the means to keep them on the island while they worked to free the slaves and sabotage their efforts.

[eabaker]

Well, yes, the focus of the plot is the heroes trying to escape the island and stop the Red Bamboo. Ebirah fulfills a function on one side of that narrative - keeping them on the island - and Godzilla is introduced as means of helping to overcome both Ebirah and the Red Bamboo. But both Godzilla and Ebirah, while (along with Mothra) the major selling point for the audience, are ultimately secondary to the story.

[godjacob]

Which is fine, I just feel of all the main Kaiju villains we've had in the story, Ebirah is the weakest. Doesn't create much tension as it doesn't interact with the protagonists much and as a direct opponent against Godzilla seems a bit too undermatched especially given Godzilla is more heroic. Hell I feel similar about the Red Bamboo being among the weaker human villains, being hilariously incompetent in spite of being a terrorist organization.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Part of what I like about Ebirah (the film) is that when Godzilla wakes up the bad guys are absolutely screwed. Red Bamboo spend most the movie being on top of everything. Almost killing the protagonists, smugly enslaving innocent people with complete confidence that they are untouchable. Then Godzilla wakes up and they can only delay the inevitable. And it serves as a strong reminder of what happens when Godzilla turns his wrath on humans. By this point there are other kaiju that can give him a run for his money (Mothra, Rodan) or are outright more powerful (King Ghidorah), but he's still more or less unstoppable when he decides to go after people.

And I'm not sure if I said it here or elsewhere, but I think the film has one of the best Godzilla awakens scenes in the entire franchise. It's incredibly satisfying.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Part of what I like about Ebirah (the film) is that when Godzilla wakes up the bad guys are absolutely screwed. Red Bamboo spend most the movie being on top of everything. Almost killing the protagonists, smugly enslaving innocent people with complete confidence that they are untouchable. Then Godzilla wakes up and they can only delay the inevitable. And it serves as a strong reminder of what happens when Godzilla turns his wrath on humans. By this point there are other kaiju that can give him a run for his money (Mothra, Rodan) or are outright more powerful (King Ghidorah), but he's still more or less unstoppable when he decides to go after people.

And I'm not sure if I said it here or elsewhere, but I think the film has one of the best Godzilla awakens scenes in the entire franchise. It's incredibly satisfying.

And yet, despite Godzilla awakening and destroying the Red Bamboo the film still feels tense with the destruction of the Island and everyone trying to escape! Godzilla waking up isn't the end of the movie or any of the tension. It's great!

[Spuro]

This movie didn't deserve to be on MST3K...

Megalon, sure, but not this one.

[LSD Jellyfish]

This movie didn't deserve to be on MST3K...

Megalon, sure, but not this one.

I think not all movies that are on MST3K need to be bad...

That being said, the film had a lot of qualities that make it more comedic in certain contexts. Ebirah and the giant condor for example...And the original Japanese film has a lot of humor, which the dub has as well. Makes sense why it was on there.

I kinda wanna watch this now.

[mikelcho]

Part of what I like about Ebirah (the film) is that when Godzilla wakes up the bad guys are absolutely screwed. Red Bamboo spend most the movie being on top of everything. Almost killing the protagonists, smugly enslaving innocent people with complete confidence that they are untouchable. Then Godzilla wakes up and they can only delay the inevitable. And it serves as a strong reminder of what happens when Godzilla turns his wrath on humans. By this point there are other kaiju that can give him a run for his money (Mothra, Rodan) or are outright more powerful (King Ghidorah), but he's still more or less unstoppable when he decides to go after people.

And I'm not sure if I said it here or elsewhere, but I think the film has one of the best Godzilla awakens scenes in the entire franchise. It's incredibly satisfying.

Yes, that awakening scene is one of my favorites, too. One thing I really liked was Godzilla's dorsal plates sparking before his eyes opened. That was a nice touch.

[edgaguirus]

This movie didn't deserve to be on MST3K...

Megalon, sure, but not this one.

There are films I consider good that have ended up on the show.

One of the main strengths of this movie is how the human parts are just as thrilling as the kaiju parts. Most of the movie is about them and their struggle, and then the kaiju get their moments to shine. If you were to redo certain scenes, and film a couple of new ones, you could remove the kaiju and still have a great movie. The kaiju add an increased level of danger, which is well integrated into the human events and enhances the story.

[Terasawa]

This movie didn't deserve to be on MST3K...

Deserved or not, thirty years ago today:

[Locutus]

Loved this film, I actually really enjoyed the human characters in this a lot.

[edgaguirus]

One of the interesting things about this movie is that it has you rooting for a criminal. He's a bank robber, but his leadership and experience prove vital to our group of heroes.