Here's what you need to know; when a mysterious meteorite crash lands on Earth, professor Murai joins the team looking to study and observe the bizarre rock from space. Meanwhile, a seemingly successful assassination attempt on Princess Selina turns out to have failed, and not only that, she's now walking around saying she's a Martian and warning of a coming apocalypse. But when her apocalypse prophecy comes true in the form of Ghidorah, a three-headed monster from outer space, the planet's survival hinges on an unlikely alliance as Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra team up to take him down, meanwhile Detective Shindo does what he can to fend off Selina's would-be assassins, who have returned to finish the job.
So here we are; after seeing the origins of Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra, it's time to see them all join forces against a threat unlike any other. But after I found Mothra vs. Godzilla to merely be decent, which is probably not a popular opinion, I was even more curious and excited to re-watch yet another Godzilla film I watched countless times when I was younger, the film that gave us one of Godzilla's coolest and most menacing villains, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster wastes no time in introducing its primary characters and conflicts, rapidly introducing us to yet another journalist as she watches Ghidorah crash land on Earth, before jumping to Detective Shindo and the Princess as she escapes from an exploding plane by, get this; getting possessed by a Martian and jumping out of it into the sea. Still not even ten minutes in and we get yet another character introduction with Murai, who's the second not-Chujo in a row, but don't worry, this one's better. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster introduces us to its world and characters very efficiently, kicking things off with a literal bang as a meteorite crashes to Earth and a private plane is bombed out of the sky. Things cool down a bit after that, but the film does a great job of building suspense for its titular monster; with a slow build to the reveal of the meteorite, and the reveal that it's magnetic giving it even more of an otherworldly quality that's very in the spirit of old school sci-fi. Then in comes the prophetess, who is kind of a bore; I get that she's supposed to be distant and robotic, but her robotic personality makes her very boring to watch, but this film does have characters to pick up the slack. In place of idiotic, greedy capitalists, we have a gang of assassins, characters who can actually be threatening when they need to be, something Nelson didn't need to be, but that the two from Mothra vs. Godzilla certainly needed. Oddly though, they take a backseat behind our heroes, who are thankfully an improvement over Mothra vs. Godzilla.
We have Murai for example, another scientist played by Hiroshi Koizumi, then you have yet another reporter, but this film throws in a detective, how adventurous, this does give the human story and the monster story a sense of relevance to each other that Mothra vs. Godzilla lacked; with all of it being centred around the prophetess princess. The fairies also return once again and they've apparently become celebrities in Japan, with the film introducing them as guests on a TV chat show. As usual, the fairies are great, singing their charming Mothra songs, though they are in this film less than they were in Mothra and Mothra vs. Godzilla, which is a shame. What's quite pleasantly surprising about the film's human story is how solid and engaging it is on its own, independent of the monsters. The plot of the assassins hunting the Princess while Shindo and his sister try to keep her safe, all while she's blissfully unaware, spaced out and calling herself an alien, it's cool, and it certainly has it's exciting and intense moments as Shindo and the assassins clash, leading to a conclusion for the story that's very exciting and has a sweet payoff. This naturally plays out alongside the monsters fighting, which also has a somewhat sweet ending with Godzilla actually making friends for once. That's another thing that Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster also does very well; it does a better job than any film before this one of conveying the monsters' personalities. This isn't just because of the scene where the fairies translate the monsters' argument, though that certainly helps, the monsters are made to feel more human than they ever have before thanks to the physical expressions of the actors.
Yes, there is indeed a scene where Rodan, Godzilla and Mothra sit down and talk about whether or not they should save humanity from Ghidorah, making for a funny and surprisingly fascinating scene as the fairies translate, exclaiming that Godzilla and Rodan have no love for mankind since they hate and fear them, while Mothra tries and ultimately fails to persuade them to fight for a greater good. Godzilla and Rodan in this film are a pair of meatheads; only wanting to fight each other and not caring how many people die, humanity does hate them after all. It's also unbelievably charming to watch them laugh at each other as Mothra silks them to make them listen, as is seeing them react with a shocked and dazed expression every time one gets a good hit on the other, it's these little quirks that really flesh out these monsters and the relationship they have with each other. The fight between Rodan and Godzilla is very cheesy and dumb, but in a good way as they throw rocks at each other and laugh at each other's misery, it's very childish in how it's portrayed and it works. They decide not to side with Mothra, who then tries to fight Ghidorah alone, a testament to just how brave and strong willed Mothra is, even as an almost useless larva. But what really makes this sequence special is of course when Rodan and Godzilla come to Mothra's aid, which is an awesome moment which reveals the good nature of the two monsters, very odd given that they've both only ever been bad guys. This is the first time in the series that Godzilla had been portrayed in a genuinely heroic light and would of course be the start of Godzilla's descent into being a superhero.
But this film is truly special because of Ghidorah, who is not only an outstanding monster, but is the foe of one of most badass monster throw downs ever put to screen. Ghidorah is an amazing looking monster; his design is striking and memorable, and the scenes of him flying around and lighting up cities with his gravity beams show off some expectedly breath-taking visual effects and pyrotechnics. Then comes the fight itself which, unlike the childish fight between Rodan and Godzilla, is all awesome, and free of many of the failings of Mothra vs. Godzilla's fight. The hopeless puppet work of Mothra and Godzilla's previous fight is completely gone in this film, replaced with meaty punches, pecks, bites and tail swipes. seeing the three monsters all joining forces is absolutely fantastic, as is seeing them find new and comedic ways to get the upper hand on their foe. This is less of an apocalyptic duel and more of a brawl with a bully, a bully that comes out of the fight completely humiliated by the cunning and teamwork of the unlikely friends that took him down. There's so much to love about this fight; it's far superior to the fight from the previous film and is given more weight by the personality and charm this film injects into its monsters. This fight isn't vicious, it's fun, it's a good old kaiju wrestling match with all the goofy charm and none of the bad effects or sloppy editing, possibly making the film's finale the most entertaining sequence of any film I've reviewed in this special. And to top it off, with the fight over, the film ends on a very jolly implication of Godzilla and Rodan actually becoming friends as they watch Mothra and the fairies swim away to their island, making it the most wholesome ending of any Godzilla film up to that point with new friends made, bad guys stopped and a bully getting the shit kicked out of him, it's silly, but it's what Godzilla would become and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster nails it.
Oh Godzilla, What Terrible Language!
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is easily one of the best film from Godzilla's earlier years, it may have set the course that turned the series into a Saturday morning cartoon, but it does what it does so well that I can forgive that, and its leaps and bounds ahead of what was achieved in Mothra vs. Godzilla. The film fleshes out the monsters' personalities and relationships brilliantly, making for one of the most engaging and glorious fights to come out of Godzilla's Showa period, one bolstered by the rejection of pretty much all of Mothra vs. Godzilla's faults. Add onto that a compelling and exciting human story and you've got the Godzilla series at its best. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a fantastic little monster movie that's definitely worth watching.
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