Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Eric Stevenson This was the attempt of the Godzilla franchise to do a movie with an environmentally friendly message. For the most part, these messages don't go over too well as many people find them too sappy and clichéd. This movie itself is okay, mostly because it has a lot of strengths and weaknesses. For example, I actually did kind of get the feel of the original 1954 film when it talked about all the dead people. This film was apparently rated G. Wow, cities being destroyed in a G-rated film. Nowadays, given the exact same content, this would undoubtedly be rated PG-13. Anyway, the effects are pretty good.The main weakness of the film comes in the final battle. Godzilla actually uses his radioactive breath to float. They would later reuse this sort of thing in "Godzilla Vs. Megalon", a far sillier film with a far sillier way of doing it. The humans build a machine to weaken Hedorah and while I do like the idea of them helping to defeat the monster, it does seem off place. I think it's at this point we can safely say that Godzilla became a good guy. It was first really established in "Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster". **1/2

Leofwine_draca One of the weirdest kaiju flicks ever created, this drug-fulled surrealist epic mixes in some very bizarre GODZILLA action with a plot that recalls the original '54 GODZILLA and experimental scenes to give it a very daft look. While not an easy movie to watch by any means, this unfortunately tends up being rubbishy rather than a work of genius, although it does have its moments and its never boring. The film's annoying theme tune is about saving the earth (yep, more unwanted environmentalist messages - nearly as bad as in Seagal's ON DEADLY GROUND) and resembles a Bond intro more than anything else.Things start off on a high note, as we witness the pollution of Japan's seas and the problems it causes. The "heroes" of the film are a very typical nuclear family rather than the investigating police force or intrepid reporters as in most of these films. Basically there are no other main cast members, just this family of four (five?). The scientist father discover that tadpoles taken from the sea now have the ability to merge together to create a bigger beast, and immediately decides that this is what has happened with the monster he calls "Hedora". After doing a bit of deep-sea diving to investigate, half of his face is burnt off by acid! Eventually Hedorah emerges from the ocean to wreak havoc as per usual, although he's rather more fond of murdering people than smashing buildings. As well as the acid rain he emits, he also spits huge globs of sludge, one of which goes on to attack people in a crowded nightclub in an unexpected homage to THE BLOB! It's not long before Godzilla arrives (here he has his very own theme tune) and engages the pollution-spawned fiend in a number of battles.Although Godzilla here looks like rather a tatty and disappointing monster, Hedorah more than makes up for his weakness. Hedorah is basically an animated pile of rubbish, complete with glowing red eyes. He's one of the more inventive monsters from the series and has to be seen to be believed. Unlike most kaiju films, there's a high death toll and we get to watch loads of people flashing and dissolving into skeletons as a result of Hedorah's carnage. Along with the slimy and disgusting Hedorah, this gives the movie a darker, more adult subject matter than before - but it's all so silly and obviously aimed at kids that you can't take it seriously anyway.The action scenes are adequate, but most of them are poorly-lit (perhaps to hide Godzilla's ratty appearance?) and there's nothing classic here as there was in previous multiple-monster bashes. The cast is instantly disposable, with the unfortunate exception of the annoyingly cute Japanese boy (in braces!) who leads it...it's a shame the acid sludge never gets him. What is most amusing in this film are the various experiments that director Yoshimitsu Banno tries out through it's running time. We have an unexplained black and white segment (complete with folk song!), weird animated interludes that make no sense, and the repetitive "save the earth" theme song that plays at various inappropriate moments. These bits certainly add to the "what the hell am I watching?" factor and make this a one-off kaiju feature. Although never boring, GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH is a hard film to watch and should be seen only by those who have very bizarre tastes. The final result is of some bizarre, cheese-fuelled nightmare.

William Samuel Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster is the kind of movie that doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be. It must be a kid's movie, because the protagonist is an annoying kid who idolizes Godzilla. Yet some scenes would be more at home in a horror film; as when crowds of people are asphyxiated and skeletonized by the smog monster's noxious emissions. At other times there are signs that this movie wants to be a drug fueled exploitation flick. There are weird cartoon sequences that seem inspired by Yellow Submarine, and at one point a character in a dance club starts hallucinating, for no apparent reason, that his fellow party-goers have paper Mache fish for heads. There's also a perfunctory astronomy lesson with no real connection to the rest of the film, plus a shot where Hedorah, the titular Smog Monster, flies through a construction site, and the structure collapses, but with no sound. Was the recording track for scene damaged at some point? If that were the case, you would think the filmmakers could re-record the sound effects, or substitute a clip from the studio's library.But I'm forgetting what this movie is all about, which is Godzilla- and the need to protect the environment. In 1971, when the film was released, this message had not yet become a cliché in children's movies. It was also a very relevant at a time when there was little to no regulation of factory emissions and hazardous waste disposal, and when rivers in downtown Cleveland could suddenly burst into flames.But Godzilla makes a very odd environmental spokesman, to say the very least. When he first appeared in 1954's Gojira, he was the embodiment of the death and destruction that nuclear weapons could, and had, unleashed on Japan and on the world. Now however, he is Tokyo's savior, a completely benign figure who doesn't knock over a single building, even by accident. Godzilla doesn't always have to play the villain, but he should at least be an anti-hero, dangerous to man even when he's protecting us from other monsters. Godzilla also makes one of his least dramatic entrances in this film. Instead of slowly rising from the sea, or bursting out of an iceberg, he ambles out of the sunrise as annoying trumpet music blares. Regrettably, this score will be repeated in most scenes where the big guy appears. As for Godzilla's opponent, Toho has come up with one of its cooler ideas here. Hedorah is not a single organism, but rather colony of billions of rapidly splitting microorganisms. This means that it can change form at will, and can repair almost any damage suffered by producing new cells. Unfortunately, the idea just didn't work. What we end up with, at least in the monster's final form, is a giant, misshapen blob of rubber under which the actor can barely move. This brings us to the battles between the monsters, usually the high point of any Godzilla film. Some of the earlier fights aren't too badly staged, but once Hedorah learns to fly, Godzilla's main tactic seems to be standing around and failing his arms angrily. And as for the final battle near Mount Fuji, having the military build a pair of giant electrodes to dehydrate the Smog Monster is a fairly good idea, since by this point it's clear that Godzilla can't do it on his own.But why oh why did this have to mean a protracted sequence in which our hero rips apart his now helpless opponent piece by piece (twice!), to make sure that every drop of moisture is evaporated? Wouldn't it have been more effective for Hedorah to instantly dry out and crumble to dust, like a vampire exposed to sunlight? This isn't Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, it's Godzilla vs. the giant mud pie.There's also the question of how Godzilla knew the purpose and operation of the electrodes, and why his atomic breath provided power to them, rather than blasting them to bits like everything else it touches. But this isn't where our suspension of disbelief is really tested. I mentioned earlier that Godzilla had to go through the process of drying out Hedorah twice. This is because the first time, there proves to some life still left in the blob of filth, and its prior flying form escapes into the sky. So how does Godzilla catch up to his rival and bring him back? Simple, he flies after him. That's right; Godzilla actually flies by using his atomic breath as a form of jet propulsion. This may be the single most ridiculous sequence in the history of Japanese cinema.I'm not recommending that no one ever see this movie. It achieves a sort of campy grandeur, almost to the point of being so bad that it's good. I would suggest viewing this film just once, so you can gawk in amazement at its sheer awfulness. Or, if that's too much for you, just type in "Godzilla flies" on YouTube. You won't be disappointed by the result.

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain After the absurd travesty of the previous installment, Godzilla needed something familiar yet fresh. We got a film that has split many a fan. It brings a dark warning about pollution, as Godzilla's latest foe is created from man's ignorance. As Godzilla arrives to destroy the monster, should we take this as a suggestion to use nuclear mistakes to clean up current ones? Probably not, as is delightfully portrayed in the stunning opening shots as a young boy plays with a Godzilla action figure. This clearly illustrates his place as a commercial saviour of the world. Hedorah is a great villain. He can change forms, and really causes a lot of damage. His gunk and gas is able to physically deform humans forever. This dark reveal is presented in the opening scenes as a father and son are scarred. The whole film has a bizarre 60's funk thing going for it. Bizarre musical interludes, PSA cartoon segments, and scenes that would fit into an Austin Powers movie. It's darker than some of the previous Godzillas, but it's also a lot more fun at the same time. A nice offering for the series, though the flying segment at the end should have been cut.