Great Monster War, known internationally as
Invasion of the Astro Monster and to American audiences as
Monster Zero is the sixth Godzilla film, and a direct sequel to
Ghidorah: the Three-Headed Monster. (Which I will review another time.) This film is different than the rest, I'll get there later in the review.
The plot follows two astronauts, one American, and one Japanese. A new planet, dubbed "Planet X" (yup, this is where that overused name comes from) was found just outside Jupiter. When the astronauts land, they discover that they are not alone. Aliens calling themselves the Xiliens populate the planet. However there is a slight problem. The leader, called the Controller, explains the situation. The Xiliens live underground, due to their planet getting constantly attacked by "Monster Zero." (Aka, King Ghidorah.) The aliens give the astronauts a proposal: let them borrow Godzilla and Rodan to fend off Monster Zero, and they will give the humans the cure to all disease. However, things are not what they seem.
Pretty interesting plot, eh? This is the first "alien invasion" story of Godzilla, and it will be reused a lot in the later films.
The old Godzilla movies have a reputation of "cheesy/campy fun" and "cheap children's entertainment." (Thanks to
Godzilla vs. Megalon and the infamous
Godzilla's Revenge.) This film shines however, in that it doesn't concentrate on being a monster movie with destruction and cheesy lines, it concentrates on being a high-quality science fiction story.
The American, Glenn, (portrayed by Nick Addams) brings something new to the table. His character is fun to watch on screen, something a lot of the Godzilla films lack. I'm always dreading the human screen time in these films, but in
Invasion, I actually found myself ENJOYING their screen time. *SHOCK!*
The main antagonist, the Controller, (portrayed by Yoshio Tsuchiya) is a cool, emotionless villain. The Godzilla series human/alien villains have always been laughable, (I'm looking at you Seatopians) but this guy and the Xiliens appear a lot more threatening. (They even have the oldschool spandex.)
The other characters, such as Miss Namikawa (Portrayed by Kumi Mizuno) are good and well-played. The romance between her and Glenn feels believable, and not forced or thrown in like a lot of today's movies do. (I'm sorry
Thor.)
Now, for the REAL reason why we're here. THE MONSTERS. You see, this was before CGI, this is when they used puppets or suits. It still holds up well to this day! Godzilla is looking mighty impressive, Rodan flapping his wings with glory, and the monsterous King Ghidorah is always a sight to behold. Everybody here is moving organically, realistically, and of course, awesomely.
Other effects, such as the beams were good. (For its time of course.) You have to wonder though, Godzilla's beam in this film looks far superior than the one used in later Showa films. It goes to show that sometimes the classics have better effects than the newer ones.
The music is great, done by the famous Akira Ifukube. It really brings up the dramatic scale, nothing can compare to all of the themes used in this film. It's so fun to hear Rodan's theme and then they switch it to Ghidorah's so smoothly.
In closing, you have to look at this film differently. As a Godzilla film, it fails in that he's lacking onscreen appearances. (The film technically isn't even about Godzilla.) But as a science fiction story, it succeeds wonderfully. It has a high-quality feel, something a lot of the later Showa films lacks. (This was famed Godzilla director Ishirō Honda's last film until
Terror of Mechagodzilla.) We get a good alien invasion story, good acting, two fun monster fights, and satisfying destruction. This film is a truly underrated gem.
Invasion of the Astro Monster gets an 8/10. Go check it out.