BLOOD WORK: THE SAGA OF THE KING OF THE MONSTERS ~ PART 6: INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER (1965)

After completing perhaps the heaviest production schedule in what some would call the greatest year in Godzilla's history and following what is essentially the kaiju equivalent of the Avengers in GHIDORAH THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER where do the filmmakers go from here? For the sixth film in the series how does one begin to top a space monster like Ghidorah and the uniting of earth's monsters? First off, you'd keep the kaiju masters themselves on hand for one more epic adventure.

Director Ishiro Honda, special effects masters Eiji Tsuburaya, Teruyoshi Nakano, and Sadamasa Arikawa, music by Akira Ifukube, and writer Shinichi Sekizawa take the story to the next level, the universal level. Haruo Nakajima in charge of the kaiju and stunts and with an all-star cast featuring Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Jun Tazaki, Akira Kubo, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and 'the Rebel' himself - Nick Adams - Toho studios unleashed an apocalyptic science fiction masterpiece. INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER a.k.a. GODZILLA VS MONSTER ZERO raised the stakes of the franchise higher than ever and created a template for numerous sci-fi films to copy and repeat for the future.

THE PLOT

As Earth continues researching and peering deeper into the vastness of space they discover a new planetoid in the Scorpion Constellation on the far side of Jupiter. Code named: Planet X - The World Space Authority dispatches two astronauts, F. Glenn and K. Fuji, on a mission to the newly discovered planet. Upon arrival Glenn and Fuji discover a race of cyborgs inhabiting the planet as well as the terrifying kaiju, King Ghidorah. Through duplicity and advanced technology the Xians lay siege to Earth in a bid for universal domination. With the Xians able to control Ghidorah, Rodan, and Godzilla to do their bidding, what hope does Earth have against these invaders from outer space?

THE GOOD

Raising the Stakes. As a franchise keeps growing so too must the stakes. After a devastating space monster forced three of Earth's monsters to join forces to save the world where do you go from there? Writer Shinichi Sekizawa takes the plot galactic. Combining two of the most popular sci-fi sub-genres, giant monsters and flying saucers, into a seminal science fiction epic. The Xians lure humanity to their planet, secretly infiltrate Earth planting sleeper cell agents to assess our defenses, abduct our monsters and control them, then begin a full scale invasion. This time the monsters cannot save the world from this alien threat. Humanity must figure out a way to defeat the Xians on their own including freeing the kaiju from the Xian control.

This plot, similar to the 1957 film THE MYSTERIANS, would become a staple of Toho's kaiju films, being reused and borrowed again and again for future films like Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla Vs Gigan, Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla, Godzilla Vs King Ghidorah, and Godzilla: Final Wars. The Xians themselves would become iconic villains of cinema, somewhat androgynous in appearance, technologically advanced, emotionless robotic cyborgs. Even the thin visor covering their eyes has become a signature of science fiction stories (Geordi La Forge anyone?). Yoshio Tsuchiya is as much to thank as director Ishiro Honda or the costumer designer, delivering one of his most memorable performances. All the actors deliver wonderful performances including Kumi Mizuno, Akira Kubo, and Nick Adams. It's a shame Nick Adams' life ended so tragically. It would've been great to see him in more tokusatsu films.

THE BAD

Stock Footage and Dancing Kaiju. As wonderful of a movie as this film is, it also has some of the first indications of the shifting of the series from serious dramas to low budget kids films. Godzilla dancing in this film is one such scene. According to David Kalat's book A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series, director Ishiro Honda was opposed to the anthropomorphization of Godzilla's character. I wouldn't doubt either if Godzilla's shift to a child friendly hero was a reason why Ishiro Honda took time away from the series. This is also the first film in the series to show significant amounts of stock footage from previous kaiju films. The footage recycled from 1956's Rodan stands out the worst. Taking into account all the stock footage and the already limited screen time of the kaiju, there is little new kaiju footage in this film. It is unfortunate but the film is still quite good albeit not as high quality as the previous two films in the series.

Artwork by Jeff Zornow

THE VERDICT

The masterminds behind Ghidorah's attack in the previous film make their presence known in this galactic epic. The Xians make their legendary debut in a plot-formula that would go on to define many Godzilla films in the future. With Ishiro Honda at the helm accompanied by the dream team of golden age Tokusatsu creators and an all-star cast, Invasion of Astro-Monster is a seminal film in the series. The only aspects that bring this movie down are usages of stock footage and Godzilla's little dancing jig. It also looks a little ridiculous when the Xians pull Godzilla from Lake Myojin with his feet sticking up unnaturally high and his tail between his legs. Beyond these the movie is classic kaiju greatness.

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10

(Great! Everyone needs to experience this. The new standard)

Category: Transcendence

(a film enjoyed by both the adolescent and adult Godzilla fan)

ODE TO WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN

One very interesting aspect of the film are the implied plotlines on the periphery. During the initial conversation with the Xians the Controller speaks of Ghidorah in regards to the kaiju's attack on Earth in the previous film. How would the Xians know of those events unless they were observing the events or perhaps were responsible for them? If the Xians were responsible for Ghidorah's first attack on Earth then perhaps they were also responsible for the decimation of the Martian people and the destruction of the planet Mars spoken of by Princess Salno in GHIDORAH ~ THE THREE HEADED MONSTER. Dr. Sakurai has a line of dialog in Monster Zero, "Ghidorah was always one of their weapons." We are left to interpret this dialog as Ghidorah having been controlled by the Xians for many years, perhaps hundreds if not thousands of years.

Artwork by Yasushi Torisawa

Then there is the attack immediately following the Xian Ultimatum.The Xians are shown attacking the World Space Authority destroying the P1 and satellites. When Glenn confronts Namikawa the building they're in is ransacked indicating some sort of attack or pandemonium. The impression is that the Xians attacked several places on Earth, either to drive home their threat or to destroy key places on Earth that could pose problems. Then there is the line of dialog about Ghidorah attacking the United States and the western hemisphere. Given that Ghidorah shows up for the climax of the film it is assumed that the monster defeats the United States, probably in a huge battle too given that, as Americans, that's what we do, big action and battles. There are large action pieces in this story that happen off screen. Imagine seeing all these action scenes.

The last missing piece of off-screen plot is Mothra. Mothra is the major character missing from this film especially since the monster played such a pivotal role in the last film against Ghidorah. With Godzilla and Rodan under Xian control, Mothra is the only kaiju opposition left from the last movie. Mothra, being of exceptional intelligence for a kaiju, was probably incapable of being controlled by the Xian magnetic waves. It would therefore make sense that after the Xian Ultimatum is issued that the Xians first target would be Infant Island to neutralize the threat of Mothra. Again all these plotlines are mentioned, implied, or can be inferred from lines of dialog and sets. There is a lot more to this story than meets the eyes. If ever told in its entirety, this particular story would be a grand kaiju epic worthy of legend.

Continuity between the Toho Kaiju Cinematic Universe (TKCU) and even from Godzilla film to Godzilla film has always been fast and loose. Filling in these plotholes makes for even more exciting stories, stories I'd love to see.

Artwork by Yasushi Torisawa

VHS/DVD/BLU-RAY

If you are looking for the perfect release of this film none get any better than the Toho Master Collection DVD version from Genius Entertainment and Classic Media. What makes this the perfect edition for any English speaking fan? For starters this DVD contains both the original Japanese language version as well as the original English language version complete with the UPA English dub (the version most of us grew up with on television and VHS). Along with that there is an audio commentary by Godzilla scholar Stuart Galbraith IV, image gallery, original Japanese trailer, and biography of Tomoyuki Tanaka. With three different ways to view the film, simply put, this edition is one of the finest releases of any Godzilla film.

If only every single Showa era Godzilla film as well as Godzilla 1985 were given similar treatment. These editions from Genius Entertainment and Classic Media are without a doubt the best Godzilla releases for fans.