Son of Godzilla (1967) is a charming G film that of course has the lil’ guy, but also some fun sci fi! It took place in middle of the Shōwa era (1954-1975) ending with Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975). This time introduced some formidable opponents for Big G and also expanded his family with his son, Minilla, I like the translation Minya, Minilla sounds like an envelope. Godzooky was the cartoony version of Godzilla's son in the 1978 Godzilla Power Hour animated show. There was a Baby Godzilla introduced in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993) and he becomes Godzilla Junior in Godzilla vs. Destroyah (1995). The son of Godzilla returned in Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). The film is directed by Jun Fukuda who also directed two of the Musashi Miyamoto films before directing Rodan (1956) and later Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966). It is written by Shinichi Sekizawa who also wrote Varan the Unbelievable (1958), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), and also Ebirah.
We get stormy seas, a plane’s crew suddenly loses radio contact, there is some kind of interference. Out of the rain-splattered cockpit window, they see Godzilla emerge from the sea. The Shōwa Godzilla has bulging eyes and a short snout, more Muppet than vicious dinosaur-like beast. The pilot veers the plane away from Godzilla and the radio operator plots a course from the interference to Sollgell Island. Looking out of the plane, the pilot notes that Godzilla is headed to Sollgell following some mysterious call. Godzilla lets out a roar. Then, we get some goofy music as we see Sollgell Island in the day. There is some jungle scenes until we get two scientists in white. They heading back to the tower, a large round tower with machinery around it. A technician phones in his report. A screech is heard and the other scientist takes out his rifle saying that the creature has returned. At the base, Professor Kasumi (Tadao Takashima) is preparing the experiment with his assistants.
There is a plane that flies over the island and drops off two parachutes. The scientists race out and find that it is a man, Goro Maki (Akira Kubo), who says he is a freelance reporter. He is likable, kinda clumsy, but persistent. Kubo was Yoshiteru Miki in Throne of Blood (1957) and later Captain Katsuo Yamabe in Destroy All Monsters (1968). Professor Kasumi tries to send him away, but Goro won’t leave until he has a story. The professor’s assistant, Fujisaki (Akihiko Hirata), suggests to the professor that Goro could help out with the chores. Professor Kasumi just walks away. Then, we hear the screeching again, a large, insectoid form with lamp-like eye moves through the jungle. Goro has his camera out and the scientist fires his rifle at the giant mantis called Kamacuras. In the morning, Goro has a red Hawaiian shirt and white shorts, a wanna-be Elvis. A hunting party returns without seeing the Kamacuras.
Goro goes exploring the island and happens to see a beautiful woman (Beverly Maeda) swimming off the shore! Maeda was in the horror movie, The Face of Another (1966). She swims away when she hears Goro try to take a photo. We later find her name is Saeko and she is a character right out of the lost worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs complete with being a scientist’s daughter! I’m thinking Caroline Munro’s character, Dia, in At the Earth’s Core (1976). One of my favorite genres! Night, at the dinner table, Professor Kasumi says the conditions are right to conduct their experiment the next day. Goro wants to know about the experiment and Professor Kasumi explains that the world will soon be overpopulated and need food, so basically it is a terraforming experiment through weather control! He also explains that the experiment must be secret or it could be misused. It is an interesting sci fi premise that almost sounds like we could use it now. Morning, the scientists rush to man their stations. They get ready to launch the experiment, but Goro goes running out to the cliff to warn the mysterious woman. Security is a bit lax at the base.
The scientists send out from one of the towers a cyro probe attached to a balloon. Kasumi has the probe detonated at 800 meters and then activates the tower to release silver iodine. Temperature starts to drop on the island and a “solar-heat absorbing radiation unit” is launched also with a balloon. There is suddenly an interference from the center of the island shutting down all controls. The island is struck with a storm and a narrator explains that there is sudden heat wave. The narrator also notes that it is four days later, we don’t see how Goro survived the storm, still he is taking photos of the professor in the jungle. They suddenly hear the Kamacuras and it is now kaiju size! A Kaiju right out of the giant insect movies a la Them (1954)! Praying mantis have long claws and this one flies! The professor notes that it must have mutated from the experiment. They have to flee to the tower to escape the Kamacuras. The Kamacuras gather around a rocky mound and begin striking at it. This reveals a giant egg!
Night, some of the group now wants to end the experiment, but with the radio out, they have no hope of rescue. Professor Kasumi confides that he sabotaged the radio. The group find that the laundry is missing, the professor has a member point his flashlight to the trees, and there is the island girl so they shoot at her! The first woman they see in months and they try to shoot her?, not a good move fellas. Morning, the Kamacuras are striking the egg, it is starting to crack open. Goro and elsewhere the girl are watching as the egg is opened to reveal a bleating, grey kaiju! Goro says it’s a baby Godzilla and it is struck by the Kamacura claws! The design of Minilla is perfect, grey, not yet green, with tiny bumps on its back, not spiky dorsal fins, and he’s chubby. He is played by Masao Fukazawa, but he is known as Little Man Machan! I like that from the moment he is born he is bullied, his father teaches him to use his radioactive breath to fight back! The group has to fight against Kumonga, a giant spider of kaiju proportions, it appeared in Destroy All Monsters. Son of Godzilla is in the tradition of kaiju movies like Son of Kong (1933). It is said to kidify Godzilla, kinda, but there is serious story here about bullying, terraforming, a lost world of kaiju, and Baby Godzilla 52 years before Baby Yoda, this is the way to revitalize a franchise!
Five Cyro Probes out of Five!
#SonofGodzilla, #JunFukuda, #AkiraKubo, #BeverlyMaeda
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