Welcome to the Monster Mania, where we'll review the exploits of some of the world's best-known monster movies.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.
That said, on to the review!
Who knows what mysteries lie buried deep beneath the planet's surface? Coal miners soon discover to their horror that some things should remain unknown and undiscovered. However, it's too late to do anything because the giant insects (called "Meganuron" in the Japanese version) are loose in the mines and killing those they encounter. They, however, are nothing compared to the great creature that yet lurks in a subterranean cavern...the creature that suddenly appears in the skies over Japan and the Pacific flying at speeds unattainable by military pilots and performing amazing maneuvers at unbelievable speeds and altitudes. There seems to be no way of defeating the creature save one, and that one might cause greater destruction than the creature itself, yet what choice does mankind have?
Rodan is a powerful foe capable of doing greater damage than Godzilla ever did, if only because he/she/it can fly at supersonic speeds. Just the simple act of flying over a city could probably level it entirely. However, Rodan seems content with only alighting occasionally...until the military gets involved. Then the destruction really begins. Rodan leaves Fukuoka in ruins, leaving the military with only one option for saving the rest of the country.
Rodan is Japan's first color monster movie and for that reason is an improvement over Godzilla...although there is a lot to be said for chiascuro and black-and-white flicks. Consider its release date before judging the quality of its special effects. It really is quite good in this sense. An especially interesting scene is when Rodan flaps its wings and sends soldiers flying through the air, including the obligatory clinging to a tree and hanging in the air technique. The giant insects, I think, could have been better: they were 10-foot long caterpillars/worms that seemed to have pincers of some sort. The claws sort of bug me...I can buy a giant scorpion (I've seen Clash of the Titans, after all) but seeing the claws on what amount to little more than giant grubs was disconcerting.
As with Godzilla, I can't comment on the Japanese cast, and the dub left something to be desired. Sometimes the words and voices matched the characters on-screen, but at various points the Western voices just didn't work. There's something in a Japanese voice that Westerners just can't seem to capture, and though it might not have been noticeable back then, it is noticeable to myself, who as an AJA raised with other AJAs can at least claim to know what Japanese voices speaking English really sound like. I don't know who provided the voices for the English dub, but I have a feeling the studios turned to non-AJA voices.
I really wish someone--one of the big studios--would acquire the rights to American distribution of these monster movies and release them in the original Japanese with English subtitles. Then maybe I'd be able to understand more clearly exactly what is happening. I'm sure the dub conveys the gist of the story, but how much was lost in the translating?
Come back next update (January 1, 1999) for a review of Varan the Unbelievable, the next Toho Studios monster movie generally available in the U.S.!
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