Rodan Review (AKA Radon)

So I'm a fan of Rodan in the Godzilla films and just like Mothra, the monster had it's own movie before pairing up with the king of the monsters. Of course I needed to check this out. For this review I watched the subtitled Japanese cut. I have found out that the American cut includes certain footage not in the Japanese one and the work of just four dubbers. One of them being George Takei! Which apparently was his first real acting job. This film is also apparently the first Japanese giant monster movie to be in color, which is pretty cool. This movie has a lot of people back from Gojira, including the director, the composer and even a couple of actors. If you've seen earlier Godzilla movies, then this is pretty obvious when you watch the film. With all of this going on, it's bound to be a great monster movie right?

So the first thing you really notice in this movie is two guys having a brawl in a mine, after they get told off like they're five or something they go down a tunnel to what I assume is work. This is a giant monster movie so shit hits the fan and the mine floods. They find Yoshi (One of the brawlers) dead and I MEAN dead. It was like horror movie stuff. That guy was pretty damn dead. Goro, the other brawler was also missing and of course they assumed he killed Mario's green companion. I would just assume that you know...he drowned. They go spelunking for Goro and get inevitably fucked up underwater and it's not long til we get some Real Housewives of Tokyo drama because Kio (Goro's sister) is getting hated on by Yoshi's wife for being related to the guy who might or might not have killed Yoshi. We get some cute main character development then BOOM...not Rodan. That's right, a giant insect like monster, a Meganulon breaks in the house and our main man Shigeru calls for the police. Who happen to be up the street and in a group of like, I don't know one million. Then there's basically a weird bug hunt that happens and after they chase it up a hill, it wrecks some guy before they shoot the hell out of it and it rather hilariously rolls down the hill. They end up bug hunting into the mines where a cave-in happens and the main character dies. I'm joking, they find him crawling around outside on top of the mining hill but he doesn't remember shit. Then my favorite part happens. An unexpected supersonic object is spotted flying overhead, after some awesome shots, Rodan is revealed and Rodan gets to mess with some newlyweds, what a cock block. Remember how Shigeru lost his memory, well don't worry because eggs are here to save the day. After the amazing egg induced recovery, Shigeru gets the chance to confirm Rodan. yes, once again like in Godzilla II, Rodan is confirmed. But never mind, let's go look for a giant egg shell. They find some of the shell and they try to explain Rodan's existence and you'll never guess what. IT'S NUCLEAR! With that bomb shell, it's time for an awesome car wreck scene and a big dog fight. Rodan destroys the place and the end get's all epic and stuff, don't want to ruin the ending if you haven't seen it. I actually really like this story, I really didn't expect it, I honestly expected it to be pretty bland. I enjoyed the fact they added a little human drama and I don't actually have much to complain about. It think the first monster appearance just kind of happened but it didn't bother me too much so I'm not taking points off it for that since both of the appearances were still pretty cool.

I wish I could say more about the main characters. Our main guy Shigeru starts out as your generic nice guy, or maybe he just wants to get laid with Kio. I liked him fine but he didn't interest me too much. I found the amnesia part a good twist because you see the character in a slightly different light and the actor was pretty believable. The main female is Kio and she's canny, just like the main guy. She has a little bit of a hard time and it's good to have that little bit of believable drama mixed into a giant monster movie. Unfortunately we don't see enough of her and a little more closure with her drama would have been nice. I will say this, a lot of kaiju movies might focus on the monsters and half-arse their actual cast, but with these classic Toho monster movies, I do appreciate the effort they put into some of the characters. Maybe this movie isn't the greatest example but it certainly isn't a bad one. So the characters weren't super intriguing but they were real and for the most part, I cared about them.

Now we can look at the monsters, first off we have the Meganulon. Giant ugly insects that seem to be made of space titanium. I'm a fan of bugs and insects in general so I really like the design and love the idea of them running through towns and villages. Unfortunately they pretty much just lead into the Rodan so they quickly become old news and the movie moves on. Which I completely understand because these new monsters are bigger threats and the main stars of the film. I would have just liked a big infestation scene and a little more closure with them. Luckily for me the Rodan are great too. Prehistoric creatures with a little tweaked design, Rodan can fly at insane speed and wipe out city's just by swooping by them. These guys are pretty awesome and make up the best shots and scenes in the movie. The designs are pretty simple but still quite menacing but I would have made the each of of them look a little but still noticeably different to the other. All in all though, I was pretty impressed with these monsters and I think they are a welcome addition into the Toho monster kingdom.

We all know how great the effects are and the fact this is the first Japanese monster movie in color helps them stand out to its predecessors. Some stand out better than the others of course. The destruction scenes were pretty impressive and the miniatures were very convincing. As far as puppets and suits go, I don't think there was much more you could do with a flying Rodan back in 1956. I also believe that in some situations there was stuntmen in the Rodan suits and one of them even had an accident with the bridge scene so I tip my hat to that guy. The volcanic eruption scene (Yes, there's a volcanic eruption scene) was all in all pretty good, I didn't think the lava looked great at first but after a little smoke and fire I was nicely surprised. I do love the effects in this movie and it, like Godzilla, really shows Toho are the giant monster movie masters.

Akira Ifukube also returns to give us another great soundtrack and it seems he has learned a lot from Godzilla because the soundtrack to Rodan is pretty similar but obviously, it's not as enjoyable as Gojira 1954's. That isn't really an insult though because not many movie soundtracks are better then that film's and this one isn't too far off. It has the same lovable tunes and it fits with the movie so well. I found myself matching the similarities in the soundtrack to the Gojira film soundtrack and picking the most enjoyable. It's a great soundtrack but I would have liked Ifukube to try and make it just as lovable as Gojira but without it sounding too much like the actual Gojira soundtrack itself.

So the Godzilla team have done it again and produced another highly enjoyable giant monster movie, With great effects and monsters. I really respect Ishiro Honda and the rest of the team, they really put effort into these movies and it shines through with an almost atomic light. I don't have too much to complain about in this movie, of course there is the odd thing I mentioned but nothing too grave to get upset about. This film is a classic that outshine even a good few Godzilla films, not all of them of course but we do see Rodan again in future Godzilla films, which is great because it would have been a shame if this was the end to the fantastic terror of the sky.

Better than > Godzilla vs. Gigan Worse than > Gojira 1954

Pros -Story -Monsters -Effects -Soundtrack -Most of the Gojira team are on board