Son of Godzilla

Infobox_Film
name =Son of Godzilla


caption =
director =Jun Fukuda
producer =Tomoyuki Tanaka
writer =Shinichi Sekizawa
Kazue Shiba
starring =Tadao Takashima
Akira Kubo
Bibari Maeda
Akihiko Hirata
music =Masaru Satô
cinematography =Kazuo Yamada
distributor =Toho
United Artists (USA)
released =1967
December 16 1967 (Japan)
runtime =86 min (orig.), 84 min (USA)
language =Japanese
English
budget =
imdb_id =0061856
preceded_by = "Ebirah, Horror of the Deep"
followed_by = "Destroy All Monsters"|

"Son of Godzilla", released in Japan as nihongo|"Kaijū-tō no Kessen: Godzilla no Musuko"|怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子|Kaijū-tō no Kessen Gojira no Musuko|lit. "Monster Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla's Son", is a 1967 film. The eighth part of the Toho studio's Godzilla series, it was directed by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya and Sadamasa Arikawa.

Plot summary

A team of scientists stationed on Sollgell Island attempts to perfect a weather control system. Their efforts are hampered by the presence of giant praying mantises and by the arrival of a nosy reporter. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, now called Kamacuras, the scientists find the creatures digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby's cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Soon Godzilla himself arrives on the island, incidentally stomping the scientist's base as he rushes to defend his son. Godzilla kills two Kamacuras during the battle, while one manages to fly away to safety.

The baby quickly grows to about half the size of his father, and Godzilla instructs the child on the important monster skills of roaring and using his atomic breath. At first, the baby has difficulty producing anything more than atomic smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions, such as stomping on the baby's tail, produce a true radioactive blast. Dubbed Minilla, the baby comes to the aid of Riko when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga, a giant spider. The spider attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding, and Minilla stumbles into the fray.

Kumonga traps Minilla and the final Kamacuras with his webbing, but as Kumonga begins to feed on the deceased Kamacuras, Godzilla arrives to save the day. Godzilla saves his son and they both defeat Kumonga by using their atomic breaths on the giant spider. The scientists finally use their perfected weather altering device on the island and the once tropical island turns into an Arctic wasteland. Godzilla and Minilla begin to hibernate as they wait for the island to become tropical again. The scientists are saved by a submarine.

Cast

*Akira Kubo　　　　　　　　　................. Gorou Maki, investigative reporter
*Tadao Takashima　　　　 ................. 　Dr. Tsunezou Kusumi (scientific team leader)
*Akihiko Hirata　　　　　　 ................. Dr. Hujisaki　(scientific team member)
*Bibari Maeda　　　　　　　　 ................. Saeko Matsumiya
*Yoshio Tsuchiya 　　　　................. Hurukawa (scientific team member)
*Kenji Sahara 　　　　　　　.................Morio (scientific team member)
*Ken'ichirou Maruyama　　　　................. Ozawa (scientific team member)
*Seishirou Kuno　　　　　　　 ................. Tashiro (scientific team member)
*Yasuhiko Saijou　　　　　　 ................. Suzuki (scientific team member)
*Susumu Kurobe　　　　　　 ................. Weather observation airplane captain
*Kazuo Suzuki　　　　　　　　 ................. Weather observation aeronaut
*Wataru Oomae　　　 　　　　................. Weather observation airplane radio operator
*Tyoutarou Tougin　　　　　　 ................. Weather observation airplane crewman
*Ousmane Yusef　　　　　　　　 ................. Submarine captain

* Godzilla　　　　　　　　　　　　 ................ Seiji Onaka, Yū Sekida, and Haruo Nakajima
* Minilla　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 .............. Little Man Machan　　　

Box Office

In Japan, the film sold approximately 2,480,000 tickets.

U.S. Version

Like the previous Godzilla film, "Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster", "Son of Godzilla" was distributed directly to television by the Walter Reade Organization (in 1969). There were several small alterations in this version:

* Dialogue was dubbed to English

* Seiko's name was changed to Reiko, Kumonga's name was changed to Spiga, and Kamacuras' name was changed to Gimantis.

* Deleted: the pre-credits sequence, where Godzilla is sighted at sea. This was cut down to Godzilla simply walking to the camera.

The American version runs 84 minutes, slightly shorter than the 86-minute Japanese version. Sony's DVD features the uncut Japanese version, and the optional English dub track is from Toho's 'International Version.'

DVD Releases

"Sony Pictures"

* Released: December 14 2004

* Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic

* Sound: Japanese (2.0), English (2.0)

* Supplements: Trailers for ', "Steamboy", and '.

* Region 1

* Note: English dub track is Toho's 'International Version'

External links

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* [http://hollywoodgothique.com/sonofgodzilla1967.html Son of Godzilla film review]
* [http://www.hollywoodgothique.com/arikawa.html Special Effects Director Sadamasa Arikiawa Interview]
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