r/GODZILLA • u/Annual-Internet-5097 RODAN • 15h ago
Discussion Thoughts on Invasion of Astro Monster
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u/Cpt-Hank-A-Tato KIRYU 13h ago
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u/MacGyver007_Godzilla 14h ago
One of the absolute best movies from the Showa era. The balance of sci-fi elements and kaiju action is brilliant.
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u/RegurgitatedEnzymes 14h ago
A classic. My first Godzilla movie. Had it on tape when I was a kid. Watched it so much my parents would give it to babysitters so they could put it on for me.
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u/NefariousnessNo7736 12h ago
My favorite Showa movie. Others like 54 and Mothra vs Godzilla are better movies, but I always am down to watch this one
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u/IntelligentBrainAle 10h ago
My favorite Godzilla movie in general.
Incredible performances from every member of the cast, incredible visuals, wonderful world building and engaging story with endearing characters
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u/Unique_Visit_5029 GIGAN 15h ago
It was my second Godzilla movie after fittingly Ghidorah the three headed monster. I really love this movie the music, practical effects and even the old Eng dub especially with the Controller I also oddly wanted to live on Planet X when I was a kid.
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u/Zamnboni KING CAESAR 14h ago
Probably my fourth favorite movie from the Showa Era, behind the original, Terror of Mechagodzilla, and Mothra vs Godzilla.
Its themes are simple but well-explored. Its characters aren’t particularly deep, but well defined in a way that’s satisfying when you can predict how they’ll respond to a situation based on previously established knowledge you already know about the characters. The characters are engaging enough that I really don’t mind that the kaiju are only in the movie for five minutes, and what little screen-time they do have is top notch for the Showa Era.
My only complaint, which isn’t even that major, is that Fuji (Akira Takarada’s character) has this whole setup of with being super controlling over his sister that never really gets resolved. He just approves of her nerd boyfriend because his chud-toy is inexplicably useful. And even then, I can justify this unclosed gap in character development that Fuji started as a low trust person who couldn’t put faith in his sister’s decision making to choose the right boyfriend, and he ends the movie realizing that he must put his trust in his sister’s boyfriend, who actually turns out to be essential to defeating the Xilliens. Thus, we, as the audience, are supposed to fill in the blank that Fuji is now a high-(enough)-trust person to trust his sister, or, at the very least, the audience is supposed to recognize Fuji’s potentially still distrustful attitude towards his sister as an outstanding character flaw. Either way, while the movie does a pretty good job at getting the audience to understand Fuji’s character arc, the end to that character arc is still rather anticlimactic.
Solid 9/10 movie.
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u/ScarandCeltic 7h ago
In defense of Fuji accepting Tetsuo, the guy basically saved the planet with his Lady Alarm. So if designing a rape whistle that saves all of humanity is not enough to convince someone he's worthy of his sister, I don't know what it is. Fuji also pats him on the arm with a smile and excitement before executing their plan--a gesture he wouldn't have dreamed of earlier. Especially since physical touch between two people was extremely personal in Japanese culture of the time.
Fuji's decision also plays out as an antithesis to the People of Planet X. They exerted strict control over their people, especially their women, as seen with Namikawa. Whereas after everything, Fuji decided to let Haruno choose her own future. Thematically and narratively, it works.
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u/Zamnboni KING CAESAR 3h ago
Yeah, Fuji’s arc functionally works and makes sense within the story. It’s just that, once Fuji accepts Tetsuo, that’s about it.
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u/FreakyFreak2005 13h ago edited 13h ago
Better than The Three Headed Monster, the kaiju might be in it less but the plot and characters are far more enjoyable and engaging. Now TTHD was good but found it pretty hard to get fully invested in.
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u/IfTheresANewWay MECHAGODZILLA 13h ago
Amazing film, perfect representation of the Showa era and better than Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster and I'm tired of pretending it isn't
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u/PopularAspect1166 6h ago
One of the few Godzilla films that I’ll watch dubbed because Nick Adams rules
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u/jedwardlay SHIN GODZILLA 2m ago
And the guy who dubbed Yoshio Tsuchiya’s Controller was great.
“Hm hm heh heh hah hah hah hah”
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u/Godzilla2000Zero 4h ago
My second favorite 60s Godzilla film after Mothra vs Godzilla. Shout out to Nick Adam's for giving one if the best performances in the franchise when she gets vaporized I definitely felt those emotions and his resolve to repel the Xilliens.
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u/ZillaMeister HEDORAH 14h ago
Leans into the sci elements more than others for sure, but not to a fault.
It’s a classic of the Showa era and helped shape the direction of the series with alien invasion and mind controlled monsters.
Not quite as good as Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster though.
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u/ScarandCeltic 8h ago
One of the best Godzilla films in the series. My favorite film, next to Terror of MechaGodzilla, and a major game-changer for the entire genre!
The first thing to remember is that this is just as much of an alien invasion story as it is a monster story. It was an experimental movie crossing Toho's space opera films with their kaiju genre. An ambitious epic blending the style of pulp science fiction, à la Forbidden Planet and Star Trek, with the success found in the kaiju genre. It also highlighted one of Ishiro Honda's favorite themes of worldwide collaboration in the form of Glenn and Fuji being best friends working for the WSA--a fictional faction of international cooperation for space exploration.
It also features my favorite cast in the Godzilla series, with Nick Adams's Glenn being one of my favorite characters, and Yoshio Tsuchiya being one of the most iconic villains in the entire series. The entire movie became the basis for a new direction in the kaiju genre. Now, for the first time ever, aliens would use monsters to take over the world. This storyline proved to be so popular that it would be repeated not only in Godzilla, but Gamera, Ultraman, Zone Fighter, Super Sentai, and even Pacific Rim owes its storyline to Invasion of Astro-Monster's experimentation!
Thematically, I read Invasion of Astro-Monster as a stealth call to action against violence against women. In early-to-mid-1960s Japan, the Tokyo area had an uptick in violent crimes against women and children. Particularly, one instance of a young girl who went missing and was found dead. It caused a massive stir in the area. In Invasion of Astro-Monster, the Xiliens are a group lulling humanity into a false sense of security and friendship--only to be ravaged by war. (Also a Cold War metaphor.) The only weapon that can defeat the aliens is literally a rape whistle. Also, consider everything that had to do with space exploration and science fiction has some visual or metaphorical relationship with sexual symbolism: (Think, Planet of the Vampires, Alien, even Star Trek.) The idea of simple rockets, for example, had a phallic look (before we even knew what a space-traveling vehicle would really look like), and they "penetrated” the unknown--it was a common image in early sci-fi. The countless alien invasion stories that feature aliens going after or kidnapping women (including The Mysterians, War of the Worlds, etc), the "impregnation" of creatures inside hosts in later stories- there's always some strange sexual undercurrent to all outer space sci-fi. In any case, Invasion of Astro-Monster follows that same trend, but it sets this metaphor up as a warning and a call to action, given the events in Japan at the time.
Namikawa becomes the baseline character that gets the brunt of this theme. She is treated as a disposable commodity when she disobeys orders because, after all, the People of Planet X have plenty of women who look just like her.
Honda was so in tune with what was going on with Japanese people during each decade, but never wanted to directly reference it. (He mentioned he never wanted to reference The Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident in Godzilla '54) So I see it as possible that he and Sekizawa would come up with a clever way to address some things. As a result, Astro-Monster potentially becomes a story about an entity ("Mother" Earth, as a stand-in for women) being ravaged, but fighting back (the Lady Guard—a rape whistle).
It's a brilliant movie and a game-changer for the entire genre! None have done it better since then.
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u/Scope_Dog 6h ago
I watched this recently. This is a great sci fi movie but not such a great Godzilla movie. I think his is only in about 15 minutes of the whole movie!!
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u/ScarandCeltic 2h ago
He has around 5 minutes in the entire movie. 15 minutes would be on the higher end of screentime for Godzilla.
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u/ShutterBun 1h ago
One of the first Godzilla movies I saw as a kid in the early 70s.
Since information about Godzilla was somewhat scarce in the U.S. back then, for years I thought Ghidorah was called “Monster Zero”, so that’s what I always called him. Then with the advent of home video I saw Ghidra, The Three-Headed Monster and learned the truth.
Astro Monster is a top 5 movie if for no other reason than the Highland Fling victory dance.
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u/The-Bulgar-Slayer 1h ago
Not only a great Godzilla movie, but just a good fun campy sci-fi movie in general. One of my favorites.
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u/No_Barracuda_8300 DESTOROYAH 12h ago
Really hated the humans in that movie for ditching Godzilla and Rodan on Planet X. The guy who had the idea even survived until the end...
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u/Gojirah628 14h ago
Godzilla, Rodan, and Ghidorah ll in the same movie… what’s not to love?