ferbs54
So the other night I watched a film that I had not seen more than once since I was a kid, the 1956 Japanese classic "Rodan." I had seen this movie at NYC's Film Forum around 25+ years back but had very little recollection of it still. And what a fun film it is, as I was reminded again just recently. In it, miners in a small Japanese village are being killed off by a mysterious something, and that something turns out to be giant bugs that have hatched deep underground. But the community's problems grow even worse when two prehistoric eggs in the mine shaft suddenly burst open, to reveal two monstrous flying reptile creatures, which promptly do what all self-respecting Japanese kaiju do in situations like this: lay waste to the countryside and a neighboring city! This film was helmed by "Gojira" director Ishiro Honda, of course, and like that earlier film, features awesome FX by the great Eija Tsuburaya and music by Akira Ifukube. The FX range from cheesy (the two rodans look pretty silly) to spectacular (one of the bridges that gets destroyed looks so lifelike that I would swear the producers knocked down an actual bridge in the making of this film). The film's final image, of the two rodans going up in flame near an erupting volcano, choosing death together rather than fighting separately, is actually kind of sweet and lovely. Adding to the fun: the presence of "Gojira"'s Dr. Serizawa himself, actor Akihiko Hirata, minus the eyepatch here. In all, very entertaining stuff, and very nice to reacquaint myself with this childhood favorite again....
Hitchcoc
When I was in fourth grade (around 1957), I had seen ads for this movie on television. I cut out a movie ad from the newspaper, and put it on my wall. There was no way I could see the movie because we would have had to go to the big city. I was surprised when I finally viewed it late at night, many years later. It's not a bad film There is a good deal of suspense, A romantic plot. A man falsely accused of murder. And some pretty neat monsters. Now, Pterosaurs weren't all that big, not like this, but these are mutants from messing with nuclear material. The movie has a nice pacing to it. When we get to the destruction scenes, we don't feel like they just threw all that at us like they did in future films (all those Godzilla versus whatever films). There is a kinship between the monsters (a mated pair) that would be a fact in the animal kingdom. The most creative thing is that the Rodans use the hurricane force of their enormous wings to level the city. I may just watch this again.
jacobjohntaylor1
The R.O..D.A.N sequels all have Godzilla. They are all very good movies. This is the first R.O.D.A.N movie. It is the only R.O.D.A.N movie that does not have Godzilla. This is the best R.O.D.A.N movie of all. Mind you I can think Godzilla movies that did not have R.O.D.A.N that were better then this movie. The plot is that a nuclear bomb wakes up two ancient fire breathing dragons. They mean to destroy the world. This is a great movie see it. It is very scary. See it. See all the R.O.D.A.N movies. There are great movies Great movies Great movies. This is the beast one. See it. see it see it see it see it see it. Great movie great movie great movie. Old monster movies are so very very cool.
lemon_magic
I've been told that the Japanese version of "Rodan" flows somewhat better and that the footage added for American audiences makes for a different "feel". But I was reasonably impressed by my first viewing of "Rodan".The plot pulls a fast one on the audience by making the first act of the movie a red herring about various prehistoric larvae that are killing the workers in a mining town before saying "SURPRISE! The real problem is this giant egg that hatches a reptile bird that EATS the larvae!!". This was a wise choice on the part of the film makers, because although "Rodan" is a neat concept, an entire movie of nothing but the Rodan(s) knocking down jets and buildings with sonic booms and flapping wings would have dragged after a while. We got just about the right amount of exposure for the two monsters this way.I think what really brings the the movie up is the edit,(which keeps things moving right along) and the sound design (the creatures unearthly shrieks and calls are unnerving and convincing). And maybe the sound track. I'm no judge of what the Japanese would consider "good" acting, but my American tastes aren't too bemused by the way the directors chose to run his cast.The highlights include an impressively energetic fight between the military's tanks and rocket launchers ( but the flying combat scenes aren't very convincing) and the final scene where the erupting volcano traps one of the creatures and the other one perishes rather than leave its side.Fairly original variation on the monster movie theme, worth seeing if you like this sort of thing.
AD
