This is a surreal experience and the strangest Godzilla film I've seen... I laughed so hard at this film out of pure enjoyment rather than mockery.It serves as a warning to children (and, of course, everyone who watches it) of the dangers of long-term pollution. There are amazing scenes highlighting environmental problems that are served in a variety of creative ways.Godzilla is hilarious in this film.Do not make the same mistake I did and watch the film with the brightness on half, I actually watched it the first time thinking you weren't supposed to see anything in the night time scenes... turned the brightness up and realised!

You never really think about a monster movie being "psychedelic", do you? What if someone decided to take the world of kaijus and big battles between guys in rubber outfits and make it into a completely insane experience, though keeping a sort of innocence in its weirdness as if it was like the really early days of Sesame Street? This is what happens in Godzulla vs Hedorah - or as the title I like to call it, Godzilla vs the Smog Monster - where the director Yoshimitsu Banno (who also co-wrote the script - wait, this has a script?) and it's what happens when the milieu of art-house cinema of the period (this is Antonioni at some times, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls at others, though it's still *for kids* in theory) crosses paths with the typical Japanese monster flick.Oh, and it's about how much we are polluting the water. MESSAGE! I think I had the opposite reaction than I did when it came to Godzilla vs Megalon, but it's particular in each case: Megalon I'm sure I would've been wild about as a kid, though now I see as grade-A cheese, while I'm not sure what my reaction would've been as a kid, while today I think it dances with being one of the masterpieces of the genre (it isn't, but the fact that it gets close is me as an adult with thousands of movies under his belt saying that). To say it's weird is a given, but just how much so? It's not that it's completely a mind-f*** for every frame of film.It's more like there IS a conventional story in here somewhere about a young boy and his parents (his father being a biologist of some kind, the kind that, you know, is able to do lots of tests in his home since a lab would cost extra money for the producers) and there is a monster created thanks to loads of garbage in the ocean which mutates tadpoles and brings them together to create a giant floating thing. Eventually, needless to say, it turns into something like a gnarly-er version of Cthulu.So far this doesn't sound too wild, right? How about you throw in a couple of characters at a psychedelic-inspired dance club (think Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas' scene at the Matrix in 1965, or, again, BVD), and the guy, whether it's from the booze or something of Hedorah's traces in the air, sees everyone dancing in the club with fish heads? What if we see multiple TV screens, like 16, then 32, all lined up showing different reactions from the public and the monsters and then it turns into a multi-colored rainbow display? Or animation interludes that are out of Sesame Street in structure but also reminds one of the grime of The Wall? And there's also a history lesson with slides about the planets (Hedorah, to confuse things more, may also be a product of something from outer-space, sure, why not, we've come this far!) And then another animated bit to show us how atoms are split and created with smiley faces on them(!) It's ironic that I come to this right after seeing Megalon as that was the movie ordered into production by the producer after seeing what Banno presented to him: that is silly and dopey, but it's also safe in the way of, 'hey, it's monsters fighting but that's all you get and that's fine'. Here, it's like the equivalent of if today someone like, I dunno, Leos Carax got the keys to make a Pacific Rim movie! You can't make this kind of thing today, even down to how when Godzilla fights Hedorah it's not paced to something that is super-exciting, but that's not a problem for me. I was wholly fascinated by so much of this, especially when it came to the fights; Godzilla fights like he isn't sure what to do with this thing that is created due to human's laziness and waste, which throws lots of poisonous sludge his way that slows things down, so that the fights aren't these fast brawls but more like a slow waltz or something. Again, as a kid, I really have no idea what I would've made of it, so if you're a parents thinking of bringing this to your child's attention know what you're getting into as far as that goes. This is the Godzilla that I could've pictured becoming a midnight sensation, or on a double bill with The Holy Mountain.Does the anti-pollution message get heavy-handed at times? Does a Godzilla s*** in the ocean? It's clear what the intentions where on that score, but why carp too much - this series started as a tome against nuclear weaponry, so you could say this is the nuclear creation vs the pollutant one. It's not subtle, but I didn't expect that either. So much of this is over the top, but there's such sincerity to how the director wants to make this unlike anything we've seen before - in a Godzilla movie or simply any movie, which includes bits of large groups of people dancing like it's damn Woodstock and interrupted only because Godzilla is on the way (oh, and this kid knows Godzilla is coming because he appears in a dream where Zilla is poised walking against a giant morning sun!) - that it's kind of a tremendous achievement.In brief, I'm not surprised this was Roger Ebert's favorite Godzilla movie; if it weren't for the 1954 original I'd go for this one as well. A totally bonkers, post-modern experience, Godzilla and Ghidorah action figures *in the movie* included.

After the absurd travesty of the previous installment, Godzilla needed something familiar yet fresh. We got a film that has split many a fan. It brings a dark warning about pollution, as Godzilla's latest foe is created from man's ignorance. As Godzilla arrives to destroy the monster, should we take this as a suggestion to use nuclear mistakes to clean up current ones? Probably not, as is delightfully portrayed in the stunning opening shots as a young boy plays with a Godzilla action figure. This clearly illustrates his place as a commercial saviour of the world. Hedorah is a great villain. He can change forms, and really causes a lot of damage. His gunk and gas is able to physically deform humans forever. This dark reveal is presented in the opening scenes as a father and son are scarred. The whole film has a bizarre 60's funk thing going for it. Bizarre musical interludes, PSA cartoon segments, and scenes that would fit into an Austin Powers movie. It's darker than some of the previous Godzillas, but it's also a lot more fun at the same time. A nice offering for the series, though the flying segment at the end should have been cut.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (a.k.a Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) is one weird movie. It's a trippy giant monster acid trip that combines the kid-friendliness of Godzilla's Revenge (1969) with the dark, somber tone of the original Godzilla film. This strange mixture resulted in the most unique of all Godzilla adventures. I mean, c'mon. Where else do we get psychedelic rock and marching band music, poetry, cartoons, and a fish head hallucination combined with a serious warning about global pollution? And yet, of the 1970s Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Hedorah is one of the best.Almost immediately, I knew this was going to be a different kind of Godzilla movie. With the exception of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, none of the key players who had helped make the Godzilla films so popular in the 1960s were involved. Director Ishiro Honda was semi-retired, so the directing duties went to a newcomer, Yoshimitsu Banno. This is Banno's one and only directing credit in the Godzilla series and one can easily see why. Rumor has it that when Tanaka watched the film, he was really disappointed and told Banno that he had "ruined Godzilla." Composer Akira Ifukube was unable to score the film, so another newcomer was brought in, Riichiro Manabe. Manabe's style was completely different from Ifukube's. He opted to substitute Godzilla's magnificent theme with something that sounds like a high school marching band. Fortunately, Manabe would return to score only one more Godzilla film, Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). Despite Banno's really odd style choices, Godzilla vs. Hedorah nevertheless could have been one of the very best Godzilla films. Imagine how much better it would be if Ifukube had scored it. Still, Godzilla vs. Hedorah was an improvement over Godzilla's Revenge. Japanese audiences seemed to think so as well as the film performed a little better at the box office. This is one of the better entries in the latter period of the Showa era.