Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

1966’s entry in the Godzilla series is a personal favorite of mine, probably my favorite out of all the movies. GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER is a hokey, almost laughable, but highly entertaining film. Jun Fukuda took over directorial chores in this entry from Inoshiro Honda, and starts the ongoing Godzilla series on a new path, one featuring a much less menacing image for Godzilla himself, and one that would eventually lead to the ridiculously juvenile entries in the once formidable Godzilla series. Fukuda also opted for a different composer to work on the music in this entry, choosing Masaru Satoh, who did the music for GIGANTIS THE FIRE MONSTER, second in the series, over Akira Ifukube, who did the music for every other film.

The story here concerns a trio of young men who venture on board a sailboat to check it out, only to discover the “owner” of the boat on board. The owner agrees to let them stay on board overnight, but when they wake up, they find that one of the guys has taken the boat out to sea in order to search for his lost brother, who vanished after a fishing accident in a storm. It turns out that the three guys and the “owner” end up shipwrecked on an island, only to discover a huge military base located there, and a group of soldiers who kidnap islanders from a nearby island to work as slaves on their base. It turns out that the “owner” of the boat is really a bank robber who had just robbed a Japanese bank of several thousand yen, and is an expert lock pick, a trade that will come in handy when sneaking around on the military base. There’s also a monster lobster offshore that destroys any boats that pass by unless the seamen use a special spray that wards off the colossal crustacean.

Soon, Godzilla is discovered by the men in a cave, and the men take it upon themselves to investigate the base to see what exactly is going on there. The lost brother is found, and he assists in trying to free the islanders from slavery by the military men: Another grand illogical, but fun, Toho subplot. It isn’t long before Godzilla is awake and stomping around on the island. This entry is another one solidifying Godzilla no longer as a menacing monster bent on human destruction, but one that will defend the earth and its people from the oppression of evil monsters and people, one more step toward the bottom of the barrel for these films later in the 1960s and into the 1970s.

Fukuda’s film is extremely colorful, as the screen is constantly bombarded with the elaborately colored native costumes, and lush island vegetation. It turns out that the enslaved islanders are from nearby Infant (i.e. Mothra) island, and therefore, we are treated to scenes of natives singing and chanting around the giant moth attempting to wake it up to help their troubled brothers. The little foot tall fairies are also present in this one, although instead of being acted by the Itoh sisters(“The Peanuts,” a Japanese pop music duo), there are new actresses playing these characters. I would suspect this is again due to budget issues that made casting popular public figures as these little fairies impossible. The low budget that was being allotted to the Godzilla series by the mid 1960s is highly evidenced in this film.

Eiji Tsuburaya’s effects in this film are limited. As with a few previous, and many subsequent entries, most of the monster action takes place in fields or on rocky mountainous regions, sparing Tsuburaya from having to create expensive miniature cities. In spite of this, the military base is quite elaborately constructed, and the scenes of Godzilla stomping all over the many buildings and structures in the base are pretty well done. The sets used for interiors in the base are also quite expansive and well constructed. In particular there’s a factory of some type where there are all kinds of pipes running all over the set, and numerous fancy looking devices used for performing experiments and controlling the base. Overall, despite the limited budget, the sets and base are pretty impressive.


The battle scenes in this flick are pretty sad. Ebirah, as the giant lobster is known in Japan, is a less than imposing monster, more laughable than scary, and the battle scenes with Godzilla battling Ebirah are equally ridiculous. At first, Godzilla and Ebirah toss and smack rocks back and forth; a sort of monster ping pong match. Finally, when they do get to fighting, Ebirah is no match for Godzilla and his radioactive breath. Godzilla also must fight a really bad looking giant bird who appears out of nowhere in one scene, and also must fend off a squadron of fighter planes. Really, the monster action here is VERY limited, and most of the movie deals with the exploits of trying to fight the military on the island (identified in some sources as the “Red Bamboo,” although this name is not mentioned in the American version of the film; is this some kind of code name for the Chinese??), and trying to free the enslaved natives.

Besides the poor looking sea monster, who is by far the least formidable opponent that Godzilla ever faced, and ridiculous fight scenes, there are a few other moments here that are truly laughable. The opening of the movie has the three young men competing in a go-go dancing competition, which apparently has been going on for three days. The one guy looks like he’s about ready to pass out, dancing around wildly, his eyes rolling back into his head. It’s ridiculous. The sequences where boats get lost in storms at sea are also hilarious. It looks as though the exact same footage is used in each case, just edited differently in the final print. Both sailboats destroyed by the monster are the same model; you can tell by the name on the boat. This movie is a lot of fun, unintentionally quite funny at times.

In the end, a nuclear explosion is activated that will destroy the island and everything on it. Will Mothra make its appearance in time to save all the humans? Will Godzilla get away before the nuclear holocaust levels the island? I’ll let you decide. This film was originally supposed to feature King Kong (Toho’s Kong, that is) fighting the sea monster, but that idea was dropped, and Godzilla was thrown into the film instead.



GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER is among the worst in the series, but I think it’s also one of the most fun entries in the series. It was around this time that the series really started to go downhill as far as logic, effects, story, and stupid, juvenile elements, in most cases due to the directing of Jun Fukuda as opposed to the generally superior work that Inoshiro Honda put into his effort in the series. Nonetheless, I would say that most fans would probably enjoy this entry. It is my favorite, and includes some pretty funny stuff. Next in the Godzilla series would be the equally ludicrous SON OF GODZILLA (!!?), again directed by Fukuda.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4