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[tab title="Movie Review"]

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A.K.A - Godzilla vs The Smog Monster

Godzilla flies!

Godzilla vs. Hedorah is one of the most creative of all of the Godzilla flicks. It’s also one of the least successful due to its dark themes, dark tale, and even darker shoot.

Opening with a disturbing shot of a female mannequin face up in some toxic sludge, the movie – directed by Yoshimitsu Banno – makes its anti-pollution theme very, very early. Once again, Godzilla becomes cosmically conscious as he fights to save mankind from itself.

Breaking away from what we’ve come to expect, the filmmakers reveal Hedorah, the Sludge Monster - an extraterrestrial kaiju formed from pollution that could feed on pollution - early and explain how our waste products have created a mutated life form that changes its attack strategy in light of our own advancement. Even Godzilla is unleashed early in a story that opens with a little boy playing with Toho’s Godzilla figures…the world of Godzilla is very meta indeed. But unlike All Monsters Attack, this isn’t a child’s imagination. No, the threat of Hedorah and our pollution is all too real for child’s play.

Based on a script from Banno – inspired by a trip to a polluted beach – Godzilla vs. Hedorah tries to balance the monster action and heavy themes with a kid-friendly atmosphere. Unfortunately, no characters resonate – except for one kid, Ken Yano (Hiroyuki Kawase) - and the beach party hippie fests, complete with musical interludes, kill the pacing of men in rubber suits stomping models into oblivion. The trippy animated inserts don’t help in watering down the death toll as Hedorah wipes out humans left and right.

Exactly who is this film made for?

The answer isn’t easy to uncover. In the 1970s the Japanese film industry entered a steep decline because of competition from television, and the Godzilla films suffered from severe budget cutbacks. The special effects guru on the Godzilla films had passed away but the producers went forward with the film and the result is a weird mixture of serious environmental messages, frightening horror sequences, rock 'n' roll party scenes, cartoon montages, and surreal monster fights in which Hedorah does some grisly things to humans and Godzilla, pissed off that the human made Hedorah can fly, shoots flames from his mouth and propels himself off the ground.

This is the first release of Godzilla vs. Hedorah on Blu-ray, with okay video quality mixed with a good audio presentation and a bare bones extra presentation; it is a worthwhile addition to any fan’s collection.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi monster violence and brief mild language.
Runtime: 87 mins
Director: Yoshimitsu Banno
Writer: Yoshimitsu Banno, Takeshi Kimura
Cast: Akira Yamauchi, Toshie Kimura, Hiroyuki Kawase
Genre: Horror | Sci-Fi
Tagline: Our environment is doomed!.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Well, Hedorah (the Smog Monster) attached itself to one of those stars."
Distributor: American International Pictures (AIP)
Official Site:
Release Date: February 1972
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 6, 2014
Synopsis: From Earth's pollution a new monster is spawned. Hedorah, the smog monster, destroys Japan and fights Godzilla while spewing his poisonous gas to further the damage.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - May 6, 2014
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: 525GB Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD)
Region Encoding: A

Godzilla vs. Hedorah is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. While not great for a 1080p transfer, the video quality here is pretty good. The image looks a little soft, but does shine on occasion when the object is closer to the frame. The colors here are also good and could be a tad more vibrant. The international print has some damage toward the start during the opening sequence, with very minor scratches, but the frequency of this decreases and as a whole the print is in good condition with minimal grain present as well. This release has two mono audio tracks – the English dub and original Japanese soundtrack – each with its own subtitle option

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

For all Godzilla fans that don't already own the movie, they shouldn't hesitate to pick up the Kraken Releasing of Godzilla vs Hedorah. This bare bones release only has the original Japanese trailer with subtitles that translate both the dialogue and text into English.

• Original Japanese Trailer (2 min)

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[tab title="Trailer"]

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