"Rodan" is the first Toho movie filmed in color and it brought back the original makers of "Gojira" to tap this film. It starts with a mine disaster where several workers were reported missing. Soon, their mangled bodies are recovered and it is later alleged that giant caterpillars were responsible for their deaths. Later on in the film, Kenji Sahara's character, in the mine to find his missing friend and to try to catch the caterpillars, discovered a giant pterodactyl named Rodan, who had just hatched from an egg and escaped to the air. It is alleged to be the cause of a lot of air traffic disasters.
The plot is intriguing and thrilling - scenes of Rodan hurling cars and citizens in the air are breathtaking. The love subplot between Shigero (Kenji Sahara) and Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) is touching and is interwoven with the main plot well. The only downside is that I do not think enough city destruction (bad in real life, breathtaking in a sci-fi movie) was depicted.
A great film, though the American version has numerous cut scenes from the original Japanese version and some of Akira Ifukube's score were replaced with stock music. I also saw the Chinese version, which has some scenes and Ifukube's great music score restored.
Rodan is one of the more scarier Toho monster movies and it's a great film for a fright night.
Grade B+
The plot is intriguing and thrilling - scenes of Rodan hurling cars and citizens in the air are breathtaking. The love subplot between Shigero (Kenji Sahara) and Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) is touching and is interwoven with the main plot well. The only downside is that I do not think enough city destruction (bad in real life, breathtaking in a sci-fi movie) was depicted.
A great film, though the American version has numerous cut scenes from the original Japanese version and some of Akira Ifukube's score were replaced with stock music. I also saw the Chinese version, which has some scenes and Ifukube's great music score restored.
Rodan is one of the more scarier Toho monster movies and it's a great film for a fright night.
Grade B+