Invasion of Astro-Monster

1970 "The great fierce battle between Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah that will sway the ruler of the Universe, Planet X!"
Invasion of Astro-Monster
6.2| 1h36m| G| en| More Info
Released: 29 July 1970 Released
Producted By: TOHO
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Astronauts Glenn and Fuji investigate Planet X and encounter mysterious aliens known as the Xiliens, who ask Earth's people to help save their world from "Monster Zero". In exchange for borrowing Godzilla and Rodan, the Xiliens offer a cure for cancer. As Glenn investigates, he develops a romance with Miss Namikawa and uncovers the Xilien's true intentions.

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Julian R. White Invasion of Astro-Monster, also called Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, not a bad Godzilla film at all. It gets kinda redundant that this film goes back to back with Ghidrah, the three headed monster, so twice in a row we have Godzilla and Rodan fighting Ghidorah. The only difference is the setting. This also was the only Godzilla film in which two monsters from earth are on another planet, and it also includes the famous Godzilla "dancing scene". The plot is a bit cliche and has been used in various other Godzilla films which were made afterwards, a mysterious race wants to befriend mankind, but in reality they want only to destroy us. Overall it's a neat little film for a Saturday night alone. The plot, at times seems to drag a little, but it's certainly more watchable than some other films I have reviewed.
bkoganbing Ghidorah, that three headed flying Cerberus from outer space is in control of the folks from Planet X who look quite Oriental, but they have gray suits and helmets to distinguish them from the earthbound Japanese who made this addition to the all star monster lineup of films they do.Planet X is a planet in parallel orbit behind big Jupiter, the better to conceal it from prying earthling eyes. The X people live underground and Ghidorah does his thing on the surface. If I may digress, an observation here. In all the Japanese monster films I never see these monsters actually eat anything. What do they do for food. Godzilla and Ghidorah both carry a built in microwave if they like their humans well done. They make a lot destruction but never seem to consume anything. Certainly on Planet X it looks barren, so what does Ghidorah eat? Those X guys have a nefarious scheme afoot. They want us to send Godzilla and Rodan from earth to defeat Ghidorah. Actually they want to use all the monsters to capture earth.What the X guys weakness is? You won't believe it, but think of that classic Twilight Zone episode with Andy Devine and how he defeated those aliens who wanted to take him back to their home planet.As bad as they are I do so love these monster fests from Japan.
Spikeopath It's one of those Godzilla movies where you fully understand why some fans of the "Zilla" series positively dislike it. The big atomic lizard is only a bit part player here, and when push comes to shove the monster mayhem is in short supply, which considering we also have Ghidorah and Rodan in the mix is for sure a bit of a waste. Yet this is one of the better sequels from Toho's original wave, it quite literally has all the ingredients that made "Zilla" and the off-shoots so iconic.We are in live action cartoon territory, a sci-fi story of bonkers proportions yet engrossing all the same. The joyous model work synonymous with the series remains intact, the cardboard sets being obliterated are still fun to watch, and the divisive sight of "Zilla" doing the "shay" dance is in here whether you like it or not. More fun, though, is watching "Zilla" boxing the three headed Ghidorah, now that is comedy gold, if only the moody lizard had gone southpaw a bit earlier then saving the world could have been achieved quicker.Great fun, could have been better from a monster point of view? Yes, definitely, but this be a nutty fruitcake production from Toho and amen to that. 8/10
rhinocerosfive-1 It's the old, old story: an alien race in Devo sunglasses barters a cure for cancer against the loan of Godzilla and Rodan, the only known proof against King Ghidorah, the scourge of Planet X. This is like kids putting a black widow and a praying mantis into a jar so they'll fight. In the last Ghidorah movie it also took the larval Mothra to defeat the flying three-headed beast, but Toho has a short memory and a shorter budget. Guys who wear vinyl suits and never take off their helmets are usually up to something, but only Nick Adams smells a rat with plans for world domination. His suspicions are confirmed when he sleeps with one of the aliens and she immediately pressures him to get married. This means war. Philosophically, there's something reassuring about the pre-Gamera rubber monster. It is a corporeal manifestation of our worst, most nebulous fears, and as such it is a comfort. The central fact of a giant monster is its implacability. In the best Toho films, giant monsters tend to want nothing. They don't want to eat us; they aren't sending a message. They're just here, and they're just terrible. Ghidorah makes his entrance in this movie, cruising over a landscape already blasted and inhospitable, by blasting it and making it even less hospitable. No reason; just wanted to destroy something. That's what a rubber monster does. It cannot be appeased. The only personality trait it possesses is anger. It is made of the stuff that governs the universe: it is unadulterated chaos personified. All we can do is stare, and hope that another giant monster knocks this one off its present course.In fewer than fifteen minutes of actual monster action, nobody gets anywhere near Tokyo, but Rodan whips hurricane winds over a small town while Ghidorah strafes it. There isn't much destruction, but what there is of it is quality miniature work - shingles flying, Buicks rolling through showroom windows, the Mobil Oil offices on fire. Godzilla is more acrobatic than usual, though his suit sags at the joints to accommodate his new athleticism. He employs the Ali shuffle here for the first time, dancing between Ghidorah's death rays, but not for about an hour and a half, and not for long.Nick Adams wears a Byzantine combover, which from certain angles seems to feature no fewer than five partings, but he was a Toho kids'-movie favorite, probably not least because he gave the Japanese actors a blonde to be taller than. Adams' suicidal rebel image, cultivated after the death of James Dean, played out when he died of a drug overdose three years after his appearance in this film. Maybe he saw doom in the specter of another diminutive blonde on the Japanese rubber monster movie horizon - Richard Jaeckel.