TOHO once again wanted to put out another low budget Godzilla movie. This time, their target audience were couples and during this time movies about romance were popular. The initial goal was to get girls to like a cute baby monster. So they approached the film by giving Godzilla a child who is called, Minya or Minilla. Director Jun Fukuda wanted to portray the monsters almost like people that have a father-son relationship.
Minya was designed to incorporate features from both Godzilla and a human baby. In order to get that effect that Minya was a child, Marchan the Dwarf was hired to play the role of the baby Godzilla. As for Godzilla himself, a new suit was made for this film. This new suit would be the biggest in terms of girth and size to give Godzilla a maternal appearance as well as a parent-like stature for contrast with Minya. Haruo Nakajima only wore the suit for two scenes because the suit was too large for him to wear. So Seji Onaka was brought in to play Godzilla, but was replaced mid-way through filming after breaking his fingers.
It was released in Japan in 1967 and then was shown on American television in 1969 cutting scenes to reduce the running time to 84 minutes.
Review:
Godzilla adopts a new born after a weather experiment goes haywire.
Son Of Godzilla is one of the most heart warming and most comedic Godzilla films in this series. It is almost as if its a parody on parenting. Godzilla being the father in the film, he has a more strict and protective nature towards his son, Minya. Godzilla tries to teach his son how to roar and how to use his atomic breath and Godzilla would either pet him when he does a good job or threaten to smack him if he doesn't do it right or refuses to do it. Fans hate Minya because of how ugly it looks and the annoying wailing, but I can't help but feel bad for it when ever it's in danger. The ending is probably one of the most happiest endings you will see in a Godzilla film. It shows Godzilla and Minya holding each other when they go into hibernation. It isn't an iconic scene at all, but it is a scene that just get's me a little emotional every time. The version I recently watched was a redub of the American version and trying to remember from the original English dub, I prefer the original American version over the more recent redubbed version. The redub version sounded like they were trying too hard to sound serious when in it isn't necessary. There is another new monster other than Kamacuras called Kumonga (Spiga in the English version), which is a giant spider. Kumonga is the main bad guy in this movie, but it was because it woke up from his dirt nap when Minya was getting his butt kicked by Kamacuras.
Final Verdict:
Son Of Godzilla is no way perfect, but this is one that parents would enjoy. Godzilla is more humanized, which makes him and Minilla funny to watch. It makes you care about these two monsters and it ends on a satisfyingly happy note. So this one I say give it a watch.
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