Rodan came out a year after Godzilla's Counterattack, and it's the first kaiju film to be in color, or at least to be colorized. I grew up watching the pan and scan English version, so I was happy when Classic Media released the uncut original on dvd a couple of years back. Not as familiar with it as I am the Godzilla films, I thought at a re-watch would be in order before the review and it's a bit of a different experience to be sure.
The first thing I noticed was the color, while drab and yellowish on the US release, the colors, especially the blues all really pop. A lot of browns and yellows were utilized to be sure, but the cool colors such as blues and greens have a saturated deep look that gives everything a somewhat fantastical tone.
The second is how real and nuanced the performances are without the blaring dubbing over top of it. The film begins as a kind of murder mystery in a small town, and the mistrust and sideways glances of back ground extras are a great compliment to the main characters obviously upset but doing their best to keep calm.
The third thing I noticed is someone making a joke about global warning. In 1956. Some people might say this proves that this has been a concern so long that people are silly to ignore it. But sadly I also feel like the argument could go "you're getting your facts from a giant monster movie." *sigh*
Our main characters Shigeru (Kenji Sahara) and his fiance Kiyo (Yumi Shirakawa) live in a small mining town where all the men seem to be getting in a lot of fights. (I am dearly in love with the guy who, after having his fight stopped, walks right up to the guy he's mad at, grabs the man's handkerchief and flings it across the room. I've seen a lot of kaiju movies, but this stands as the most pissy thing I've ever seen in one.) It's hinted that every one's on edge due to the summer heat and humidity, which I understand completely. The fight is broken up and everyone is sent into the mine, because getting trapped in a hot claustrophobic tunnel will soothe any mood.
Moments later we find that there has been a flood and some men, including the two fighting, have disappeared. As others go into the tunnel to find them, we're introduced to a very effectively creepy tunnel set that's half full of water. The lighting is perfect, the tunnel is dark, and while it's easy to see the action going on, I couldn't help saying "nope nope nope" to myself as the men walked into the waist deep water looking for their lost co-workers.
A body is found and it turns out to be one of the fighters from earlier, but he's been slashed to death, seemingly (and the doctor doing the autopsy says this later) by a "Japanese sword." This leads to the sideways glances I mentioned earlier because the other man in the fight, who is still missing, is Kiyo's brother.
They'll be fine.
This leads to a scene where the dead man's wife, rocking full on Angry Grieving Wife hair comes to confront Kiyo, because obviously it's somehow her fault that her brother is a katana wielding psychopath running around flooded mines. Kiyo is understandably upset by this and as Shigeru attempts to comfort her, their worry party is crashed by an 8ft long worm/earwig thing called a Meganulon.
Now, the design on this thing is weird, and somewhat deliriously sculpted with the bags under it's eyes and weird crab claws. So of course I love it. It's especially cool to notice the multicolored spots all over it's shell which all but disappeared in the US version. I wouldn't say it's an effective creature, but it's just insane looking enough for me to get into it as a giant insect stalking around. Also what did those birds ever do to you!?
The somewhat successful design however is destroyed in the miniature creature effects however. As we learn that they're impervious to handgun bullets, they aren't impervious to gravity, or just being clumsy. Two police officers get too close, and as the creature swings around their dolls, I mean corpses, it just falls down the cliff. The choice to have a monster set up to be a stone cold killer just straight up trip on screen is an odd one to be sure, and I can't help but wish they would've utilized the full suits more often. A feeling I'll get again later actually.
Now that we know that the Meganulon are responsible for the murders it's just a matter of killing them right? Somewhat.
The police get a Gatling gun, because they're awesome apparently, and take Shigeru along for the ride. The gun has limited effects, but everyone ends up being thankful Shigeru came along as he uses a whole damn line of mining carts full of coal to smash into the creature and kill it. I have to love this scene because I just imagine his thought process, "don't care about the guns huh? How about this? I'll show you to beat up my fiances birds!" Sadly this sets off another cave in, and Shigeru is trapped on the wrong side of the rocks and is believed to be dead.
So far the movie has been a somewhat moody, very dark story. It almost has a horror movie feel with all of the disappearances and accusations, mixed with the rarely seen monsters. For good or ill (more on that later) the tone here shifts pretty dramatically as it goes from an intimate story to one with a larger cast we don't spend a lot of time with.
Not long after the cave in, an earthquake occurs, leading to a landslide in which they find an injured and amnesiac Shigeru. Kenji Sahara and Yumi Shirakawa really get to shine together in this scene. Even though he's mute and in shock, he does little twitchy expressions and this perfect dead stare, really selling the fact that this person has seen something he just can't handle. A lesser actor could easily have just become boring shocked dude, but he really sells it. Yumi's performance is equally great as someone who's fiance and only friend is looking right at her but doesn't know who she is. Being much more than "sad lady" you can really see her holding back her hysteria to remain strong for him. It's very well done by both actors, and they steal the show shoving everyone into the back ground with their performances.
He does eventually get his memory back, and it's not fun for anyone because he tells everyone about what caused his breakdown in the first place. He was there when Rodan hatched. I love this scene in particular because his performance is great, showing the exact moment his mind breaks. And an incredibly cute (by my standards) Rodan suit is seen flapping it's wings and just having a grand old time snatching up Meganulon in it's mouth to gobble up. Wait, what? I'm truly impressed with this usage of scale here. They just spent an entire movie setting up these super large insects, just to put them next to Rodan and show that they're bite sized. I love it. Immediately we see that there's a whole new playing field.
At the same time, UFO's begin appearing all over Asia, flying too high and too fast to see, but causing destruction in their wake. This is of course our dear Rodan, all grown up, appearing late to it's own movie, and after some visual teases and more murders, we get to see him in all his glory land in and trash the hell out of a nearby city.
The design is awesome, looking much more realistic than either Godzilla or Angilas, and the reddish brown color really pops. I love the shape of it's head, with it's long mouth which reminds me of a lizard or a dinosaur, and the wings have a kind of cloak feel to it. The wings in particular are a perfect example of something I love about kaiju. Often times a detail, or an action or a look aren't realistic by any means, but they're very aesthetically pleasing. The way the latex billows and folds really looks cool against all of the wind effects and pyrotechnics.
The chase by fighter planes, leading up to the city destruction is the crown jewel of this movie, all the effects working full throttle together. Particularly fun is how Rodan just drops into the city, remains stationary, but causes as much if not more destruction than Godzilla with just his wings flapping. The wind effects with the insanely detailed miniatures is a true spectacle.
It's here that the film gives us a new twist when a second Rodan appears, and while we never get it close up like it's partner, it's just so great having two monsters on the same side causing all of this destruction.
Afterwards, the happy Rodan couple returns to their nest in the nearby mountain and rest, having had their fill of little things shooting at them. Sadly, this is a mistake on their part as the Japanese military decides to close in and bombard the mountain with everything they've got.
This scene kind of loses me to be honest. While the explosions are very convincing, the lack of music, and the usage of the same sound effect over and over makes my attention wane. I feel like it's longer in the original version, and if the American producers had cut some, it was a good choice. It's really just too much 'splody with not enough drama or kaiju.
Eventually the explosion montage does end and the mountain erupts, spilling fire and lava everywhere. Leading to a very very sad scene of the Rodan's burning to death. It's just sad to watch every time. Especially when one chooses to throw it's self into the fire when it's mate can't fly away. The scene is somewhat undermined by the fact that small puppets of Rodan are used instead of the suit, or close ups. Like the Meganulon earlier, it would've been better to have more close up action. Or at least more convincing models. It's a testament to the direction and the performances of the onlookers that a scene can be so emotional even though it's basically two vaguely Rodan shaped kites catching on fire.
You might notice I haven't mentioned Kiyo or Shigeru for some time. And that's actually because they disappear for most of the 3rd act. They barely have any lines once he regains his memory, and don't really have much to do but watch as things progress.
I can't tell if it's me being tainted by modern, more predictable film making, but I can't help feeling like Rodan is two movies, one with Meganulon, and one with Rodan, but they forgot the human characters in Rodan's film.
Still, the first half of the movie is moody, and well made, and the last half has two effing Rodans and a lot of explosions and beautiful miniatures.
All my classic Rodan's! The one on the left is from some multipack I was given years ago, and the two on the right are from the Revoltech line.
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