Ebirah: Horror from the Deep
 
Director: Jun Fukada
Year: 1966
Rating: 7.0

Aka  - Godzilla versus the Sea Monster (the American version)

Godzilla doesn't get to stomp Tokyo into rubble or send a crowd of panicked people screaming down the streets in this one but he does get to kick Commie Ass and that is good enough (and a little cheaper). Godzilla enters the Cold War. No wonder we won, we had God-zilla on our side. It was suppose to be King Kong but he declined and Godzilla got the gig. The directorial reins are handed over to Jun Fukada and he gives the franchise a lighter touch and more of an adventure framework than before. It worked fine for me but I get the impression that the true Godzillologists were not happy with this film and rate it fairly low on the scale. But damn, we get three Kaiju, native dancing girls, a shipwreck in a storm, a search for a missing brother, our two tiny Mothra Princesses (sadly not played by the Peanuts), Kumi Mizuno in a halter top, the commies with nukes, a dance marathon and Godzilla is the good guy. Ok, admittedly when Godzilla does the Twist to surf music after he knocks a few Commie planes out of the air and then later humiliates Ebirah by playing congas with his broken off claws it is a bit silly. But otherwise Godzilla and Mothra basically nap through the movie - thus giving Ebirah the title role.



Ebi in Japanese means shrimp and I think that was the initial plan - but really? A Kaiju shrimp? He looks all lobster to me and I can only imagine how many meals he would make at the Red Lobster. But let's go back to see how Ebirah, Godzilla and Mothra all met. Yata (Tôru Ibuki) was on a boat that was reported lost at sea and all aboard dead but an old crazy fortune teller claims that he is alive. So his brother Ryota (Toru Watanabe) and two others that he met at a dance marathon steal a boat and go looking for him. On board also is Yoshimura (Akira Takarada) who they think is the owner of the boat but is actually a safe cracker on the run after a robbery.




Off they go with no idea where the brother is but fate deals a winning hand. Their boat gets destroyed by a storm and they all swim to Devil's Island. Saved! Well, other than it is the HQ of the Red Bamboo who are a militant group of terrorists funded by some country. They are led by an eye-patched Captain (Akihiko Hirata). The group is building nukes for nefarious reasons one assumes and they try to kill our boys and a girl who has escaped the slave labor camp and joined them. This is Kumi. Strangely none of the four men fall in love with her. I did at first sight. She is from Infant Island. Home to Mothra.



Offshore is Ebi as his friends call him. Anything in the water is fair game and fair food for this giant lobster. And in the cave where they hide one of the boys looks down and says "Isn't that Godzilla down there sleeping?". Yup. Taking a long nap. Of All The caves In All The Islands In All The World, Godzilla Walks Into Mine. Godzilla on the inside and killers and Ebi on the outside. What are they to do? Wake up Godzilla of course. You have slept long enough. When his eye opens it is hard not to think of the Dragon being awakened in The Hobbit. And he fights Ebi - underwater at one point. I saw an interview with the man who was in the Godzilla suit and he mentions almost drowning in the Toho giant pool and I wonder if it was that scene. It gets quite fun. The first battle between G and Ebi is pretty lame admittedly - they play catch with a rock and swipe water at one another but the second one is better. And then there is Mothra, also sleeping through the movie - come on its not that boring - with all the native girls dancing and praying to him - wake up! Save the day!