Invasion of Astro-Monster (1970)

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I can only take these Japanese monster films in small doses, which is to say about every six months to a year so as not to get permanently loopy. The same thing with Seventies martial arts flicks. But I stick with them for the amusement factor because that's basically what I see as their mission. I see that most of the reviews for this movie are hugely positive, and that's fine, but even so, I don't get the rationale for rating pictures like this a '10' because even if you're a fan, you have to have seen "Star Wars" or "Alien" by way of comparison. I merely shake my head.At least the bonus for this viewer was the inclusion of Nick Adams in the cast. He proved he really was a rebel to take on this assignment, appearing in the cast credits as Nikku Adamusu. But the odd thing was that his name in the story was Glenn, without noting whether that was the character's first or last name. His astronaut partner on the space mission went by the last name of Fuji (Akira Takarada), which led me to question why everyone simply called him Glenn, no matter the context. The cast credit here on IMDb states Adam's character as Glenn Amer, but one wouldn't know that from watching the picture. Maybe Amer was short for American.Say, I had to laugh when Spaceship P-1 landed on Planet X, and the hatch door used to leave the ship actually had dents in it. Still, that was a whole lot better than the spaceship used in the 1959 flick "Teenagers From Outer Space". In that one, you can see the futuristic technology of space age hammer and nails at work. So you can actually measure the progress of sci-fi special effects used in this film compared to the one that came out six years earlier.The best and funniest moment in this picture occurred when Godzilla and Rodan defeated King Ghidorah on Planet X. Right after, Godzilla went into this goofy looking dance number that had me baffled. That simply reminded me that these Toho films were primarily put together for a pre-teen audience, so with that in mind, it seemed rather logical. What's not logical is why I still watch this stuff. But rest assured I'll be back in another six months or so. Or wait, maybe sooner, because I just happened to come across a copy of "Mothra vs. Godzilla".

Back in the day when the Syfy Channel would host the annual Godzilla movie marathon, AMC TV decided to do the same and host the Classic Media Collection of Godzilla films. I was lucky enough to catch Godzilla vs Monster Zero on TV one night. By that time it was one of the few films I was scouting out for my collection. The idea of Godzilla smashing around some place that isn't Earth had fascinated me in the back of my head, and I was shocked that they pulled this card so early in the series, but now I understand it was to compete with Star Trek and War of the Worlds. As a usual science fiction film would go, aliens request to "borrow" Godzilla and Rodan to fight the vengeful King Ghidorah and rubber suit madness ensues. Such a clunky idea but a great watch. Nick Adams helps with the films pacing and Western audience experience, but is dubbed over for the Japanese release. However, that doesn't decrease from his amazing performance. Godzilla vs Monster Zero is a classic cult among most Toho goodie grabbers but tends to be overlooked by other entries such as Godzilla vs Megalon and Godzilla 2000. However, it definitely needs to be seen to be believed.

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

"Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" is yet another Godzilla movie directed by Ishiro Honda but even this very talented director fails to pace this in any way that's remotely interesting leaving "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" as one of the most boring Godzilla entries.In this movie aliens from Planet X request to use Godzilla and Rodan to fight off King Ghidora who is threatening their planet. Of course no aliens could possibly be peaceful (or let's be honest they'd be boring in this sort of movie) so it turns out the aliens wish to use the three monsters to take over, you guessed it, Earth.The special effects again deteriorate from previous offerings as Toho is by now making and releasing these things as fast as they possibly can. Still, there's some solid monster action here, just not enough.The dubbed English version which I didn't watch all the way through appeared to be more entertaining thanks to the addition of Nick Adams. You have to love Nick Adams, you just have to.Dull, lacking in monster action, and just plain boring "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" is one of the most forgettable and overrated Godzilla movies.4/10