DVD Corner

Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster Blu-ray Review

“Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster” is a far out Godzilla movie.

In “Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster” (AKA “Godzilla vs. Hedorah”), a new big bad monster arrives in Tokyo in the form of a pollution devouring alien being (Hedorah) that transforms into a massive red eye, sludgy sea beastie. As the destructive Hedorah continues to slurp down pollution, his toxic poisons began to pose a serious threat to the human population going as far as killing a number of people. Thankfully, Godzilla comes to the public’s aid and sets out to eliminate the nasty Hedorah. The film also features two main human characters with Professor Dr. Yano and his annoying son Ken (yes, another child character named Ken).

“Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster” is far and away the strangest Godzilla film. The 1971 creature feature is very much a product of its time as it contains an old school James Bond esque opening song, cartoony sped up action, a psychedelic club, random out of place song interludes, dancing, cartoon segments, and political activists (some might call them hippies). Suffice to say, it’s very different in tone and style than the other Godzilla films. Whether or not that’s a bad thing is certainly up for debate.

The dated psychedelic style and look of the film is certainly an unnecessary distraction to the story and the severe lack of character and overabundance of exposition about Hedorah hampers the screenplay. On the positive side, Hedorah is a revolting memorable foe who never seems to get much credit from fans. Not only is this oozing monster attached to a poignant environmental/pollution message, but the creature has some truly violent showdowns with Godzilla. Granted, some of their fights by land and by sea are a bit comical, but some of them are downright brutal as Godzilla gets thrashed, burned, and blinded in one eye while Hedorah gets chunks ripped off of him AND holes punched through him.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.35:1 1080p. How does it look? Natural grain and dirt specs aside, this new hi-def print boasts some truly gorgeous looking daytime and sea sequences. It’s such a blast to watch Godzilla films on Blu-ray and I can only hope more titles will be released in the near future.

Audio Tracks: English and Japanese DTS-HD MA Mono tracks. How do they sound? The English track is predictably dopey, but some fans have more fun watching the films this way. The Japanese track is the likely choice amongst fans and it certainly delivers. As far as the music and action goes on both tracks, they sound lively here (especially if you crank up the volume).

The lone extra is a Japanese trailer for “Godzilla vs. Hedorah.”

Overall Thoughts: Despite containing many “what the heck?” moments, “Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster” is still worth watching.

May 8, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Godzilla vs. Hedorah Blu-ray Review, Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster Blu-ray Review