Invasion of Astro-Monster

Well, on Blu ray would be nice but until then this EPIC Japanese classic looks pretty darn good on this DVD. This is my all time favorite 60s Japanese sci-fi movie. Toho got American funding for this one and they spent it well on some excellent special effects, fantastic sets, great matte shots, and beautifully designed miniatures. This is NOT a "guys in rubber suits stomping on Tokyo" movie, nor is it high art; it is rather a well shot and totally fun slice of cheese with some true characters in it, something rare in this genre. Starting with the boys from Planet X and their way-cool attitudes and outfits, the ever fetching and evil Miss Namikawa, Nick Adam's swaggering American tough-guy routine, and a comic-relief Nerdlinger inventor with a GF who is far too cute for him, there is some actual character development. The flight and adventures to and on Planet X are the high points of the film. They are very VERY well done, the effects, sets and miniatures are the best I have ever seen in a Japanese movie from the 60s. It is a little long and loses some punch in the last 30 minutes; 94 minutes is about 20 too long, but that is my only complaint. When you can get DVDs in widescreen, or in the original 4:3 aspect ratio (as opposed to the dreadful "full screen" treatment) and watch them on a modern BD player they can have I would say, scientifically speaking, "pretty good" (LOL) image quality and this is a good example.

This is a personal favorite among Godzilla films despite not actually being the best showing for Godzilla himself (the 1954 original remains in a more-serious class above all others). Godzilla (kind of a showy pugilist in this one), Rodan, and King Ghidorah of course have some fighting to do and later in the film wreck quite a bit of the Japanese countryside. But the real entertainment of Invasion of Astro-Monster (or "Godzilla vs Monster Zero" as I first came to know it) comes from the entertaining sci-fi storyline and actor camaraderie. This is especially the case with Nick Adams as Astronaut Glenn and his spicy interaction with the ever-attractive Kumi Mizuno, playing the mysterious Miss Namikawa. The Planet X aliens are also immensely memorable, designed and acted with a fun 60's sci-fi flamboyance. The DVD package itself is surprisingly well-produced. Nicely presented menus start with a front end offering either the English or Japanese language versions, both of which are agreeable. From there a new menu arrives offering the feature, an informative optional commentary running over the movie, and an art gallery.

Wow! This is one of my favorite old Japanese monster flicks of all time. Toho really brought to life three of the biggies in a fight over their homeland and another land you'll learn all about in the second of the Ghidorah/Monster Zero series. Throw in Godzilla and Rodan and you have a nasty little recipe for an all out war of the prehistoric monsters of the far east. This Godzilla installment also features a nice trip into orbit to a galaxy far far aw...uh well, you get the picture. In the process the big lizard and the huge old wind makin bird of prey get hijacked and taken up to a rock in space that ruled by a three headed ball of fury. The trio ends up back at earth for a whopper of a tag team match featuring Zilla and Ridan vs. Monster Zero!! Throw in a some heavy duty sonic waves, the Japanese army, a semi love story involving clones, and a mean ole group of non earthlings who covet our digs and whahlah..the result is a king sized battle that doesnt necessarily end in death. Have fun watching this great flick of the Japanese monsters at their best.

This is one of the best godzilla movies from the showa era! It is the only godzilla movie to feature an american star that was not put in for the americanization! The story we find Planet X, and we send a spaceship there and they have a problem, King Ghidorah is attacking the planet and they need godzilla and rodan to help, so japan lets them use godzilla and rodan, and they use all three monsters against in an amazing attack sequence! All three monsters get equal destruction! My first copy of this movie was the 1998 simitar one with the crappy made trailers, and cool bonus features, but it had been discontinued until now! This DVD features the japanese verison with the american one, which personally i prefer the japanese versions of all the godzilla movies! Great buy!

INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER, is by any other name MONSTER ZERO, or GODZILLA VS MONSTER ZERO. INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER is the "International title" that Toho gave to KAIJU DAISENSO, released in 1965. It was then acquired for release via AIP and Henry G. Saperstein(the producer)in 1966, and he parted ways with AIP and set out for his own distribution. That didn't happen until 1970 from Maron Films, a small indie release company and it was re-titled MONSTER ZERO and double-billed in roadshow fashion with WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS and did brisk business from late summer to Fall at drive-ins and theaters at the time. The film stars Nick Adams and was released in the US, two years after his untimely and unfortunate death. Still, MONSTER ZERO/INVASION OF ASTRO MONSTER remains one of the best ever of the Toho Godzilla sequels, the last one where all the major talents at Toho were in play to make a knockout film that flies along at a good clip. It has everything-alien invasion, monsters, and a love story. Interestingly, the monster side of things actually takes a back seat to a fairly engaging human story(there are only really 10 or 12 minutes of new monster footage). The FX work is perhaps Eiji Tsuburaya's best as is the score by Akira Ifukube. This version is exactly the same as MONSTER ZERO-same title sequence, however a new title card for INVASION is seen. All the dubbing was the same, and in fact the film has three minutes of footage not seen in the US version. One is the alien Controller saying something in his native language as the earth ship leaves, another is a pretty nifty FX shot looking up at Godzilla and Rodan being transported through the atmosphere by the Xian saucers, and still another shot has what appears to be an un-processed(sound) shot of Akira Takarada saying something like "I've got a bad feeling about this" in Japanese, to Nick Adams who responds in English "Talk to me about it pal". Terrific film in any language!!

Great remastering of visuals and sound. Arrived one day sooner than expected. Wish it was on Blu Ray.

Very enjoyable Godzilla film from the original series.

One of the best Godzilla movies,aliens trick the earth into letting two monsters of the planet to fight astro monster,but we've been hoodwinked,can earth survive,great fun

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