Godzilla movie from 1965. Japanese title: Kaiju Daisenso.

Two astronauts journey to the newly discovered and creatively-named Planet X, where they are met by the planet's Devo-esque inhabitants. Their leader, a sinister fellow known as "The Controller" tells them that his people are constantly threatened with annihilation by the flying three-headed space monster King Ghidorah. He proposes a bargain: if the people of Earth will allow them to capture Godzilla and Rodan and bring them to Planet X to fight King Ghidorah, the X-ers will provide Earth with a data tape containing advanced medical knowledge.

This is all, of course, a dirty Commie trick. After the exchange is made, the Earth people play the tape only to discover that it contains an ultimatum: the X-ists have placed all three monsters under their control, and unless Earth surrenders, they will unleash the titanic beasts on us.

But their plot is foiled when a winsome alien lass who pines for one of the astronauts sacrifices her life to give us the secret of the aliens' weakness -- a certain sound that drives them mad. (I wonder what our weakness would be? If the situation was reversed, would a hastily scrawled note revealing that we drown when immersed in water tip the scales of battle?) After the aliens have been neutralized, their grip on the monsters is broken with an "A-Cycle Light Ray". The freed Godzilla and Rodan proceed to open up a can of whoop ass on Ghidorah; the trio falls into the ocean and the defeated Ghidorah flees in shame.

I wish my name was "The Controller".

Title: Godzilla vs. Monster Zero
aka Kaijû daisenso
aka Battle of the Astros
aka The Great Monster War
aka Invasion of Astro-Monster
aka Invasion of Planet X
aka Invasion of the Astro-Monsters
aka Monster Zero

Director: Ishirô Honda

Year: 1965

Cast: A bunch of B-grade Japanese actors.

Plot synopsis: The devious residents of Planet X trick the good people of Earth into lending them Godzilla and Rodan for the weekend to combat the terrible three-headed space monster King Ghidrah. In fact, they plan to use Earth's own monsters against them in a devilish double cross.

Genre: Science fiction/Comedy (not deliberately)

Comment: The early Godzilla movies are the ultimate in Z-grade cinema and this is no exception. The plot is hilariously ridiculous and frequently relies on illogical leaps of faith to retain any kind of continuity. The men from Planet X are an absolute masterpiece and possess 'nuclear skills not known on your planet' which allow them to pack Godzilla into a glowing sphere for transport to Planet X (hmmm... an inspiration for Pokemon perhaps?). The monsters themselves are needless to say very obviously men in costumes, but this only adds to the charm of this movie. If you want serious and believable drama then this is not the movie for you, but if you want to drink a six pack and laugh you head off then rent it today! This ranks alongside the original Gamera as one of the best Japanese monster movies ever. Interestingly, this is considerably more entertaining than the recent Hollywood remake of Godzilla.

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