Story
Ghidrah, The Three Headed Monster (Released December 20, 1964): Japan experiences abnormal weather. There is a woman who claims to be from Venus, predicts that the earth will face into crisis, Rodan emerges from the mouth of a crater, Godzilla appears from the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, the mightiest space monster King Ghidorah appears falling from Venus as a meteorite in Kurobe valley causing havoc across Japan. Mothra, called from Infant Island by the Fairy Twins, demands that Godzilla and Rodan join forces. They begin to fight the greatest attack here in three giant monsters against the space monster !
Released on December 26, 1964, by the Toho Motion Picture Company. Color. Running time: 92 minutes. The literal translation of the Japanese title is “World’s Greatest Decisive Battle.” Relased on December 26, 1964, by the Toho Motion Picture Company. Color. Running time: 92 minutes. Released on September 29, 1965, by The Walter Reade Organization and Continental Distributing. Running time: 85 minutes.
ゴジラ•ラドン•モスラ対キングギドラ。冬なのに夏のようにあつい日がつづくある夜、黒部峡谷の霞沢に引力をもつ隕石がおちた。そのころ、各地に金星人となのる女があらわれ、地球がピンチだと予言する。
To escape an assassination plot, a princess from the Asian kingdom of Selgina flees to Japan. Her plan explodes over the Pacific. Though thought to be dead, she reappears in Japan claiming to be a prophetess from Venus. She fortells the destruction of Japan by King Ghidorah, a three-headed space dragon, accompanied by other monsters. And so her perdiction comes true. From space comes a meteor crashing into the Japan Alps. Ghidorah is born. Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra join together to fight Ghidorah and save the world.
ゴジラ•ラドン•モスラ対キングギドラ。冬なのに夏のようにあつい日がつづくある夜、黒部峡谷の霞沢に引力をもつ隕石がおちた。そのころ、各地に金星人となのる女があらわれ、地球がピンチだと予言する。そんとおりに阿蘇からランドが出現し、海からゴジラがふっかつし、たたかいを開始した。金星人セルジナ公国のサルノ王女とそっくりなことに気づいた新藤刑事は、おなじようにかんがえて金星人をおそうセルジナの悪人からこれをすくうが、金星人は、かって金星をほろぼしたキングギドラが地球にあらわれるとなんどもうったえた。そして。
新藤は、サルノ王女のボディーガードをめいれいされた。サルノ王女は、予言者になって、各地にあらわれる。横浜にゴジラが上陸。そして、空にはラドンが飛来する。日本へきていた小美人は、金星人のいうことをしんじて命がたすかった。２体は、たたかいながら富士山へとむかっていく。ゴジラとラドンのたたかいは、けっちゃくがつかない！そのころ、なぞの隕石がひかりだし、とつぜんばくはつした！ばくはつのほのおが空で一点に集中する。そして、キングギドラのすがたになった。キンゴギドラは、松本師がら富士山へと、はかいしながら進撃！小美人は、たちむかわせるためにモスラをインファント島からよんだ。ゴジラ•ラドンはモスラに協力。力をあわれてキングギドラとたたかう。ラドンにのって空から糸をはきかけるモスラ。ききめがあるこうげきだ。３大怪獣にはかなわず、ついに宇宙へとにげだすキングギドラ。ゴジラたちは、ほくらしげにこれをみおくるのだった。
Plot
Police Detective Shindo (Yosuke Natsuki) is assigned to guard Princess Selina Salno of Selgina (Akiko Wakabayashi) during the Princess’ visit to Japan, due to a suspected assassination plot. Although Shindo is smitten with Selina’s photograph, her plane never makes it to Japan, as it is destroyed by a bomb en route. At exactly the same time a meteorite shower draws the attention of Professor Murai (Hiroshi Koizumi), who along with his team of scientists strikes out into the wilderness to examine the largest of the meteors, which has magnetic properties.
To Shindo’s surprise, the supposedly deceased Selina turns up in Japan, without her royal garb (including the golden bracelet that proves she is heir to the throne of Selgina), claiming to be from the planet Mars (in the English dub), and preaching to skeptical crowds of forthcoming disaster. To their surprise however, her prophecies begin coming true. First she predicts Rodan, thought dead in the eruption of Mt. Aso, will emerge from Aso’s crater. Subsequently, none other than Godzilla will arise from the sea and destroy a ship. Both of these events transpire.
In the meantime, Selina’s uncle (Shin Otomo), who was behind the assassination attempt, learns of her survival and sends his best assassin Malness (Hisaya Ito) to Japan to dispatch the Princess and steal the golden bracelet. Malness and his henchmen are stopped by Shindo, who was warned of their attempt by the Shobijin (Emi and Yumi Ito), who were in Japan appearing on a television show. The Shobijin had been scheduled to return to Infant Island aboard the ship sunk by Godzilla, but opted not to go after overhearing Selina’s prophecy. A further attempt by the assassins is thwarted when both Godzilla and Rodan attack the city and engage in battle, forcing everyone to flee.
Convinced that Selina is insane, Shindo takes the Princess to see a renowned psychiatrist, Dr. Tsukamoto (Takashi Shimura), in the hopes of curing her. However, Tsukamoto can find nothing wrong with her, mentally or physically. He concludes she must therefore truly be possessed by a Martian as she claims. As if emboldened by the doctor’s diagnosis, Selina reveals her final prophecy—that Mars’ once thriving civilization was destroyed by an evil, golden three-headed dragon named King Ghidorah, and furthermore that Ghidorah himself has already arrived on Earth. No sooner has she revealed this than Professor Murai and his colleagues at the meteor crash site receive a nasty surprise—the “meteor” is actually an egg, which hatches into the fearsome King Ghidorah. Ghidorah begins razing the countryside.
To combat the combined threats of the three monsters, the Japanese government enlists the aid of the Shobijin to summon Mothra (the surviving larvae from the previous film). Upon arriving on the Japanese mainland, Mothra attempts to persuade the quarreling Godzilla and Rodan to team up against the evil alien (which is translated to the humans by the Shobijin) but both refuse, with Godzilla stating they have no reason to save mankind as both he and Rodan “have always had trouble with men and men hate them”, to which Rodan agrees. Despite Mothra stating that Earth belongs to them as well and that it is their duty to defend it, Godzilla and Rodan still refuse (with Godzilla apparently swearing at Mothra) and the pair refuse to forgive each other, wanting to continue their fight. Unable to convince them and despite being vastly outmatched, Mothra calls the pair of them “bullheaded” and resolves to fight Ghidorah by herself. Mothra engages Ghidorah and is continually blasted by his gravity beams. Fortunately for Mothra, Godzilla and Rodan, impressed by her courage and selflessness, arrive to help, and a titanic battle against Ghidorah begins. Meanwhile, Shindo and Dr. Tsukamoto are forced to protect Princess Selina as Malness and his men converge on Tsukamoto’s clinic; they manage to fend off the killers and escape into the mountains as the dueling monsters draw closer.
The assassins attempt to follow, but a stray blast from Ghidorah buries their car in an avalanche. Only Malness remains uninjured enough to continue. He attempts to snipe the Princess from an elevated position, but only injures her. In her pain, she regains her memory and is no longer possessed by the Martian. Before Malness can take another shot, another stray blast from Ghidorah buries the assassin under a second avalanche. With the heroes thus saved from the human menace, they gather at a safe distance to watch the battle between earth’s monsters and Ghidorah. After now gaining a clear advantage over Ghidorah, the three monsters coordinate their attack; Godzilla grabs hold of Ghidorah’s tails while Mothra (riding on Rodan’s back) sprays the three-headed dragon with her silk. Finally, Godzilla throws the alien beast off the cliff and the battered dragon flies off, back into outer space.
As Mothra and the Shobijin return to Infant Island while Godzilla and Rodan go their separate ways, Selina, having retained the memories of her time with Shindo, bids farewell to her guardian as she meets her bodyguards at the airport to return home.
Cast & Characters
進藤刑事：夏木陽介
進藤直子：星由里子
村井助教授：小泉博
塚本博士：志村喬
小美人：ザ・ピーナッツ（伊藤エミ、伊藤ユミ）
サルノ王女：若林映子
マルメス（黒眼鏡の男）：伊藤久哉
暗殺団手下：黒部進
沖田刑事課長：平田昭彦
金巻班長：佐原健二
暗殺団手下：伊吹徹
調査隊隊員：野村浩三
寿山号船長：田島義文
老臣：天本英世
インファント島長老：小杉義男
国防会議議長：高田稔
サト（進藤兄妹の母）：英百合子
小牧記者：加藤春哉
漁師：沢村いき雄
防衛大臣：富田仲次郎
国会議員：石田茂樹
安楽椅子の男：大友伸
新郎：中山豊
阿蘇山のガイド（帽子拾い屋）：大村千吉
宇宙円盤クラブ会長：松本染升
暗殺団手下：鈴木和夫
テレビの司会者：青空千夜、青空一夜
円盤クラブのYシャツの男：ヘンリー・大川
国会議員：向井淳一郎、古田俊彦
村の警官：池田生二
火山研究所職員・村の人：澁谷英男
村の人：勝本圭一郎、広瀬正一
ゴジラ：手塚勝巳
MISUMIホテルのホテルマン：宇野晃司
上野公園の野次馬：井上大助
調査隊隊員（三浦）：三浦敏男
新婦（玉ちゃん）：浦山珠実
国務大臣：熊谷卓三
国会議員：津田光男
新聞記者：勝部義夫
寿山号船員：坪野鎌之
調査隊隊員：今井和雄
上野公園の野次馬：門脇三郎、越後憲三、伊原徳
調査隊隊員：古谷敏、黒木順
電力会社社員：岡豊
ゴジラ：中島春雄
キングギドラ：宇畄木耕嗣
Staff
脚本：関沢新一
音楽：伊福部昭
撮影：小泉一
美術監督：北猛夫
録音：矢野口文雄
照明：小島正七
編集：藤井良平
チーフ助監督：佐野健
製作担当者：中村茂
監督助手：橋本幸治
整音：下永尚
音響効果：知久長
スチール：田中一清
現像：東京現像所
監督：本多猪四郎
特殊技術
特技監督：円谷英二
撮影：有川貞昌、富岡素敬
美術：渡辺明
照明：岸田九一郎
火薬：山本久蔵
造形チーフ：利光貞三
操演：中代文雄
チーフ助監督：中野昭慶
製作担当者：小池忠司
撮影助手：川北紘一
特殊視覚効果
合成：向山宏
光学撮影：真野田幸雄、徳政義行
光学作画：飯塚定雄
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Director: Ishiro Honda
Screenplay: Shinichi Sekizawa
Music: Akira Ifukube
Song “Shiawase Wo Yobou” by Tokiko Iwatani, composed by Yasushi Miyagawa
Director of Photography: Hajime Koizumi
Light Supervisor: Shoshichi Kojima
Art Director: Takeo Kita
Film Editor: Ryohei Fuji
Sound Recordist: Fumio Yanoguchi
Sound Effects: Osamu Tomohisa
Audio Technician: Hisashi Shimonaga
Production Manager: Shigeru Nakamura
Assistant Director: Ken Sano
Associate Producer: Tadashi Koike
Film Developing: Tokyo Laboratory
Special Effects Director: Eiji Tsuburaya
Directors of Photography: Sadamasa Arikawa, Mototaka Tomioka
Optical Photography: Yukio Manoda, Yoshiyuki Tokumasa
Optical Processing: Hiroshi Mukaiyama
Art Director: Akira Watanabe
Lighting: Kuichiro Kishida
Assistant: Special Effects Director: Teruyoshi Nakano
