KUMI MIZUNO IN GODZILLA VS 'INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER'

Title: INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER Year: 1965 Rating: ****1/2

Ironic that American actor Nick Adams, who did a horrible job dubbing the dead James Dean's voice in GIANT, is dubbed horribly in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER, the second Godzilla feature where Godzilla and Rodan are sort of helpful until being turned into their true monstrously-destructive selves when...

Well there's so much going on in what's the first truly science-fiction Godzilla, as in men in space including Adams as Astronaut Glenn (get it?) and franchise regular (albeit in different roles) Akira Takarada as Astronaut Fuji, the investigative heroes in what are the best, most suspenseful scenes during their mission to a hidden Planet X, forcefully-yet-politely invited into a high-tech underground dwelling ruled by mind-bending locals called Xiliens...

Nick Adams and Akira Takarada in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

An almost perfect sci-fi adventure with one major flaw in that, once the astronauts head back to Earth to shuttle Godzilla and Rodan up to battle these humanoid aliens' titular ASTRO-MONSTER menace (which is actually the three-headed King Ghidora, even more important here than his introduction in  GHIDORA: THE THREE HEADED MONSTER), the lead Xilien telegraphs a smug, villainous chuckle...

Making what's to come even more predictable... but that shouldn't be spoiled in a monster movie with layers built directly into the surrounding human characters, technically as important as the space explorers including Fuji's plain-yet-pretty sister dating an awkward inventor...

Kumi Mizuno in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

His invention's initially purchased by gorgeous Toho starlet Kumi Mizuno, actually an alien romancing the American Japanese-speaking/dubbed Adams... which becomes ultimately important in ceasing what results in the usual third-act monster stomping rampage (after the first battle on Planet X) that the audience paid for...

But with creative twists literally dictating their every punch, peck and, for the first time ditching the low-budget steam for Godzilla's laser-beam atomic breath, INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER makes for a great ahead-of-its-time space-invasion disaster-flick... that's ultimately grounded in what's Godzilla and Rodan's coolest team-up, despite being technically peripheral and sporadic.

Kumi Mizuno  and Keiko Sawai inINVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

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Akira Takarada in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Akira Takarada in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

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Keiko Sawai and Akira Kubo in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Kumi Mizuno in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Yoshio Tsuchiya in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

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Keiko Sawai and Akira Takarada in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Akira Kubo in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Kumi Mizuno in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

Akira Kubo in INVASION OF THE ASTRO-MONSTER

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