Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ishirō Honda directs. Hajime Koizumi behind the camera. Akira Ifukube scores. Ryôhei Fujii cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 162 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Part of the "Godzilla (Showa) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 3Directed by Ishirō Honda, shot by Hajime Koizumi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Akira Ifukube. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Ryôhei Fujii shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Yōsuke Natsuki and Yuriko Hoshi and Hiroshi Koizumi carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Space Super Monster King Ghidorah attacks the Earth!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0058544 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 17 themes, including "princess", "helicopter", "amnesia", "monster".
• 10Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Hajime Koizumi

Original score

Akira Ifukube

Editing

Ryôhei Fujii

Production design

Takeo Kita

Costume design

Yasuei Yagi

Runtime

92 min · 1h 32m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$3,237,880

Original language

JA

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) ↗

Part of

Godzilla (Showa) Collection

Film series featuring Godzilla from the Showa era.

• 
  Godzilla

  1954
• 
  Godzilla Raids Again

  1955
• 
  King Kong vs. Godzilla

  1962
• 
  Mothra vs. Godzilla

  1964
• 
  Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

  1964 · this one
• 
  Invasion of Astro-Monster

  1965
• 
  Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

  1966
• 
  Son of Godzilla

  1967
• 
  Destroy All Monsters

  1968
• 
  All Monsters Attack

  1969
• 
  Godzilla vs. Hedorah

  1971
• 
  Godzilla vs. Gigan

  1972
• 
  Godzilla vs. Megalon

  1973
• 
  Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

  1974
• 
  Terror of Mechagodzilla

  1975

Also by

Ishirō Honda

• 
  Night School

  1956 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Adolescence Part II

  1953 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Man Who Came to Port

  1952 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Song for a Bride

  1958 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Godzilla Fantasia

  1984 · ★ 9.7
• 
  People of Tokyo, Goodbye

  1956 · ★ 9.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Michael2022-12-16
  ★ 4/10

  Godzilla ist zurück und muss sich diesmal einem dreiköpfigen Monster stellen. Interessanterweise muss er den Kampf nicht alleine antreten, sondern bekommt Hilfe von zwei Kreaturen die er in früheren Filmen selbst bekämpft hat und zwar Mothra und Rodan. Eigentlich beste Vorraussetzungen für einen gelungenen Monsterfilm, tretten doch gleich vier Kreaturen auf, doch leider verrennt sich der Film in zu vielen Belanglosigkeiten, bevor man eines der Monster zu sehen bekommt und bevor die Monster überhaupt gegeneinander antreten. Auch der finale Kampf ist dann leider viel zu schnell vorbei, lange, bevor er überhaupt seine Faszination entfalten kann. So bleibt man als Zuschauer doch ein wenig enttäuscht zurück. [Sneakfilm.de]

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  TOHO

  JP

• 

  Tokyo Laboratory

  JP

Key crew

• Special EffectsEiji Tsuburaya
• Executive ProducerTomoyuki Tanaka
• Production DesignTakeo Kita
• EditorRyôhei Fujii
• Sound RecordistFumio Yanoguchi
• First Assistant DirectorKoji Hashimoto
• MusicSei Ikeno
• Visual Effects Art DirectorAkira Watanabe
• Lighting TechnicianKuichiro Kishida
• Sound EffectsOsamu Chiku
• Visual Effects CameraYukio Manoda
• ModelingYasuei Yagi
• Visual Effects DirectorEiji Tsuburaya
• Visual Effects DirectorTeruyoshi Nakano
• Production ManagerShigeru Nakamura
• VFX Lighting ArtistKuichiro Kishida
• Visual Effects Art DirectorToshiro Aoki
• Visual Effects CameraYoshiyuki Tokumasa
• Visual EffectsYoshiyuki Tokumasa
• Special Effects AssistantYasuyuki Inoue
• Visual EffectsHiroshi Mukoyama
• Special Effects AssistantTeruyoshi Nakano
• Costume DesignYasuei Yagi
• Special EffectsSadamasa Arikawa

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• princess
• helicopter
• amnesia
• monster
• gangster
• giant monster
• volcano
• sequel
• alien
• dragon
• dinosaur
• hypnotism
• kaiju
• alien possession
• three headed creature
• absurd
• tokusatsu

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1965-09-13NR
• Physical2007-06-05· Classic Media DVD. Includes subtitled JP and dubbed U.S. theatrical versions.
• Physical2019-10-29· The Criterion Collection Blu-ray set titled "Godzilla, the Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975". In Japanese with English subtitles.

Also known as

International titles

• Ghidrah, the Three-Headed MonsterUS
• San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no KessenJP
• Three Giant Monsters: The Greatest Battle on EarthJP
• ゴジラ·モスラ·キングギドラ: 地球最大の決戦JP
• Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Greatest Battle on EarthJP
• 宇宙怪獣キングギドラJP
• Monster of Monsters, GhidorahJP
• 四大怪獸地球大決戰TW
• Godzilla contra Ghidorah, el Dragon de Tres CabezasES
• 战龙哥斯拉之三大怪兽CN
• Ghidrah, o Monstro TricéfaloBR
• Godzilla 5 - Ghidorah, the Three-Headed MonsterUS
• 三大怪兽 地球最大决战CN
• Uchū Kaijū Kingu GidoraJP
• Space Monster King GhidorahJP