The Japanese Version of Rodan

(yes, the film from 1956) is better than the American cut I viewed on TV years ago: 

It was about time I finally viewed the original version of Rodan after long ago reviewing the 10 minute shorter American cut that was played on TCM on a night co-hosted by Dennis Miller. Yes, he discussed kaiju movies. The edited version I did not love so it was only fair that the Criterion Channel be used to finally talk about the unedited version… which was an improvement.

The setting was a mine & the surrounding village. I did not recall the horror elements (several bloody corpses are seen, to list but one example) or even the giant insects that were the precursor to one of kaiju’s most famous critters making its debut. As typical, the team of director Ishiro Honda, composer Akira Ifukube & special effects marvel Eiji Tsuburaya-not to mention his entire team-did a swell job in creating an interesting world w/ quality miniature effects & emotional scores. In Rodan, the latter was the most impressive between the believable moments of the insects, all the buildings & props built, and even if “you can see the wires” sometimes, the prehistoric creature in flight.

The human element wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen from the genre but it was still fine; the miners stumble upon eggs that hatched Rodan, the military attempts to fight back, etc. The serious tone and the delay in showing the title creature worked for me in this scenario, Toho’s first kaiju picture in color… and also something I did NOT remember or it was edited out of the American cut—this mentioned “the theory of global warming” & the polar ice caps melting. In 1956.