Son of Godzilla Movie Review

The second of Godzilla's “south seas” pictures (after Godzilla Vs. the Sea Monster), this one concerns the adventures of a group of scientists trying to control weather conditions on a tropical island. Their lives are threatened when their experiments hatch the title infant, drawing the unwelcome attention of the adult monster and some gigantic insects as well. It's refreshing to see Godzilla marching among the waving palms instead of smashing cities, and no doubt less expensive for the producers. While Godzilla and his young ward (dubbed “Minya” in Japan) look awful in this entry, and the juvenile aspect of the baby's antics are slightly annoying, this is nevertheless a solidly paced and plotted sci-fi adventure, with good performances, memorable music, and some genuinely touching moments. Minya would return to tug at our heartstrings in Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla's Revenge before retiring from the screen forever. AKA: Gojira no Musuko.

1966 86m/C JP Akira Kubo, Beverly Maeda, Tadao Takashima, Akihiko Hirata, Kenji Sahara; D: Jun Fukuda; W: Shinichi Sekizawa, Kazue Shiba; M: Masaru Sato. VHS, Beta PSM, HHT, DVT