The Sci-Fi Films of Ishiro Honda
The most famous director of Japanese science fiction films, Ishiro Honda helmed 25 sci-fi films for Toho Studios between 1954 and 1975 and helped to create the company's monstrous icon, Godzilla. Honda was a friend and peer of Akira Kurosawa, Japan's most revered film director, and collaborated with him on several films. Honda also directed a number of dramas and war films, most of which have fallen into obscurity. This list, however, will focus only on the sci-fi films directed by Honda.
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- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAmerican nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.Ishiro Honda's first science fiction film, which is widely considered his masterpiece. Honda's goal was not to create cinema's most famous monster and give rise to the kaiju sub-genre; his goal was to make a dark, somber film about the horror of nuclear warfare. From the very beginning, the monster Godzilla was intended as an allegory for the atomic bomb, and disturbing imagery of irradiated and dying civilians left in the wake of Godzilla's rampage through Tokyo deliberately calls to mind the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which occurred less than a decade before the release of the film. Together with producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya and composer Akira Ifukube, Honda created one of the most iconic films of all time and in doing so established himself as Toho's top director of sci-fi features.
"Godzilla" was heavily re-edited and released in the US as "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" in 1956. - DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaAkemi NegishiMomoko KôchiA yeti terrorizes people on top of Mount Fuji.Literal Title: "Monster Snowman"
With interest in monster movies rising in Japan following the release of "Godzilla", Ishiro Honda was chosen to direct a second monster film the following year, while Motoyoshi Oda was given the Godzilla sequel "Godzilla Raids Again." By contrast to "Godzilla", Honda's second sci-fi feature was a lower budget affair which involves a group of college students stumbling upon a family of yeti-like creatures in the Japanese Alps. The film's depiction of the mountainous villagers was deemed bigoted, which has prevented it from ever seeing a proper release in Japan or the US. As a result, this is among Honda's more obscure films.
"Monster Snowman" was heavily re-edited and released in the US as "Half-Human" in 1957. - DirectorIshirô HondaStarsKenji SaharaYumi ShirakawaAkihiko HirataA mining engineer investigates the death of his fellow coworkers and discovers prehistoric nymphs emerging from the mines. As he heads deeper into the mines, he makes a more horrifying discovery in the form a prehistoric flying creature.Shortly after "Godzilla" was released in the US, Ishiro Honda began work on his first colored sci-fi film. Like "Monster Snowman" the film begins in a remote setting, a mining village where a series of murders is discovered to have been perpetrated by giant prehistoric insects. However, these insects are mere fodder for a greater threat: the titular Rodan, a giant pterosaur who causes worldwide panic with a series of attacks on aircraft. "Rodan" is generally regarded as one of Honda's greatest films, and the director himself chose it as his favorite "kaiju" film. Rodan's popularity led to the flying monster appearing in several Godzilla films.
"Rodan" was released in the US as "Rodan the Flying Monster" in 1957. - DirectorIshirô HondaStarsKenji SaharaYumi ShirakawaMomoko KôchiShortly after a giant robot destroys a village, aliens from outer space arrive offering friendship. Will the people of Earth tie these two events together?Original Japanese Title: "Earth Defense Force"
After three films focusing on monsters, Ishiro Honda gravitated toward aliens, another film topic that had recently become popular internationally. In the film, Japan's countryside is besieged by the giant robot Moguera, who is revealed to be the creation of the titular aliens, who have invaded Earth in order to breed with its women. While the film's first act plays like a kaiju film, the majority of the film deals with the tensions between humanity and the Mysterians, which eventually boils over into an epic battle. "The Mysterians" is the first, and widely considered the best, of Honda's so-called "space trilogy" and its special effects work by Tsuburaya was excellent for the time.
"The Mysterians" was released in the US in 1959. - DirectorIshirô HondaStarsYumi ShirakawaKenji SaharaAkihiko HirataWhen a narcotics deal goes sour and a suspect disappears, leaving only his clothes, Tokyo police question his wife and stake out the nightclub where she works. His disappearance stumps the police - until a young scientist appears who claims that H-Bomb tests in the Pacific, evidenced by a "ghost ship" that has turned up in the harbor, have created radioactive creatures - "H-Men" - who ooze like slime and dissolve anyone they touch.Original Japanese Title: "Beauty and the Liquid People"
After "The Mysterians", Ishiro Honda produced a smaller-scale monster movie that was as much a horror film as it was science fiction. The premise of the film involves the crew of a ship who is mutated by a nuclear test, transforming them into amorphous monsters who terrorize the streets of Tokyo by night. Like the opening sequence of "Godzilla", the origins of the liquid people is a clear reference to the Lucky Dragon incident, in which a Japanese fishing crew were irradiated by the Castle Bravo atomic bomb test.
"H-Man" was released in the US in 1959. - DirectorIshirô HondaMotoyoshi OdaStarsKôzô NomuraAyumi SonodaKoreya SendaOriginal Japanese version. Research in the Tohoku region comes across a monster known to the locals as the mountain god Baradagi.Original Japanese Title: "Great Monster Varan"
Initially intended as a TV production to be aired in the US, "Varan" was eventually re-worked as a feature-length film for Japanese audiences. Notably, this was Ishiro Honda's last black and white sci-fi film, as a result of the film's made-for-TV roots. The plot involves the discovery of Varan, a giant prehistoric reptile, in a remote region of Japan. Japan's Self Defense Force attempts to destroy Varan, which backfires when the kaiju responds by attacking Haneda Airport. "Varan" is often regarded as one of Honda's lesser films, though most flaws can be blamed upon its unusual production.
"Varan the Unbelievable" was heavily re-edited and released in the US in 1962. - DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRyô IkebeKyôko AnzaiMinoru TakadaThe nations of the Earth unite in a common cause to fight off an invader from outer space.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTatsuya MihashiKaoru YachigusaYoshio TsuchiyaA librarian is subject to a scientific experiment which goes wrong and transforms him into 'The Human Vapour'. He uses his new ability to rob banks to fund the career of his girlfriend, a beautiful dancer. The Human Vapour is ruthless in his quest for money and kills anyone who stands in his way, especially police. He soon becomes Tokyo's most wanted criminal. Can he be stopped before he kills again?
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsFurankî SakaiHiroshi KoizumiKyôko KagawaAn expedition to Infant Island discovers a native population and tiny twin fairy priestesses of the island's mythical deity. Named Mothra, she sets out to rescue her fairies after they are kidnapped by an exploitative businessman.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRyô IkebeYumi ShirakawaAkira KuboA Tokyo scientist and his colleagues shift Earth to avoid a red-hot planet on a collision course.
- DirectorIshirô HondaTom MontgomeryStarsTadao TakashimaKenji SaharaYû FujikiA UN reporter broadcasts a report on the appearance of a prehistoric monster that emerges from hibernation while a pharmaceutical company seeks publicity with a monster of their own. (US Version)
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira KuboKumi MizunoHiroshi KoizumiShipwrecked survivors slowly transform into mushrooms.
- DirectorIshirô HondaShûe MatsubayashiStarsTadao TakashimaYôko FujiyamaYû FujikiWhen an ancient underground civilization and their snake-like guardian plots to reclaim the surface world, those of the surface fights back.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaYuriko HoshiHiroshi KoizumiMothra's egg washes ashore and is claimed by greedy entrepreneurs who refuse to return it to her fairies. As Godzilla arises near Nagoya, the people of Infant Island must decide if they are willing to answer Japan's own pleas for help.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsYôsuke NatsukiYôko FujiyamaHiroshi KoizumiAn amorphous cellular life-form descends from the atmosphere to consume carbon in the form of diamonds.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsYôsuke NatsukiYuriko HoshiHiroshi KoizumiA detective is assigned to protect a princess who prophecies the Earth's end with the arrival of a powerful space monster. Mothra and her fairies must persuade Godzilla and Rodan to set aside their differences or face the invader alone.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsNick AdamsKumi MizunoTadao TakashimaNear the end of WWII, Germans transport the immortal heart of Frankenstein's monster to Japan, where it is seeming lost in the bombing of Hiroshima. Years later a wild boy is found, born from the immortal heart.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsNick AdamsAkira TakaradaJun TazakiAstronauts investigate Planet X and encounter the Xiliens, who ask Earth's people to help save their world from "Monster Zero". As one astronaut forms a romance with a mysterious woman, he uncovers the Xilien's true intentions.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRuss TamblynKumi MizunoKenji SaharaThe sole survivor of a fishing boat recounts sightings of hairy giants. A scientist investigates, revealing mutated creatures, growing from remains of a previous monster. Nearly indestructible, they battle in Tokyo until only one remains.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRhodes ReasonMie HamaLinda MillerThe evil Dr. Who captures King Kong to dig for Element X when his robot duplicate, Mechani-Kong, is unable to do the job, but Kong soon escapes and battles his doppelganger.
- DirectorIshirô HondaJun FukudaStarsAkira KuboJun TazakiYukiko KobayashiAt the end of the 20th century, all of Earth's monsters have been safely rounded up and sent to Monsterland for scientific study. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleashes the monsters on the world.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira TakaradaJoseph CottenCesar RomeroA journalist is saved by a giant submarine captained by a 200-year-old man who takes him to an underwater paradise city where no one ages. That's when monsters and mutants sent by the captain's rival, a 200-year-old scientist, attack.
- DirectorIshirô HondaJun FukudaKengo FurusawaStarsKenji SaharaMachiko NakaTomonori YazakiA latchkey child living in the industrial city of Kawasaki confronts his loneliness through his escapist dreams of Monster Island and friendship with Minilla.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsAkira KuboAtsuko TakahashiYukiko KobayashiA space probe is infiltrated by alien beings and then crashes on a remote Pacific atoll. A group of people discover it to be inhabited by giant mutant monsters, created by the aliens in an attempt to conquer the world.
- DirectorIshirô HondaJun FukudaStarsKatsuhiko SasakiTomoko AiAkihiko HirataAttempts to salvage Mechagodzilla are thwarted, causing an INTERPOL investigation that uncovers the work of a shunned biologist and his daughter, whose lives become entwined with the resurrected machine.