Ishiro Honda handled the directing chores on this effort and it at least has that going for it.
A child, Ichiro (Tomonori Yazaki) who is bullied at school lives in a fantasy world where he visits Monster Island and befriends Godzilla's son, who is also being bullied.
The two have adventures together on the island as we get to see Godzilla battling many different monster via stock footage from other films. Godzilla also encourages his son to stand up for himself against a bully monster named Gabara.
Ichiro learns some lessons from Minilla and takes that knowledge and uses it to outwit two bumbling bank robbers as well as defend himself against a bully. This is a childs fantasy film, and taken in that context there is nothing wrong with the film.
However, when I first saw this way back in the early 70's on TV as a child, I was appalled by the movie. It is quite shocking to hear Minilla actually talking and if you're expecting the typical Godzilla film you are sadly mistaken. The film was not a success here in the USA or in Japan and it would be two years before another Godzilla epic was made, and that one is a story unto itself for another time.
The Criterion edition is as beautiful as I have ever seen this film and the original Japanese version is much better than the US dubbed garbage I have seen before. Still this is also my least favorite film from this era.
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