Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Sanjeev Waters A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Noelle The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

Julian R. White Indeed, this one takes me way back. I first saw this film on Disney Channels "Cool Nights" back in the late 90's. I recorded it on VHS and since then, I've rewatched it again and again. One part that I do like about the film is that it seems to delve right into the monsters, and that's something that any Godzilla fan can really appreciate. It's kinda weird though, soldiers who are apparently inherently evil are kidnapping natives of Mothra's island (who makes an extremely brief appearance in this film) and using them as slaves to grind fruits into a liquid. The soldiers use this liquid as a natural repellent against the Giant Lobster, Ebirah. To my knowledge, they never actually call it "Ebirah", they simply call it "the giant lobster". It contains a few interesting scenes not found in any other film. We have Godzilla fighting a Giant bird whose origin is unknown, and we also have a scene where a giant monster actually devours a person. It's really neat to see Godzilla fight underwater as well. I wouldn't put this as one of the top Godzilla films, but I would definitely say it's worth the watch.

MisterWhiplash There are times when Godzilla vs the Sea Monster looks to be one of the more compelling and entertaining 'Zilla' movies from the 60's, this despite the fact that the big green guy doesn't show up until 55 minutes(!) into the proceedings. I think what I responded to most positively were two things, and one of these could have been something of a negative but it isn't: first is that it isn't about monsters fighting over a city, and it doesn't involve those aliens or other beings that popped up in the few entries before this one (i.e. Monster Zero), and would show up later again in things like Mecha-Godzilla.But the other thing, and this may be an aspect viewers won't fully appreciate amid the "B-movie" adventureness of it, is that Godzilla vs the Sea Monster is the first one in the series since, well, could it be the first one(?) that deals with the issue of nuclear energy. The enemies of the film are scientists from some rogue organization - are they affiliated with the government, or more of a Dr. Evil rogue thing, I'm still not sure, the story is only clear enough to get the main beats across that they're using an island to test out their ready-made disastrous weapons - and they make for good foils for our heroes, who make up stowaways and a thief and one guy on the look out for his brother, who is actually on Infant Island.Does it necessarily mean that director Jun Fukada and writer Senichi Sekizawa are out to make some profound *statement* about nuclear weapons and such? Maybe not. But I liked that finally we get the return of actual human beings - and sure, one of them has an eye-patch so that, you know, we know he's EVIL - and though they may be easily swayed away when, for example, trying to shine a spotlight at night on our main characters sneaking up to the nuclear weapon lab and they don't see anything despite the fairly bright lights Toho gives to even their night sets, they make for decent villains. The best? Also maybe not. But it is more about their story, how they're using and abusing the natives on the island as slaves, and that they don't know a literal sleeping giant is in their midst under some rocks.I forget how exactly Godzilla wound up there after the last entry, but no matter: using lighting (what is he, Frankenstein's monster? Actually, this was meant to be a Toho-produced Frankenstein movie, or a King Kong one, either makes sense), Godzilla is resurrected, and fights Ebirah, a giant crab monster. In a way the crab monster isn't even the real threat of the movie, despite that it attacks some people on a boat and fights Godzilla a couple of times. It's more about Godzilla being awoken to make trouble for the nuclear-testing villains, and they become his main targets. There's also a sub plot, kinda, sorta, where the natives on Infant Island keep doing their wondrous chants to Mothra, and it's only in the last ten minutes (barely) that she wakes up to join the fight... against Godzilla this time (?)I didn't like how they introduced Mothra here and spent so much time on the natives doing their prayer rituals. It was a lot of fun in the past, but here it seemed to be here more-so to take up some screen time. Of course it's always fun to see them at work, but by the time Mothra actually gets into action it's too little/too late sort of thing. And while Godzilla does get some fun screen time when he shows up, that also comes a little late into the movie which otherwise features this 'Sea Monster' of the title that is little more than a very slightly upgraded version of what Roger Corman cooked up in the 1957 quickie ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS. It's enjoyable to look at Ebirah. For a minute. And then he/she/it wears out its welcome.But there are things to recommend this movie for, even as it's not the strongest of the 60's movies. I liked the actors playing the stowaways on the boat with the thief who end up becoming the heroes of their own story, they had believable deliveries and made the characters interesting enough (far as a Toho Godzilla movie of the period allows), and I especially loved the music that plays during some of the fights - in particular, during one of those "oh, they're doing THIS again?" moments when planes come around to fire at Godzilla, surf-Rockabilly grooves come up and it makes it... well, is *good* the word I'm looking for? Actually, yes, it's better than good, it makes for some iconic moments as far as a movie that is squarely in its time in 1966 and the surf music makes it unique.If only the rest of the movie was that way. But problems and all, Fukuda made a mostly entertaining entry, with some changes (on an island, so the lack of usual stakes made it something else as an adventure-action spectacle), just with some issues that were hard to overlook. 6.5/10

Leofwine_draca EBIRAH, HORROR OF THE DEEP was one of the few Showa era GODZILLA flicks that I'd never got around to watching before, so sticking the Blu-ray on was a real treat. Because this is a fresh, vibrant addition to the series, one that tells a human story that's equally as interesting as the monster stuff. It's certainly a class movie and one designed to appeal to fans young and old.When you start watching, you might be forgiven for thinking you're in the wrong movie, because there's hardly any monster stuff at all for the first hour. Instead we get a cast of engaging actors who find themselves pitted against the Communist occupiers of a remote island, and all of the shenanigans that go with that storyline. Eventually, though, Godzilla comes out of hiding in a bizarre twist that recalls FRANKENSTEIN, and ends up doing battle with a silly giant crustacean named Ebirah.The story was originally written as a KING KONG sequel, hence Godzilla's unusual, humanised behaviour in this one. It's certainly something to see him interacting with the human cast for a change. As if the two monsters weren't enough, the producers also draft in Mothra, who as ever is a pleasure to watch. The film as a whole is packed with action, excitement and incident and I can't remember a single dull moment; it's great fun overall.

bkoganbing Of all the Japanese monster films that came out from the mid Fifties to the mid Seventies, Godzilla Versus The Sea Monster is the only one that seems to have taken a political stand on anything. The Japanese for obvious reasons are big on nuclear disarmament. This film involves Godzilla and two other giant monsters involved with the Red Bamboo who are a group conducting nuclear experiments on a deserted south sea island. Of course there was no such a group as the Red Bamboo, but the power across the Sea of Japan did have a Red Guard who were pretty active in those days. I think that was another political statement that Godzilla Versus The Sea Monster was making.Anyway some 20 somethings who were involved in a dance marathon which opened the film, commandeer a boat that was to be the getaway vehicle of a bank robber to search for the brother of one of them who set sail southeast and was not heard from. It's there that a storm washes them ashore on the island of the Red Bamboo. These dastardly folks are not only conducting nuclear experiments, they're making heavy water to use as nuclear fuel, but are using slave labor. The slaves are being taken from the island that Mothra resides, but he's sleeping and the natives are doing their best to arouse their friend and protector. To discourage escape in the meantime, the island is guarded by Ebirah a giant lobster monster. The Red Bamboo controls him by means of the nectar of some exotic tropical fruit that acts as a tranquilizer.When our heroes arrive, they discover that Godzilla is in some kind of coma asleep on the island. Needing an ally they look to get him awake to start doing his thing. Of course all three monsters battle it out in the end.This particular all star monster spectacular is a cut above the others for its political statement wrapped up in the dopey way these films play. But I have to admit a soft spot in my heart for them.