Review of Invasion of Astro-Monster

1965's "Invasion of Astro-Monster" ("Kaiju Daisenso" or The Giant Monster War in Japan) came 6th in Toho's Godzilla series, adding the Hollywood star power of Nick Adams to the mix (after debuting in "Frankenstein Conquers the World"), but having to wait for Maron Films to issue the picture stateside in 1970, paired with the Frankenstein sequel "The War of the Gargantuas," Russ Tamblyn deputizing for Adams in the latter. Previous entry "Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster" introduced the winged alien dragon shooting lethal rays, combining Godzilla, Rodan (its first appearance since its 1956 debut), and Mothra (third appearance) to send him back into the cosmos like a coward. This marks the first time in the series that the otherworldly menaces depicted in THE MYSTERIANS or BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE were incorporated, with Nick Adams aboard as astronaut Glenn, sent with partner Fuji (Akira Takarada) on a mission to investigate a new planet on the far side of Jupiter, swiftly dubbed Planet X, that has been revealed through its use of magnetic radio waves. The Xiliens are human in appearance and led by The Controller (Yoshio Tsuchiya), relating a tale of woe as to why the citizens must live beneath the surface, as the destructive King Ghidrah is revealed in their vernacular as 'Monster Zero' (they identify their creatures by number). In return for a miracle cure to eradicate all disease, Planet X requests the services of both Godzilla and Rodan to drive Ghidrah off their world, but Glenn becomes rightfully suspicious upon learning that their spaceships have already reached Earth and pinpointed the hidden locations of each monster. Reaching Planet X in no time, a brief battle results in our heroic duo triumphant, Godzilla going into a hilarious victory jig as celebration, 'Godzilla Shie' being met with disapproval by director Ishiro Honda and actor Haruo Nakajima, while audiences were divided (Eiji Tsuburaya welcomed more comical elements, on the verge of kicking off his half hour ULTRAMAN series). The promised miracle drug turns out to be an ultimatum demanding mankind's surrender, while Glenn's romantic relationship with Namikawa (Kumi Mizuno) sours after he learns that she's a Xilien spy. Her defiance of protocol in becoming emotionally involved results in her demise, but not before providing the key to the aliens' defeat, an ear shattering device invented by Tetsuo (Akira Kubo) capable of disrupting the magnetic waves used to maintain control over the monsters. The destruction may be saved for the last two reels but there's no shortage of action with a busy script and several subplots for added intrigue. Nick Adams is again a forceful and commanding hero, the most accommodating American import compared to later veterans like Rhodes Reason, Robert Horton, Joseph Cotten, or Cesar Romero. Adams enjoyed working in the Orient so much that he even coproduced a third feature there, "The Killing Bottle," an espionage title with some horrific touches that has yet to see the light of day for Western audiences.