Year: 1972

Pollution is continually worsening. Scientist Yano examines a very strange looking fish that looks like a giant tadpole. He has a collection of other strange looking fish that have been preserved on his shelves. Meanwhile, some sort of beast attacks fishing vessels in the Sea of Japan. It has a strange resemblance to the odd fish brought to Dr. Yano earlier. Dr. Yano goes skindiving near the attack to look for evidence. Instead, he finds the ocean floor littered with trash. On shore, Ken discovers the oysters have no meat in them and that dead sea creatures are in the wash. Suddenly, the giant tadpole with blazing red eyes leaps out of the water and flies over him! Yano and the giant tadpole meet underwater. Later that day, Dr Yano is bedridden from the attack, gravely injured with an ugly grey wound across half his face. Ken has named the beast “Hedorah.”

Following a trail of pollution, Hedora crawls ashore. It finds a pair of smokestacks and breaths in the noxious fumes, growing even larger. Godzilla, who Ken has speculated is frustrated and angry about the pollution, confronts Hedorah. The polluted beast leaps at Godzilla. Hedorah’s own horrible odor brings down the King of the Monsters. As they continue to grapple, Godzilla is able to bring himself back up and swings Hedorah around, splashing muck everywhere. Godzilla eventually flings away Hedorah. He uses his nuclear breath against the creature, which flees to the ocean. Godzilla gives chase, but cannot find the other monster.

Once in the ocean, Hedorah regains strength, and the ability to fly. After some forensic testing, Dr Yano realizes the Hedorah is mineral, not animal. He suspects it arrived on Earth in a meteor and the pollution caused it to grow. It also creates sulfuric acid as a deadly, corrosive smog.

Hedorah reappears in the skies above Japan. Where it flies, people collapse from the noxious fumes it emits. If they have direct contact with the toxic mist, they dissolve to skeletons.

Using a tiny piece of Hedorah, Dr. Yano finds that an electrical shock can dry out and destroy the polluted beast. Meanwhile, a group of young adults has gathered at Mount Fuji to protest pollution and celebrate life at the same time.

Hedorah continues its path of destruction toward Mount Fuji. Godzilla is there and steers the monster away from the partygoers. As the two beasts face each other, Dr. Yano finds out the giant electrodes the humans plan to destroy Hedorah with are not yet finished. Hedorah knocks Godzilla to the ground and advances towards the partiers. They throw torches at the creature, but they are nothing more than matchsticks. Hedorah emits its noxious fumes, killing many of them. As it moves to kill those remaining, Godzilla fires a nuclear blast ahead of Hedorah, distracting it.

The two wrestle, but Hedorah’s deadly fumes overpower the King of the Monsters. Hedorah carries Godzilla to Mount Fuji, drops him into a crevice, and oozes nasty polluted muck into the crevice. Godzilla appears doomed. Can the military set up the electrodes before Hedorah destroys he world?

As the Army Commander discusses the plan with the still injured Dr Yano. Godzilla and Hedorah continue their struggle, falling down the side of Mount Fuji and crashing into the power lines! The Commander orders new lines installed quickly.

By this time, Hedorah is larger than Godzilla, and is getting the upper hand in the continuing battle. Godzilla lies wounded and Hedorah leaves the battlefield toward the still non-functioning electrodes. Trying to keep the monster near, the solders blink their headlights. It moves closer to the headlights and the soldiers, but there is still no power. Everyone is waiting for the coming death.

A nuclear blast activates the electrodes! Godzilla has energized the devices. He fires another blast and the electrodes dry Hedorah out, causing it collapse. Godzilla shoves his hand inside and pulls out two shiny globes. He again activates the electrodes, vaporizing the globe/hearts. A smaller Hedorah emerges from the remains of the other and flies off. Godzilla uses his nuclear breath as a jet and flies backwards to the escaping Hedorah. But the smaller, weaker Hedorah is no match for a rejuvenated King of the Monsters. Godzilla grabs the monster and he flies them back to the electrodes, which have new powerlines attached. The humans turn on the juice, but it’s not enough. Godzilla uses his nuclear breath again to reactivate the electrodes, finally causing Hedorah to shrivel up. Godzilla rips the guts out of Hedorah. Before the guts can become new Hedorahs, he activates the electrodes and shrivels them up.

Godzilla turns and leaves. He is angry, however. He may have defeated Hedorah, but pollution is still destroying the world.

written by Kaoru Mabuchi and Yoshimitsu Banno
directed by Yoshimitsu Banno
music by Riichiro Manabe

Human Cast: Akira Yamauchi (Dr. Yano), Hiroyuki Kawase (Ken Yano), Toshie Kimura (Toshio Yano), Keiko Mari (Gara Takatori), Toshio Shibamoto (Yukio Keuchi)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, Hedorah

Notes: The opening title sequence is obviously inspired by Maurice Binder’s title sequences for the James Bond movies. The movie’s original title was Godzilla Vs. Hedorah; when imported to North America, the distributor renamed this movie Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster, and replaced the theme song with the English language song “Save The Earth.” Since then, the “commonly available” version that usually airs on TV and is now on DVD has restored the original title and the Japanese language theme song. However, Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster is readily available on an apparently properly licensed disc that is packaged with Godzilla Vs. Megalon.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

Comic book artist Gengo Kotaka is engaged by World Children’s Land to assist in developing a theme park in Japan, featuring a tower shaped like Godzilla. As he reports to work one day, he is nearly knocked over by a woman running out of the building, who is being chased by several men. She drops an audio tape as she dashes off. Inside, he meets the chairman of the Japanese branch of World Children’s Land. The Chairman tells Gengo that the woman is an “enemy of peace.”

Returning home, Gengo is mugged by the woman and one of her cohorts, who demand the tape. They tell Gengo that Children’s Land is the real enemy of peace, based on journals left by Machiko’s missing brother. Gengo accepts their story, and leads them to a locker in which he had hidden the tape. They play back the tape, which emits a strange sound. At the Godzilla tower, the Chairman and his henchmen pick up the sound, the “Action Signal.” It’s also heard by Godzilla and Anguirus at Monster Island. The King of the Monsters dispatches Anguirus to investigate the mysterious sound.

Gengo and his new friends conduct background checks on World Children’s Land and the Chairman, only to find many irregularities. The most surprising is that the Chairman died a year ago. Apparently, the Chairman and the others are taking over the bodies of recently deceased humans. Back at the tower, the Chairman receives a message from Nebula Space Hunter M in preparation of an invasion. He orders the playing of “Action Signal 1.” Just then, Anguirus arrives at a nearby bay. The army swings into action, and is able to turn back the spiked monster.

Snooping around at the Godzilla Tower, Gengo finds Machiko’s brother. He is caught and run off, but followed by the chairman?s henchmen. Gengo, Machiko, and Shosaku are about to be killed, when Gengo’s sister arrives and beats them away. Meanwhile, Godzilla and Anguirus are making their way to Japan. At the same time another Action Signal is played, which calls space monsters Gigan and King Ghidorah. Gigan is a horned bipedal Cyclops-type creature with multiple fins on his back, hooks for hands and a buzzsaw in his abdomen.

Gengo and his sister attempt rescue Machiko’s brother from the Godzilla tower, but are captured by the aliens. One of the Chairman’s henchmen reveals they are the advance force for creatures from Nebula Space Hunter M, which has very nearly been destroyed by pollution. The aliens are in reality the only surviving race of that planet: giant cockroaches. Controlled by the aliens, Ghidorah and Gigan arrive on Earth. The monsters are ordered to attack Tokyo. The pair rip through the city as if it were simply model buildings.

Godzilla and Anguirus arrive. Gigan leaps into the air, but is brought down by a mighty blast of Godzilla?s nuclear breath. Godzilla is, in turn, felled by Ghidorah’s lightning bolts. But both Gigan and the King of the Monsters get up. Ghidorah sets the oil storage tanks afire, and Godzilla pulls Anguirus from the flames. Meanwhile, Machiko and Shosaku mount a rescue mission for their friends in the Godzilla tower. A weather balloon is floated to the imprisoned friends, who escape by sliding down a rope.

The battle between the kaiju continues and is moving closer to the theme park. Godzilla and Ghidorah wrestle while Gigan focuses his attentions on Anguirus. But Gigan leaps into the air toward Godzilla. The space monster uses the buzzsaw in his abdomen and slices a huge gash in Godzilla’s shoulder. Godzilla stumbles in pain into the theme park and is startled to find the tower shaped in his image. As he approaches the tower, the aliens shoot lasers from the tower at the monster, which knocked Godzilla off his feet.

A small task forced lead by Gengo carries explosives into the tower, since the interior is lightly defended. While they do so, the monster battle continues, with Gigan taking a slice out of Anguirus. Moments later, the explosives destroy the tower from inside. As it burns, the aliens revert to their original cockroach shape. The tower explodes, releasing the control the aliens held over space monsters.

Even without direction, Gigan and Ghidorah are able to put the other two monsters on the ropes. Godzilla is able to gather a second wind and manages to subdue Gigan. Ghidorah, which has been watching from the sidelines, is attacked by a rejuvenated Anguirus. The three headed monster however lifts the spiked beast into the air and drops him. Godzilla and Anguirus double-team the other monsters by having Anguirus jump backward onto the golden monster, which then collides into Gigan. Godzilla stomps onto one of the necks of Ghidorah, but the golden creature rolls free. Without leadership and facing the overwhelming force of Godzilla and Anguirus, the two space monsters flee.

screenplay by Shinichi Sekizawa
directed by Jun Fukuda
music by Akira Ifukube

Human Cast: Hiroshi Ishikawa (Gengo Kotaka), Tomoko Umeda (Machiko Shima), Yuriko Hishimi (Tomoko Tomoe), Minoru Takashima (Shosaku Takasugi)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, Gigan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus

Notes: Godzilla speaks! You’ll recall that in Ghidrah, The Three Headed Monster the Fairy Twins translate a discussion between Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra. But here, Godzilla and Anguirus speak in English. The Japanese version reportedly uses comic book type balloons. Originally released in Japan as Earth Attack Command: Godzilla vs. Gigan.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson