The Magic Serpent

Here's a review from my 12-yr-old kaiju fan, Ian:

The Magic Serpent is a lame movie based on an old Japanese legend. it is full of ripoffs.  The main antagonist is a ripoff of Toho’s Manda, the giant spider is a ripoff of  Toho’s giant spider Kumonga, and the eagle monster is a ripoff of Ookondoru.  The only monster that wasn’t a ripoff was the toad.  The roars of the monsters were all recycled Toho roars. The Manda-like monster has Godzilla’s roar, the eagle has Mothra’s roar, and the toad has Rodan’s roar.  The spider dosen’t roar.  Don’t rent this.

Godzilla Raids Again

The first of the GODZILLA sequels, GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN sheds its predecessor's sense of horror with gaining its successors' sense of fun. It's a long, dull, slog of a movie about your standard group of pals who must band together to - oh, never mind. The folks who made this movie clearly didn't give itself much thought. Why should I?

GRA (Now, there's a title!) features Godzilla's battle with Anguirus, a giant cross between an armadillo and a porcupine, and Takashi Shimura shows up to fulfill his contractual obligations, and that's about all the movie has going for it. When the best part of your movie is the flashback to its predecessor, you're in big trouble.

It's a wonder GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN didn't sink the franchise.

Godzilla's Revenge

GODZILLA’S REVENGE (1969) is the worst kind of cynical filmmaking. Toho Studios made this movie for about $3.95 by blending archival footage from GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER with a quick and simple story of a little boy whom Godzilla inspires to stand up to bullies. The non-archival footage looks and feels cheap, right down to the holes in the Minilla costume used when the boy imagines he’s on Monster Island.

Sure, the movie turned a profit – how could it not, given the cheapness of the production? But the whole things smells of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. It’s a testament to the durability of the character that the series managed to limp along for another six years before it went dormant for the next 9.

What a waste.