Monster of the Day #1608

Updated on August 15, 2017 By Ken Begg 19 Comments

Nakajimi brought a ton of other kaiju to life, of course, including this favorite. Now that CGI reigns supreme, we’ll truly never see his life again.

Pin It



Related Posts

  • Gamera977

    I wonder if when Nakajima san was hired for the this role he thought he’d be playing a French painter…

  • God, I love Rodan. The only foe Godzilla faces in the Showa series that the big guy never bests.

    Seriously, watch the two fight in Ghidorah. I don’t think there’s a moment where Rodan isn’t on top. If there is, it’s the exception rather than the rule.

  • While I like the joke, I’m going to be that guy and point out that Rodan is Radon in Japan.

  • I’m going to be that guy and point out that Rodin was a sculptor….

  • Eric Hinkle

    I loved Rodan even more than Godzilla as a kid. I suppose it was the wings. I even wept when I first saw the climax of ‘Rodan’ where the two monsters fell into the lava and burned (I suppose that was their hatchling we saw in ‘Ghidorah the Three-Headed Moster’), cooly ignoring the fact that the two poor kaiju were responsible for the horrible deaths of thousands of people. Ah, the innocence of youth.

  • Flangepart

    >cooly ignoring the fact that the two poor kaiju were responsible for the
    horrible deaths of thousands of people. Ah, the innocence of youth.<
    Hence, The Kenny! That annoying child actor in any number of movies. The 'O'Kenny' in GORGO, the 'Signor Kenny' in movies with Mexican connections…
    That's why kids identify with monsters. It's easy to understand why, it's the daydream of 'Hulk smash!' when life treats you like crap…and before you are…should be…taught to care about other people beside yourself.

  • Flangepart

    Radon…ain’t that the radiation from under the floorboards of your house?

  • Rock Baker

    Well, I wouldn’t say Never. As audiences become bored with over-stuffed CGI-saturated epics, there’s sure to be some experimentation with other techniques. And with the studios collapsing under their own bloated budgets, the future of film belongs to independents who will work more from fandom than party lines.

  • KeithB

    Andy Serkis seems to be making a good living doing something close to this, and he gets to stay in an air-conditioned studio!

  • Ericb

    And one of the few opponents who had their own movie before they tangled with the big G. I think Mothra was the only other one.

  • Ericb

    Oh, there was King Kong but that’s different situation.

  • Acethepug

    I only ever saw, and never actually owned, the Shogun Warriors Rodan Toy, wanted it in the worst way.

    “You can pretend to fly … RODAN!”

  • Gamera977

    And now I’m going to hide my head in my shell in shame…

  • It’s OK. Most Americans wouldn’t get it right, either.

  • zombiewhacker

    I think the right balance is a mixture of CGI and practical special effects, like the first Jurassic Park movie.

    CGI is a terrific tool when employed wisely. Most of the time, it’s simply overused, if not abused.

  • The Rev.

    Rodan is probably my favorite Toho non-Godzilla movie. The scene in the flooded tunnel scared the living crap out of me. I was pretty saddened by the end, as well. I always assumed one of them survived the eruption (probably the one that wasn’t set on fire), and woke up in Ghidrah, since it emerges from what looks like a lava bed on the side of a mountain.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I figure one of the Rodans we saw here must have survived. That or it was their child and the kid grew mighty fast.

    And the scenes with the giant bugs scared me more than even Rodan! I mean, you can see them coming, not that it will do much good, but the bugs could sneak right up on you.

  • Eric Hinkle

    I had that toy and I loved it.

  • The Rev.

    I was less scared when they showed the bugs, because they’re so cool! But that scene with people screaming and being dragged underwater by something unseen…the last guy gets on the phone, but that noise starts up that sounds kind of like the ants from Them…there’s a vague shadow that appears and then falls on him…he slides down the wall with one last scream as the person on the other end is yelling at him…nightmare fuel!