Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)

A young man steals a boat to find his brother, but he and his shipmates become shipwrecked on a mysterious island inhabited by a giant sea monster and a slumbering Godzilla.

Director:

Jun Fukuda

Writer:

Shin'ichi Sekizawa

Stars:

Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Chôtarô Tôgin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Akira Takarada	...	Yoshimura
Kumi Mizuno	...	Daiyo
Chôtarô Tôgin	...	Ichino
Hideo Sunazuka	...	Nita
Tôru Ibuki	...	Yata Kane
Akihiko Hirata	...	Captain Yamoto
Jun Tazaki	...	Red Bamboo Commander
Tôru Watanabe	...	Ryôta Kane
Ikio Sawamura	...	Elderly Slave
Pair Bambi	...	Mothra's Little Beauties
Hideyo Amamoto	...	Red Bamboo Naval Officer
Hisaya Itô	...	Red Bamboo Scientist #1
Tadashi Okabe	...	Red Bamboo Scientist #2
Kazuo Suzuki	...	Escaped Slave
Shôichi Hirose	...	Escaped Slave

Storyline

Some teenagers want to obtain a boat to find a brother. When they look around a boat without permission, they find a thief who takes them on his escape. They are caught in a storm and arrive at Letchi Island where natives of Infant Island have been enslaved by the terrorist organisation Red Bamboo. Red Bamboo runs a heavy water factory to process a juice which holds off the monster, Ebirah, which otherwise traps them on the island. The young men meet beautiful but tough Daiyo and wake up Godzilla to put an end to the Red Bamboo.

---

Plot Keywords:

godzilla character | psychotronic film | mothra character | underwater scene | island | 

---

Taglines:

This is one lobster you don't want to order!

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi monster violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Noriko Takahashi originally started the role of Dayo, but when filming began she suffered from acute appendicitis and was hospitalized. Kumi Mizuno was cast at the last minute. (Although the character of Dayo was intended to be 19, Noriko's age at the time, Kumi was 29.)

---

Goofs

When the Red Bamboo's ship approaches the island it is spraying and covered in yellow liquid, but when it pulls up to the dock, the ship is completely white and no liquid or stain is seen.

---

Quotes

Yoshimura: [he has just opened a giant safe-like door] I did it, it's unlocked! Hurry! Let's go inside!
Ichino: [everyone scrambles to go inside until they hear Ichino] Ow! Don't come in! It's a nuclear reactor!
Yoshimura: So that's it, it's a heavy water factory.
Nita: Huh? What can they do with that?
Yoshimura: Atom bombs are made with it.
Nita: Huh? I'm getting out of here!

---

Crazy Credits

For the Columbia/Tri-Star U.S. DVD release, which uses the original uncut Japanese version, the English language credits list the noted composer Masaru Satô as "Mararu Sato."

---

Alternate Versions

In the original Japanese version, there is rock music playing in the background as Godzilla is fighting the Red Bamboo air force. However, when the film was released in America, the music was deleted.

---

Connections

Followed by Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)

---

Soundtracks

Samashite Mosura
(Mothra Awake)
Written and Arranged by Masaru Satô
Performed by Pair Bambi

User Reviews

Godzilla vs a creature of the sea.

This is a most unusual Godzilla flick. To be exact a low budget affair with no big city to destroy with Godzilla doing his battle on an island. The story line is a little James Bond-ish, but we know Godzilla is the reason we are watching. The story line is of no real concern as long as Godzilla does his thing.

A group of young men take out on a sailboat in attempts to find a long lost brother shipwrecked and thought lost at sea. The would be rescue party ends up shipwrecked themselves on an island that is guarded by Ebirah, a giant mutant lobster-like creature, thus GODZILLA vs THE SEA MONSTER(USA title).Also on the island is a militia base that is producing nuclear bombs to overtake the world with. Godzilla is awakened from his nap in a cave to take on the sea monster and destroy the evil soldiers and their bomb factory.

My favorite scene is where Godzilla and Ebirah appear to be playing ping pong with a boulder during their showdown. Actually this is one of Godzilla's easiest foes to whip. Maybe to help in cutting production costs.

The low budget was due to the fact that at the time TV viewers were lowering movie theater attendance. This did not seem to effect the popularity of this particular Godzilla outing.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

1969 (USA)

Also Known As:

Godzilla, Mothra, and Ebira, Horror of the Deep

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1