They'll kill me for saying this, but I actually prefer the American version of Rodan to the original. The added narration from Shigeru just adds a little personal feeling like he's reading his own memoir.It's also got a little sentimental value, as the dvd was one of the last things I bought from Hastings before they closed down all of their stores 10 years ago (jesus christ).Don't let the fact that Toho declared 2026 the Year of Mothra distract you from the fact that Rodan turns 70 this year. Yeah, the divine moth is great but the supersonic pterosaur is cool, too.As Kyo-chan turned to weep on my shoulder, I realized the Rodans were doomed. The heat, the gases, the bombardment added to their bewilderment, like moths in those rivers of fire. They seemed almost to welcome the agonies of death. And when, still calling to each other, one of them fell at last into the molten lava stream, the other still refused to save itself. The last of their kind, masters of the air and earth, the strongest, swiftest creatures that ever breathed. Now they sank against the earth like weary children, each had refused to live without the other, and so, they were dying together. I wondered whether I, a 20th century man, could ever hope to die as well. It was as if something human were dying, as the flames consumed them in a fiery holocaust, their last agony wails echoing in a mournful cry. We stood there staring with a strange fascination. I realize now, that by the narrowest of margins, man had proved himself the stronger, but will it always be so? May not other and more terrible monsters even now be sturring in the darkness? And when at last they spring upon us, can we be certain that we shall beat them back a second time? The answer lies in the future. Our fears, for now, have gone up in flames and smoke.
Note: This review is for the American version and contains spoilers for the Japanese version of Rodan.Even though the English voiceovers are wooden and outdated, I personally felt that Rodan! The Flying Monster is superior in some ways but also inferior in other aspects when compared to the original Japanese version of the movie.When a local Japanese village is under attack by giant insects, coal miner Shigeru discovers an even more horrific threat, a giant pteranodon later named Rodan. Rodan's sheer size and speed can cause tons of destruction just by flying over places. As if one giant monster wasn't enough, it's soon revealed that another Rodan exists and is the first one's mate. Now it's up to the Japanese government and military to defeat both Rodans before they can cause more destruction.Similar to the American version of Godzilla Raids Again (Gigantis, the Fire Monster) Keye Luke voices over the main male lead and narrates scenes that were better off without his narration. However, I personally felt the narration wasn't as annoying as it was in Gigantis. Likewise, the rest of the English voice actors did a decent job.The movie's editing is paradoxically both its biggest strength and its most glaring weakness, improving some scenes while making other scenes stretch too long. The big improvement for me was the movie revealing that there were two Rodans much earlier than in the Japanese version, where it was suddenly revealed before the climax. I also thought the movie's first act had better pacing than the original thanks to the editing, although the original's slow-burn atmosphere is lost in this version. However, since the original movie doesn't show the two Rodans together on-screen until the movie's almost over, this version is forced to use the same several clips over and over again. Making the reusing of scenes worse is that the repeatings usually happen within seconds of each other, which makes the movie feel cheap and low-effort. To end on a positive note, the stock footage inserted into this version arguably improves on itself as the opening narration makes the anti-nuclear message much more apparent.So even though the English narration is annoying at times and the movie reuses its own clips to the point of parody, I still rate Rodan! The Flying Monster positively because of the editing improving the pacing and the movie still staying true to the original's message.
