Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Sep. 18, 1966.
Ultraman vs. Godzilla! That’s it, that’s the review. Or as much a review as most people will need.
Technically, Ultraman’s kaiju foe isn’t Godzilla. It’s a new monster named Jirahs (sometimes spelled Jirass). But … come on, it’s just a Toho Godzilla costume with a smattering of green paint and a neck frill. The frill eventually gets ripped off, making it even clearer you’re watching Ultraman vs. Godzilla. Using the Godzilla costume was a cost-saving maneuver, but nobody is going to complain about watching these titans of tokusatsu cross IP boundaries for a deathmatch.
And what a deathmatch it is! It’s one of the best climactic fights in the show. The filmmakers knew they had a special event, and they choreographed and shot the battle to elicit big reactions from viewers. Godzilla and Ultraman size each other up, use distractions, flex their abilities, and even use comedy maneuvers. Once again, Haruo Nakajima is in the Godzilla costume, bringing his special acting touches that elevate the effects. It’s an archetypal example of what people want from Ultraman battling a giant monster.
Jirahs is constructed from two Godzilla costumes: the 1964 outfit used in Mothra vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, plus the head from the 1965 costume for Invasion of Astro-Monster. The neck-frill hides where the two parts fit together. The green paint doesn’t do anything special for the costume except to suggest that Godzilla has gotten a bit moldy.
Aside from the Earth-trembling main event, how’s the rest of the episode? Quite good!
Contrary to the massive kaiju finale, most of “The Mysterious Dinosaur Base” is a horror-mystery about the Science Patrol and a reporter investigating the reclusive Dr. Nakamura, a.k.a. the “Monster Professor,” who lives on the shore of Lake Kitayama. The SSSP first becomes involved when they receive a request to look into a sudden and unusual abundance of fish in the lake. Not the most exciting assignment, but this is probably the type of mundane task the Science Patrol tackles between the more exciting ones that get made into episodes. The assignment ratchets up in danger when the SSSP discovers what the Monster Professor has been cooking up in his lab and in the lake.
The reporters, Tomoko Kubo (Ikuko Tani, who had a later career dubbing Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in numerous movies) and her photographer work for a magazine called the Young Graph. They’re interested in Loch Ness Monster sightings and a Japanese professor who vanished during a Nessie search 15 years ago. What’s noteworthy about the reporters is that they drive one of the most crazy tricked-out vehicles in any Ultra show, which makes me wonder what sort of magazine Young Graph is. It might be a magazine for kids, I’m not sure based on the tiny bit we see of it. The nutty monster car only appears in a few shots — that’s major dedication to strangeness on the part of the production team.
Dr. Nakamura (Kanta Mori) is a kooky scientist who lives in an old mansion and works from an animal laboratory in the caverns beneath this home. It’s a classic horror movie set-up, mad-scientist wig and cackling crow included. The cavern walls are painted with murals of Dr. Nakamura’s obsession, dinosaurs. The cave laboratory is a fantastic set, and the dinosaur paintings have an archaic and mythic look that lends to the feeling that Dr. Nakamura is a dangerous madman.
“The Mysterious Dinosaur Base” is better than it needs to be. Having Godzilla vs. Ultraman on the fight card means you don’t need to pay much attention to the undercard if you don’t want to. But the Tsuburaya Pro team, with Tetsuo Kinjo once again at the typewriter, give this episode their full effort. There’s even a twist in the final third and a conclusion with an emotional punch.
Godzilla and Ultraman have yet to have another battle, even with a disguised Godzilla. One day TsuPro and Toho really must hammer out a deal to create a genuine Godzilla vs. Ultraman movie event.
Rating: Great
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