Rodan (1956)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  Following the success of Godzilla, those crazy guys in Japan decided to make a bunch more giant monster movies, and one of the first after Godzilla was this film, Rodan. Like the basic plot of Godzilla, this film invovles the horrors of nuclear technology being responsible for… More
  Following the success of Godzilla, those crazy guys in Japan decided to make a bunch more giant monster movies, and one of the first after Godzilla was this film, Rodan. Like the basic plot of Godzilla, this film invovles the horrors of nuclear technology being responsible for spawning some horrific creatures. A group of miners are attacked by a giant caterpillar creature, but then the monstrous pteradon Rodan shows up, but after taking care of the caterpillars, Rodan, along with its mate, go on their own rampage, and the militarty really has their work cut out for them trying to deal with these flying terrors. This is classic, cheesy B-movie schlock. It's not great, but it's a lot of fun, and very, very entertaining. The biggest issue I had (since I'm able to overlook the limited special effects) is how a lot of these monster movies are prone to having lots of filler, which isn't a good sign since the running times are often very short. This one in particular is only 74 minutes. Aside from that, this is silly, dopey fun that you should consider giving a watch a least once, especially if you're in the mood to giggle.

• Luke B

  
  A great monster movie, this time in color. A similar plot to Godzilla sees nuclear testing wake up an over sized Pteranodon. In a sleepy mining village a series of mysterious attacks lead to the discovery of giant killer caterpillar. Greater darkness soon arrives in the form of an… More
  A great monster movie, this time in color. A similar plot to Godzilla sees nuclear testing wake up an over sized Pteranodon. In a sleepy mining village a series of mysterious attacks lead to the discovery of giant killer caterpillar. Greater darkness soon arrives in the form of an extinct beast that can flip jeeps with the swoosh of its wings. The model work is once again astounding from Toho. Even in color this looks great. It mixes live action, puppets, models, for some truly exciting aerial combat. It has less human drama than the first 2 Godzilla movies, but there is still some from the wife of a man believed to be committing the initial attacks. Rodan is great in his swooping and screaming, and the aerial footage means we aren't just getting a repeat of his more famous cousin.