Creature Feature: Invasion of the ASTRO MONSTERS Nick Adams plus Japanese Cast

3 months ago
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When I was growing up in San Antonio, TX in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, One of my favorite afternoon movies was Godzilla vs Monster Zero. Also known as Monster Zero, Invasion of the Astro Monsters, and/or Invasion of the Astro Monster depending on which release your local station used for broadcast.
Invasion of Astro-Monster (Japanese: 怪獣大戦争, Hepburn: Kaijū Dai-sensō, lit. 'The Great War of the Monsters') is a 1965 kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the sixth film in the Godzilla franchise and Shōwa period. The film was a Japanese-American co-production; it was the second collaboration between Toho Co., Ltd. and UPA. The film stars Akira Takarada, Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Akira Kubo, and Yoshio Tsuchiya, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masaki Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, aliens plead with humanity to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to defeat Ghidorah, only to betray the humans and unleash the monsters on the Earth.
Invasion of Astro-Monster was theatrically released in Japan on December 19, 1965, to mixed reviews from critics. It was followed by a theatrical release in the United States on July 29, 1970, by Maron Films as Monster Zero, on a double bill with The War of the Gargantuas.
The film was followed by Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, released on December 17, 1966.
Originally released as Invasion of the Astros at military bases in the United States, the English dub by Glen Glenn Sound was released on July 29, 1970, by Maron Films as part of a double feature with The War of the Gargantuas (also dubbed by Glen Glenn Sound). Regarding the time it took for the film to be released in the United States, Saperstein stated that Toho did not always want to release a film quickly for international release and that he had a lot of technical work to be done on the film. Variety reported that Saperstein had completed post-production in 1966 and was negotiating a distribution deal. Variety reported again in September 1970 that both the film and The War of the Gargantuas "sat on the shelf at [UPA] because [distributors] figured they had no potential"

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