Review by John Adams

By the time the very baroque golden-winged, three-headed, King Ghidora arrived on the scene of the monster-ravaged Toho home islands, Japanese audiences were accustomed to seeing comic action from the Big Guy himself and a conga line of gigantic opponents.

Indeed, two previous rivals of Godzilla, Rohdan and Mothra, team up with him to battle King Ghidora in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster and again it's Godzilla and Rohdan (Mothra takes a break) taking on King Ghidora in Invasion of Astro Monster. The ensuing mayhem on intricate model cities is all to the rigidly proscribed dance of a smash and crash tango. The only surprise is the turning of the silliness knob up another notch.

These two films are part of a larger package of DVDs put out by Classic Media for Toho Co., Ltd. and aimed at the hard-core Gojira fan but are quite accessible to the gajin Godzilla novice as well. The real selling point to both of these DVDs is that they include full versions of both the original Japanese release and it's later Americanized version. The differences are entertainment in and of themselves and to this American, raised on the TV versions, the original Japanese editions are a real treat. That alone made them worth watching. Additionally, there are first rate commentaries accompanying both American versions that will make you a powerhouse of Gojira knowledge.

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