Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

The 1964 film that introduced King Ghidorah, the three-headed space dragon.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a 1964 Toho kaiju film directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya, the fifth Godzilla film and the second released that year after Mothra vs. Godzilla. A princess possessed by a being from Venus warns that the golden three-headed King Ghidorah will destroy the world, and Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra become Earth's last hope.

Quick Facts

Producer

Tomoyuki Tanaka

Screenplay

Shinichi Sekizawa

Starring

Yosuke Natsuki
Hiroshi Koizumi
Yuriko Hoshi
Akiko Wakabayashi

Music

Akira Ifukube

Cinematography

Hajime Koizumi

Editing

Ryohei Fujii

Studio

Toho Co., Ltd.

Distributor

Toho

Reader's Guide

King Ghidorah was portrayed by Shoichi Hirose in a suit that presented significant on-set difficulties due to multiple wires attached to the necks, tails, and wings. A team of seven men handled these wires over soundstage rafters while Hirose remained hunched over for hours using only a supportive crossbar. The filming process caused delays as the necks would tangle with each other, studio lights reflected off the plastic wires, and wires frequently got caught in the suit's scales.

Effects cameraman Sadamasa Arikawa described the operation as "agonizing." Director Ishirō Honda had originally been reluctant to anthropomorphize the monsters but proceeded with the film after 'Red Beard' fell behind schedule. The suit design was based on Yamata no Orochi, and while wings were initially intended to have a rainbow-like hue, they appeared gold in the final film. Small models were utilized for far-away shots or flying sequences involving Rodan and Ghidorah.

Did You Know?

King Ghidorah was designed by Akira Watanabe as an homage to Yamata no Orochi.
The film earned ¥375 million at the Japanese box office and $1.3 million in the United States.