Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen ("Three Giant Monsters: Greatest Decisive Battle on Earth") and alternatively spelled Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 tokusatsu kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho's Godzilla series, an immediate follow-up to the same year's Mothra vs. Godzilla. It was directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Akira Ifukube returns to score the film, and Senichi Sekizawa returns to the typewriter. This film is notable for beginning Godzilla's gradual change from villain to hero, as he saves the Earth, and therefore humanity, from the space monster Ghidorah.

Plot Synopsis
A princess from Selgina, a small Himalayan country, becomes possessed by the spirit of a Venusian (a Martian in the American version) and escapes a plane just as it explodes. As this happens a meteorite falls from the sky containing Ghidorah, the monster responsible for her planet's destruction. At the same time, Godzilla and Rodan emerge from hibernation and not only attack Japan, but each other as well. Mothra, along with its twin priestesses, attempt to convince Godzilla and Rodan to stop their fighting each other and to team up to fight the new monster. Meanwhile, the princess is being hunted by a group of assassins, led by Malness, who want to kill her so that her enemies can take over her homeland. Then, just when Malness is about to kill the princess, Ghidorah crushes him by knocking over a pile of boulders on him. Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra finally drive Ghidorah off. The movie ends with the princess going back to her home land and Godzilla and Rodan watching Mothra swim back to Infant island.

Trivia

 * Not once does Godzilla use his atomic breath against Ghidorah in battle, while he does use it repeatedly (with no apparent effect) against Rodan.
 * An early concept for Ghidorah had him with Rainbow-colored wings and a purple body with his three heads spitting fire from their mouths, instead of lightning which was used in the final draft.
 * In Sinichi Sekizawa's screenplay for the film, all he says in terms of a physical description of Ghidorah is: "It has three heads, two tails, and a voice like a bell." From this, Eiji Tsuburaya designed the space monster, which proved to be one of his most innovative, and popular, creations.
 * This film is the first Godzilla film to not feature military weapons, such as tanks and jets.
 * This film marks the second screen appearance of Rodan, and the monster's first appearance in a Godzilla film.
 * This is the first film to portray Godzilla as a hero. Also, in the conversation with Mothra he states that he only hates humans because humans hate him, suggesting that he was not really a villain in the first place.
 * When the Shobijin are translating Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla's conversation before Mothra goes on to fight Ghidorah, the Shobijin exclaim "Oh Godzilla, what terrible language!" indicating that Godzilla was swearing.
 * There is only one Mothra larva in this film, as the second larva died in between the film Mothra vs. Godzilla and this film.
 * The Godzilla suit used in this film was used previously in 1964 for Mothra vs. Godzilla' . Nicknamed the "MosuGoji" suit, it is the first Godzilla suit to be used for more than one film.

Trailer
thumb|300px|left|Original American Trailer