Ifukube Rocks

A few years ago, Toho decided to “retire” Godzilla for a while, and for the franchise's faux finale, the studio chose Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus) to direct. Although the Japanese wunderkind is best known for ultra-violent action adventures heavily influenced by anime, Kitamura grew up on the 1970s campy Godzilla flicks, especially his favorite Godzilla v. Mechagodzilla. Small wonder, then, that the 50th anniversary film Kitamura created celebrated the Showa era--evil aliens, monster wrestling bouts, cute baby Minyas, Kennys in short pants, cameos from dozens of classic kaiju, the old Tohoscope opening logo, and even familiar flying battle submarines from Toho’s science fiction adventures of the same era.

The only thing Godzilla: Final Wars was missing was Akira Ifukube.

Perhaps Japan’s greatest classical composer, Ifukube also scored more than 200 films from 1947 until his retirement in 1978. But he’s best known for his work with the Godzilla franchise, creating the timeless themes that became inseparable from the radioactive beast from the first masterwork in 1954, and he did it without even seeing the film. He went on to compose and conduct music for 6 of the next 14 Godzilla movies, plus innumerous other kaiju, samurai, and genre pictures. Even the films that he didn’t score used his famous themes so much that Toho convinced Ifukube to come out of retirement in the 1990s for four more Godzilla movies, including his last score: 1995’s Godzilla v. Destroyer, which he considered his best work. Without Ifukube, Godzilla would be missing his Greek chorus and his melody, and the monster would be much less than he became.

Ifukube passed away in 2006, two years after Godzilla: Final Wars. Unfortunately, the producers failed to honor his memory and contribution. Instead, they employed Keith Emerson to produce what became a modern technobabble of a score. Too bad, because Godzilla: Final Wars needed something extra.

So, a film fan decided to fix that oversight. Armed with an apparently limitless selection of Ifukube’s film work, he’s completely rescored much of the movie and posted it on YouTube. Similar to Ifukube’s own Godzilla: Fantasia, where he performed his scores over clips from the original films, the reworked Final Wars features no dialogue or sound effects--only the legendary composer’s wonderful work.

Suddenly, the outrageousness becomes grand adventure, the music lending Kitamura’s tribute a weight absent from the actual release. The lifts from The Matrix and Star Wars are no longer as painfully obvious, and seeing Godzilla rampage to his own battle hymn again brings Final Wars home to kaiju’s golden era.

So enjoy; even with only music to tell the story, the music is Ifukube. Nothing else is needed.