Director Ishirō Honda explained what pre-production was like during a Kaiju film
"Each had his strength and weakness.”
Not all monster movies are made the same. Though plenty of kaiju films find the meat of their story in action sequences and violence, many of these films attempt to send a message to their audience. While entertaining an audience is certainly a screenwriter’s first priority, many see a film script as an opportunity to create a call to action of sorts.
During an interview with David Milner, director Ishirō Honda revealed that, depending on the desired tone of a kaiju film, a specific screenwriter would be sought. Takeshi Kimura, known for his work on movies like Frankenstein vs. Baragon, The War of the Gargantuas (1965), and Destroy All Monsters (1968), was hired when producers were looking for a more serious storyline. A screenwriter like Shinichi Sekizawa, who wrote for projects like Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965), was chosen for more lighthearted fare.
“If the story were very positive or even childlike, it would go to Sekizawa,” said Honda, according to Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski. “If it were negative or involved politics, it would go to Kimura.”
While both screenwriters had their highs and lows, Honda insisted that no screenwriter was objectively better than the other.
“I really can’t compare the two because they’re so different,” said the director. "I felt the two were [equally talented] and depending on the topic, each had his strength and weakness.”
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