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Ishiro Honda

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (May 7, 1911-February 28, 1993)
    Born in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
    Directed 46 films
    Known for directing Japanese monster films, including 'Godzilla' (1954), 'Rodan' (1956), 'Varan the Unbelievable' (1958), 'Mothra' (1961), 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' (1962), 'Mothra vs. Godzilla' (1964), 'Dogora the Space Monster' (1964), 'Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster' (1964), 'Frankenstein vs. Baragon' (1965), 'The War of the Gargantuas' (1966), 'King Kong Escapes' (1967), 'Destroy All Monsters' (1968), 'All Monsters Attack' (1969), 'Space Amoeba' (1970) and 'Terror of Mechagodzilla' (1975)

Why he might be annoying:

    He fought in the Imperial Army in China during WWII.
    Some Japanese critics complained that 'Godzilla' exploited the Lucky Dragon incident (in which crew members of a Japanese fishing boat suffered radiation sickness after being unexpectedly exposed to fallout from an American H-bomb test).
    His later monster films became increasingly silly.
    His wife said, 'I'm not sure if the success of the Godzilla movies was a good thing or not. They were so popular that Mr. Honda became trapped. He had to work on them.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He and Kimi Honda were married for 55 years until his death.
    He was well liked by the movie crews he worked with since he treated them as equals rather than underlings.
    The magazine 'Kinema Junpo' listed 'Godzilla' as one of the 20 greatest Japanese films of all time.
    Before and after making his own films, he worked as an assistant director and creative consultant for Akira Kurosawa.
    Kurosawa delivered the eulogy at his funeral.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 10 Votes: 20.0% Annoying