Rushed into theaters the same year as "Mothra vs. Godzilla", the debut film of Godzilla's most famous adversary is a very uneven affair. The movie starts out okay, a typical Toho science fiction affair, but then it goes crazy as a the film follows a police detective that is forced to protect a princess who is being targeted by a group of assassins. Not only that, but the princess is also the harbinger of a long dead alien race that is trying to warn Earth of the impending destruction from the three headed dragon named Ghidorah. This subplot takes up most of the screen time with the human characters and it feels like glorified time-killer because it has little impact on the monster action. The effects are also dodgy in this one. Rodan looks really fragile for a creature that flies at super sonic speeds and the Godzilla suit looks really worn out (along with a really ugly head). Plus there is not too much city smashing or military scenes, which is weird because military scenes are a long-standing tradition in the Godzilla series. It is obvious that most of the film's budget went into the elaborate Ghidorah suit, which does steal the show whenever Ghidorah is on-screen. It is just too bad that Ghidorah is only in the movie for a total of ten minutes. After the first half the monster action picks up considerably and the final fight involving Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla banning together to fight the evil Ghidorah is pretty cool, although it does not live up to it's full potential. This is one of the few times were I recommend the American version over the Japanese because the American version cuts out some unnecessary scenes that help the pacing. If I have to sit through some questionable dubbing in order to get to the monster action faster, I'll take it. Overall, "Ghidorah: The Three Headed Monster" is a sporadically enjoyable B-movie and one of the weaker entries in the Godzilla franchise.