YMMV / Latitude Zero

• Adaptation Displacement: Many know of the 1969 movie, but very few are aware it’s an adaptation of the radio serials of 1941.
• Awesome Music: Ifukube shines again with The 164-Year Voyage, one of the classiest cues he’s ever composed.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Malic is one of the more fondly remembered human antagonists of Toho’s classic sci-fi films, thanks in part to Cesar Romero’s incredibly cheesy, yet awesome performance.
• Special Effects Failure: The suit effects aren’t up to par with regular Toho quality. This is especially noticeable with the man-sized rat monsters, which are obvious men in suits with some shots even revealing the zippers on their backs, or the man-bat hybrids who look more like costumes than actual creatures. Considering this was when Eiji Tsuburaya was suffering from his illness before his death, it’s somewhat forgivable.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The underwater volcano eruption, which was the right mix of paint colors poured into a tank to an upside down backdrop, is still one of the most visually stunning sequences in the movie.
  • Though the suits themselves vary in quality, the miniatures for the Alpha and Black Shark are still as impressive and lifelike, on par with the Gotengo and SY-3.