Son of Godzilla (怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 Kaijūtō no Kessen Gojira no Musuko, lit. The Battle of Monster Island: Son of Godzilla) is a 1967 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toho, and the eighth installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series. The film was released to Japanese theaters on December 16, 1967.[3]
United Nations scientists on Sollgel Island are undertaking an experiment in altering the climate, with the goal of solving the inevitable world food shortage as the human population explodes. When the experiment goes awry and triggers a radiation storm, the giant mantises native to the island are mutated into deadly kaiju called Kamacuras. When the Kamacuras unearth an egg which hatches into Minilla, a baby Godzilla, Godzilla himself comes to the island to rescue the infant. But while Godzilla is more than a match for the huge mantises, he and his newly adopted son are soon faced with the giant spider Kumonga which also dwells on the island. As Godzilla fights to save Minilla from Kumonga's clutches, the stranded scientists must find a way to escape Sollgel Island with their lives.
A team of scientists are trying to perfect a weather-controlling system. Their efforts are hampered by the arrival of a nosy reporter and by the sudden presence of giant praying mantises. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, which are named Kamacuras (Gimantis in the English-dubbed version), the scientists find the monstrous insects digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby's telepathic cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Shortly afterwards, Godzilla arrives on the island in response to the infant's cries, demolishing the scientist's base while rushing to defend the baby. Godzilla kills two of the Kamacuras during the battle while one manages to fly away to safety, Godzilla then adopts the baby.
The baby Godzilla, named Minilla, quickly grows to about half the size of the adult Godzilla and Godzilla instructs it on the important monster skills of roaring and using its atomic ray. At first, Minilla has difficulty producing anything more than atomic smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions (i.e. stomping on his tail) or motivation produces a true radioactive blast. Minilla comes to the aid of Saeko when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga (Spiga in the English-dubbed version), a giant spider that was sleeping in a valley. Kumonga attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding and Minilla stumbles into the fray.
Kumonga traps Minilla and the final Kamacuras with its webbing, but as Kumonga begins to feed on the deceased Kamacuras, Godzilla arrives. Godzilla saves Minilla and they work together to defeat Kumonga by using their atomic rays on the giant spider. Hoping to keep the monsters from interfering in their attempt to escape the island, the scientists finally use their perfected weather altering device on the island and the once tropical island becomes buried in snow and ice. As the scientists are saved by an American submarine, Godzilla and Minilla begin to hibernate as they wait for the island to become tropical again.