Invasion of Astro-Monster

In 1966, astronauts Glenn and Fuji travel to a newly discovered Planet X orbiting beyond Jupiter. There they find an advanced civilization, the Xiliens, living underground to escape a destructive three-headed monster they call Monster Zero. The aliens ask Earth to lend them Godzilla and Rodan so the two creatures can defeat the monster, offering a cure for cancer in return. With the world security council's approval, the monsters are transported to Planet X, but the Xiliens' real intentions soon come to light. Glenn's growing relationship with the mysterious Miss Namikawa becomes part of his investigation into what the aliens are really planning.

Ishirō Honda directed the film, the seventeenth of the twenty-five features he made in chronological order, following Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and preceding Frankenstein Conquers the World. Shinichi Sekizawa wrote the screenplay. Akira Takarada plays Astronaut Fuji and Nick Adams plays Astronaut Glenn, with Kumi Mizuno, Keiko Sawai, Jun Tazaki and Yoshio Tsuchiya among the thirty-nine credited cast members. A Japanese-American co-production, the film took about 3 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.2/10 from roughly 8,500 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.8/10 from 265 votes, a modest gap that suggests a small but somewhat warmer audience on the latter.