Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (Japanese: 三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦, Hepburn: San Daikaijū Chikyū Saidai no Kessen, lit.

Three Giant Monsters: Earth's Greatest Battle) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.

The film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masanori Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah.

In the film, an extraterrestrial from Venus, possessing the body of a princess, warns humanity of the pending destruction by the alien-dragon Ghidorah, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra being their last hope for survival.

The film was rushed into production in order to replace Red Beard, which fell behind schedule, in Toho's New Year's holiday slate.

Naoko's brother, Detective Shindo, is assigned to guard Princess Salno of Selgina from a political assassination during an unannounced visit to Japan.

After participating in a TV program, the Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies, prepare to depart for home but are warned by the Prophetess to not sail.

After psychiatrist Dr. Tsukamoto concludes that the Prophetess is human, she predicts the arrival of the alien-dragon King Ghidorah, a monster that destroyed her home on Venus.

Miura and his team witness the meteor explode, unleashing the golden three-headed space dragon Ghidorah, who proceeds to attack Matsumoto.

Under hypnosis, the Prophetess reveals that some Venusians escaped to Earth from Ghidorah and assimilated with humans, but at the cost of losing most of their abilities except prediction.

After Malmess overhears Tsukamoto recommending shock therapy next, he increases the voltage to a fatal degree, but fails after the power lines are destroyed by Godzilla.

Mothra attempts to convince Godzilla and Rodan to set aside their differences to save the planet, but both refuse due to years of harassment from humans.

However, the film fell behind schedule and Tanaka rushed Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster into production to replace the New Year's release slot.

[6] Film historian David Kalat noted that screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa introduced aliens, like Ghidorah and the eponymous Dogora, because he grew tired of tropes where monsters were either awakened by nuclear weapons or worshipped as Gods by indigenous groups.

[10] Honda felt "uncomfortable" with Toho and Tsuburaya's decision to anthropomorphize the monsters and was reluctant to use the singing duo The Peanuts as translators for the summit scene.

[15] Masanori Shinohara portrayed Rodan via a new suit that was constructed with a different appearance for the face, with a muscular neck and triangular wings.

[17] Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster was released theatrically in Japan on December 20, 1964, by Toho,[1] on a double-bill with Samurai Joker.

[25] The American version shifts some scenes and removes some outright, Akira Ifukube's score is replaced with library music during some of the Godzilla/Rodan battle scenes, Mars replaces Venus in the prophetess's dialog, and a rough translation was provided for Cry for Happiness, which is read off-camera by Annie Sukiyaki.

[29] Vincent Canby of The New York Times found Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster to be a better film than Harum Scarum (both films were bundled on a double-bill) but found that it would appeal to fans of comic book culture and may interest social historians over what Canby perceives as Japan's fascination at destroying their homeland with monsters.

[30] While Variety criticized the dubbing as "atrocious", they praised Honda's ability to incite cheers from audiences when the Earth monsters unite.

[32] Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction noted that the film's visual effects "are better than usual and the cast includes Okada (Mistakenly believing actor Eiji Okada to be in the film), best known for his performance in Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), as well as the brilliant Shimura, star of Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952).

"[36] Screen Rant ranked it at number six on their list of the "Best Kaiju Movies Featuring Mothra", describing its plot one of the more "whacky" entries within the genre.

"[46] Don Kaye from Den of Geek echoed these sentiments, stating, "Ghidorah remains a formidable enemy, which is why his debut is still one of the best-remembered entries in the series.