Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, while Teruyoshi Nakano served as the assistant special effects director.[12] For Ghidorah's hatching scene, a variety of techniques were used such as a miniature meteorite prop, pyrotechnics, and rapidly edited explosions. Optical animation was used for the hovering fireball and Ghidorah's rays. For the Yokohama sequence, pyrotechnics were wire-rigged to send up debris and fans used to emulate strong winds. Haruo Nakajima reprised his role as Godzilla.[10] The effects crew recycled the Godzilla suit from Mothra vs. Godzilla, however, alterations were made to the head. The original glass-like wooden eyes were replaced with radio controlled eyeballs. The installation of mechanics flattened the head by a small margin.[16] Katsumi Tezuka portrayed the Mothra larva prop.[17] The prop was recycled from Mothra vs. Godzilla[17] and its eyes were changed from blue to red.[18] Masanori Shinohara portrayed Rodan.[10] A new Rodan suit was constructed with a different appearance for the face, with a muscular neck and triangular wings.[19]

King Ghidorah was designed by Akira Watanabe[17] and portrayed by Shoichi Hirose, who spent hours hunched over inside the costume, holding onto a crossbar for support. A team of wire work puppeteers manipulated the necks, tails and wings.[18] As many as seven men were in the rafters over the sound stage working the wires.[18] Effects cameraman Sadamasa Arikawa stated "There were times when all three necks got tangled up or the plastic wires would reflect the studio lights, or the wires would get caught in Ghidorah's scales. It was an agonizing operation!"[4] Due to this, it took longer to film Ghidorah's scenes.[17] Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa suggested to Tsuburaya that the Ghidorah suit be built from light weight silicon-based materials to allow more mobility for the suit performer. The wings were originally intended to have a rainbow hue.[17] Small models of the monsters were also used for far away shots or flying shots of Rodan and King Ghidorah.[20]

The set for the base of Mt. Fuji was built at 1/25th scale and took 12,000 hours to build. The set was raised so cameras could be positioned at low angles.The miniature buildings were built with working sliding doors, lights, and were built backless, to be seen from one direction. The miniatures meant to be destroyed were pre-cut and compressed. Miniature buildings that were not meant to be destroyed were repurposed for later scenes or other sets. While filming Godzilla and Rodan's battle in Toho's massive water tank, one of the edges of the tank was exposed on film. Tsuburaya hid this error by superimposing trees on the exposed area.[16]

Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster was released theatrically in Japan on December 20, 1964, by Toho,[1] on a double-bill with Samurai Joker.[16] The film became the fourth highest-grossing film of the 1964–1965 season in Japan.[21] The film earned ¥375 million in distribution income (rentals) at the Japanese box office.[3]

Months after the film's Japanese release, the film was acquired by Walter Reade-Sterling, Inc., with plans to distribute the film in the United States through their subsidiary, Continental Distributing. The film was theatrically released in the United States on September 29, 1965, as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster.[22] The film opened to 83 theaters in Boston, on a double-bill with Agent 8 3/4. In later areas, it was double-billed with Harum Scarum. Continental boasted to Variety that the film earned $200,000 in film rentals within five days of its release and $1.3 million overall.[4] To promote the film in the United States, Ghidorah masks were created as promotional tie-ins with local super markets and radio stations.[23]

The dubbing of the American version was supervised by Joseph Belucci[4] and runs at 85 minutes.[22] 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, and a rough translation was provided for Cry for Happiness, which is read off-camera by Annie Sukiyaki.[4] Author David Kalat opined that the American version is superior in some ways, stating that the film is dramatically tightened and that continuity corrections resulted in an "improvement over the original".[24]

In a contemporary review, Vincent Canby (New York Times) noted that the film "at least provides a smile or two as Ghidorah lurches and lunges through a veritable anthology of Japanese monster picture plots." and that "This fascination, on the part of contemporary Japanese film makers, with the destruction of their land by fantastic, prehistoric forces only 20 years after Hiroshima, might be of interest to social historians. The film, otherwise, is strictly for the comic book set." [25] Variety noted that "When the viewer finds himself cheering on the trio of unlikely allies, it's a tribute to Honda's ability to capture an audience" while noting that the dubbing in the film was "as usual, atrocious."[26]

From retrospective reviews, the American version was reviewed by Leonard Maltin who gave the film two and a half stars, calling it "one of the better Toho monster rallies”.[27] 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)."[28] Slant Magazine stated that the film "embodies much of what the popular monster films have come to be known for over the years: reptilian wrestling matches on a citywide scale, human drama paralleling the monster threat, rubbery creature effects, and the gleeful destruction of many a miniature architectural set piece." [29]

In 1983, the film was released on VHS. The film was reissued on VHS in 1988 and 1991. In 1985, Toho released the film on LaserDisc. In 1992, the Champion festival cut was released in a LaserDisc box set. In 1994, the film was reissued on LaserDisc. In 2001, the film was released on DVD. In 2005, Toho included the film on the Godzilla Final Box DVD Set. In 2010, the film was released on Blu-ray.[30]

In 1988, the American version was released on VHS by Video Treasures. In 1997, the American version was reissued on VHS by Anchor Bay. In 2004, the American version was unofficially released on DVD, bootlegged by CineVu.[30] In 2007, Classic Media released the film on DVD in North America, along with other Godzilla titles. This release included the remastered, widescreen versions of the Japanese and American versions, as well as a biography on Eiji Tsuburaya, image galleries, promotional material, and an audio commentary by David Kalat.[31] In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck.[32] In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[33]

• Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.
• Hardy, Phil, ed. (1984). Science Fiction. New York : Morrow. ISBN 0-688-00842-9.
• Kalat, David (2007). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786430994.
• Kalat, David (2007). Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.
• Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series - Second Edition. McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.
• Ragone, August (2007, 2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9
• Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.
• Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.