Yoshimitsu Banno was a Japanese director, writer, and producer best known for his film, Godzilla vs. Hedorah. Banno joined Toho in 1955, studying under directors such as Mikio Naruse, Kengo Furusawa and Seiji Maruyama. He would begin his career as an assistant director under Akira Kurosawa. Banno would be instrumental in the revival of Godzilla at Legendary Pictures. He would serve as an executive producer for Legendary's Godzilla (2014), and following his death in 2017, received posthumous credits as an executive producer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 30, 1931
- May 7, 2017 (aged 86)
- Imabari, Ehime, Shikoku, Japan
- Producer, writer and director
- 14 on MovieCove · 26 credits in all
What are Yoshimitsu Banno's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
Light 4 · Serious 1 · Dark 1
Grounded 0 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 3
Gentle 0 · Charged 1 · Intense 5
Steady 1 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 0
Slow burn 0 · Even-paced 5 · Relentless 1
Casual 5 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Yoshimitsu Banno's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 11 of their 14 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on The Criterion Channel (7).
- The Hidden Fortress (1958) · assistant director
- The Bad Sleep Well (1960) · assistant director
- Throne of Blood (1957) · assistant director
- The Lower Depths (1957) · assistant director
- Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) · director, writer
- Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) · director
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) · director
Subscription and free streaming for Yoshimitsu Banno's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
26 credits, 14 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all shows
Godzilla vs. Kong(2021)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Godzilla(2014)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
The Wizard of Oz(1982)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Techno Police 21C (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
The Last Days of Planet Earth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Cruel Famine Continent (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Godzilla vs. Megalon(1973)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Satan's Creature (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
Godzilla vs. Gigan(1972)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Godzilla vs. Hedorah(1971)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Five Gents and a Chinese Merchant (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
Five Gents and Karate Grandpa (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
Young Guy in the South Pacific (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
The Mad Atlantic (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)
Ironfinger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)
The Retreat from Kiska (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)
Tiger Flight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1964)
The Bad Sleep Well(1960)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
The Hidden Fortress(1958)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Holiday in Tokyo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
The Lower Depths(1957)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Throne of Blood(1957)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 24 titles from 1957 to 2024.
Biggest box office
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Highest rated
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Most popular right now
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Yoshimitsu Banno's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 60th percentile, the median of all 13; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 47th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up4
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 14 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved3
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Mixed7
Reviewers score the dialogue 37/100 and the plot and story 37/100 in their films, across 6 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Yoshimitsu Banno's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Yoshimitsu Banno work with?
People who share at least 2 of Yoshimitsu Banno's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Tomoyuki Tanaka shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Ishirō HondaShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)See all 3 shared titles with Ishirō Honda
- Shûe MatsubayashiShared titles: Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)See all 2 shared titles with Shûe Matsubayashi
- Jun FukudaShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)See all 2 shared titles with Jun Fukuda
Writers
- Takeshi KimuraShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)See all 3 shared titles with Takeshi Kimura
- Shin'ichi SekizawaShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)See all 2 shared titles with Shin'ichi Sekizawa
Actors
- Katsuhiko SasakiShared titles: Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Katsuhiko Sasaki
- Hiroyuki KawaseShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)See all 2 shared titles with Hiroyuki Kawase
Composers
- Riichirô ManabeShared titles: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)See all 2 shared titles with Riichirô Manabe
Producers
- Tomoyuki TanakaShared titles: Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)See all 4 shared titles with Tomoyuki Tanaka
