Godzilla Raids Again
AKA: Gigantis the
Fire Monster
Toho
1955
Rating: G
Running Time:
approximately 90 min.
Starring:
Shoichi Tsukioka
(.Hiroshi Koizumi), Koji Kobayashi (Minoru Chiaki), Hidemi Yamaji (Setsuko
Wakayama), Kohei Yamaji (Yukio Kasama)
This movie is (or was) so rare in the States I
thought I was going to have to become a member of the CIA to see it.
Well, as fate would have it a friend possessed this rarest of Showa
Godzilla films (possibly outranked in rarity only to the SMOG MONSTER), and
BOOYA! I saw Godzilla Raids again as the last of the Showa series movies I had
yet to see, and it was quite the experience.
Actually a great one.
Two buddies working for a fishing company are flying over the ocean,
looking for schools of tuna. One has
engine trouble, goes down on an island, and his buddy comes looking for him.
Suddenly they discover a new Godzilla and the spiky Anguirus duking it
out for no particular reason than that each is ugly.
They disappear for a long time after falling in the
ocean. Later they reappear, and duke
it out on the Japanese mainland. The
humans have to once again protect their cities from the behemoth creatures,
while a relationship hangs in the balance along with
Japan
as the brave men of
the self defense forces combat the wicked creature…
This movie was a surprise on many levels, and granted this review is of
the “Americanized” version of the film.
I don’t see the problems others do, save for the hilarious dubbing, but
it’s all I know so we’ll leave it at that.
The story is very human centered, and yet not too boring.
There was a good mix of rubber suited action and human concern, and since
one particular main character must sacrifice against Godzilla it has some rare
drama for an early Godzilla film.
The monster fight is the
first ever in a G film, and I rarely was so entertained.
The fights were SPED UP half the time, and my beloved kaiju Anguirus gets
his butt whooped. Unfortunate, but
it made for a great fight, one of the best in G history I think.
The only real detraction from the film is the
insanely bad science and lame brain scientists who spout off nonsense of “fire
monsters” and try to explain things they can’t possibly know, just like any
good sci-fi scientist. It makes no
real difference in the film though, though strangely in the American version of
this film the creature is called Gigiantis, not Godzilla.
The other hilarious bit is that Godzilla roars with Anguirus’ roar for
half of the film! It’s so
strange!!
Conclusion; no one but the
most dedicated Godzilla fan should ever see this movie really, because it’s
likely not going to be appreciated by them like it should be.
It’s a silly gem, and a rare gem in this country.
It’s fun, and it sets the stage for what many say is the greatest of
the Showa series, King Kong Versus Godzilla.
Story:
1/2 Pretty standard monster on the loose fare mostly,
though they did make a valiant effort to have a good human angle
Acting:
Keeping in mind of course that NONE of it was in the
original Japanese.
Special effects:
1/2 What can I say? Costumes
and rubber hand puppets, models and toys are the ONLY way to do this kind of
movie…
Language:
(at most) Mostly light cursing.
Sexual content:
BOOYA! ZERO!
Heart enlightenment factor:
1/2
It’s a monster movie, not a tear jerker.
Violence:
1/2 Whoa, Godzilla having PMS!
Basically all the violence goes to the Big G for turning Anguirus into
barbecue
Soundtrack:
A decent score. Nothing
to beat out Akira Ifakube, but hey, it worked.
Overall:
1/2 This is a great G movie, no matter how dated.
It’s certainly lighter than the first, but it has great nostalgia to
the first film.