Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan

Godzilla and a giant alien chicken. Great stuff. It's back to the very basic for Godzilla after many were disappointed by the previous effort (I loved it). It kind of throws away everything Godzilla started as. Now we have a fairly kid friendly film, in which aliens design an amusement park in the hopes of controlling some of the monsters from monster island. Because giant monsters are the greatest way to attract families away from their mundane lives. A manga artist uncovers this bizarre plot and soon the aliens release their own monster, Gigan. Fun fights and frolics abound, even if these movies are getting rather crowded.

Well the relationships of the Kaiju sometimes change with every other movie. So while Godzilla was fighting Anguirus the first time they met (in the second Godzilla movie that is), later they became allies. As in this one. And it is necessary they team and tag together, because apart from the new (mentioned) Gigan in the title, we also get King Ghidorah as an enemy of earth and humans - which means enemy of Godzilla too of course.

And while there was always communication between the Kaiju, mostly through their screams and cries, this time we get text bubbles with what they mean. Interesting choice and maybe related to the fact they tried to go kid friendly at the time. Also a nod to comics/manga in general? Very likely.

The monster on monster action (get your mind out of the gutter if it is there) is really something to behold - and fun to watch. Men in rubber suits wrestling other men in rubber suits. While humanity looks and hopes/roots for our beloved Godzilla. Obviously there is a lot of History here. Movie history that is. Something you can have knowledge of, but you don't need too. It just gives you more appreciation of what is happening on screen - and might make you understand why effects that seem dated now, where all the rage (no pun intended) back then.

Enjoy if you can, because this is quite the fun ride

After the interesting but none too successful experiments Godzilla's Revenge and Godzilla Vs Hedorah,Toho made this film,which sometimes feels like an attempt to make a 60s Monster Zero-type film on a fraction of the budget. Obviously,it's not a good film in the traditional sense,but all the 70s Godzilla films,despite their childishness,cheapness,shoddy effects work,samey plots,and 'wacky' ideas {in this one ,Godzilla and his mate Angilas TALK to each other in the non-Japanese version,whilst the Japanese version has speech bubbles instead!}etc,are fun to watch,and Godzilla Vs Gigan is no exception.

The plot is the aliens-out-to-conquer-Earth-by-controlling-monsters one already used in Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters and it would be used a few more times,but here it is reasonably successful,with some fairly intriguing ideas {though often badly done}and unusual human characters,although their constant in-and-out of the Godzilla Tower,the alien's base,becomes a bit tiresome. When the monsters show up,we have probably the longest battle in a Godzilla film,and one of the funniest,too,as Godzilla and Angilas engage in a tag team duel with the evil Ghidorah and Gigan. Sadly the movie is badly let down by excessive stock footage from previous films {Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster,Monster Zero,Son Of Godzilla,Destroy All Monster and probably a couple of others too!}. At least in Godzilla's Revenge the stock footage had a sort of context,here,it jars with the new footage. The worst bit for this is the lengthy destruction scene,where new,night time footage of a tattered,slow moving Ghidorah who can barely move, is intercut with older,daytime footage of Ghidorah,showing a fast-moving dragon in action.

Somehow all this adds to the film's quirky charm,a sometimes good,occasionally awful,entry in the series. The soundtrack is one of the best,it's all Akira Ifikube stock music,much of it from Godzilla films,but it has many of the great Ifikube tracks and a wonderfully rousing title theme.

"Godzilla vs. Gigan" is perhaps the best of the 1970s Godzilla films that was aimed for children. It's definitely the most fun and enjoyable. Not as good as the first couple of Godzilla films, but better than others.

What I mostly like about "Godzilla vs. Gigan" is the lengthy and very entertaining four-way monster battle at the end. It's very fun to watch and I never get tired of it. Not to mention that this film was the one that brought Gigan to life, and Gigan is one of my top favorite monsters. King Ghidorah and Angilas, and of course, Godzilla, were great in this one also.

The music score is also very good. I love the dramatic music score that plays when it looks like Godzilla's going to be killed by the laser beams. Also, the drum score when Godzilla and Angilas are heading to fight the enemy is great.

Overall, a good fun Godzilla flick. I'd recommend it.

Godzilla Vs. Gigan has no right to a good review. It makes heavy use of stock footage, has a plot that just barely hangs together, and arguably features the most ridiculous looking kaiju aside from Minya...and yet I love it! The plot, if you can call it that, involves a group of Japanese twentysomethings who stumble upon an alien invasion plot involving-gasp!-a children's amusement park. They unwittingly summon Godzilla after playing an eight track tape, leading to a battle between the Big G, Anguirus, and their old enemy King Ghidorah, along with the grotesque Gigan.

The film suffers from a number of issues, perhaps the most glaring of which is the extensive use of stock footage. At times, Toho did not even bother to match up the footage, with the scenes switching suddenly from day to night and back again. The film also has an anti-technology message, introduced in the last half hour, even more ham-handed than the environmental themes of Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. The characters never even bother to change their clothes, despite the film taking place over the better part of a week.

Nevertheless, Godzilla vs. Gigan retains a fond place in my memory. It features a good twenty to thirty minutes of sustained kaiju destruction. Furthermore, Gigan, despite its ridiculous appearance, is a surprisingly menacing villain, being the only monster to make Godzilla bleed. In the end, it's a dumb but fun movie.