Review: Gigantis the Fire Monster/Godzilla Raids Again

Hiroshi Koizumi and Minoru Chiaki play Japanese pilots who land on a mysterious island that harbours two gigantic warring monsters who will soon take their squabble to Osaka; Anguirus (an Ankylosaurus-type monster) and Gigantis (whom you can call Gojira or Godzilla if you like). Takashi Shimura turns up as Dr. Kyohe Yamane, dismayed at mankind’s reliance on nuclear/atomic technology and the monstrosities it creates in its wake.

 

I’d been dying to see this, the second in Toho’s long-running “Godzilla” (or “Gojira”, if you prefer) franchise for decades. It’s one of the few Toho kaiju films I’d never caught up with, and I was only able to access the dubbed American cut called “Gigantis the Fire Monster”. I wish it weren’t the case, as I prefer to watch them in their original Japanese and preferably uncut. However, the dubbed American versions were where I started with the long-running franchise, so it’s not the worst thing in the world, I suppose. The original cut is directed by Motoyoshi Oda (Toho’s “Invisible Man”), though Hugo Grimaldi (“Mutiny in Outer Space”) takes credit for the “Gigantis” cut. I think that’s pretty silly for what is mostly just a re-dub and re-cut of the Japanese director’s work from what I can gather (both versions run for basically identical durations, I might add). Grimaldi certainly deserves his editor credit here though.

 

This enjoyable but rather awkward 1955 film (or 1959 more accurately for the Amercan cut) has problems that I don’t think entirely pertain to which version one watches. The issue here is one of tone, that is the film strikes an awkward mixture of tones, and everything I’ve read suggests the Japanese version has the same tone. Some of the stark, sombre tone of the original “Gojira” is evident here in the follow-up, but so is the matinee fun of the subsequent kaiju films where monsters battle each other and leave destruction in their wake. Both tones are perfectly enjoyable, they just combine for a bit of an awkward film overall. Also awkward, and I’m pretty sure it’s just the “Gigantis” cut on this occasion, there’s quite a bit of confusion over the monster names and their species/genesis. I don’t think it’s the fault of screenwriters Shigeaki Hidaka (“Invisible Man”) and Takeo Murata (the original “Gojira”), but in addition to Gojira/Godzilla being renamed “Gigantis”, at one point Gigantis is referred to as a monster of the ‘Anguirus’ family (Anguirus being an opponent/enemy here of the title character), and both Gigantis and Anguirus are referred to as ‘Anguirus’ at various times. These issues are more continuity/lineage issues than legit filmmaking flaws perhaps, nonetheless it’s awfully confusing. Some carp about Godzilla’s iconic roar being replaced with a more generic sound (a bit dolphin-esque, actually), but I wasn’t too bothered by that and understood why it was done to differentiate Gigantis from Godzilla (even if I don’t quite understand the producer’s reason for wanting that differentiation). I was more annoyed with the music score, apparently cobbled together from various other films scores for the version I watched. The score is objectively OK, but only OK. Why bother with OK when you can just give us the iconic, thunderous Akira Ifukube music instead?

 

On the plus side at least our narrator in the American cut is actually a Japanese character, albeit not a very important character. It beats Raymond Burr in the American cut of “Gojira” titled “Godzilla – King of the Monsters”. In fact, the best thing about the narration here is that it retains part of the stark, docudrama feel of “Gojira”. It’s also, like “Gojira” one of the few films in the 50s-70s series of “Godzilla” films to think about the destruction the monsters cause, wondering if the people are being punished and if so, why. You wouldn’t get much of that in the franchise until around “Godzilla 2000” and the other films in the Millennium Era. There’s some wonderfully stark shots of devastation here, and although the fights aren’t the greatest, they are still interesting. They haven’t been slowed down and take on a schoolyard scrap feel to them that at the very least makes them different. The action climax seems rather quaint compared to later, more complex scenarios in other films, but I rather like that about it. Again, different doesn’t have to be a bad thing, necessarily. Anguirus still gets his expected shit-kicking, though. Seriously, Ghidorah and Anguirus really didn’t tend to last very long up against Godzilla in any of the films, and Anguirus didn’t even have the cool, intimidating visual presence of Ghidorah going for it, either. Look out for a small appearance by the underrated Takashi Shimura, reprising his role from the original “Gojira” and consulting on the current situation.

 

An awkward bridging film, but a film with some enjoyable and interesting elements from both kinds of “Godzilla” film – the stark and Saturday matinee fun varieties, that is. Lumpy but never dull, I think the issues here are minor and more based in continuity/legacy than anything wrong with the film as a standalone piece. For the most part it plays like a typical sequel, including being of slightly lesser quality than the original. Worth a look nonetheless in whatever form you’re able to nab for yourself.

 

Rating: B-