Toho Kingdom

The best of the showa era, I don't think anyone would call it. But sucking? That, it definitely doesn't do.

I haven't seen the Japanese version to make a comparison, but the American edit isn't nearly as watchable as the other dubs of the golden age. I have heard that the plot is more pronounced in the original cut, and that Godzilla doesn't constantly roar like anguirus, which is a major pain in the ears to listen to in the Gigantis version.
Maybe sucks is bad choice of words but I still rather re-watch Godzilla vs the sea monster, despite my dislike of it, than see Gigantis the fire monster again.
I will wait till I get the DVD on Monday to see it in its unabridged Japanese version to give my two cents on it.

Godzilla Raids Again was a very decent movie, and a very underrated one on that note. Plus, this movie had the first appearence of Anguirus- sorry, I mean GIGANTIS. The english version of this movie pretty much destroyed its reputation, and if it wasn't for it, this movie would probably be liked much better. There's even a couple of videos on YouTube describing how this is the worst out of all the Godzilla films. Honestly, more people should give this movie attention. And let it be good attention at that.

There are worse Godzilla movies. GRA starts slow, but the middle part picks up with the fight between Godzilla and Anguillas. Besides, it introduces Anguillas, and, if I've heard right, Americans like Anguillas.

Other nations don't?

(I mean, I guess Americans in particular have always had a thing for scrappy underdogs, so that makes sense- I'd just never heard anything like that before).

Zarm wrote:Other nations don't?

(I mean, I guess Americans in particular have always had a thing for scrappy underdogs, so that makes sense- I'd just never heard anything like that before).

I know this is unrelated, but.. Scrappy... Underdogs? UnderDOGS?
I'm sorry. You knew I had to.

Yes. Yes, I do know that. But that doesn't make it hurt any less...

BlueGojira, that has nothing to do with this topic. I don't want to see it again.

I believe I've heard that Anguirus isn't popular in Japan, hence why he hasn't had a serious movie appearance since 1974, and often gets passed over for other monsters.

OT: I've really been wanting to rewatch the Japanese version. I'll most likely do that somewhere in the next few months.

The Japanese version is preferable to Gigantis.

I just finished watching this movie for the first time in years, so here are my pros and cons.

Pros:
-The way Godzilla and Anguirus are introduced is pretty cool
-Introduces my favorite monster other than Godzilla
-The suit used for Anguirus looks really good, aside from the way his back kind of like flops around
-This movie established the tradition of having Godzilla fight other monsters
-Dr. Yamane returns for a scene
-The way Godzilla defeats Anguirus was pretty neat
-Trapping Godzilla in an avalanche was a rather creative and unique way to defeat him
-Pretty decent sound design

Cons:
-The film was rushed and it shows; it only came out about five months after Godzilla
-The music feels rather uninspired and is extremely forgettable
-Despite it only being the second film, the tone of the first is completely lost
-The characters are very, very dull and are not memorable in any way
-When Kobayashi dies, I feel nothing
-After the battle in Osaka, the characters pretty much act like nothing even happened, they just kind of go on with their lives until the end
-They're shown laughing and having a great time literally two scenes later
-While I did say the way they defeated Godzilla was creative and unique, the scene itself felt boring and went on for too long
-Godzilla's face looks painfully goofy
-The fight at the end is too fast and awkward, causing me to not even look forward to that

So overall this is probably my least favorite entry in the Godzilla series, which sucks because when I was getting ready to rewatch it today I was really hoping to like it more than most people do. I know I gave almost as many pros as I did cons, but the pros I gave don't really do much to improve the movie for me. I give Godzilla Raids Again a 1.5 out of 5.

Yeah, Gigantis is kind of a butchered mess. I don't even really consider the US version of "Godzilla Raids Again" as a Godzilla film at all....it is literally a Godzilla film utterly re-purposed into something else.

The real film, the Japanese cut.....I think it gets a lot of undeserved hate(Stemming from the US version being abysmal).....It feels like a pretty legitimate sequel to the original. You can even argue that it still keeps the relatively "grounded" nature of the original. No magic or alien invaders or mystical faeries yet. I think it's quite under-rated in a lot of ways.

It also is the first film ever to establish the 'Godzilla fighting another monster' plot-line that the entire franchise became identified by.

Like all of the first/early entries of every era....it still maintains a feeling of "They were trying to make a film, not just a movie" with a sense of being its own thing and existing in its own interesting way and doing something unique at the time. Once any era gets to the 'one movie a year' regular quota...they just begin to feel more like churned out product..."Annual monster mashes" that follow the formula previously laid out.

Godzilla is the unique start, Raids Again did something interesting pitting him against another monster, King Kong was that same concept on steroids by using another monster icon. Everything after was largely a variation on what King Kong vs Godzilla did so successfully...with the only real change being the ultimately terrible decision to start to veer Godzilla towards being a superhero.

The only significant problem I have with the film is the pacing, especially near the end. We really didn't need three scenes of people flying planes over Godzilla and causing avalanches. And if I'm nitpicking, the movie really, really tones down the horror from the first movie. The monsters kill hardly anyone, and while Osaka suffers a little damage to its coastline businesses, it's hardly the atomic holocaust that Tokyo experienced in the first film. That said, I do like the film, and I especially love the scene in which Kobayashi manages to attend two dinner parties at once. I'm convinced that the problems could have been ironed out if Toho would have waited until they could get Ishiro Honda back on the project.

Very poorly made movie. One of the worst 5 Godzilla films of all time in my correct opinion.

@BARAGONBREH
Aha, but you seem to hate almost all of the Showa films, so I'm not the least bit surprised you'd say that.
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OT: I actually have a strange fondness for this film that I can't quite put my finger on. I watched it again the other day and liked it an awful lot. I'm sure it helps that I've always liked Angilas/Anguiras/whateverthehellnameyouwantforhim, and that I appreciate the animalistic nature of the monster battle. You don't see a fight like that for the rest of the franchise, with the following movies all having pretty silly (though undoubtedly fun) monster battles instead. The speed at which the battle takes place is also quite nice, and gives the film some energy.

Don't get me wrong, I see it's flaws, both in tone and pacing (not to mention Godzilla's suit is just... yeah...), but it doesn't bother me when watching it. The climax being in the middle doesn't make the last act feel underwhelming to me (now that I think about it, the same applies with Shin Godzilla), though the last act's needless length kind of does. Two passes to cause an avalanche, maybe, but three was a bit much. I dunno, the film nonetheless has a sort of charm to me, and it was nice to see Hiroshi Koizumi in his first of, I think, 10 Toho film appearances. Professor Yamane being in it, if briefly, also pleases me.

Granted, I should say that almost no Godzilla film bores me. *cough*G14*cough* I don't know why, but even in some of the films that don't grab my attention as much, like The Return of Godzilla, I never find myself bored by them, so I suppose I'm hardly a good source of saying which films are and are not boring.

InnocentClarke wrote: -
OT: I actually have a strange fondness for this film that I can't quite put my finger on. I watched it again the other day and liked it an awful lot.

maybe i can put my finger on it: there's a certain eeriness to the whole film that evokes a sense of something returning. there are moments, such as those when Godzilla approaches the shore and is momentarily hypnotized by flairs which cascade into the ocean that couple well with the soundtrack to create a sense of foreboding.

i really don't know how much of it was actually intentional, but everything in the film feels like it's there to be ruined later. you get a stormclouds on the horizon vibe from the movie that delivers painfully throughout.

The climax being in the middle doesn't make the last act feel underwhelming to me

the climax is meant to be the center.

nah, but what i mean is if the great battle served as the closure, it wouldn't really be "closure". in going with what i said above, Godzilla couldn't die this time. leaving him alive despite all efforts drives home the futility of so many actions that justify a sequel to the first movie. even with Godzilla "killed", another will rise, another will return.

three wrote: maybe i can put my finger on it: there's a certain eeriness to the whole film that evokes a sense of something returning. there are moments, such as those when Godzilla approaches the shore and is momentarily hypnotized by flairs which cascade into the ocean that couple well with the soundtrack to create a sense of foreboding.

i really don't know how much of it was actually intentional, but everything in the film feels like it's there to be ruined later. you get a stormclouds on the horizon vibe from the movie that delivers painfully throughout.

That sounds about right. While not as dark tonally as the first film, GRA still has an almost apocalyptic quality about it, a feeling of dread that permeates a lot of the scenes. Something about that just speaks to me, just as the dark look of the first half of Terror of Mechagodzilla genuinely excited me the first time I saw it. Same applies to Return of Godzilla, now that I think about it.

three wrote: the climax is meant to be the center.

Not necessarily, unless you climaxing during sex is you being half way through (and that's impressive if so). Same principle applies here; the climax can be at the end just fine. Also, yes, I do like to ruin people's jokes.

three wrote: what i mean is if the great battle served as the closure, it wouldn't really be "closure". in going with what i said above, Godzilla couldn't die this time. leaving him alive despite all efforts drives home the futility of so many actions that justify a sequel to the first movie. even with Godzilla "killed", another will rise, another will return.

I concur. It's refreshing that they didn't try to make another Oxygen Destroyer or anything like that. They realised they didn't have a proper weapon to take him down, so some luck and ingenuity saved the day... at least for a while. Good thing they didn't kill him, too, considering all the aliens and other monsters that tried to destroy the world later. Regardless, it's a thematically appropriate choice to be unable to kill him permanently, something pulled off well (at least to me) in Shin Godzilla. All they did is postpone his inevitable return.

This film is probably my least favorite of the Showa series, if not the entire series.

It just comes across as so boring to me. The characters are boring (and a lot of the film's runtime is dedicated to them). The film seems to crawl at a snail's pace.

Granted, the attack on Osaka and the subsequent fight between Godzilla and Anguirus is nice. There are some definitely some nice FX shots.

But it just doesn't make up for the rest of the film.

It's really strange, because I love the Showa series (it is my favorite out of all of them) and I think I enjoy every single Showa film other than this one.

Gojira-Fan wrote:This film is probably my least favorite of the Showa series, if not the entire series.

It just comes across as so boring to me. The characters are boring (and a lot of the film's runtime is dedicated to them). The film seems to crawl at a snail's pace.

Granted, the attack on Osaka and the subsequent fight between Godzilla and Anguirus is nice. There are some definitely some nice FX shots.

But it just doesn't make up for the rest of the film.

It's really strange, because I love the Showa series (it is my favorite out of all of them) and I think I enjoy every single Showa film other than this one.

I've always thought of this film as very "prototype-y". From the sound effects to he story structure. It's the first Godzilla sequel and it was very rushed. They had the idea of Godzilla fighting an enemy monster but hadn't quite found the way to tell that kind of story. As a result we get an enemy monster who dies halfway through the film, which doesn't do wonders to a very slow paced movie. Anguirus is still cool though, but like I said, he feels very much like a "first attempt" at an enemy monster.

The lack of Honda and Ifukube certainly don't do this movie any favors either. And I usually like Sato's scores but it doesn't really do anything for me in this film.

GalacticPetey wrote:

Gojira-Fan wrote:This film is probably my least favorite of the Showa series, if not the entire series.

It just comes across as so boring to me. The characters are boring (and a lot of the film's runtime is dedicated to them). The film seems to crawl at a snail's pace.

Granted, the attack on Osaka and the subsequent fight between Godzilla and Anguirus is nice. There are some definitely some nice FX shots.

But it just doesn't make up for the rest of the film.

It's really strange, because I love the Showa series (it is my favorite out of all of them) and I think I enjoy every single Showa film other than this one.

I've always thought of this film as very "prototype-y". From the sound effects to he story structure. It's the first Godzilla sequel and it was very rushed. They had the idea of Godzilla fighting an enemy monster but hadn't quite found the way to tell that kind of story. As a result we get an enemy monster who dies halfway through the film, which doesn't do wonders to a very slow paced movie. Anguirus is still cool though, but like I said, he feels very much like a "first attempt" at an enemy monster.

The lack of Honda and Ifukube certainly don't do this movie any favors either. And I usually like Sato's scores but it doesn't really do anything for me in this film.

Yeah, it is a sort of outlier to the rest of the Showa series. The film is so rushed it cannot have the thought-provoking emotional themes the original does (which really sort of stands on its own). And it doesn't really feel connected (in terms of style) to the rest of the Showa era due to it being years about from a Showa era Godzilla film.