Monster Discussion #32: Gigan (Showa)

[JVM]

Gigan's always fascinated me. He's arguably Toho's most unique monster. Unlike those such as Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and Megalon, he can't really be called anything specific. Non-fans can say Dinosaur, Butterfly, Pteradactylus and Beetle (All innacurate on purpose since we're talking non-fans here) but Gigan is... unique. The only identifier I ever heard for him is 'black space chicken' and I don't think anyone would call him quite that.

[Godzilla 2000]

My 2nd favorite Toho monster (besides Godzilla). Love his design, personality, and GvsG was a pretty fun movie.

For the record, Showa > GFW.

[Tyler]

He is a weird looking thing. Satsuma (before his name change) really have him a personality.

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

His suit is pretty crummy (and his design quite abit inferior to FW's) but he's a really aweosme and oringinal kaiju nonetheless. He is among the most interesting, likeable and dangerous of the Big G's foes, and was popular enough to return and battle Zone fighter.

[Hellspawn28]

I always loved Gigan as a kid, and he is still my all time favorite monsters. Love his design, and Godzilla vs Gigan was one big childhood favorite of mine.

[Legion1979]

His suit is pretty crummy (and his design quite abit inferior to FW's)...

You gotta be shittin' me. Hey, at least you like him. Gigan's mah boi!

[Ethan]

Gigan is one badass motherfunker.

[edgaguirus]

Gigan has a great design, and he's the perfect villain. The monster is a brutal thug, and he'll even kick a guy when he's down.

[Goji]

His suit is pretty crummy (and his design quite abit inferior to FW's)...

You gotta be shittin' me. Hey, at least you like him. Gigan's mah boi!

I second the "wtf" notion here. The suit was actually pretty nice, and well made, unlike the film itself.

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

I understand the circumstances of its creation (a very low-budget flick), but the Gigan suit does look kind of cheap. Of course, Megalon gave much more of the cheap vibe, but Gigan still does to a certain extent.

Also, while I do like Gigan's design (that visor makes him look super-evil in some shots, and he IS my avy), the FW design was one of the times where the update was just plain superior (design-wise) to the oringinal(ala Grand King Ghidorah to Showa Ghidorah). It just looks more cyborg-y, more dangerous, more evil and overall looked better. I thought it was pretty much the majority opinion that FW has the superior design, so it shouldn;t come as much of a surprise.

If its any consolation, I prefer Showa Gigan to his FW counterpart as a whole. He has a personality, actually was a threat and was overall just alot more badass. Gigan's overall one of my favourites from the Showa era.

[Arrow]

Of all three Gigan designs, the '72 one is my favorite. I prefer the interesting-looking color scheme of the original to the plain, and quite bland, black of the GFW suit. I also find that the GFW Gigan tries too hard to look dangerous and barely lasts long enough to show that he is dangerous, whereas the original just has this natural lethal look to him that shows in more than his appearances, it shows in his actions and the things he does to Godzilla. His flight execution sucked, I'll admit that, but once he was on the ground he put up a great fight. The metallic shriek added a lot to the character. And that's another thing, I liked that this Gigan had a personality - the Dirty Coward. The way he would drop and flee, leaving his allies King Ghidorah and Megalon behind, when the going got tough made him pretty despicable to me. The GFW Gigan never lingered long enough for me to really see him as anything else but just another FW redesign (and that's not exactly a compliment). But I honestly hate most GFW designs, so the fact that I prefer the original should be no surprise.

I love the '72 Gigan.

I thought it was pretty much the majority opinion that FW has the superior design

... really?

[Primevalgodzilla V2]

... really?

Yup.

[Legion1979]

... really?

Yup.

It's not. Most comments I hear about the FW Gigan is that it's a bit overdone and the "Gigan meets Gwar" look doesn't really work as well as the original. It's not totally awful, but the original seems to be generally acknowledged as the better of the two. I understand the concentrated internet American fanbase seems to absolutely adore Grand King Ghidora and FW Gigan but as a whole - and especially in Japan - the original versions are far and away considered superior.

The FW Gigan just goes a little too far, IMHO. The original design was pretty wacky, but was restrained enough that it didn't look like a '70s Ultra monster or a Power Rangers villain. The FW Gigan meanwhile doesn't even look like it belongs in a Godzilla movie. It's too skinny and goes too far with the evil, demonic look. And any chance of taking the resign seriously is compromised but how ridiculously stupid the character comes across on screen.

The Showa versions of Ghidora and Gigan are classics, no doubt about that. Later versions definitely have their fans but I think it goes too far in saying the majority find them superior. I just don't see it.

[TokyoVigilante]

Probaby one of the best creations of the seventies (this side of Mechagodzilla), he's also criminally underused. It's a fantastically bizarre but restrained design. One of my favorites for sure. Also it's amazing that Gigan was able to display so much personality while being completely alien.

As for FW Gigan, much like Monster X, the FW look is to tailor-made for the film. I deffidently wouldn't want the FW look to become the deffinitive look. I like Gigan as a burly, cowardly goon moreso then a black skinned psuedo-anime assassin.

[Goji]

I understand the circumstances of its creation (a very low-budget flick), but the Gigan suit does look kind of cheap. Of course, Megalon gave much more of the cheap vibe, but Gigan still does to a certain extent.

Dude....I'm sorry that I keep replying to you directly, but you keep saying things that aren't true/don't make sense. The Gigan suit was very well made, considering the very low budget, I don't see how you can't see this. Are you still watching these films on VHS or something? I don't understand what exactly constitutes a "well made" monster suit to you. Megalon, also, didn't look nearly as bad as you're saying. His suit was probably the most detailed out of the four made for that movie specifically.

[Lionblaze]

Love Showa Gigan, awesome design, he had personality, and has very cool shriek/screech.

[Hellspawn28]

Both enjoy versions of Gigan. Yeah the Showa version is better, but I love how cool the FW version looks.

[shark]

I understand the circumstances of its creation (a very low-budget flick), but the Gigan suit does look kind of cheap. Of course, Megalon gave much more of the cheap vibe, but Gigan still does to a certain extent.

Dude....I'm sorry that I keep replying to you directly, but you keep saying things that aren't true/don't make sense. The Gigan suit was very well made, considering the very low budget, I don't see how you can't see this. Are you still watching these films on VHS or something? I don't understand what exactly constitutes a "well made" monster suit to you. Megalon, also, didn't look nearly as bad as you're saying. His suit was probably the most detailed out of the four made for that movie specifically.

Eh? The Megalon suit looked way cheaper. Not terrible, ugly or anything like that. His costume just looks like it could have been done better. Jet Jaguar looked worse though. The Gigan suit itself actually looks pretty good to me.

Gigan is my favorite monster. He just has an interesting design and cubic buttloads of personality. Him and Megalon also had great chemistry. The FW redesign is kickass, but I don't necessarily like it more then the original Showa suit. I like them equally.

[TokyoVigilante]

How was Jet Jaguar cheap looking? He looked better then the Ultraman suit.

[shark]

Eh, I guess that's not really the suit. Guess I shouldn't have included that in my post, it's just the design makes him come off as silly or cheap looking. Although he isn't bad looking at all.