Talkback Thread #12: Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

[Arrow]

Are we going to get a talkback thread for Godzilla vs. Megalon, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla soon?

Yes. Arbok asked me to slow down on them due to the fact that they dominate this section, but I'll be doing Megalon next week.

Such a lovely film

I assume you're being sarcastic.

As much as I enjoy Godzilla vs. Gigan, even I'll agree that it's legitimately, undeniably, and inexcusably terrible. Even this has its redeeming points, however. What keeps Gigan from being an abysmal failure are probably its collection of colorful human characters - with Tomoko Umeda (a.k.a. the karate girl) being my favorite. The monster scenes are long and drawn-out, but I actually feel myself sucked into the part where Godzilla begins to take a beating from Gigan and King Ghidorah. Angurius' attempt as rescue was also a highlight. GvsG was one of my favorites as a child and I still look fondly on it today.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

Such a lovely film

I assume you're being sarcastic.

As much as I enjoy Godzilla vs. Gigan, even I'll agree that it's legitimately, undeniably, and inexcusably terrible. Even this has its redeeming points, however. What keeps Gigan from being an abysmal failure are probably its collection of colorful human characters - with Tomoko Umeda (a.k.a. the karate girl) being my favorite. The monster scenes are long and drawn-out, but I actually feel myself sucked into the part where Godzilla begins to take a beating from Gigan and King Ghidorah. Angurius' attempt as rescue was also a highlight. GvsG was one of my favorites as a child and I still look fondly on it today.

Honest statement is honest. :[

[DaiKamonohashi]

inexcusably terrible.

Arguable!

[Arrow]

inexcusably terrible.

Arguable!

Not really.

While I still enjoy Godzilla vs. Gigan, it falls somewhere near Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong vs. Godzilla as my least favorite Showa movie. It's a lot of fun, but it's got no excuse - seeing as Revenge, Hedorah, and Megalon all manage to be better despite suffering the same limitations.

... well, you could actually argue Megalon. But I like that film more than I like this one.

[DaiKamonohashi]

inexcusably terrible.

Arguable!

Not really.

While I still enjoy Godzilla vs. Gigan, it falls somewhere near Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong vs. Godzilla as my least favorite Showa movie. It's a lot of fun, but it's got no excuse - seeing as Revenge, Hedorah, and Megalon all manage to be better despite suffering the same limitations.

... well, you could actually argue Megalon. But I like that film more than I like this one.

The way I see it, Fukuda, Nakano et al. made an extremely entertaining film in a time when the Japanese film industry was dying and Toho didn't want to budget a dime towards a movie series that was only being made for children's festivals. Compare that to the 90s films or Final Wars - Godzilla movies with nigh-unprecedented budgets that by and large have dull, plodding storylines, boring characters*, and fail miserably at effects shots that were created infinitely better forty years prior (for example, see Rodan).

* Final Wars is the exception - it has the potential to be a lot of fun given its plot and character set-up but in execution it is little more than a mess.

Much as I enjoy the other three films you mentioned, Gigan is easily the most entertaining in my opinion.

[Legion1979]

Gigan's biggest problem is that Tanaka really wanted this to be a 1960's style Honda/Ifukube/Tsuburaya/Sekizawa film without the actual talents of anyone but Sekizawa. I don't think that's a very fair expectation for anyone who was working on this film. Hedora and Megalon may not be masterpieces but they don't try to anything more than what they are. Gigan tries to be another Monster Zero or Destroy all Monsters on a fraction of the budget of either of those films.

[Goji]

inexcusably terrible.

Arguable!

Agreed. I think it's more like "excusably terrible", all things considered. The movie is fun as hell either way. I do find it more entertaining dubbed though, I have to say.

[SuperSaiyan4Godzilla]

I still havent gotten an apology from Arrow :'[

Anyway, no...

This is one of the films I excuse for being bad. This was a favorite of mine when I was little. Not Godzilla vs Megalon, but this one.

[XxComablack1937xX]

This was one of my top Godzilla movies when i was younger, I loved Gigan an Ghidorah an when Godzilla spoke with Anguirus on monster island i thought it was the coolest thing ever. Loved the music.... Loved the ending fight where Godzilla kicked Gigan's ass an him an Anguirus skreeonk up Ghidorah.

This will always have a special place for me in the Godzilla series.

[godzilla1996]

Gigan is one of my favorite monsters. This movie is a lot like Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla though. Not the tone, and the music is better, but it drags on for a while, and then there is a big battle at the end. This movie also brings back King Ghidorah, and Anguiras. I think this is also Godzilla's first tag-team match. Other than the overuse of stock footage, this is a good movie.

[Mini-Godzilla]

Toho's response to accusations that their movies were little more than live-action comic books, maybe? Our protagonist is an artist/illustrator who has to battle evil orange-suit-wearing cockroaches disguised as dead humans in a Godzilla-shaped building with the help of his newfound hippie friends. Godzilla and Anguiras, once mortal enemies, now chat it up on Monster Island while Stock-Footage King Ghidorah brings along his own new buddy, the titular robot chicken with a buzzsaw belly. Excelsior! The recycled material really hampers the otherwise decent (and gory) fight, but the main appeal here is the fun cast of human characters. For some reason, the movie works even better in the bad English dub (maybe it blends well with the patchwork musical score, or maybe it's just nostalgia, as this is one of the first G-flicks that I saw).

[GodzillavsJason]

Ah yes. The best one of them all. Godzilla vs Gigan. It has 4 great monsters in it. The music score was great. Has my favorite suit of Godzilla in and it was just GREAT! I was blown away by this movie. This is the best Godzilla film no doubt about it.

[GodzillaDude]

This and Godzilla vs Hedorah are two of my favorite films from the Showa era. I've only seen Godzilla vs Gigan once but I remember really liking it. And now just yesterday I bought Godzilla vs Hedorah and Godzilla vs Gigan on DVD and I am going to watch Godzilla vs Gigan this Sunday.

[GodzillavsJason]

This and Godzilla vs Hedorah are two of my favorite films from the Showa era. I've only seen Godzilla vs Gigan once but I remember really liking it. And now just yesterday I bought Godzilla vs Hedorah and Godzilla vs Gigan on DVD and I am going to watch Godzilla vs Gigan this Sunday.

Dude even if you saw it once. Your gonna like it again and want to watch again. Like i said it has tons of great things like with the four great monsters in it. So have fun watching Godzilla vs Gigan.

[godzillafan]

it my favorite godzilla movie out of the whole franchise

[TokyoVigilante]

Just rewatched this for the hell of it. This movie gushes energy and the final battle in the remains of Childrens Land is one of the weirdest battlefields in the franchise (Giant ceramic mushrooms? Random industrial, art deco pyramids? triple-whaa). Anguirus really shines as a character here, and Gigan is one of the greatest things to come out of the seventies (a close second to Mechagodzilla).

And regardless of the suit inconsistencies, the fight between Godzilla and King Ghidorah in this movie is wicked; the footage from Monster Zero and Gt3hM is edited together pretty tightly. Probably one of the best clashes between Godzilla and King Ghidorah ever.

[I_Am_Gigan]

Took a while to get going, but definitely one of my personal favorites. Even with the stock footage, the fight was awesome, and it was cool to see that Gigan and King Ghidorah teamed up could put Godzilla and Anguirus into a bit of a struggle at one point, and how the underdogs quickly seized the opportunity, and regained the high ground. It was a fun movie, and when I saw it as a child, it was nerve-wracking to see Godzilla get beat up pretty bad, and funny to see Gigan get chicken and try to run once Godzilla... reclaimed his place in the fight .

[Hotrod93]

"Im hard bitch"

This line alone made me love the film.

[Monsterzero 1965]

"Im hard bitch"

This line alone made me love the film.

The actual line is "You're a hard bitch."

[Tyler]

He must have thought it was a gun.