TALKBACK #2: Godzilla Raids Again

[lhb412]

The GRA puppet isn't as distractingly different from the suit as the Gojira puppet... and yet somehow the GRA ones is worse. In Gojira the puppet may not have looked like the suit, but it was at least well constructed and had lots of personality.

[Russzilla]

What I want to know is what were they thinking in regards to those teeth?

[jellydonut25]

[MekaGojira3k]

Yeah the particular shot was the one I was thinking of. And the puppets tend to usually look off. I dunno, I still rather like the suit.

[Russzilla]

Maybe all this was the result of GRA being rushed into production. This was filmed and released in just over 5 months.

[Benjamin Haines]

You know, this movie is really mediocre. It's got enough good things and bad things going for it that it just evens out into something really mundane and forgettable.

But I've always really, really liked this Godzilla suit. The close-up puppet is awful, no doubt, with its bucktoothed jawline, but the full-body suit I think is just great. It's got all of the features of the 1954 suit but it's slimmer and able to move faster. It's the only hybrid between the bulky, mammalian Godzilla of the '50s and the slimmed down, anthropomorphic brawler of the '60s.

[briizilla]

We're getting hit with heavy snow so tonight is the perfect time to bust this movie out, get under a blanket and have some Baileys over ice.

[MekaGojira3k]

[Dr Kain]

In 1954, Toho released a movie about a monster that symbolized the atomic bombs that had been dropped on Japan during World War II called “Godzilla.” The movie showed pure terror and destruction in its wake just as the bombings in Japan had done to its residence. It was a phenomenal hit, so what did Toho do? Make a quick sequel to cash on its success, and it shows.

This movie is not bad by any means, but it is not really all that great either. It stars to fishing pilots by the name of Kobayashi and Tsukioka, who are likable characters, but they are far from being anywhere near as memorable as the likes of Emiko, Dr. Yamane, and Dr. Serizawa. In fact, Kobayashi’s sacrifice is about the only reason his name tends to stick out. They are not terrible characters, but compared to what came before, and what comes later, they are pretty much as bland as the movie.

The plot is decent, but It shows how rushed as was as it seems like even Toho did not know how to follow up the first one. They decide that there this Godzilla is a different one, which is fine, but it seems like they are now saying that Godzilla was a race of dinosaurs woken up by the bombs instead of being mutated by it. It does not really make sense and contradicts the whole horror that was the first Godzilla. It is an interesting idea though, one that will be repeated throughout the entire history of the franchise. Nevertheless, a new monster by the name of Anguirus is revealed and we get to see him and Godzilla face off a couple of times in the movie. Anguirus fits in with the theme Toho was going for, as Anguirus is also just an average dinosaur, but he looks cool, so it works. Osaka is attacked, but the destruction of the city comes more from Godzilla and Anguirus battling each other rather than just Godzilla stomping through the city. It is okay, but it is obvious Toho was trying to just repeat the sense of destruction as they then show Osaka’s remains the next day. This would be fine except it seems to be forgotten so quickly that there is no time to really feel the impact Osaka has just gone through as we did in Tokyo with the first attack. Not to mention it cheapens that one. Nevertheless, Anguirus is killed and Godzilla is defeated by ice. I’m not exactly sure how to respond to that.

The Godzilla suit in this movie is pretty bad. It looks fine from the side when the shots are at a distance, but close up shots and the showing the costume from the front really shows how rushed it was made. The costume is just awful as it looks weird, disproportionate, and rubbery. If there is anything the first movie’s costume accomplished, it was making Godzilla look like a giant monster dinosaur rather than a rubber suit in the shape of one, as it appears to be here. Anguirus looks fine, but his head movements are weird looking. The effects in the movie are okay, but outside of the fire in Osaka, there is not too much to talk about. I really do like the way they filmed the monsters fighting each other though, as they speed up their actions, which make them look animalistic in the way they are battling. That is a nicely done in a movie that feels rushed in every sense of the word

Overall, I’d give Godzilla Raids Again a 6/10. It is far from being anywhere near the worst movie in the series, but it is about average, especially when compared to its predecessor. It did introduce a monster that would become one of Godzilla’s most recognizable allies though, and it did show that there was a market for giant monster movies, so it definitely gets points for that. IN the long run though, there is nothing special about this movie unless you must see how Godzilla ended up being in the iceberg in the first bit of “King Kong vs. Godzilla.”

[briizilla]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Pretty good review.

It's been awhile since I've seen GRA, but the review echoes what I remember. I always thought the camera speed for the fight scenes was a little odd, but by the time I saw GRA I had already seen much of the Showa series and it just seemed "off" by comparison.

[jellydonut25]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who digs the weird, wonky under-cranked monster action. It looks bizarre and gives the movie just enough of a quirky, surrealistic feel to keep me entertained here and there.

[eabaker]

[lhb412]

[eabaker]

[eabaker]

Okay, I'm about 20 minutes into Gigantis right now. I had forgotten just what a great big pile of nonsense this dubbing is.

"You think I have courage?"
"Why? Don't you?"
"You ask me that?"

"Don't talk like that; last night in the automobile, you thought you were being chased by a cow."

[jellydonut25]

Banana oil!

[eabaker]

After finding the first half hour or so entertainingly stupid, now... I can't remember the last time I was this bored by anything featuring the voice of Paul Frees. It's not holding may attention at all.

Maybe it's just easier for me to stay focused on the Japanese version because the subtitles force me to keep my eyes on the screen.

[H-Man]

I know I'm in the minority, but I really like GIGANTIS as a stupid '50s monster movie.

[lhb412]

[jellydonut25]

Well I think it was a sort of a "laziness" thing, where they just left in some of the other insanity from when they were going to make it into not a Godzilla movie before later on deciding to leave it as a Godzilla movies...

Could be wrong though.

[eabaker]

"Lazy" sums up just about everything about the Americanization of the movie, down to the syntax of the opening narration.

[briizilla]

The last 10 posts or so are all reasons why I love the American cut. It goes from simply lazy writing and morphs into something completely insane. "chased by a cow" "murderers, original plundering murderers" "as science has been able to reconstwuct it for you". The monsters roars swapping back and forth. The never ending narration. The Dr saying he'll go get the tools as if a hammer and nails are going to make any difference as his factory lies smoldering in the rubble.

It's all batshit crazy. It's like a cheesy 50s drive in movie cranked up to 11. It's wonderful.

[lhb412]

You have to wonder when watching these films if the dubbers were in on the fun (and funny) of what they were doing. Did Godzilla vs. Giagn's dub turn out amazingly funny by accident?

[Jorzilla]

I always found Raids Again boring, but with the exception of the baffling name and roar switches, I actually found myself more entertained by Gigantis. I still think this is one of the worst Godzilla movies, though.

I'll have to give it another shot. It's near the bottom of my list, and I'm about half way through re-watching the series in a machete order I created.