TALKBACK #12: Godzilla vs. Gigan

[Benjamin Haines]

^ Very interesting. For a title change like that to occur so late, I guess maybe they took a look at what they had during post-production and realized that King Ghidorah really took a back seat to Gigan in the film. Or maybe they just thought a new monster's name would be more marketable/enticing to kids.

[Russzilla]

^ Very interesting. For a title change like that to occur so late, I guess maybe they took a look at what they had during post-production and realized that King Ghidorah really took a back seat to Gigan in the film. Or maybe they just thought a new monster's name would be more marketable/enticing to kids.

I'd go with that second idea. Especially considering King Ghidorah had been in three previous movies. (With one of them titled after him)

[H-Man]

Was that picture taken at the end of filming or during it? It doesn't really make sense to take a huge cast and crew photo any other time but after production has wrapped, but the date on the plaque is 11/2/1971 (Showa 46). That seems like a long way off from the premiere date March 12, 1972. Surely there couldn't have been that much post-production to do.

[MekaGojira3k]

Well regardless of post-production weren't all of the Godzilla films lined up spring releases? Maybe they just finished the film earlier but stuck with the March release schedule.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Well regardless of post-production weren't all of the Godzilla films lined up spring releases? Maybe they just finished the film earlier but stuck with the March release schedule.

This is the most likely scenario, as according to the Godzilla: Champion Matsuri (Festival) Perfection book, it was released intended for the Spring Champion Matsuri of 1972 (3/12/72).

Speaking of this book and GvsGigan, it has a fascinating new info regarding the two "Lost Project" scripts that eventually evolved into GvsGigan, Godzilla vs the Space Monsters: Earth Defense Directive and The Return of King Ghidorah

Basically, we've heard about these two unused scripts numerous times over the years (GvsSpace Monsters pitting G, Anguirus, and Maijin Tuol against KG, Gigan, and Megalon with Miko the giant space brain controlling them; and The Return of KG, which was very similar to the eventual GvsGigan film that we received, but pitting Godzilla, Rodan, and Varan vs KG, Gigan, and Mogu). However, this book clearly shows yet "another" unused idea titled "Godzilla vs Gigan: The Return of King Ghidorah, but this time pitting Godzilla, Anguirus, and Mothra vs KG, Gigan, and Megalon





For those who read katakana, you can clearly see the kaiju names in this proposed synopsis...

[klen7]

I hadn't heard of that before. I believe the Godzilla Encyclopedia's covered the other two. here's some artist interpretation from those books

GvsSpace Monsters pitting G, Anguirus, and Maijin Tuol against KG, Gigan, and Megalon with Miko the giant space brain controlling them

The Return of KG, which was very similar to the eventual GvsGigan film that we received, but pitting Godzilla, Rodan, and Varan vs KG, Gigan, and Mogu

[MekaGojira3k]

Neat stuff. I especially love that Megalon was an idea/name being thrown around that early.

[king_ghidorah]

Need to rewatch this again. This movie flips a lot in my ratings because the strongest parts of it have nothing to do with the kaiju stuff. The last time I tried to watch this I was very entertained for the human stuff, and kind of just nodded off when the kaiju bits started to happen.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Here are some random, interesting behind the scenes photos of the two lovely main ladies(Tomoko Umeda and Yuriko Hishimi) from GvsGigan:

[Jared]

I love this cheap little movie. The first half features some of the series' most entertaining characters with a creative comic-book effect, and the second is just pure-out monster spectacle, no holds barred. A lot of stock material abounds, for better (Ifukube) or for worse (stock footage used in extremely poor taste). Regardless, it isn't difficult to assume that the people who made GODZILLA VS. GIGAN had a hell of a time doing it.

[EricDent]

I watched this earlier via the recent Blu-Ray release from Kraken Releasing.
While it looks a lot better than I remember it ever did, I kinda wonder why there were no song subtitles for the ending song (and yes I tried all the sub options).

Does anybody know who actually drew all that manga style art?
It looks very similar in style to Speed Racer.

[MrShape666]

I always get a kick out of the fact that the theme park the cockroach guys are building looks pretty lame. If you look at it, it looks like it wouldn't take more then an hour or two to see everything. Of course, they're main plan was world domination, not competing with Disneyland, so it makes a certain kind of sense.

[battrafan]

I hadn't heard of that before. I believe the Godzilla Encyclopedia's covered the other two. here's some artist interpretation from those books

GvsSpace Monsters pitting G, Anguirus, and Maijin Tuol against KG, Gigan, and Megalon with Miko the giant space brain controlling them

The Return of KG, which was very similar to the eventual GvsGigan film that we received, but pitting Godzilla, Rodan, and Varan vs KG, Gigan, and Mogu

Mogu kind of reminds me of Dagahra.