TALKBACK #12: Godzilla vs. Gigan

[H-Man]

I can't find the source at this moment, but the eye laser was supposed to represent a third eye. (I believe there's a religious connection, perhaps Buddhist, but I'm not certain.) Nakano decided against it some time during production.

[Russzilla]

Here's a better look at it above his eye. I don't know man. Everytime I look at that scene, that thing on his head DOES flash.

[Russzilla]

They could've done a better job hiding that guy's hand that's holding Angilas' horn before that famous blood spurt.

[Hybrid Gojira]

1) I always heard that the flash was a scrapped FX scene involving the laser. As to why it was not used, I'm not really sure. This is the first time I've read anything about the flash simply being a reflection... interesting.

2) I've never seen that hand holding Anguiirus' head. Whoops.


When I was a kid, I remember slowing some scenes down on my GvsMegalon VHS and noticing that when Megalon destroyed some jets...it was actually Gigan's claw. Oh the joys of stock footage...the scenes were so jarring even as a child...especially when it would switch from day to night scenes and back again.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

OH MY GOD HOW HAVE I MISSED THAT ALL THESE YEARS!?!

[Russzilla]

The only reason why I even saw that is because I wanted to see how they did that blood spurt in slo-mo. Imagine my surprise. Ahhh. The secrets of Toho special effects.

[Goji 84]

[Russzilla]

[H-Man]

That's because a new costume was built for MEGALON.

[Russzilla]

[MekaGojira3k]

[kiryugoji04]

[Russzilla]

Cool huh? I can't believe that it took 40 years to notice that.

[Dr Kain]

Godzilla vs Gigan: What do you get when cockroaches from outer space want to take over the Earth? You get Godzilla vs. Gigan. Yes, seriously, cockroaches from outer space.

That statement alone describes why this movie is bad as a whole. However, that is not the only reason this movie is bad, it is more for the fact that it is just a poorly made movie in everything it does. First off, the plot in and of itself is already dumb, so why not add to it by having it feature some of the most uninteresting characters found in the entire franchise. In fact, I have finished the movie not even ten minutes ago and the only character name I can give you is Shima, which belongs to the last name of the two siblings of the movie, and they are not even the main character. That is quite bad. The only positive I can say in the plot department is that I admire Toho connecting this movie to its previous entry.

Moving away from the bad plot and bland characters, even everything surrounding the monsters is not even good. For one thing, this movie does not make sense in that Ghidorah was killed in Destroy All Monsters, yet, he is present here. Some have said that this movie could take place before the events of Destroy since that was meant to be in the future, but if that were the case, why is Monster Island in existence when it was first completed in that movie? Not to mention all of the stock footage used when on the island. Of course, that is minor compared to the biggest atrocity this movie pulls off, the monsters themselves. First off, they are using the same Godzilla costume that has been in use since 1968, and it shows. The costume is deteriorating on screen as the movie unfolds. You can see pieces of the costume falling off the arms and legs in battle and the costume even has tears in it (which is probably why they had Gigan “cut” Godzilla). It just looks awful all around. Of course, that is one of three problems surrounding the monsters.

Next up is Ghidorah, who is pretty much just standing still the entire movie unless he is shown in stock footage. I did not know that Tokyo was actually in two different time zones of the world and that only some of it is night while other parts are day. I guess you learn something every day. Seriously though, they used a massive amount of stock footage from all of his previous appearances and it just looks bad. Godzilla’s costume will change sporadically as well as there are times when he is fight Ghidorah with the footage from the monster’s namesake movie, so we see the 64 Godzilla costume being attacked, only to have it move on to a scene from Destroy All Monsters, which brings us back to the same costume in this movie, but when it was fresh. There are also times when Ghidorah is fighting Godzilla, but the camera focuses on buildings being blown up by his electric ray with just sound effects signifying that the two are battling each other. This happens several times throughout the movie.

Then there is Anguirus, who just barely does more than Ghidorah when he is not shown in stock footage, as he too has a tendency to just stand there, staring into nothingness. Anguirus is so pathetic in this movie that he is actually warded off by the army. Yes, THE ARMY!!! This is like the first for any Kaiju movie. You would think the military would hold some sort of celebration for finally achieving a victory on their own.

The only praise I can give this movie is for Gigan himself. His design is extremely well done and unique. He is a cyborg, so one would think there is a great deal of backstory Toho could be telling about this monster. Instead, they chose to just keep on moving with their abhorrent plot without putting any effort into it to make the viewer care about anything going on on the screen. It is a shame because Gigan is one of the most wasted monsters ever because in the forty years he has been around, Toho has never bothered to explore this monster at all. In fact, all three of the movies he is featured him are some of the worst Godzilla movies out there, making me wonder if Gigan is cursed.

Overall, there is not much I can positive about this movie outside of Gigan, and even he is treated like a rubber doll than a monster. As such, I have no choice but to give this movie a poor rating of 3/10 stars. Maybe in the next era of Godzilla moves, Toho will finally do something to give Gigan a respectable movie with a tale to tell behind the creature’s mechanical origins.

[jellydonut25]

Bland characters...? I don't even...

[kiryugoji04]

[briizilla]

DrKain : "This movie is almost universally loved by G-fans so therefore I will heap poorly made criticism on it while twirling my hipster mustache. Meanwhile I'll tell you all how flawless the Destroyah is because it had lots of shiny lights and sparks in it. Excuse me now I need to go shop for skinny jeans"

[Dr Kain]

[briizilla]

[Dr Kain]

BTW, I'm curious. Why have you not torn apart my review of King Kong vs Godzilla that I posted the other day? Is it because I gave it a positive review?

Should I just stop even posting my reviews as each movie as I watch them? Or are you going to stop acting like a 5 year old when I post them and just accept that not everyone is fond of movies just because they grew up with them? This is why I never really bother participating in the discussions of these movies. You act like I just killed your first born whenever I say something negative about a Showa movie and say something positive about a Heisei movie. However, when I say something positive about a Showa movie, it's like I talking to the air in a desert because no one pays attention to it. Guess what? I like the Heisei series. I always have. I like most of the Showa series, always have. However, the Showa movies I do not like today are the exact same movies I did not like as a kid. That's right, imagine that. I am 31 and do not like Revenge, Megalon, Ebirah, and Hedorah, and I did not like them when I was 11 either. They just don't work for me because I find very little enjoyment out of them. Most of the time I am looking at the clock waiting for the movie to end.

[briizilla]

[jellydonut25]

[briizilla]

[MekaGojira3k]

The stock footage and the clearly less than ideal budget is part of what makes the good in vs. Gigan shine all the more brightly.