Godzilla Raids Again
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Movie Reviews of Godzilla Raids Again
Movie Review: Satisfied
Summary: 5 Stars
I was completly satisfied with my order and the time frame promised to me!Movie Review: Explosions, destruction and a great battle between two foes
Summary: 4 Stars
In 1954, a giant monster stomped onto the streets of Tokyo. Destroying buildings and causing lots of mayhem. After meeting a terrible fate with the oxygen destroyer, the beast known as Godzilla fell. But was Japan really declared safe? And if so, for how long? In 1955, the Toho Company produced a sequel to the hit monster movie 'Gojira'. That sequel was called 'Godzilla Raids Again'. Originally released in Japan as "Godzilla's Counterattack," this is the second entry in the long running series. It's the first Godzilla movie to feature a battle between two monsters. In 1959, the film was released in the US under the title "Gigantis the Fire Monster." That was due to rights issues. Luckily, the folks over at Genius Products have given us fans the privilege of watching the movie in its original full form. If you're looking for a review on the 1959 English release of Godzilla Raids Again, then you're in the wrong place. The version of the movie I'm reviewing for you is the original Japanese cut, which is about 4 minutes longer than the American theatrical release.
In Godzilla Raids Again we follow two pilots named Tsukioka and Kobayashi. They are flying in planes to scout out schools of fish for a tuna cannery company. Kobayashi's plane malfunctions and is forced to land near Iwato Island. The island is an uninhabited strip of rocks formed by volcanic eruptions. In an attempt to save Kobayashi, Tsukioka lands his plane and finds him safe near the shore. The two pilots then face a horrible realization, as they witness a fight between two giant monsters. Tsukioka immediately recognizes one of the monsters in combat; It turns out to be Godzilla. Not the same monster that was killed, but a whole new Godzilla which bares the same looks as the one that destroyed Tokyo. The two monsters continue to fight and eventually fall into the ocean. Tsukioka and Kobayashi head back and report to the authorities in Osaka. There the two pilots were able to identify the other spiky creature as yet another monster that lived during the dinosaur era.
The monster is named "Anguirus." While doing research on Anguirus, the scientists learned that it's a monster that hates hostile creatures, which explains the intense rivalry between Anguirus and Godzilla. This is one of those Godzilla movies you may not have heard about. That's because it wasn't well received. 'Raids Again' is a rushed sequel that failed to satisfy many expectations upon its release (especially in the US). Although it is the third most-attended Godzilla film to date, it was poorly received by fans and critics alike. It was rushed to the theaters six months after the release of the first film. The movie suffered heavy editing in the United States, and was given a title change which took its focus off of Godzilla. With that said, it's pretty obvious why I found the Japanese cut to be a lot better. Although Godzilla Raids Again is not the most popular film in the franchise, I still enjoyed it for what it was. I'm not very picky when it comes to movies in this genre.
I did however find it to be a little long, which is my biggest complaint. Other than that, I found the movie to be pretty enjoyable. The American cut however is unwatchable. Don't bother wasting your time with the chopped up American version of the movie. Unless you want to see "Gigantis". For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, "Gigantis" is actually Godzilla's name in the US cut of the movie. This was to give the audience the impression that they were seeing a whole new monster. Scenes with Godzilla shooting fire was cut out, and the voice effects were changed. You can see why I'm telling you to stay away from that version. Stick to the original cut of the movie; you'll be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, what makes this movie good is the fact it's the first time we get to see Godzilla face another monster. As far as the action goes, this movie has just about everything. Explosions, destruction and a great battle between two foes.
The fight between Godzilla and Anguirus is remarkable and bloody near the end. The fight scenes are my favorite, not so much the story and pace. I personally believe that Godzilla Raids Again is almost as good as the first movie. "Almost" is the keyword, because it's still lacking in those other areas. Not to mention "Raids Again" doesn't carry the grim seriousness of the original. Still, it's a good movie that's been under looked over the years. Genius Products did a fantastic job with the re-release of Gojira. The company does another fine job here with this DVD. They've remastered the picture and sound, and added in a new featurette; plus a commentary track. In the featurette "Art of Suit Acting," you get a brief history on the actors who wore the costumes. That's as far as the features go, there really isn't much in here. The DVD isn't jam packed with extras. Still, if you're looking to expand on your collection of monster movies, then you have to pick this movie. It's definitely worth the money.
Movie Review: Rarely seen in the US, the 1st Godzilla sequel "raids again!",
Summary: 4 Stars
FILM HISTORY
This film made in 1955 is the very first sequel made to the original "Gojira" aka "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" in its US release. The film was rushed into production in order to capitalize on the popularity of the first film. In the US it was apparently released by a different film company than the first film, so the title was changed such that the word "Godzilla" didn't even appear in it! The US theatrical release title was "Gigantis the Fire Monster." The film has been released in the US under other titles over the years, such as "The Return of Godzilla" and as "Godzilla Raids Again" when it was on VHS tape. The original Japanese title was apparently, "Gojira no gyakushû" or "Gojira Strikes Again" in English.
I am a huge Godzilla fan and have been since I was a small child, and in all the years I watched these films on TV, in the theater, and on home video, I've never seen this film broadcast on television and I apparently missed it when it was available on VHS. I didn't even know it existed until I saw it listed in Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Film Guide years ago. It seems that the fact that this film was not released in the US by the same company that released the original film has doomed this one to obscurity for an extremely long time. However, this situation is now corrected with the release of the film to DVD.
FILM SYNOPSIS, PRODUCTION TRIVIA, COMMENTS
As was stated in the original Gojira, it does turn out that there are more of these monstrous creatures in the sea than just the one Godzilla that was destroyed at the end of the first film. This film is more of a typical 1950s "monster smash 'em up" picture than the original film and less of a statement on nuclear horror. This sets the tone for many Godzilla pictures to come. There were also some apparent changes to the Gojira costume for this film as well as to the focus of the story. It also began the now long-standing tradition of matching Godzilla up with other monsters as Angiurus, sometimes called Anguilas, makes his debut in this film. He's the monster that looks a bit like an ankylosaur with a touch of giant hedgehog.
This film is a fairly average entry in the Godzilla series with little of the serious dramatic metaphors for and references to nuclear war so prevalent in the original Japanese version of the first film, but kaiju completists and monster movie fans will probably want to see this film because it has been so rarely seen or available up until now. The Japanese version is coherent, fairly well-acted and enjoyable. The American version is so hilariously bad that it's hugely entertaining as unintentional comedy! The American version is filled with nonsensical dialogue that has nothing to do with the original Japanese, it's loaded with cheesy stock footage that does not appear in the original film and it's voiced-over by a narrator (Keye Luke) that NEVER stops talking. Seriously, the American producer insisted on non-stop narration that never shuts up and insists on describing things that are clearly portrayed visually in the film. It's just terrible, but funny terrible! The American version would have been a great subject for Mystery Science Theater 3000. Be sure to listen to the commentary track on the American version after watching the film once without it. It's informative and highly entertaining.
DVD INFORMATION ON CONTENT INCLUDING EXTRA FEATURES
This DVD contains both the original 1955 Japanese version of the film as well as the 1959 American release dubbed in English. George Takei (Star Trek) and Keye Luke (Charlie Chan, Gremlins) both supplied voices for the English version. The subtitles for the uncut Japanese version were newly produced for this release. Like the recent excellent 2-disc DVD release of the original Gojira, this disc has commentary and featurettes by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski.
Note that the general release date for this DVD was originally supposed to be in November 2006, but it has been pushed back till spring 2007. This information comes directly from the godzillaondvd website, which is the official website of the producers of this DVD and the only place where the DVD can be purchased until general release.
I'm giving this release 3 stars for the movie and 5 stars for the great DVD treatment for a final rating of 4 stars. Monster flick fans can celebrate now that "Godzilla Raids Again" raids again!
Movie Review: Another good movie ruined in translation
Summary: 4 Stars
It's hard to review this disk, because it contains two different movies, the original Japanese version and the version as redubbed for American release. I recommend watching the Japanese version and leaving the dubbed version to rot in silence.
There some flaws in the japanese version, due to the fact that it was made in a hurry to take advantage of the popularity of the first movie, but on the whole it is a fairly good movie, with a reasonably well developed plot. To the science fiction fan, there seems to be a lot of time spent on developements that don't have much to do with Godzilla and his foe Anguiras, but it does have a lot to do with the relationship between the two heroes, Tuskioka and Kobayashi. there is also the matter of Godzilla's teeth. As fans may know, there were actually two forms of Godzilla "costumes". One is the rubber suit with an actor inside. In this movie, the actor had actually gone to work with the maker, and the suit for this movie was actually somewhat better than the one for the first movie. The suit was capable of better range of motion and, in my opinion, slightly better proportioned.
The other "costume" was, basically, a hand puppet showing only the head and neck. Obviously, the people who designed the puppet did not see the suit. The head was a different shape and the teeth stuck out in every direction but the right one. No wonder Godzilla had such a temper! No living animal possibly eat anything with those teeth. The poor creature was starving to death!
But with all these objections, the movie was not that bad. Certainly not a classic like the first one, but good enough for an evenings entertainment.
But then somebody got up the idea of releasing an English language version, and everything went to pot. The first plan, apparently was to produce a movie with English-speaking actors and insert action scenes from the Japanese film, much as had been done with the first movie, but that plan fell through. So what they did was dub in an English narrative and english speach over the words of the actors. We know that the english speaking actors used were, in fact, very talented people because they were later to give outstanding performances (particularly George Takei), but no actor can give a good performance without a good script and the script for this show was a certified, lead plated, clunker.
You might remember that, at this time, science fiction and monster movies were mostly aimed at a teenage audience,and most teenagers were considered to have the maturity and comprehension level of a twelve year old with an IQ rating of 101. But apparently the producers did not want to deal with such a highly intellectual group. This script was aimed at ten year olds with an IQ of 90. For one thing, the narrator never stopped talking, even when there was nothing to say. For another thing what was said was totally stupid. At one point, the hero, Tsukioka, shouts "banana oil", a slang term from the 1920's, which no teenager had ever heard, and so,had no idea what it meant. Another thing that I found objectionable was the addition of a plot line which has the hero, Tsukioka, being afraid and trying to overcome his fear. The man had, according to the plot, served as a wartime combat pilot and had just performed a daring rescue of his buddy Kobayashi from an island occupied by two monsters known for the habit of burning planes out of the sky. Nobody familiar with the history of WWII would even think of accusing a Japanese combat pilot with cowardice. The whole concept was just too ignorant for words.
It is sad that the audio commentary is added only to the english version and is thus compelled to a discussion of the miserable voice-overs.
I suggest that you watch the Japanese language version with the subtitles, and leave the English dubbed version for ten year olds with IQ's below 90, though you will have to explain to them what "banana oil" means. ( the more modern term is "codswollup".)
One thing that almost makes the disk worth its price without the movie is the featurette Art Of Suit Acting. It's worth watching if only to learn who was inside those hot, stuff rubber suits.
Movie Review: Decent- if flawed- sequel to the original classic
Summary: 4 Stars
Godzilla Raids Again has a few distinctive qualities: it was the first Godzilla sequel, the first to have Godzilla fight an adversary, the first to feature a score by Masaru Sato, and the last to be filmed in black and white. Despite all this, it still suffers from sequelitis, probably due to its rushed, six-month production schedule. After the first Godzilla was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer in the previous film, a new Godzilla is discovered battling another monster called Anguirus. Unsuprisingly, the two end up duking it out in Osaka. Godzilla ends up killing Anguirus (though he somehow reappared in three or four more Showa films) and for some reason heads to an icy island, where he battles the air force.
Godzilla Raids Again suffers from a bland love triangle and tedious sequences involving how the monsters are affecting the Japanese fishing industry. Hiroshi Koizumi would go on to be a series regular and Takashi Shimura reprises his role as Dr. Yamane in a brief cameo. The action sequences are okay, but the fight between Godzilla and Anguirus looks very odd due to the cinematographer under-cranking the camera instead of over-cranking it the way he should have (Eiji Tsuburaya liked this effect and kept it in for some bizarre reason).
That being said, the film has an effectively eerie mood thanks to its creepy, atmospheric score by the brilliant Masaru Sato (who would go on to score three more Godzilla films after this), and a script that takes the subject matter seriously. While the grim, bleak tone of Honda's first film is mostly gone, Godzilla Raids Again is still a straight-faced sci-fi thriller without the camp of the later films. While Gojira was done in the style of a disaster film, Godzilla Raids Again plays like a war movie, with Japan readying itself for an inevitable attack by unstoppable enemies. The scenes with the coastal cities enforcing a blackout as Godzilla approaches are eerily effective, and bring back images of the Allies' conflict with Japan during WWII. In addition, Godzilla's climactic battle with the air force is one of the best- and most original- action sequences of the Showa era.
If you want to see this, stick with the Japanese version, as the American version has Godzilla's roars replaced with Anguirus's (seriously) and has the voice actor for Tsukioka incessantly- and infuriatingly- narrating every tiny detail in the film, right down to what he's doing on camera! The American version also adds pointless (not to mention idiotic) stock footage and replaces Masaru Sato's score with inferior stock music from Hollywood B-movies. Godzilla Raids Again isn't a classic; it's talky and obviously inferior to the original, but at the same time it stands out from the rest of the early Godzilla films because of its unusual mood and tone.