We have now reached the 13th entry in this fantastic little side series! In the last Chronicle, we kicked off the 1970s, with THE weirdest, but also one of the best Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, aka Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster! Well buckle up, because while nothing can QUITE match that film, the weirdness of the 70s never lets up....
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| MAN, that diet has really worked wonders... |
When I first encountered this film as part of TNT's MonsterVision, specifically as one of their "Godzilla Bash" marathons, it was called Godzilla on Monster Island. Which was apparently the US title it was given when it got brought over. An odd thing, too, because while yes, Godzilla DOES appear on Monster Island (first introduced in Destroy All Monsters), that title makes it sound as if it's the focus of the story, which of course it isn't. The proper title, which I suppose is a major spoiler for the new monster in the mix, is Godzilla vs. Gigan.
My thoughts/feelings on this movie upon first seeing it then, at age 12 or 13 in the mid 90s, besides of course being excited just to SEE more Godzilla films, was kind of mixed. On the one hand, it had King Ghidorah back, who always makes a great villain, and a new addition I'd actually already seen in Gigan, due to having already owned the following movie in the series, Godzilla vs. Megalon, on VHS tape. It ALSO had Anguirus, who would go on to become my 2nd favorite Toho Daikaiju behind Godzilla himself, but I'll get more into that a bit later.
On the OTHER hand, it also had a weird ass plot, and even from my more limited experience (not having been able to see films like Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters yet), I could still tell, at least to a point, that this movie made some liberal use of stock footage from older movies. However, considering that the story basically sets up a big monster tag-team match, I'm sure that my overall experience was enjoyment.
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| Dental hygiene is very important! |
Speaking of the plot, here it is in a nutshell. This dude, Gengo Kotaka, is a manga artist. He's trying to sell his (admittedly goofy) new kaiju creations, like Mamagon the monster of strict mothers, to manga outlets. Having no luck, he instead finds himself drawing interest from another, unexpected group. The fine folks at World Children's Land, a new theme-park dedicated to "World Peace", and featuring the wonderful Godzilla Tower you can see above, claim to like his work, and want him to do designs for their park. But of course, along the way, he begins to suspect that there's more to his new employers than is readily apparent.
He bumps into a strange girl, running away from building security, and recovers a tape reel that she drops in her haste. Later encountering the girl, named Machiko Shima, again, and her goofy hippy friend Shosaku, they try to "stick him up" to get the tape back, with what turns out to be just a foil-wrapped corn on the cob, but he believes it to be a gun and faints. They take him back to (I'm assuming) Shosaku's apartment, and explain the truth to him: that Machiko's brother Takashi Shima, is an engineer who works for World Children's Land, but disappeared several days before.
This ultimately leads the trio, joined by Gengo's somewhat bossy (yet martial arts bad ass) girlfriend Tomoko, to run afoul of the WCL people, as they begin to learn too much of a developing and diabolical plot. Naturally, as became common for many of these late Showa Era Godzilla movies, the nogoodnicks are ACTUALLY aliens from outer space, this time some kind of giant cockroaches to be precise, and the Earth is just the place to be it seems, so like every OTHER no good alien in the galaxy, they want it for themselves!
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| The rumble of the century! |
The aliens' dastardly plan, leads us to the thing we REALLY care about, which is the monster fights! Their big plan, is to use "Action Plan Tapes", to guide two awful space monsters to Earth, to wreck human civilization, so that the Roach Folks can take over. Since Invasion of the Astro Monster, every Alien-Come-Lately seems to just copy Planet X's idea, to control monsters to defeat and conquer Earth. Super lazy, right? Well this time, in addition to arguably Godzilla's most fearsome foe, King Ghidorah, returning in what would be his last Showa appearance (outside of a couple Zone Fighter TV episodes), this movie introduces us to another new monster, Gigan!
While not AS interesting or unique as Hedorah the Smog Monster, Gigan is still one of the more unique Godzilla enemies. He's basically a freaky alien cyborg...thing. As you can see above, he's got metal hook things for hands and feet, and a deadly SAW-BLADE in his belly! He also had fins on his back, which allow him to fly. So already, the alien tag-team has some major advantage over our Earth Boys, because they BOTH have deadly weapons, and BOTH can fly!
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| They've got the G-Man on the ropes! |
As for the fight itself, well, referring back to the stock footage comment from earlier, Toho around this time was having some financial trouble (the entire Japanese film industry was), and so they got cheap with their Godzilla flicks, more-so than ever. For one thing, they use quite a bit of stock footage from Ghidorah and Destroy, for "monsters destroying cities" and other various scenes. Secondly, after the special effects bonanza that was Destroy, Toho changed how they filmed the Godzilla movies. Before, they would have two main film units, one to film the monster scenes, and one to film the human footage. In the 70s, they now only had one production unit to film both, and less people working on the special effects. So Ghidorah, for example, in this film is less active, less head-movement, flying, etc, because there was less crew to operate all his parts.
Outside of that fact, the battle between the two teams is actually still fairly cool. Naturally, Godzilla's side is a bit undermanned, because poor Anguirus lacks any kind of beams or weapons, outside of the his spikes. But Godzilla's power, and Anguirus' fearlessness and determination, make up the difference, and stock footage aside, it's still a hell of a show!
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| The DREAM Team! |
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| Never tell Anguirus he can't hang with the Big Boys! |
And speaking of Anguirus, I feel the need to take some time to really elucidate just why I love and appreciate him so damn much. Originally appearing as Godzilla's first monster foe all the way back in 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, Anguirus has always been the underdog. He walks on all-fours, he has no beam or major weapon attacks. He's smaller than many other monsters. And I think for me, that's part of why I love him. What Anguirus lacks in size or raw power, he makes up for in spades with a ton of heart. He's got spunk, and I like that in a monster!
His back IS covered with a shell of razor sharp protective spikes, and he has claws, teeth, and some horns he doesn't make nearly enough use of. He has major appearances in only three Showa films, Raids, Destroy, and this film. Rodan got four appearances, Mothra also got four. King Ghidorah as a VILLAIN even got four. I think that Anguirus was perfectly deserving, and wish he would have gotten one more movie. Technically, he does have cameo appearances (one of which purely stock footage), in two following 70s films, but I don't count those.
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| How can you not love this face? |
But in spite of his lack of spotlight, I still grew to love this spiky brawler. In large part because of seeing this movie, actually. I owned Raids before I saw this, but in that he's Godzilla's enemy, who eventually gets trashed, because Godzilla is the fuckin' man. But in Gigan, he gets a spotlight as not only Godzilla's friend, but even something of Godzilla's EQUAL. And I like that. He's Godzilla's "Little Buddy", the Gilligan to Godzilla's Skipper, if you will. Though not as goofy and inept.
In all seriousness though, in the world of giant monsters, I think Anguirus does genuinely get passed over a lot, and is highly underappreciated. He didn't even get a single, not even cameo appearance in the entire Hesei (80s and 90s) series! And I strongly feel that he deserves more love and respect. He's a great monster, the small dog in the fight who doesn't know he's small, and what he lacks in "Wow Factor", he makes up for with moxy, and frankly, meanness! I mean the dude bit Ghidorah's NECK and hung the hell on when his foe flew into the air, in Destroy All Monsters (a scene that gets re-used in this, by the way)! He also gets a cool move in Gigan, where he is thrown spikes first at his enemy!
All in all, Angy (as his friends call him), is one rough and tumble monster. He's a loyal friend, and (in his later appearances) a staunch defender of the Earth from all bastard alien monsters! What's not to love? If Godzilla didn't hold a permanent nostalgic place in my heart as THE man, Anguirus would honestly be my pick for favorite monster, no joke. If Godzilla is the King of the Monsters, then Anguirus is the Prince!
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| Some incredible fan art of this tag match for the ages! |
In the grand scale of things, I would not put Godzilla vs. Gigan on my personal Top 5 Godzilla Films list. But it will always have a special place in my heart, purely for the fact that it gives Anguirus such a spotlight, and gives life to the relationship between he and Godzilla, as best pals, not mortal enemies. It wouldn't be one of my top recommendations to see for people who haven't seen any classic Godzilla movies. But it IS a worthwhile watch, stock-footage and all, because it's a fun brawl, at the end of the day. In my view, the 70s, with a couple exceptions, generally was a weaker period for Showa Godzilla than the 60s were, which was the franchise's height. But it still produced some worthwhile Godzilla moments, and this is one of them. In fact, if it wasn't FOR the stock-footage overuse, I would call it one of the strongest.
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I shall return with another Godzilla piece for you all, leading up to Halloween later this year!
But for the time being, here is the
full list of Godzilla Chronicles articles, if you've missed any:
1. The Beginning
2. Gojira (aka Godzilla: King of the Monsters)
3. Godzilla Raids Again
4. King Kong vs. Godzilla
5. Mothra vs. Godzilla
6. Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster
7. Invasion of the Astro Monster (aka Godzilla vs. Monster Zero)
8. Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
9. Son of Godzilla
10. Destroy All Monsters
