Next on the Countdown to Godzilla’s return, we have Godzilla: Raids Again. But wait, I’m
sorry, apparently that title isn’t AMERICAN enough. What I meant to call it, is Gigantis, the
Fire Monster. Don’t ask me why they changed the title to that for its American release. I
have no clue.
This is the first of many sequels in the Godzilla franchise. It was released in 1955, just a year after Gojira came out. Now, is this one going to live up to the original? Will it be as deep and meaningful? The answer is.... no. And since I’m watching and reviewing the American dubbed version, which they renamed Gigantis, the Fire Monster, I KNOW I’m in for quality.
From the first 5 seconds yes, I counted. 5 seconds you will notice the grim tone of the original is already gone. Even King of the Monsters had a little seriousness to it.
The film begins with stock footage of hydrogen bombs and rockets, while a narrator says things like “New and more deadly missiles bring in a new age of terror created by man” or something like that. It’s obvious that it’s a B movie. Let’s hope it’s a B movie done right.
The movie switches over to some guy in a plane scouting for fish, when a fellow pilot starts experiencing engine troubles, and has to make an emergency landing in a small group of uninhabited islands. The one guy goes to rescue him, but they discover two giant beasts, locked in battle. One is obviously Godzilla, and the new guy is called Anguirus. Or Angilas. His name is pronounced in different ways as the movies go on, but usually he’s referred to as Anguirus. Or the spiky guy. As for Godzilla, don’t ask me how he’s still alive. He was completely disintegrated, so maybe this one is the original’s kid, or just another one of the species. The movie never explains it.
Anyway, during their fight, they throw themselves into the ocean, and continue their battle underwater as the pilots return to Osaka. Wow, a big Japanese city with famous landmarks? Nothing bad is going to happen there. At all.
So, the pilots report what happened, and a bunch of scientists and authorities try to figure out what they saw by looking through pictures of prehistoric animals. They find both creatures in a book about dinosaurs. Apparently, both creatures were part of the Angilasaurus family, the original ‘Fire Monsters’, and they have the power to wipe out mankind, and disappeared a long time ago. But apparently the author of the book could tell the future, and he said that both creatures could come back to life due to radioactive fallout. I’d sure like to know how paleontologists figured that out from just the fossils. But this is the classic B movie logic that makes our brains hurt in a good way.
This is the first of many sequels in the Godzilla franchise. It was released in 1955, just a year after Gojira came out. Now, is this one going to live up to the original? Will it be as deep and meaningful? The answer is.... no. And since I’m watching and reviewing the American dubbed version, which they renamed Gigantis, the Fire Monster, I KNOW I’m in for quality.
From the first 5 seconds yes, I counted. 5 seconds you will notice the grim tone of the original is already gone. Even King of the Monsters had a little seriousness to it.
The film begins with stock footage of hydrogen bombs and rockets, while a narrator says things like “New and more deadly missiles bring in a new age of terror created by man” or something like that. It’s obvious that it’s a B movie. Let’s hope it’s a B movie done right.
The movie switches over to some guy in a plane scouting for fish, when a fellow pilot starts experiencing engine troubles, and has to make an emergency landing in a small group of uninhabited islands. The one guy goes to rescue him, but they discover two giant beasts, locked in battle. One is obviously Godzilla, and the new guy is called Anguirus. Or Angilas. His name is pronounced in different ways as the movies go on, but usually he’s referred to as Anguirus. Or the spiky guy. As for Godzilla, don’t ask me how he’s still alive. He was completely disintegrated, so maybe this one is the original’s kid, or just another one of the species. The movie never explains it.
Anyway, during their fight, they throw themselves into the ocean, and continue their battle underwater as the pilots return to Osaka. Wow, a big Japanese city with famous landmarks? Nothing bad is going to happen there. At all.
So, the pilots report what happened, and a bunch of scientists and authorities try to figure out what they saw by looking through pictures of prehistoric animals. They find both creatures in a book about dinosaurs. Apparently, both creatures were part of the Angilasaurus family, the original ‘Fire Monsters’, and they have the power to wipe out mankind, and disappeared a long time ago. But apparently the author of the book could tell the future, and he said that both creatures could come back to life due to radioactive fallout. I’d sure like to know how paleontologists figured that out from just the fossils. But this is the classic B movie logic that makes our brains hurt in a good way.
They got Professor Yamane back from the first movie, still played by the same guy, to give some insight on what to do. What scientific facts does he have to share with us now? An educational film that teaches us nothing, and the fact that these creatures are enraged by light, but are also attracted to it. I’m not sure how that works, but whatever.
The plan is to change the course of the kaiju by luring them away with lights. Wouldn’t the lights just make them mad, too? Mad enough to crush an entire city? Remember, this is only the second film, so it shouldn’t be to the point where we just give up on logic and go with it.
Now, with two humongous beasts headed toward your city, and all the authorities are telling you to prepare for imminent attack, and you KNOW what happened to the last city, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? The urge to go out dancing with your girlfriend, of course! It’s not like the monster will change its direction and kill every single innocent person in the city.... oh wait. That’s EXACTLY what happens.
What follows is a battle of primal carnage between Godzilla and Anguirus. I have to admit, the explosions are pretty well done. But the fight between the monsters looks a bit off. With the first film, they made Godzilla look big by using low camera angles, proper camera speeds, and accurately scaled props. Here, the biggest problem is the camera speeds. The several thousand ton kaiju are moving way too fast. It looks like they forgot to slow it down, then some parts look sped up. It would look a lot better if it was slower.
But taking it for what it is, it’s not terrible. The props are still detailed, and there are a TON of explosions, like I said. Another thing I thought was cool was how many tanks and planes there were. In the first film, they didn’t know how strong Godzilla would be, they only knew he was an irradiated dinosaur. So they underestimated him, and only sent in a few cannons and two tanks. Here, they were prepared, and unloaded all their firepower onto the kaiju. But they were so focused on killing each other to even notice the explosions, further proving how strong these things can be.
After Godzilla defeats Anguirus, He goes back to the ocean. The people aren’t as traumatized after this attack. They take it a lot better than the first one. It doesn’t have the same fear and emotion level. No scenes with people dying in the hospital, no anything the last film had. I guess you can only be scared $h!tless so many times before you get used to it.
So, after all the devastation, what do our main characters do next? Carry on with their lives and completely forget about the KAIJU THAT BURNED AN ENTIRE CITY FULL OF PEOPLE TO THE GROUND. That’s what we’d ALL do, right? And this continues on... and on.... and on, for about 15 minutes. The whole time, I was saying “Kill something.... please....”
Then, finally, they find Godzilla in some icy mountains in the arctic circle, and they decide to use this as an opportunity to attack. They send some planes to bomb him, but it doesn’t work at all. Then, the main character’s friend decides to be a hero. He’s in a scouting plane, with no guns or missiles to attack with, but he still thinks he can save the day... by flying directly towards Godzilla... then getting incinerated by his fire breath... then crashing into a mountain... and dying horribly. He sure called that one.
The military planes get the idea to bomb the mountain to cause an avalanche to bury Godzilla forever. And after a long and boring action sequence, they get the job done. The idiot who got himself killed was, somehow, regarded as a hero, and the kaiju remained stuck in the ice. Forever. No way he gets out. It’s impossible. This is the end of Godzilla, for sure. Just ignore the other 26 films featuring the name. They’re lying.
As you can tell, this is not as good as the first. The monster scenes are decent, but there’s just WAY too much screentime for the people. When the people were on screen in the first film, they weren’t too bad, and I actually cared for them. But in this movie’s case, I’m pretty sure the dubbing is part of the problem. The dubbing in King of the monsters was plain boring. Here, they put some enthusiasm into it, but it sounds like they thought they were voicing a cartoon. Especially the idiot who died at the end. He was the worst. As for the whole romance side plot, it is so stupid, and has absolutely no purpose at all. It didn’t need to be here. Again, comparing it to Gojira, the romance was a side plot, but it kinda helped in the story, and it made the characters seem interesting. But, it is still a better love story than Twilight.
The special effects could have been better, but, like I mentioned before, the camera speeds hindered its effectiveness the most. When watching, you’ll notice that the suit for Godzilla was slimmed down a lot. The first one was too heavy and hot inside, and fighting a deranged armadillo wouldn’t help the situation at all. It’s a good looking suit. Some parts were obviously hand puppets, but they were cool hand puppets. The tanks and planes were okay, the miniature sets were good, and overall, it was decent.
The soundtrack was something else this film was missing. I don’t remember any of it, and I just finished watching it before writing this. That’s a bad sign. Speaking of sound, they
spammed Anguirus’s roar like crazy. They even gave it to Godzilla. Why? I have no idea.
It’s sad, once you think about it. I feel like this film could have been really good, or maybe even just as good as the original. It had a lot of potential for it. After Godzilla left Osaka, the film touched on the fact that Godzilla could attack anywhere else. Not just another Japanese city, but anywhere that bordered the Pacific ocean. It showed Japanese cities being evacuated, the U.N. sending out the call, it was a global alert! Just this two minute scene had the potential to give off the fear that a nuclear monstrosity could attack anywhere. And just like Osaka, there could be more than one. But it was all ruined by that stupid narrator! He took away all seriousness this film could have ever offered. ALL the people did that! I’d gladly take Raymond Burr over these guys.
Overall, this is just a B movie that had great potential, but failed on all levels to deliver the same feel of the original. Decent effects, HORRIBLE human characters, lack of a good soundtrack, stupid dubbing, poor writing, and the fact that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. How could the filmmakers have compared this to the original and say “This is good”? It looks like the production was rushed. And I understand that not every kaiju movie needs to be a metaphorical and emotional type of film, and sometimes you just gotta have fun with it.... but this movie isn’t so fun at all. The only fun part is the fight between the kaiju, but that doesn’t last too long. I know I’m only reviewing the American version, but it’s not like they edited another person in here, they just dubbed over an already bad movie, although how much of the dialogue was changed, I don’t know. It has a lot of things to make fun of, making this one a movie you don't watch unless you're drunk and want to tear it apart with your friends.
FINAL RATING: 9 / 50
STORY: 1 / 5
ACTING/DUBBING: 0 / 5
CHARACTERS: 0 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 2 / 5
ACTION: 3 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 1 / 5
TONE: 0 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 2 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 0 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 0 / 5
It’s sad, once you think about it. I feel like this film could have been really good, or maybe even just as good as the original. It had a lot of potential for it. After Godzilla left Osaka, the film touched on the fact that Godzilla could attack anywhere else. Not just another Japanese city, but anywhere that bordered the Pacific ocean. It showed Japanese cities being evacuated, the U.N. sending out the call, it was a global alert! Just this two minute scene had the potential to give off the fear that a nuclear monstrosity could attack anywhere. And just like Osaka, there could be more than one. But it was all ruined by that stupid narrator! He took away all seriousness this film could have ever offered. ALL the people did that! I’d gladly take Raymond Burr over these guys.
Overall, this is just a B movie that had great potential, but failed on all levels to deliver the same feel of the original. Decent effects, HORRIBLE human characters, lack of a good soundtrack, stupid dubbing, poor writing, and the fact that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all. How could the filmmakers have compared this to the original and say “This is good”? It looks like the production was rushed. And I understand that not every kaiju movie needs to be a metaphorical and emotional type of film, and sometimes you just gotta have fun with it.... but this movie isn’t so fun at all. The only fun part is the fight between the kaiju, but that doesn’t last too long. I know I’m only reviewing the American version, but it’s not like they edited another person in here, they just dubbed over an already bad movie, although how much of the dialogue was changed, I don’t know. It has a lot of things to make fun of, making this one a movie you don't watch unless you're drunk and want to tear it apart with your friends.
FINAL RATING: 9 / 50
STORY: 1 / 5
ACTING/DUBBING: 0 / 5
CHARACTERS: 0 / 5
SPECIAL EFFECTS: 2 / 5
ACTION: 3 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 1 / 5
TONE: 0 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 2 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 0 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 0 / 5
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