Godzilla Vs. Gigan (1972)
Plot Summary
Aliens from space plan to conquer the world using space monsters Gigan and King Ghidrah, which they control from their secret headquarters inside the head of the Godzilla-replica building at a theme park. The only thing that can stop them is the combined efforts of Godzilla and Anguirus.
While an accurate summary of the film it leaves out the human element which i'll encapsulate quickly. Basically the story involves a bumbling "stupid but cunning" struggling comic book artist named Gengo (Hiroshi Ishikawa) who with the help of his girlfriend Tomoko (Yuriko Hishimi) lands a job working for the Children's Land amusement park to help design new monsters for them to exhibit. Thing is, these guys are more than what they seem as they're really aliens from the planet Nebula Space Hunter M. They're led by a child prodigy "Chairman" (Zan Fugita) and his lieutenant Kubota (Toshiaki Nishizawa) who aim to bring "total peace" by controlling the two space monsters mentioned above. Gengo gets caught up in web of his employers' nefarious plans after running into Machiko (Tomoko Umeda) and finding out about her brother. So with her help and the help of her hippie friend Shosaku (Minoru Takashima) they try to rescue her brother who's being held against his will and in the end help thwart the aliens' plans.
So that's the basic not too spoilery plot of the film. I have to say it's FANTASTIC to see a more traditional Godzilla movie after the gutsy but ultimately wrongheaded move they made with the previous film. This movie is a lot more in the vein of the Godzilla movies of the '60s but rather than using scientific types as the heroes they opt for everyday type people. Gengo is a well meaning but completely bumbling type of guy and his girlfriend is a knockout (here's a screencap) who just happens to be a black belt in karate. Machiko is just a simple, ordinary girl while her hippie friend is a bit of a goofball himself. The humor might seem a little forced at times but there's a good campiness to it like when Machiko and Shosaku try to get a tape that she dropped from Gengo you see Shosuko holding corn on the cob in tin foil against Gengo's back and he faints thinking that it's a gun!
The aliens are a bit played out as we've seen this story a couple times in other Godzilla movies but the acting by Nishizawa as Kubota was pretty good. You get this creepy type of guy but you can't quite put your finger on what makes him so bad and the "Chairman" is acted pretty well. They say he's a child prodigy but he isn't that young. I'd say he's 16 or so. We get the old saw of aliens relying far too much on their technology that their impenetrable base gets taken down from the inside out. They're not exactly the most original of baddies but I love the interior design of their Godzilla Tower base which is basically a huge Godzilla replica that even shoots out a laser! The interior design makes great use of mirrors and you just gotta love the sterile, overly technological look of the place when Gengo goes there for the first time.
Now the part that makes this a Godzilla flick! First off, Toho was bleeding money at this time as they were diverting their attention away from film to TV and so they took shortcuts whenever they could which meant tons of stock footage during the monster action. This is most noticeable in regards to King Ghidorah who is basically on the sidelines for most of the action. That being said Jun Fukuda integrated the stock footage with the new stuff fairly well. The new monster Gigan is pretty damn cool though. He's a metallic parrot looking monster with hooks for hands and a rotor blade stomach. This leads to a pretty bloody fight with Godzilla as he drew blood for the first time in this movie. The fight between Godzilla and Gigan was pretty damn epic as it really looked like there was no way for Godzilla to survive. It gets even worse as Godzilla gets himself straight in the crosshairs of the laser beam and is being shot at furiously almost to his death! The only thing I didn't like was that Godzilla suddenly out of nowhere, caught a second wind and he and Anguirus defeats the space monsters. Nonetheless it was a pretty good finale. I've heard that the next movie uses even more stock footage which really cripples the enjoyment of it. Time will tell what I think of it.
This movie gets a solid *** stars for the return of the traditional Godzilla style and the sense of fun it engenders.
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