Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
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Godzilla's Counterattack (1955)
Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959)
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— Japanese tagline |
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Godzilla challenged by new monster...Angilas!
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— International tagline |
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Nothing like it ever before!
The fantastic war of the giant fire monsters! |
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— American theatrical release poster taglines |
Godzilla Raids Again (ゴジラの逆襲 Gojira no Gyakushū, lit. "Godzilla's Counterattack") is a 1955 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda and written by Shigeaki Hidaka and Takeo Murata from a story by Shigeru Kayama, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced by Toho, it is the second installment in the Godzilla series as well as the Showa series. It stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura. The film was released to Japanese theaters by Toho on April 24, 1955.[1] As with the previous film, a heavily-altered English-language version was produced for release in North America, this time by Paul Schriebman. Warner Bros. released Screibman's version, Gigantis, the Fire Monster, to American theaters on May 21, 1959.
The first of many sequels to the original Godzilla, Godzilla Raids Again introduced the series' staple of pitting Godzilla against another monster, in this case the giant Ankylosaurus known as Anguirus. The film follows pilots Shoichi Tsukioka and Koji Kobayashi, who discover a second Godzilla locked in battle with Anguirus and report their story to the Japanese authorities. As Godzilla and Anguirus' battle threatens to decimate the pilots' beloved home of Osaka, the two men will play a key role in the decisive battle to save Japan from Godzilla's wrath. A seven-year hiatus in the Godzilla series followed after this film, during which Toho produced other successful kaiju films such as Rodan and Mothra, before Toho ultimately revived it in 1962 with King Kong vs. Godzilla.
Plot
Pilots Shoichi Tsukioka and Koji Kobayashi are scouting the ocean for schools of fish for Marine Fisheries Co., Ltd., located in Osaka. Suddenly, the engine for Kobayashi's plane malfunctions and he makes an emergency landing on the remote Iwato Island. Hidemi Yajima, Tsukioka's lover and the daughter of the company's owner, informs him of the situation, and he immediately flies to the island to rescue his friend. Tsukioka sees Kobayashi's plane sitting atop the water near the island, with Kobayashi himself waving at Tsukioka's plane from the island. Tsukioka lands and reunites with Kobayashi, who has only suffered a sprained wrist in the incident. The two men hear strange noises coming from the cliffs on the island, then look to find two huge monsters battling on the island. Tsukioka immediately recognizes one of the monsters as Godzilla, but cannot identify the other. The grappling monsters tumble off the island into the ocean below, after which they both disappear.
Upon returning to Osaka, Tsukioka and Kobayashi report their story to the authorities. A conference with the JSDF, several scientists including Kyohei Yamane, and the two pilots is held in Osaka, where they determine that the monster Godzilla was fighting is a creature called Anguirus. According to a report from a Polish scientist, Anguirus is a vicious dinosaur that lived during the same time as Godzilla, and harbored an intense hatred of violent creatures like Godzilla. Like Godzilla, Anguirus had been living deep underground only to be disturbed and awakened by recent nuclear testing. When asked how they can hope to stop Godzilla, Dr. Yamane shows footage recorded of the first Godzilla's raid on Tokyo the previous year, then regretfully states that there is no conceivable way to defeat this Godzilla. Yamane mentions that the first Godzilla was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, a chemical weapon invented by Daisuke Serizawa, but unfortunately Serizawa had sacrificed his life to ensure that the weapon could never be used again. Yamane offers one piece of advice: Godzilla harbors a strange instinct towards lights, possibly due to their reminding him of the hydrogen bomb that awakened him. If a blackout is enforced and flares are dropped offshore, Yamane believes Godzilla can be lured away from the mainland.
When Godzilla unexpectedly surfaces in Osaka Bay, a blackout is immediately enforced on the city as citizens are evacuated. Fighter jets fly over the bay and begin dropping flares, which successfully lure Godzilla away from the city. Meanwhile, a group of prisoners stages an escape from the truck transporting them, beginning a lengthy chase with the police across the port area. After the prisoners hijack a fuel truck, two pursuing officers get into a car driven by Tsukioka and ask him to follow the truck. Eventually, the truck flies off a ramp and crashes into a refinery, starting a raging fire that quickly consumes the port area. The fire soon draws Godzilla's attention, and he approaches Osaka once again. Anguirus also comes ashore, drawn by the same flares meant to lure Godzilla away, and resumes his battle with Godzilla. The JSDF opens fire on the battling kaiju, but their weapons have no effect as Godzilla and Anguirus begin tearing the city apart. Their battle destroys countless buildings, including the tuna cannery that Tsukioka and Kobayashi work for. Eventually, the two monsters reach Osaka Castle, which is destroyed as Godzilla tackles Anguirus into it. Godzilla then bites down onto Anguirus' neck, causing him to bleed profusely before falling down dead into the moat below. Godzilla fires his atomic breath at his foe's carcass, burning it and leaving Godzilla the victor. He leaves Osaka ablaze and in ruins.
In the aftermath of the devastation, Tsukioka and Kobayashi find the cannery in ruins. Their boss informs Kobayashi that he will be transferred to the company's Hokkaido branch while he and his daughter clean up in Osaka. After he has been working in Hokkaido for some time, Kobayashi is informed that Mr. Tajima, Hidemi, and Tsukioka will be arriving in Hokkaido soon, and meets them one night at a company party. While Tsukioka and Kobayashi are catching up, they learn that one of the company's ships has just been sunk somewhere off the coast. Knowing that Godzilla must be responsible, Tsukioka gets into his plane and begins scouring the surrounding waters, despite Hidemi's protests. Tsukioka eventually finds Godzilla coming ashore on the remote icy Kamiko Island, and alerts the JSDF. Kobayashi switches shifts with Tsukioka to keep an eye on Godzilla while he flies to a JSDF base. As the JSDF begins arriving on the island to attack Godzilla, Kobayashi notices the monster beginning to leave the island. He dive-bombs Godzilla with his plane, only to be blasted by his atomic breath and killed upon impact with the slopes of the island. As Tsukioka grieves for his friend, he notices an avalanche of ice falling from the area where Kobayashi's plane struck, giving him the idea to bury Godzilla alive under the ice. Tsukioka tells his plan to the JSDF, which begins an operation to blast the slopes of the island using fighter jets. After a few minutes, Godzilla is buried in snow and ice up to his waist, as the JASDF pilots return to base to refuel and reload.
To prevent Godzilla from escaping the island, the JSDF lines the shore of the island with gasoline barrels and lights them on fire. Soon, the fighter jets return, with Tsukioka flying one. The jets open fire on the slopes again, and although some are shot down by Godzilla's atomic breath, Tsukioka and the JASDF are successful in completely burying Godzilla alive under the ice. With the menace finally halted, Tsukioka solemnly looks to the sky and says, "Kobayashi, we buried Godzilla for you."
Staff
- Main article: Godzilla Raids Again/Credits.
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Motoyoshi Oda
- Written by Shigeaki Hidaka, Takeo Murata
- Based on a story by Shigeru Kayama
- Executive producer Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Music by Masaru Sato
- Cinematography by Seiichi Endo
- Edited by Kazuji Taira
- Production design by Teruaki Abe, Takeo Kita
- First assistant director Eiji Iwashiro
- Director of special effects Eiji Tsuburaya
- First assistant director of special effects Masakatsu Asai (uncredited)
Gigantis, the Fire Monster
- Directed by Hugo Grimaldi
- Produced by Paul Schreibman
- Associate producer Edmund Goldman
- Edited by Hugo Grimaldi
- Music edited by Rex Lipton
Cast
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Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
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Gigantis, the Fire Monster
- Keye Luke as Shoichi Tsukioka / policeman
- Aya Oyama as Hidemi Yamaji
- Marvin Miller as Koji Kobayashi / Dr. Kyohei Yamane / prologue narrator
- Paul Frees as Kohei Yamaji / Captain Terasawa / convict
- George Takei as Ikeda / Osaka SDF dispatcher
- Jane Chang as Yasuko Inoue
- James Yagi as Osaka SDF captain
German Godzilla Returns dub
- Rainer Brandt as Shoichi Tsukioka
- Gerd Duwner as Koji Kobayashi
- Margot Leonard as Hidemi Yamaji
- Konrad Wagner as Dr. Kyohei Yamane
- Wolf Martini as Captain Terasawa
- Heinz Petruo as Tajima
- Alfred Haase as Dr. Tadokoro
- Erich Poremski as Kohei Yamaji
- Lutz Moik as Shingo Shibaki
Appearances
Monsters
Miscellaneous
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Weapons, vehicles, and races
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Gallery
- Main article: Godzilla Raids Again/Gallery.
Soundtrack
- Main article: Godzilla Raids Again/Soundtrack.
Alternate titles
- Godzilla's Counterattack (literal Japanese title)
- Gigantis, the Fire Monster (United States; United Kingdom; Gigantis, el Monstruo de Fuego; Mexico)
- The Return of Godzilla (Le Retour de Godzilla; France; French Belgium; De Terugkeer van Godzilla; Dutch Belgium)
- Godzilla Returns (Godzilla kehrt zurück; West Germany)
- The King of the Monsters (Il Re dei Mostri; Italy; El Rey de los Monstruos; Spain)
- Godzilla: The Sea Monster (Godzila: Morsko čudovište; Yugoslavia)
- The Fire Monster (O Monstro de Fogo; Brazil; El monstruo de fuego; Argentina)
- Godzilla Counterattacks (Godzilla contraataca; Spanish video title; Godzilla Contra-Ataca; Brazilian Blu-ray title)
- Godzilla Strikes Again (Ο Γκοτζίλα Ξαναχτυπά, O Godzilla xanahtypa; Greece)
- Godzilla Attacks Again (Годзилла снова нападает, Godzilla snova napadayet; Soviet Union/Russia; Ґодзілла знову нападає, Godzilla znovu napadaye, Ukraine)
- The Beast That Ruined Cities (Şehirleri Mahveden Canavar; Turkey)
Theatrical releases
View all posters for the film here.
- Japan - April 24, 1955 [view poster]
- United States - May 21, 1959 [view poster]
- Canada - June 19, 1959
- France - October 1, 1957
- Italy - 1957 [view poster]
- Belgium - 1957 [view poster]
- West Germany - February 24, 1958 [view poster]
- Spain - 1958 [view poster]
- United Kingdom - April 1960[2]
- South Korea - May 17, 1960
- Mexico - June 30, 1960 [view poster]
- Australia - September 1, 1960
- Yugoslavia [view poster]
- Brazil - January 1961
Foreign releases
U.S. release
Following the sleeper hit of their localization of Godzilla, producers Edward Barison, Harry Rybnick, and Richard Kaye acquired the U.S. theatrical rights to Godzilla Raids Again. Their idea was to create a new U.S. film for AB-PT Pictures Corporation featuring the special effects and crowd sequences from Godzilla Raids Again complemented by new effects footage. Ib Melchior and Edwin Watson drafted a screenplay for the project in May 1957 entitled The Volcano Monsters, in which Godzilla and Anguirus - now a giant, female Tyrannosaurus rex and a giant Ankylosaurus, respectively - are discovered in a volcanic cave and later ravage San Francisco. In July 1957, despite Toho having shipped new Godzilla and Anguirus suits to Hollywood, AB-PT Pictures Corp. removed the film from their 1957 slate for unknown reasons and apparently moved it to the 1958 slate. The project then plunged into a year-long development hell. A further revision of the screenplay was made, dated February 1958, and the project continued to be promoted in fan magazines as an upcoming release by Melchior and Watson's agent, Forrest J Ackerman. It is unknown why The Volcano Monsters went unmade, how advanced the project's development had reached while active, when in 1958 that it was scrapped, what happened to the monster suits, or whether the group involved in the project was a consortium that included producer Paul Schreibman, who would go on to prepare a separate localization that would also disguise the film's origin as a sequel to Godzilla.
At an undetermined point in 1958, Schreibman had finished a localization entitled Gigantis, the Fire Monster. He hired Hugo Grimaldi to re-write and re-edit the film. Aside from changing Godzilla's name to "Gigantis," Grimaldi's version alters the origins of the monsters: "Gigantis" and Anguirus (spelled "Angurus" in Warner Bros.' advertising materials) are described as two related species of prehistoric fire monsters. The sound effects of the monsters were changed to reflect this, with several shots of Godzilla augmented with Anguirus' roar. For years, it was believed that the reason for these changes was that Warner Bros. did not have the rights to Godzilla's name. However, Paul Schreibman said that he changed Godzilla's name to "Gigantis" to give the audience the impression that they were seeing a new monster, believing that an original film would sell better than a sequel. He later claimed that he came to regret that decision. Additionally, nearly all of Masaru Sato's original score was replaced with library music, most of which was composed by Paul Sawtell and Bert Shefter for other science fiction or genre films, namely Kronos (1957), She Devil (1957) and The Deerslayer (1957). Herschel Burke Gilbert's score for Project Moonbase (1953) was also utilized. Significant quantities of stock footage, some of it from the propaganda film Our Enemy — The Japanese (1943) and the adventure film Unknown Island (1948), were also added into the film, most prominently in a new prologue and an expanded reel of film shown by Dr. Kyohei Yamane as he explains how "Gigantis" and Anguirus came into being.
The English dubbing, also supervised and directed by Grimaldi, was recorded at Ryder Sound Service, Inc. in Hollywood. The voice cast used largely the same talent pool as the King Brothers' earlier Americanization of Rodan, including veteran performers Keye Luke, Marvin Miller, and Paul Frees, as well as a very young George Takei of Star Trek fame. Luke was cast as Tsukioka, whose character now narrated the events of the film. In addition to voicing Kobayashi, Miller narrated a pre-credits stock footage montage detailing the perils of man's scientific progress.
After completing the Americanization of the film by the end of 1958, Schrebman had sold the theatrical rights to Warner Bros. by January 1959, and the film was released in May 1959. A dialogue transcript submitted for censorship on April 29, 1959, to the Motion Picture Division of the State Education Department of New York features numerous lines excised or shortened in the available version, as well as several other editorial differences, including the placement of the opening credits at the very start of the film. Audible cuts can be heard at points corresponding to some of these dialogue edits. The provenance of this transcribed print is unknown. As of 2024, no original 35mm release print has been examined that would confirm what indeed was seen and heard during the original theatrical release.[3] Gigantis, the Fire Monster was presented as a double feature with Teenagers from Outer Space, which Warner also purchased from Schreibman.
Gigantis, the Fire Monster did not enter standard television syndication after its theatrical run. The film remained obscure in the U.S. until its reappearance on cable TV in 1984, followed by syndicated airings and a VHS release via Video Treasures in 1989. A video-generated title card restoring Toho's English title, Godzilla Raids Again, accompanied the film in syndication in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This version was released on DVD alongside the Japanese version by Classic Media on November 7, 2006. The North American distribution rights to Godzilla Raids Again are currently held by Janus Films, who released it along with all of the other Showa Godzilla films in The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray box set titled Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 in 2019.
United Kingdom release
Eros Films brought Gigantis, the Fire Monster to UK theaters in April 1960 as part of a double feature with The Nights of Lucretia Borgia.[4] It received an A rating from the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), preventing children under 11 from seeing it unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. Sony released Godzilla Raids Again on Blu-ray in 2019 in the UK as part of the The Criterion Collection's Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975 box set. The BBFC rated the Japanese version of the film PG for "mild violence, language."[5]
West German release
Godzilla Raids Again was released in West Germany on February 24, 1958 by Donau Film.[6] Less than a minute of footage was cut.[7] Among other mistakes, the opening credits erroneously give directorial credit to production designer Teruaki Abe instead of Motoyoshi Oda. The German dubbing, recorded in Berlin by Cinelux Film GmbH, remains almost completely faithful to the original Japanese dialogue. Presumed lost for many decades, elements for the theatrical version eventually resurfaced and were used for a DVD release in contemporary Germany by Splendid Film on September 25, 2009,[8] with the dubbing later included on Splendid's Blu-Ray, released on March 28, 2014.[9] Marketing Film released the film on DVD with a newly recorded dub on July 29, 2004,[10], but after the rediscovery of the theatrical dub, it has not resurfaced on home video releases since.
Reception
Although Godzilla Raids Again performed well at the box office, the film was generally poorly received by fans and critics, who criticized it as being a rushed sequel. It is, however, notable for being the first Godzilla film to introduce the formula of Godzilla battling other monsters, which would become a staple of the franchise. In a December 1955 essay entitled Godzilla Confessions, Shigeru Kayama, writer of the scenarios for the film and its predecessor, felt that Godzilla had evolved from an allegorical symbol of Atomic Age fears into a character with "manga-like appeal", which audiences, especially youths, could laugh at or even relate to, and expressed the film and its novelization would thusly be his last involvement with the franchise. He admitted his own budding affection towards the monster, however.[11]
Video releases
DVD Toho DVD (2001)
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono)
- Subtitles: Japanese
- Special features: Audio commentary by Sadamasa Arikawa and Motoyoshi Tomioka, isolated score, massive image gallery (several thousand)
Classic Media DVD (2006)[12]
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (2.0 Mono) and English (2.0 Mono)
- Subtitles: English
- Special features: Audio commentary by Steve Ryfle (for the American version), The Art of Suit Acting featurette (14 minutes), poster slideshow
- Notes: The American version of the film has a video-generated Godzilla Raids Again title card in place of the original Gigantis, the Fire Monster title card. Reissued in 2012; both releases are out of print.
Splendid DVD (2009)[13]
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: German (1.0 Mono), Japanese (1.0 mono)
- Subtitles: German
- Special features: Trailers
TOHO Visual Entertainment Blu-ray (2014)[14]
- Region: A/1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (LPCM 2.0)
- Subtitles: Japanese
- Special features: Audio commentary by Sadamasa Arikawa and Motoyoshi Tomioka, isolated score, dispatch trailer, radio ads for Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Raids Again, image gallery (12 minutes), "Godzilla’s Creation! Yoshio Suzuki" featurette (20 minutes)
Splendid Blu-ray (2014)
- Region: B/2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0), German (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0)
- Subtitles: German, Dutch
- Special features: None
The Criterion Collection Blu-ray (2019) [Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954–1975]
- Region: A/1 or B/2
- Discs: 8
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: English
- Special features: All bonus features on Criterion's Godzilla Blu-ray, 1990 Ishiro Honda interview by Yoshimitsu Banno, interview with director Alex Cox, interviews with actors Bin Furuya and Tsugutoshi Komada, 2011 interview with critic Tadao Sato, Toho Unused Special Effects Complete Collection, trailers, illustrated hardcover book with an essay by Steve Ryfle and liner notes on each film by Ed Godziszewski[15]
- Notes: Uses a new English subtitle translation by Kerim Yasar. Sony distributed a Region B/2 version of the set in the United Kingdom.
Videos
Trailers
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Miscellaneous
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Trivia
- Godzilla Raids Again was the first Godzilla film to feature multiple monsters.
- The Godzilla suit used for this film, the GyakushuGoji, was slimmer and lighter than the previous ShodaiGoji suit used in the first film, putting less pressure on actor Haruo Nakajima and thus making every fight scene with Anguirus easier.
- The JSDF's tactic of enforcing a blackout in Osaka to protect it from Godzilla is the same tactic used by Japan at the end of World War II to protect cities from Allied bombing raids.
- Godzilla Raids Again is the only Godzilla film to date where Godzilla's dorsal fins consistently do not glow prior to him releasing his atomic breath. Later films would only occasionally not show the discharge, often by mistake.
- Godzilla Raids Again is one of only two Toho Godzilla films in which the JSDF defeats the monster at the end with existing technology rather than a fictional superweapon, along with The Return of Godzilla.
- There are no scenes in this film which feature Godzilla using his atomic breath from the full suit-view. Every time he does, the hand-operated puppet head is used. This is due to the fact that the suit's mouth could not open wide enough.
- Gigantis, the Fire Monster was distributed in the United States by Warner Bros., who would go on to distribute the films of Legendary Pictures' Monsterverse 55 years later.
- After this film's release, Toho took a seven-year hiatus from making Godzilla films. However, during these seven years they continued to make kaiju films, and introduced two of the other most recognizable monsters from the Showa era: Rodan and Mothra.
- In the Kaiju Guide for the PlayStation 3 and 4 Godzilla video game, Anguirus' bio states that he once battled a monster called "Gigantis," who has since been banished from this plane of existence, an inside joke referencing the American version of Godzilla Raids Again.
- Godzilla Raids Again is the last Godzilla film to be filmed entirely in black-and-white and in the Academy aspect ratio.
- Two shots of newspapers place the events of Godzilla Raids Again in January of 1955, possibly stretching into February.
- In the scene at the Yayoi Restaurant in Hokkaido, the song that the fishermen are singing is the Hokkaido sea shanty "Sōran Bushi" ("ソーラン節").
- Several other kaiju films since Godzilla Raids Again have used similar Japanese titles, including King Kong Escapes (キングコングの逆襲 Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū), Terror of Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラの逆襲 Mekagojira no Gyakushū), and Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (ギララの逆襲 洞爺湖サミット危機一発 Girara no Gyakushū: Tōyako Samitto Kiki Ippatsu). Additionally, the 2023 animated series Chibi Godzilla Raids Again takes its name directly from Godzilla Raids Again.
- Godzilla Raids Again was the first of four Godzilla films to have been scored by Masaru Sato.
External links
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla Raids Again. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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