Godzilla vs. Gigan
a.k.a. Godzilla on Monster Island
Release Date: 12th March, 1972
New Monster: Gigan
Description: A green-skinned, metal-beaked bird cyclops with hooks for hands and a buzzsaw tummy. Perhaps a robot. Maybe a cyborg.
Origin: Travels through space in a blue crystal, able to be summoned by evil aliens.
Destruction: Beaten up by Godzilla and Anguirus, and flies away.
Actor(s): Haruo Nakajima (Godzilla), Koetsu Omiya (Anguirus), Kenpachiro Satsuma (Gigan), Kanta Ina (King Ghidorah)
Ancillary Monsters: Anguirus, King Ghidorah
King Ghidorah, that well-known three-headed golden dragon, is most certainly the supervillain of this universe. Although he seems to do as much damage as Godzilla or any other monster, when he appears, it is a grave sign of oncoming destruction. Godzilla is the main hero, but King Ghidorah is his archenemy. By now, the moral alignment of the monsters is now pretty clear to us: All of the monsters living on Monster Island (Godzilla, Anguirus, Mothra, etc.) are all benevolent creatures now, happy to stay out of humanity’s hair, and occasionally have rowdy tussles out on their island paradise. When a new monster appears, Godzilla leads a charge against it. If they are good monsters, they will eventually move onto Monster Island. If they are bad, they will flee. King Ghidorah has been the only outright evil monster so far, but in this film, he will be given a compatriot in Gigan.
Gigan is part bird, part lizard, part Swiss army knife. It’s hard to tell what the cinematic inventors of Gigan were thinking when they designed him. Most of the previous monsters seem to have some sort of zoological or mythological origin. Giant moth, I get. Golden dragon, I’m on board. Giant nuclear whale gorilla, I’m there. But a half metal bird cyborg thing? What the heck is that? I guess its alien nature stresses that it is evil. Indeed, the more organic or animal a kaiju is, the more sympathetic it is. If it’s metal or inorganic or magical in some way, then it is clearly evil. Well, until King Caesar shows up in two films. That’s a magical good guy.
Lord, I can’t believe I’m talking like this.
The story for Godzilla vs. Gigan is pretty fun. A cartoonist (Hiroshi Ishikawa) unwittingly becomes embroiled in the plot of the pretty Tomoko (Yuriko Hishimi), who has been investigating malfeasance in the local amusement park. A big corporation has been building the world’s first Godzilla theme park (makes sense I guess), complete with a life-size Godzilla tower. While they are only building rides and educational centers, Tomoko believes they are up to no good, as her brother disappeared. More intrepid investigation, more missing siblings. These are common themes in Godzilla movies. Our heroes eventually discover that the CEO of the company (Toshiaki Nishizawa) is way smarter than he ought to be, and seems to be tinkering with technologies that no human has ever touched… Hm…
No prizes for guessing that he is working on a monster-summoning beacon that can call King Ghidorah and Gigan out of their space pods. King Ghidorah may or may not be actually evil, but he is certainly under the control of evil forces a lot of the time. Gigan, however, is just an asshole. You will get a prize, however, if you can guess that the CEO of Children’s Land is actually a wicked malevolent cockroach in disguise. Yes, the evil monsters are under the control of wicked giant cockroaches from space. They kidnap our heroes (who almost immediately escape), and use their beacon to summon King Ghidorah and Gigan. Luckily, Godzilla and Anguirus sense what’s going on, and arrive just in time to do battle with the two monsters, and with the life-size Godzilla tower, which can shoot powerful lasers.
Gigan is the new monster, but feels more like a sidekick than a new threat. Although he can cut open Godzilla and Anguirus with its razors; I think this is the first time we’ve seen Godzilla’s blood. Godzilla puts Gigan into a full nelson, and Anguirus stabs him repeatedly with his spiny back. The two evil monsters fly away, and Godzilla blows up his statue. Only room for one Godzilla ’round these parts, cockroach bitches.
Godzilla vs. Gigan is childish, but fun and solid. As I have said in previous weeks, these films are more pleasant the more they feel like nine-year-olds wrote them.
A moment of silence. This is the last time that Godzilla regular Haruo Nakajima will play our title monster. Playing Godzilla must have been a dream job, despite the long hours and heavy rubber monster suits. The man is a hero in the genre world, and more people should know his name.
But let’s get to a sucky one…
