The first sequel to Gojira (1954) was a rushed affair intended to cash in on its predecessor’s success, and it shows; the film is an altogether smaller, less powerful, and ultimately less important piece of film-making. However, with the introduction of Anguirus, and the staging of the newcomer’s vicious battle with Godzilla, Godzilla’s Counterattack bestowed upon subsequent kaiju eiga a most blessed gift: the concept of the monster smackdown.
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We also take a look at the tortuous journey by which Godzilla’s Counterattack became Gigantis, The Fire Monster.
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#1 by DamonD on October 5, 2009 - 6:48 am
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Good thorough review, very fair to the film.
Particular cheers for the excellently balanced overview of the Godzilla series at the end. No doubts the original Godzilla remains the dramatic peak, but that’s not to say later installments didn’t deliver the entertainment (or drama) on their own terms as well. It’s great to see that attitude rather than the ‘everything after Showa doesn’t count’ or ‘everything after Mothra vs Godzilla doesn’t count’ camps.
Backing away from the gibbering American narrator was also a nice mental image.
#2 by Blake on October 5, 2009 - 7:26 am
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Excellent review, Liz. “Gigantis” actually grew on me as the years passed, to be honest. I think of it as the American B-movie Godzilla flick (stock footage, SCIENCE!) and I love the bit about the book. Frankly, I think the stock music fares better than Sato’s score (in this case).
#3 by Blake on October 5, 2009 - 9:04 am
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So Liz, in addition to the other films on your list, when you decide to tackle Toho films again, are you going to jump to Godzilla vs. Mothra, or will you confront the wonder that is Rodan and the mediocrity that is Daikaiju Baran first?
#4 by lyzard on October 5, 2009 - 8:01 pm
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Thank you, gentlemen. I love even bad monster movies, so I don’t have too much trouble keeping a sense of proportion here. Gojira is a case apart, and it isn’t really fair to hold the later films up to that standard.
Blake, Blake, Blake… Surely you are familiar enough by now with my anal-ity not to have to ask THAT question!
#5 by supersonic on October 5, 2009 - 9:23 pm
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Nice review. As far as I can tell, anyway, as this movie is in my “you haven’t seen that?” shameful lacunae pile.
#6 by DaveC on October 6, 2009 - 12:18 pm
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Excellent and funny review,Lyz!
I need to see this one now. I think that you’ve hit on something about the casualty rates in this one. Just guessing, but we may be seeing an assertion of the Japanese Warrior as a “modern” Samurai, protector instead of warlord and abuser, and Kobayashi’s heroic sacrifice in counterpoint to the utter waste and tragedy of the Kamikaze.
#7 by Blake on October 6, 2009 - 1:03 pm
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Hmm…So I expect to read about how emotional an experience you found the finale to Rodan.
#8 by The Mud Puppy on October 6, 2009 - 1:25 pm
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“…and the adorable prehistoric mud puppy.”
Aww, you made me blush. Seriously, it’s like you wrote that just for me.
I do love this movie in its original form, honestly. The character scenes are rather dreadful, but I love the monster sequences. In fact, the military vs. Godzilla scene may be a bit of a letdown compared to the destruction of Osaka, but I love how well-orchestrated the sequence is. The fact that Godzilla’s mournful wail from the end of the first movie is reproduced is also a nice touch.
Amusingly, there’s an almost identical scene in Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, only there we’re clearly supposed to be rooting for Godzilla and not the planes.
#9 by lyzard on October 6, 2009 - 3:50 pm
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I was thinking of you, Pup!
One of the things I’m looking forward to is charting the shift in attitude towards Godzilla over the course of the series. I do love Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster for its tired, cranky monsters, and its guilty humans conclusion. “Godzilla, Godzilla! Get off the island!”
Dave – you might be right about that. It also occurs to me belatedly that although it was successful, Gojira was heavily criticised for its war imagery, so the careful avoidance of human casualties in this film (in production while the criticism was being made) might have been a nervous reaction.
Blake – you expect correctly. 🙂
#10 by DaveC on October 6, 2009 - 4:16 pm
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You’re probably right RE: why this film backed away from casualties,Lyz. I’ve long been interested though, in Japanese post-war attitudes towards their military.
Even though Japan as a whole seems extremely anti-war, they do enjoy fantastic military imagery. Flying battleships, gleaming jet fighters, heroic sacrifice-images often found in kaiju movies(and anime). Not that I don’t love that kind of thing myself! 🙂 But Japan demonstrates more self-loathing for their own military then any country I can think of, and the contrasts interest me.
#11 by lyzard on October 6, 2009 - 4:43 pm
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But there is a definite shift in attitude towards the armed forces throughout these movies, running in parallel with the shift in attitude towards Godzilla.
Maybe you and I can make that journey together? 🙂
#12 by DaveC on October 6, 2009 - 4:54 pm
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I’ll be here Lyz! 🙂 I love your reviews, and being able to discuss them with you on the Comments thread is a great treat!
I don’t remember which movie it is, but there was a Godzilla movie I saw as a child with F-104s (perhaps better known from the Classic Star Trek “Tomorrow Is Yesterday”) rolling in to attack-I was instantly in love! Yes, I’m another that subscribes to the Romantic “Knights of the Air” notion of Fighter Pilots, and *any* monster movie with jet fighters peaks my interest! 🙂
Your review of Rodan will rock, I’m sure!
#13 by Blake on October 6, 2009 - 5:41 pm
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Dang Lyz, now I feel like foregoing the usual chopsockey and posting some reviews of Rodan and Godzilla Raids Again at my site (those being some of the few kaiju eiga I have with me over here)…maybe for Thanksgiving.
#14 by The Rev. D.D. on October 6, 2009 - 6:38 pm
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Man, that was a great way to start a Monday…a Ms. Kingsley kaiju eiga review.
It occurs to me this is one of the few I’ve not seen in the original format. I need to track down that ClassicMedia release of this (they did one, right?) and change that. I shouldn’t be surprised that the original is better, but I’m surprised by how much better it sounds in your review.
Despite the overcranking, it really does have some of the most brutal monster fighting ever. Very intense; I remember being shocked by it the first time I watched it. It was one of the last of the Showa series I saw, and was a far cry from the rest in that regard, although Son of Godzilla had its moments…
*wonders how Ms. Kingsley reacted to that one Kamakiras’ fate*
Looking forward to the future reviews. I’m betting the Rodan one will be excellent.
#15 by B. Wood on October 6, 2009 - 7:09 pm
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Yep, Classic Media did a nice release for this one. Kinda dissapointed they didn’t get to do King Kong Vs Godzilla though. This also sticks in my mind with the fight, as it really is two wild animals trying to kill each other. Then again this was easily the first fight in a Kaiju Eiga, so they had to work out the formula. I am definitly waiting for more reviews of the the Toho classics, specially Rodan and Mothra.
#16 by lyzard on October 6, 2009 - 8:00 pm
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Am I a sick person for thinking of Godzilla’s Counterattack as the Friday The 13th Part 2 of kaiju eiga? 🙂 Probably! – but you know what I mean: it’s the one that’s interesting because they hadn’t quite figured out the formula.
#17 by DamonD on October 7, 2009 - 4:38 am
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“I do love Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster for its tired, cranky monster”
Ha! Yeah, Godzilla does seem in a pretty grumpy mood in that one. Mind you, in Mothra vs Godzilla (’64) he seems positively drunk.
Watch that one, as Godzilla revives from being face-down in the dirt and staggers about the place for the rest of the film, and try to convince me that the big G hadn’t been chugging back the sake for weeks and is experiencing the Hangover From Hell throughout the movie.
Even when he’s fighting Mothra, it just screams ‘drunk guy swatting around at the imaginary bugs’.
#18 by The Rev. D.D. on October 7, 2009 - 11:28 am
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If Damon’s plan was to get us all to immediately drop what we were doing and (re)watch Mothra vs. Godzilla in light of his opinion….well, mission accomplished.
In at least one case.
Oh, don’t look at me like that. I need no reason to rewatch a Godzilla movie….actually giving me one is like ringing the bell in front of Pavlov’s dogs.
#19 by The Mud Puppy on October 7, 2009 - 11:35 am
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I need no reason to rewatch Mothra vs. Godzilla. It’s my absolute favorite Godzilla movie. I love everything about it.
Except maybe for that weird turtle puppet…
#20 by B. Wood on October 7, 2009 - 9:35 pm
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I do wish that someone would get the DVD rights for Godzilla 1985 (Pentagon personel love their Dr. Pepper) and Godzilla Vs Biollante (Best non singing monster flower ever). I’m not sure how much longer my old VHS tapes are going to last.
#21 by DaveC on October 7, 2009 - 11:16 pm
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Add me to the list for Godzilla 1985 on DVD. I thought Vs. Biollante was on DVD though?
I can’t wait for Lyz to review Final Wars! Yes, I know. But still! Don Frye commanding the Gotengo! Godzilla humiliating Dean and Emmerich’s disgraceful creation! Mutants! Silly dialogue! Even Gorasu! It’s Destroy All Monsters on Red Bull! 🙂
#22 by DamonD on October 8, 2009 - 4:10 am
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I’ll say this for Final Wars – it certainly has its flaws, but there’s something touchingly sweet after all those years about Akira Takarada and Kumi Mizuno running around with laser guns to save the world.
vs Biollante is available on Region 3 DVD, subtitled…not a perfect solution, but good enough considering there’s no US or Euro DVD. Godzilla 1985 still not, although The Return of Godzilla (the 1984 Japanese original) is also on Region 3 DVD like vs Biollante.
#23 by JigerX on October 9, 2009 - 1:16 pm
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Longtime Lyzard reader, firsttime comment. Very glad to see kaiju Kingsley; I’ve never seen “Counterattack” and now I want to. Looking forward to “Rodan” and hopefully more.
I’d love someday to see Kingsley on Quatermass, especially “Q and the Pit”, the only one I own at the moment.
Thought for the day: I believe one of the shadings of the original Gojira was that G is not just a living embodiment of the bomb but a symbol of Nature’s reaction to technology pushed too far (I know, Frankenstein all over again, but I still); I think the deliberate destruction of the Oxygen Destroyer technology dovetails in with that. I believe the change in the attitude towards Godzilla seen in later installments was already inherent in the original.
#24 by lyzard on October 9, 2009 - 4:21 pm
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Welcome, JigerX! The first film certainly considers Godzilla as a victim of technology, as well as a consequence of it; so yes, there was room to turn him into an anti-hero – even if “Heroic Defender Of Earth” may have seemed a bit of a stretch, at the time. 🙂
As for the Quatermass films, I assure you they’re on my You Know, I Really Have To Get Around To That Someday list…
#25 by Read MacGuirtose on October 19, 2009 - 1:29 pm
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Huh… just read the review (two weeks late, I know; I fell behind again on keeping up with the B-Masters reviews), and there was one thing I kept expecting in the review and was surprised not to see. No comment on the bizarre characterization of the heavily armored, herbivorous Ankylosaurus as a “fast-moving, carnivorous creature”?
(Then again, I guess possibly you just figured that was too obvious to merit mention… or that since the Anguiras was basically an Ankylosaurus in name only anyway, the nature of the real Ankylosaurus wasn’t really relevant… ?)
#26 by lyzard on October 19, 2009 - 3:44 pm
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“…I guess possibly you just figured that was too obvious to merit mention…”
Pretty much. 🙂 I mean, when they start out by telling us that ankylosaurs were 200 feet long…
#27 by DaveC on October 19, 2009 - 3:49 pm
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“Pretty much. I mean, when they start out by telling us that ankylosaurs were 200 feet long…”
You mean they weren’t? 🙂
#28 by Read MacGuirtose on October 19, 2009 - 6:38 pm
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Yeah, I thought that might be it. Like I said, I was expecting throughout the review some comment on the matter… but I guess some inaccuracies are just so blatant that explicitly pointing them out would be superfluous.
#29 by B. Wood on October 19, 2009 - 8:25 pm
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Seems that Vs Biollante may be getting a Blu-Ray release. Too bad I don’t have a Blu-Ray player.
Ah Final Wars. It’s a bad movie in all the right ways.
#30 by DaveC on October 19, 2009 - 8:28 pm
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I don’t have a Blu-Ray either-but thanks for the info! 🙂
Yeah, “Final Wars” is just too fun.
“Godzilla! It’s over! You must forgive!”
“GAH-RAHHH-AH!”
“Stupid lizard.” 🙂