Gojira no Gyakushû |
Japan • 1955 • 82m •
  • Directed by: Motoyoshi Oda. • Starring: Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura, Masao Shimizu, Seijirô Onda, Sônosuke Sawamura, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Mayuri Mokushô, Minosuke Yamada, Yukio Kasama, Senkichi Ômura, Ren Yamamoto. • Music by: Masaru Satô.      Koji Kobayashi, a spotter for a Japanese fishing fleet crash lands his plane on a barren island. His best friend, Shoichi Tsukioka, manages to find him and lands his plane next to his so he can be rescued. The two pilots are shocked when they see two giant monsters waging war before falling into the ocean. The two pilots race back to Japan to inform the government what they saw. Soon the world comes to the realization, that a monster closely related to the original Godzilla is on the loose as well as a new monster named Angilas. Soon, the two monsters arrive in Osaka where they resume their battle.
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Review:
The original 1954 classic "Godzilla" symbolized the horrors of nuclear war and the way that it can ultimately change the lives of people forever. "Godzilla Raids Again" focuses on a different perspective. It symbolizes the struggles of people still trying to adapt to life after a war and recover and try to resume their normal lives again. Godzilla and his very first opponent, Anguirus, are like weapons of war. They strike, cause enormous damage, leave ruins, and the people have to rebuild and try to get back on line again, until the weapons of war come back to attack them again. And the people still live in fear of the atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons, for they have brought back more horrors from the past and continue to bring them upon the world. While "Godzilla Raids Again" is nowhere near as powerful and allegorical as the first film, it is still one of my favorite Godzilla films. But once again, only in its uncut and undubbed print.
The English language version of the film is just another example of why you should never tamper with somebody else's film. It is an example among other Godzilla films and also Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West", in which the American distributors cut the film down until it wasn't as compelling. When "Godzilla Raids Again" was distributed, they tore the film apart and changed it all. The most horrendous dubbing of any Godzilla film was put in, there was a lot of narration that ruined the original feeling of the film's atmosphere. But what was worst of all, they changed the monsters themselves. Godzilla's name was changed to Gigantis, his dark, chilling roar was changed to Anguirus' roar most of the time. A lot of the great sound effects of the monsters as they fought in Osaka were replaced, as was Masaru Sato's original music score. It was replaced with stock B-music and for what reason, I do not know why. A lot of other sound effects were changed as well. In the original print, Godzilla's death ray creates a loud, destructive kind of sound. But in the dubbed version, for reasons unknown, it was replaced with a wispy sound effect, like a leak in a hose.
Ignoring the existence of "Gigantis the Fire Monster", the special effects used in "Godzilla Raids Again" are very fine for the age. Unfortunately, they weren't as good as the Japanese Academy Award-winning effects presented in the first Godzilla film. At times, Godzilla's head and neck seemed too slender and the hand-operated puppet used in the close ups is just plain not good-looking. However, the suits used for Godzilla and Anguirus in their epic, realistic battle in Osaka looked fantastic! And what I loved most about this battle, is that it was a traditional, physical fight. The monsters bite, claw, and slam each other like real animals. Unlike in the future, when the monsters would mostly just bump into each other and fight with "beam wars". Godzilla's death ray is more like a last resort kind of weapon, something he uses when he's got a sense of victory, and spends the rest of his time biting and clawing at Anguirus, who performs the same actions. And unlike in the English version, the monsters don't continuously roar at each other, they mostly growl and snarl when fighting and roar once they have a brief stand-off every now and again.
But still, "Godzilla Raids Again", while it's an amazing monster film, has its flaws. Mostly, it's the fact that the monsters of the film do not have a whole lot to do with the story. In fact, Anguirus screen time ends after the first third of the movie is over. Maybe, he could have been used a bit longer for a more effective first appearance into the series. Godzilla himself, while the main plot point of the story, doesn't get as much screen time and scenes as he should get. The storyline just strays from him after the battle for too long and he doesn't really get anything else until the ending of the film.
But that doesn't mean a whole lot. Yes, "Godzilla Raids Again" is not the most action-packed Godzilla film there is. But it is, in its original version, one of the best monster movies there is. It presents a great symbolic message and should be examined by everybody for this reason. It is a dark compelling film, not as great as the first Godzilla film, but definitely one of the best.
Review by TheUnknown837-1 from the Internet Movie Database.
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May 7 2016, 19:26
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