Gojira no gyakushû
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
Two pilots named Shoichi Tsukioka and Koji Kobayashi are hunting for schools of fish for a tuna cannery company in Osaka. Kobayashi's plane malfunctions and is forced to land near Iwato Island, an uninhabited strip of rocks formed by volcanic eruptions. Tsukioka then looks for Kobayashi and finds him safe, with only a wrist sprain. While talking, the two men hear some strange sounds and find two monsters fighting. Tsukioka immediately recognizes one of the monsters to be Godzilla. The two monsters then fall off a cliff, into the ocean.
Tsukioka and Kobayashi report to the authorities in Osaka, and find out that the other monster Godzilla was fighting is Anguirus. A group of scientists with the two pilots research Anguirus in a book written by a Polish scientist. Godzilla and Anguirus lived around the same time millions of years ago, and there was an intense rivalry between the two monsters.
Archaeologist Kyohei Yamane, who experienced Godzilla's attack in 1954, is also present at the meeting, and shows a film (composed of clips from the 1954 film) of the original Godzilla attacking Tokyo. He confirms that this Godzilla is a second member of the same species, and that it and Anguirus were probably brought back to life by the same hydrogen bomb tests that awoke the original Godzilla. Yamane states that there is no way to kill Godzilla, and that Daisuke Serizawa, the inventor of the Oxygen Destroyer, had died and burned the formula. Yamane, though, suggests that the military should use flares on Godzilla to attract the monster away from the shore as Godzilla becomes angry when it sees lights because the hydrogen bomb's bright explosion had awakened and mutated it.
Godzilla arrives on the shore of Osaka. While a blackout of all city lights is enforced, JASDF jets are sent to shoot flares from their planes to lead Godzilla away from the shore. Godzilla sees the flames, and, as Yamane predicted, starts to leave.
Meanwhile, a prison truck transports dangerous criminals to another part of the country. All of the criminals, using body language, convey to each other that the cover of darkness caused by the city's blackout provides a great opportunity to escape from prison. The prisoners beat up the two policemen guarding them inside the truck, and run away. A few of them find a gasoline truck, and use it to escape. The truck crashes into an industrial building and starts a massive fire.
The fire, much brighter than the planes' flares, attracts Godzilla back to the shore of Osaka. A few minutes later, Anguirus swims to shore and attacks Godzilla. The two creatures fight an intense battle, while destroying several buildings, including the tuna cannery that Tsukioka and Kobayashi work for. In the course of the battle, the criminals are drowned in the subway when it is flooded by the thrashing of the two monsters. Godzilla finally bites Anguirus's neck, and throws it upside down into a moat near Osaka Castle. Godzilla then fires its atomic ray at Anguirus, burning it to death in the ruins of the famed castle.
Kobayashi is transferred to a Hokkaido plant. During a company party, Tsukioka and Hidemi, who came to visit, and Kobayashi are notified that Godzilla destroyed one of the company fishing boats. The military and Tsukioka begin a massive search for Godzilla. Tsukioka spots Godzilla swimming to the shore of a small, icy island. He notifies the cannery, and Kobayashi takes off in his plane to switch shifts with Tsukioka.
Kobayashi dives his plane towards Godzilla to distract it from walking back into the ocean. Tsukioka, who has transferred to the air force, travels on a jet with an old friend. They drop bombs on Godzilla but are unsuccessful. Godzilla then wades towards shore. Kobayashi dives towards Godzilla again but Godzilla fires its atomic ray on Kobayashi's plane. The plane then crashes on an icy mountain, killing Kobayashi.
Tsukioka is devastated but realizes that the military can shoot missiles at the mountain, and bury Godzilla in an avalanche, thereby freezing it to death. The jets fire their missiles, and bury Godzilla in snow and ice up to its midsection.
The jets return to base to reload, and Tsukioka is authorized to fly in his own jet. The jets return to the icy island, only to find that Godzilla is digging its way out of the previous avalanche. They fire a fresh round of missiles at the mountain, triggering a new avalanche, burying Godzilla up to its neck. Tsukioka then fires his own missiles, burying Godzilla completely, thereby finishing the job. The men return home and receive the homage of a grateful nation, and Tsukioka and the woman he loves are at last able to go forward with their lives in peace.

Review: Tsukioka informs scientists (including Dr. Yamane from the first "Godzilla" film) and the army about Godzilla and an unknown monster that looks like a prehistoric Ankylosaurus.
Many pilots die in the final battle against the monster, as the army tries to cause an avalanche to bury Godzilla...This is the little-known second film of the legendary Japanese Godzilla series, and the last that was filmed in black & white.
Like in the first "Godzilla", the black & white photography adds to the plausibility of the special effects, therefor they work really good most of the time.
Perhaps the real reason why "Godzilla Raids Again" is not as popular as the first film of the series is because most people are more familiar with the butchered and dubbed English version titled "Gigantis the Fire Monster".
However, when you look at that disaster of a film and compare it to Toho's original Japanese version, with no dubbing, no narration, no music or sound effect changes, you have one of the best 1950s monster movies.
It symbolizes a different kind of horror that wasn't expressed in the first film.The original 1954 classic "Godzilla" symbolized the horrors of nuclear war and the way that it can ultimately change the lives of people forever.
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.
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.
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.
When it was first proposed that this film would be released in the United States, the title was for the American version was to be called "The Volcano Monsters" and it was to be written by noted schlock master Ib Melchior, the man behind such B classics as "Reptilicus" and "The Angry Red Planet", and his partner Edwin Watson.
Tsukioka and Kobayahi leave in a hurry, but soon the two prehistoric creatures find their way back to Osaka, and bring ultimate destruction with them.This the second Godzilla movie ever made, is in black and white, and, you can believe it because it was made in the 50's and there weren't that great special effects then.
What can our heroes do to stop them?With some of the original cast but mostly new faces behind the camera this sequel to the 1954 classic lacks much of the charm of the original but still showcases special effects that were far ahead of their time.Yes compared to everything we're used to now it all looks so very silly but it's hard not to recognise and appreciate how much effort went into this.Sadly the sfx team fell a bit short and though things look great they aren't a patch on the original movie.
The subtlely is also gone and that's a real shame as a tad more may have eased the pressure for creature effects.A passable sequel and impressive for its time but pacing issues and a naff finale don't allow it to compare to it's predecessor.The Good:Way ahead of its timeSome of the original cast The Bad:Poorly pacedWeak endingSFX are inferior to the previous years effortMuted footage from first film was a bafflingly bad decisionSped up fight scenes look daftThings I Learnt From This Movie:If you add the Benny Hill music to the monsters battle it fits perfectly.
The monster battles look somewhat like Sumo matches, but the film is so action packed and full of destruction that you won't mind that bit of goofiness.
'Godzilla Raids Again' is a monster movie masterpiece and also works as a disaster film.
If you have any interest in Godzilla, Kaiju or monster movies you need to add this film to your collection!.
I remember as a kid that great feeling of checking out the listings in the new TV-Guide for monster movies and seeing something like "Godzilla Raids Again" on at 2am, where I would have to fight to stay awake.
There was such a great feeling of atmosphere when you were a kid, the lights out except for the TV, 2am, watching an old b/w monster movie trying to stay awake for the whole thing after you convinced mom to let you stay up (we certainly didn't have a VCR in the 70's).
And thanks to adding a second monster, it is another success -- the only thing more fun than Godzilla destroying Tokyo (or Osaka this time) is seeing him battle other large monsters.The English version is full of excessive narration that adds nothing, excessive stock footage that is little more than "paranoid hyperbole" to quote Steve Ryfle, and more weak attempts to Americanize the film.
Even thought it shows Godzilla's new slim look and features fast paced action and sequences, it still kind of passes as a sequel but doesn't live up to what a sequel should live up to since it takes place maybe several months or a year after Godzilla's first attack.The first Godzilla set fear into the heart of the Japanese people in the year it came out.
Godzilla was a symbol of how cruel us men were to create destruction and war along with the creation of the atom bomb, which was used against Japanese, and mutated a lizard like creature into the terrifying Godzilla (Gojira).Godzilla's Counterattack (or Godzilla Raids Again in the official English title) features not one, but two monsters created by the same origins.
The thing that irritates me about this film is that two monsters fighting and destroying a city in the process should be scary but there's no scenes that would frighten anyone.
And now, thanks to the newly released remastered original version of this film, I can still visit that world, to share its fears and hopes.Although the film lags somewhat after the destruction of Osaka (it does pick up, very neatly, towards the end), it certainly is still in the running for 'best kaiju ("giant monster") movie ever'.
It reminds us that, as far as the monsters are concerned, we humans are the puppets - and not very interesting at that.A potent mix delivering a great kaiju film.P.s.: the Japanese version is far superior..
First Godzilla sequel isn't on the level of the original film, artistically speaking, but it is entertaining as a simple monster movie.
The story this time has Godzilla (called Gigantis in the English version and explained to be a different creature from the first film) fighting with another monster called Anguirus.
The first thing that caught my eye was the presence of Takashi Shimura (Seven Samurai, Akira, Rashomon, Throne of Blood), a major character actor in Japan with over 200 screen appearances.Then, you hear the voice of George Takei, Sulu in Star Trek, in his first film.Another voice you hear is that of Marvin Miller, who I remember well in the late 50s as Michael Anthony, the man who delivered the checks on The Millionaire.This is the American version of the film, as there was no narration in the Japanese version.In this story, we have two monsters; Gigantis, closely related to the original Godzilla and a new monster named Angilas.
Godzilla Raids Again followed a year later in 1955 and features a new monster, Angurius, a porcupine-like beast and Godzilla's first foe.
With few exceptions, this would be the template for all subsequent Godzilla films.For some silly reason, when Godzilla Raids Again was released in the US in 1959, it was renamed Gigantis: The Fire Monster.
The original Japanese version and the US Gigantis: The Fire Monster (retitled back to Godzilla Raids Again, but with no other corrections) are included in this set.
After this film, Godzilla hibernated for 7 years and returned in one Toho's most famous monster battles..
Godzilla gets his first battle with another monster in this film.
Godzilla doing battle with another dinosaur that he may have come across in previous years, great idea.GOdzilla looks pretty much the same as he did in the first film other than his teeth.
The scenes in which Godzilla and Anguirus fight through out Osaka are easily the highlight of the film.
The title of the film is "Gigantis the Fire Monster" rather than Godzilla Raids Again.
THis usually happens in Godzilla films but in this one going from one version to another it is obvious that the dialogues are different.A great follow up film to Godzilla King of the monsters.
It is one of the better Godzilla films ever made and definitely one that impacted the rest of the series in terms of having monster fights.
The similarity between an atomic bombed city and a monster destroyed post-World War II Japanese city was no accident.I saw this movie at the drive in when I was eight years old, it sparked a life long love of dinosaurs for me.
Well yes, but a new Godzilla emerges, along with a second giant monster called Anguirus, who are constantly fighting each other, threatening to destroy what's left of Japan.
Ultimately Godzilla comes ashore at Osaka, followed by Angilas, and the ensuing battle destroys much of the city, despite the Japanese Defence Force's puny efforts at defence.
The subtitled Japanese version I watched (and am rating) is an enjoyable monster romp, with both creatures simply forces of destruction and man's cities just venues for their battles.
There are some weak points in the special effects (e.g. a technical error led to the monster fights being shot sped-up rather than slowed-down, much to the detriment of the scenes) and inconsistencies in the story (e.g. why use burning gasoline barrels to hem in a monster that has already waded through an immolating city and is attracted to fire?), but overall, "Godzilla Raids Again" is a fine, early entry into the long running series.
There is silly voice-over prologue about the space age (including a brief shot of Flash Gordon on his way to Mongo), a completely senseless 'origins story' (admittedly a weak point in the Japanese version as well) with stop-motion segments of "The Lost World" mixed in, the dubbing actors mix up the names of the monsters and weak idiomatic translation leads to expressions such as "Ah, banana oil!", the excellent original musical score has been mostly replaced, and in a final affront to kaiju fans (likely a rare breed in the mid-'50s), "Godzilla" is renamed "Gigantis".
If you want to view camp silliness to confirm your low opinion of Japanese suit-mation monster movies, watch "Gigantis"; however, if you want to watch a solid sequel to the iconic 1954 film "Godzilla", watch the Japanese original (with subtitles, as I did, if necessary)..
This is also the first time Godzilla fights another monster.The flaw is that there's probably too much going on in this movie.
This is the first of a seemingly infinite number of sequels to the original Japanese Godzilla movie.
Actually, I think the main fault with the film is that it tries to put it in too much as it has both the monster fight and Godzilla destroying a major city.
This film does not have the socio-political commentary of the either 'Gojira' nor the tone-downed American version 'Godzilla.' Nor does this film have the same emotional impact of it's predecessor as well.Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable and dramatic monster movie, better than most of its American cousins, although not quite as good as a Ray Harryhausen film.
Black and white is obviously kinder to the worst sort of cheap effects than color is.The actors never descend into kitsch, making the non-action scenes relatively believable and entertaining, and while this film may have some consistent flaws it is a solid follow-up to "Gojira" and enjoyable once again in a completely different way to 85% of the movies that would follow, which deliberately and knowingly became more and more ridiculous.7/10.
This isn't the best Godzilla film I've seen but it's a lot better than some of the other film For Example(Godzilla Vs Megalon).So It's Decent but nothing amazing so this is it.The movie starts off with two pilots landing on an island and discovering two monsters fighting each other Godzilla and Angrius.They fall into the sea while fighting and the pilot head back to Osaka to tell people about what they seen.The military go on a hunt to find both monsters until Godzilla appears in Osaka bay and Angrius also appear and they start fighting destroying the cities into bits from factories to buildings and the Osaka Castle.Angrius is defeated by Godzilla after biting it in the neck.and burning it into flames soon enough the two pilots go to Hokkaido for an assignment until they are notified about Godzilla destroying a ship at sea.one of the pilots goes to find Godzilla and finds him in an icy island and and comes back with the air force and they bury him in a iceberg in the end.Now the plot is simple and straight forward but pacing in this film is bad at times it feels that the movie is about 3 hours the reason I say this is because this film is focus on the characters not Godzilla or Angrius.But the sad thing is that the characters are flat and dull.hardly any development which is bad.as for the acting with hardly any development in characters what do you think?Not one memorable performance some of the actors are either a bland performance or Dead-Pan.so that's what I got to say about the actors.As for special effects it's really what saves this movie the scenes with Godzilla and Angrius are great.with their fights in Osaka and the end with the bury of Godzilla of the iceberg.as for the Godzilla suit Godzilla needs to see a dentist because his teeth are messed-up.As angrius he fares better with the spikes his crocodile snout is great so as for special effects I give a thumps-up.overall its an average Godzilla film something will see in the average Godzilla films..
Despite being a bit slow and predictable at the beginning (it's a little too much a rehash of the original Godzilla at first although Anguirus has been added to the proceedings), I felt things picked up pretty well at the end and I found myself really getting into this during the final showdown between Gigantis and our pilot heroes Kobayashi & Shoichi..
This is a direct sequel to the first "Gojira", and the first to have another giant monster for Godzilla to fight.
This isn't a review of Godzilla Raids Again, but the really poorly dubbed and edited US version called Gigantis the Fire Monster.
Since the original Big G was throughly destroyed last time, a second "Godzilla" conveniently arrives on the scene, and for some reason is given a porcupine-like crawling dinosaur called Anguirus to tussle about with.
When the big guy returned in the 60s he was in color and teamed up with some kind of other monster and they would battle like the grapplers in the WWE.These films are cheesy, but they are a lot of fun if you don't take them seriously..
Adding to this Takashi Shimra, who was so memorable in the first film (this is a direct sequel to Gojira to that point and, at least in its uncut Japanese form as I saw it, carries the serious tone for the most part), is barely in the movie, there to basically say 'yeah, you guys can't stop it.' You don't say!That said I wish I could give it a pass for a few reasons, such as the cinematography, while not on par with the work in Hondas film, is still great to look at, and I admired and was mightily entertained by the climax where the humans are able to fight back using avalanches on a snow bound mountain to take out the KIng. But by this same token the fight midway thru between Godzilla and Angirius is ironically sillier than some fights in the 60's and 70's flicks by way of the film speed and lack of much music (it sounds like a small technical complaint but trust me it's evident).
This is the first movie where Godzilla fights another monster.
This is the first movie where Godzilla fights another monster.
Generally the effects are good although it's obvious the film was made on a lower budget than the original,and the filmmakers,which were a somewhat altered team to that of the previous one,slightly lack confidence.All in all,an OK monster movie,but definitely one of the least interesting Godzilla movies.
Like a lot of early Japanese giant monster films, the Japanese and American versions of Godzilla Raids Again are almost completely different films (though not quite as different as, say, Varan the Unbelievable).
I'm still trying to understand how paleontologists could figure out dinosaur motivations.Either version of Godzilla Raids Again/Gigantis the Fire Monster is worth a watch, especially for the kaiju/50's Sci-Fi completest out there..
It is really a pretty good Godzilla film and it is THE very first Godzilla movie where the big-G fights another monster.No, the first foe is NOT King Kong, like alot of people think.
The second best Americanized Godzilla film from the original series, as far as I am concerned.
A new Godzilla, here referred to as Gigantis, is seen battling an Anguilus (later known as Anguirus and Angilas) on a remote Japanese island.
Of course, you can't judge a Godzilla film without mentioning the monster scenes, which were good here.
Instead of Gigantis attacking the city as in the first film, the monster is more concerned fighting his foe.