Godzilla Raids Again


release year: 1955
genre: Godzilla
viewing setting: home DVD, 7/3-4/19

synopsis: Despite being killed previously, a new Godzilla appears, along with another giant monster.

impressions: This was another one which came in both Japanese and English versions. I actually watched the first ten minutes of the latter before getting ambitious and checking the DVD main menu, and sure enough, I had the option to watch the original Japanese one, with subtitles instead of dubbing. So I did. It was a different (and I suspect better) movie than the English one (for the record, the deal was that Americans set out to basically remake this and use its best footage, but it didn't work out and so instead they added some scenes and called it Gigantis, the Fire Monster.) Whatever. For this Godzilla marathon, I'm going to watch the original Japanese versions whenever possible, to get the authentic experience. Things of note: the scientists were able to read all about Anguirus in a book (!), the older scientist from the last one returned, Godzilla still looked pretty primitive and had really bad teeth, the military used flares to decoy him away, he destroyed some of Osaka. There were two battles with Anguirus - one brief one that somehow ended when they both fell into the ocean, and a second one later on that resembled a wrestling match. After Godzilla won, he just wandered away, and I thought that would be the end of the movie, but it wasn't - they had a whole bunch of human drama after that. Then Godzilla got found again, and bombed, and eventually buried in a man-caused avalanche.

number in Godzilla series: 02

previous Godzilla movie in series: Godzilla

next Godzilla movie in series: King Kong vs Godzilla

other giant monsters appearing in this one: Anguirus (basically an ankylosaurus)

total giant monster battle time: (TBD)

acting: Hiroshi Koizumi was the main scout-pilot guy, and Minoru Chiaki was his friend, also a pilot. Setsuko Wakayama was a love interest and daughter of the big boss of an industrial plant. Honestly, the human-oriented plot was somewhat confusing and boring.

final word: The first one with a giant monster battle, but still fairly weak.

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