Godzilla vs Gigan * (1972, Hiroshi Ishikawa, Yuriko Hishimi, Minoru Takashima) – Classic Movie Review 5391

Godzilla [Gojira], the dinosaur with radio-active breath, pals up with spiky-backed giant Angorus [Anguirus] to save trembling Earthlings from a devilish duo of space monster invaders – metallic bird Gigan [Gaigan] and King Ghidrah, the dragon with three heads.

Director Jun Fukuda’s 1972 sci-fi monster movie Godzilla versus Gigan is quite fun to watch but really it is the pits of this much-loved Z-grade Japanese monster series, with feeble special effects and feebler attempts at comedy and cuteness. But more was still to come in director Jun Fukuda’s sequel, Godzilla vs Megalon [Gojira tai Megaro] (1973).

Ir runs 89 minutes, is made by Toho Productions, is released by Toho, is written by Shinichi Sekizawa, is shot by Kiyoshi Hasegawa, is produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, is scored by Akira Ifukube, is set designed by Yoshifumi Honda, and has special effects by Akiyoshi Nakano

It stars Hiroshi Ishikawa as Gengo Kotaka, Tomoko Umeda as Machiko Shima, Yuriko Hishimi as Tomoko Tomoe, Minoru Takashima as Shosaku Takasugi, Zan Fujita as Fumio Sudo and Toshiaki Nishizawa as Kubota, head of Children’s Land.

The original title is Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan and it is also known as Godzilla on Monster Island.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5391

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