This
month celebrates the thirty-eighth anniversary of the U.S. release of Godzilla
vs. Gigan, the last film featuring Haruo Nakajima as the G-man. (It seems a lot of stuff happened in August 1977!) Its original
title, “Earth Attack Command: Godzilla vs. Gigan”, could just as well been
named “Invasion of the Giant Cockroaches” since those are the aliens hell-bent
on destroying Earth. Their plan: summon
and control King Ghidorah and Gigan.
However, the big bugs don’t count on Godzilla who becomes aware of the
aliens and their plans.
In a
unique turn of events, Anguirus fights side by side with Godzilla to defeat the
monsters. The movie also contains
dialogue between Godzilla and Anguirus. The
original Japanese version had speech bubbles during their conversation but were
removed for the American release.
Among
the several titles this movie was released, “Godzilla on Monster Island” was
used for the U.S. distribution although only about one minute of the film takes
place on Monster Island.
As
with most G-man movies, "Godzilla vs Gigan" has a hokey plot, cheesy effects and
bad acting. However, it is head and shoulders above its predecessor "Godzilla
vs. Hedorah, the Smog Monster". OMG, what a train wreck that was.
Despite
the recycled plot, which is getting a bit rank, "Godzilla vs Gigan" is fun and true to the spirit of the
movies.
