Talkback Thread #12: Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

[edgaguirus]

Does anyone recall the unmade film Godzilla Vs Redmoon, which was supposed to come out the same year as this one? Well since Tsupro was set to co-produce said film with Toho, a deal of which didn't pass, imagine if they were kind enough to support Toho with this movie instead?

We probably wouldn't have had as much stock footage which is a plus. I love this movie but it's one blemish is the rather slapdash use of old footage, specifically the GTTHM fight scenes poorly tinted to look like nighttime shots.

That brief scene that shows Mothra randomly at the scene is probably the worst offender, huh?

Don't forget about Gaira.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Soooo...

I saw this article in the news:
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/j ... index.html

(unfortunately it's being destroyed)

I looked at the building, and thought, where have I seen that before?

According to this article, it appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakagin_Capsule_Tower

Does it? I forget, but it's interesting to think how the latter Showa Series (Gamera too!) includes a lot of unique architecture.

[shadowgigan]

Soooo...

I saw this article in the news:
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/j ... index.html

(unfortunately it's being destroyed)

I looked at the building, and thought, where have I seen that before?

According to this article, it appeared in Godzilla vs. Gigan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakagin_Capsule_Tower

Does it? I forget, but it's interesting to think how the latter Showa Series (Gamera too!) includes a lot of unique architecture.

Really interesting post. I love architecture so I'll have to keep an eye out the next time I watch it. I do vaguely recall seeing this building before. Not sure where else it would come from.

[edgaguirus]

That building immediately reminded me of G vs Gigan. Too bad it's being demolished.

[canofhumdingers]

As far as I know, the actual building is not in the film. However, one of the miniature buildings smashed by the monsters was clearly based on it. It was surprisingly hard to find an image of it online, but I finally found a lobby card that features it in the upper right.



Added in 6 minutes 58 seconds:
Of course HBOMax wouldn’t let me screenshot it on my iPad, but you can see Godzilla and Gigan demolish it at 1 hour 21 minutes on that copy (or I’m sure a very similar time stamp for any other copy of the film).

[Gailah 1966]

So happy 50th anniversary to this great Toho classic.
Voted on rank 4 of the greatest Kaiju-Movies of all time, this classic has it all. The biggest fight in Kaiju-history, an interessting story, nice characters and a god-level soundtrack to be remembered forever!
Still in love with Godzilla vs Gigan (1972)

[LegendZilla]

I know I went over this before, but if Toho co-produce this movie with TsuPro, It would've turned out better, but still bellow average. Realistically, they probably would've hired an original composer for the music, though it likely wouldn't have been Ifukube since he had seemingly been actively avoiding Godzilla at this point. Likely they would've been able to have Kunio Miyauchi do a whole new soundtrack. Also, they could've made a new suit for each monster and reduced the stock footage by at least a quarter.

If this really had been the case, it would've been a more successful film and maybe, just maybe Tsupro would've done the same with the following film. As a result, Megalon would've been better received and the Showa era would've lasted a bit longer. I can dream right?

[Terasawa]

The Champion Festival films weren't produced on shoestring budgets because Toho (later on, Toho Eizo) didn't have the money to spend; they were produced so cheaply because spending anymore would have lost the company money. The audiences for these movies had almost totally evaporated and it was only because Tanaka decided to cut corners wherever possible that we even got six more Godzilla movies after DAM. Adding another production company to the equation doesn't necessarily mitigate the cost of production (especially since Toho was Tsuburaya's parent company in 1971 when this movie was produced), and it might just as well have meant both Toho Eizo and TPC failing to break even.

Note that the two Mechagodzilla movies were visibly bigger productions than Gigan and Megalon, and those were the last two Godzilla movies for a decade. Even when Tanaka was able to put more money into production, the audiences didn't grow (and in ToMG's case, it shrank to an all-time low) and the series died a quick death.

[Legion1979]

One thing I really love about this movie are the stock music choices. Instead of just using familiar fukube music from just Godzilla films, they dig a little deeper and pick tracks from movies such as Battle in Outer Space, Atragon, Frankenstein Conquers the World, King Kong Escapes and more obscure films the average Godzilla fan has never even heard of (quick, what's the motif over the Toho logo from?)

And it's not just iconic stuff like the Battle in Outer Space main title march. The human drama is filled with all these minor bits and pieces of music that are harder to place unless your much more familiar with Toho's 60s catalogue of science fiction films. And all of it fits.

[StardustGenius]

I don't think Vs Gigan is a "good" film, but it's a film I find fun and enjoyable. One of the better choices was indeed the music selection. It feels "natural" despite it being reuses from the library. I do wonder what a Kunio Miyauchi scored Vs Gigan would have sounded like. I think tonaly it would have been different than All Monsters Attack. Richiro Manabe's scores for the Toho Draculas are very different than the one in vs Megalon. They were kinda closer to what vs Hedorah was like, but way creepier.

[edgaguirus]

Did anyone notice the bridge near the theme park? It looks just like the one seen in G3HM; The one that Ghidorah knocks Godzilla into.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Did anyone notice the bridge near the theme park? It looks just like the one seen in G3HM; The one that Ghidorah knocks Godzilla into.

I assume you're not reffering to the stock footage. Could you leave me a timestamp?

I agree with Legion, I love the music. I watched this last thursday for Godzilla day, right before the Gigan short aired. As always, I loved it, but I think I really do take issue with how long the final battle goes on. I love all the build up, and characters, but it just gets thrown away for a stock-footage heavy battle that drags on way too long. All the individual scenes of the fight are awesome (Gigan brutalizing Godzilla, Gigan's buzzsaw use, Angurius leaping backwards), but the way it just keeps going makes the film drag.

Also, I never noticed this until now, but it's interesting that the Space M Hunters aren't the actual aliens from the polluted planet, but the vermin/bugs from there.

[edgaguirus]

It's not the stock footage. The bridge is in the background, and I think it occurred before the G3HM stock footage of its destruction, but I can't find the time stamp for you.

[LegendZilla]

Fun fact : I learned a bit of trivia from Big Action Bill's latest video on his history of each Godzilla film series. Gigan was meant to have fur in the place of the Ghidorah-esque scales. However, they didn't have the budget so they used actual used Ghidorah scales.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Fun fact : I learned a bit of trivia from Big Action Bill's latest video on his history of each Godzilla film series. Gigan was meant to have fur in the place of the Ghidorah-esque scales. However, they didn't have the budget so they used actual used Ghidorah scales.

No, according to the All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book Gigan was originally supposed to have feathers, which would keep in line with his bird-like appearance. However, according to that book, they wound up using spare, or same mold, Ghidorah scales they already had. I don't think there's anything about budget involved. Concept art of Gigan backs up that it wasn't fur, and it would've probably always looked the same. Golden feathers/scales pointing down is a very minor detail.

[LegendZilla]

^Its not THAT much of a difference. Fluff is fluff.

[Legion1979]

^Its not THAT much of a difference. Fluff is fluff.

It's still a difference. And since more people (sadly) are going to watch a YouTube then look up information in a book, this is how misinformation spreads.

[StardustGenius]

AND it isn't like this information is brand new. Wikizilla covered that with their Gigan video last year, saying their intention was to use FEATHERS. Trust Wikizilla, at least they cite their sources.

[edgaguirus]

Fun fact : I learned a bit of trivia from Big Action Bill's latest video on his history of each Godzilla film series. Gigan was meant to have fur in the place of the Ghidorah-esque scales. However, they didn't have the budget so they used actual used Ghidorah scales.

No, according to the All Toho Monsters Pictorial Book Gigan was originally supposed to have feathers, which would keep in line with his bird-like appearance. However, according to that book, they wound up using spare, or same mold, Ghidorah scales they already had. I don't think there's anything about budget involved. Concept art of Gigan backs up that it wasn't fur, and it would've probably always looked the same. Golden feathers/scales pointing down is a very minor detail.

So, Toho scaled down his bird look.

[Follinollante]

'Kay, just watched this one last night (English version).
Honestly, I wasn't super thrilled. The plot was painfully shallow (foreshadowing vs. Megalon all too well), and the characters are, once again, pretty worthless—with, of course, the sole exception of Mr. "corn on the cob eatin' hippie." Naturally, the JP version is probably better in these respects, but I wouldn't know that just yet.
On the kaiju side of things, Godzilla looks like absolute crap. What the actual fuck is that suit? (On that note, how many suits does Anguirus have here, and why?) Ghidorah and Gigan look pretty great, though Anguirus is a little all over the place in my eyes. The kaiju action was likewise rather spotty, with some cool moments (Godzilla's head getting split, Anguirus getting sawed, Ghidorah getting slammed) that even seemed to work their way into some of the video games years later. The rest of the action is rather lethargic and janky, with dust clouds and explosions constantly bombarding your vision. Realistic, maybe, but it doesn't make for good viewing.
In the end... I could honestly give this one a pass. My warped brain enjoyed Megalon way more than Gigan.

-EDIT-

Forgot to mention the music. It's Akira Ifukube, so... yeah. It's good.