Godzilla vs. Gigan (Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan) (1972) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Theatrical Trailer Gallery-Poster Trailer-Madman Trailers |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1972 | ||
Running Time | 85:37 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Jun Fukuda |
Studio
Distributor |
Toho Company Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Hiroshi Ishikawa Yuriko Hishimi Minoru Takashima Tomoko Umeda Toshiaki Nishizawa Zan Fujita Kunio Murai Gen Shimizu Kurayoshi Nakamura Kuniko Ashihara Akio Murata Noritake Saito Yasuhiko Saijo |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Dual | ||
RPI | $14.95 | Music | None Given |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (224Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Gengo (Hiroshi Ishikawa), a budding comic strip cartoonist and part time designer of monsters, seeks employment at World Children’s Land, a theme park being constructed by Director Kubota (Toshiaki Nishizawa) and Chairman Fumio (Zan Fujita), a 17 year old mathematics genius. The centrepiece of the theme park is the 50 metre high Godzilla Tower. On the way to confirm his position, Gengo quite literally bumps into Machiko (Tomoko Umeda who drops a mysterious tape. Machiko has stolen this tape from The Chairman and he wants it back. Indeed, Machiko also wants it back from Gengo and he agrees to hear her story. She tells him that her brother Takashi (Kunio Murai), an electronics expert working at Children’s Land, has disappeared. As you do, they agree to collaborate and investigate.
Infiltrating Godzilla Tower, they discovered that not only is Takashi being held captive, but that Fumio and Kubota are in reality cockroach like aliens who have adopted human “uniform” and that the mysterious tape is part of a set designed to control and unleash two space monsters, the three headed King Ghidorah and the metal bird like Gigan, upon the Earth. The second part of the plan is to activate Earth monsters Godzilla and the armadillo like Anguirus and lure them to destruction. Monster mayhem ensues. Can Gengo and his friends get to the aliens before either the Earth is trashed in the conflict, or Godzilla is lured to his death?
To give the film its full Japanese title, Chikyu kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan is actually quite fun, and a partial return to form of the Godzilla series. While again the humans are not very interesting, at least their actions have some relevance to the plot. Those fans of Godzilla who have been missing out on monster mayhem, absent in the last few entrants in the series, will get all they want in Godzilla vs. Gigan. Here we get buildings, roads and bridges trashed, petroleum tanks destroyed in a wall of fire, toy tanks and trucks incinerated, model Sabre jets smashed from the sky and a lengthy monster on monster action as Godzilla and Anguirus take on King Ghidorah (who is one of my favourite monsters) and Gigan with balls of fire, rocks, dust, smoke and explosions with the fate of the Earth in the balance. While the models and monster effects are very obvious, this actually adds to the fun.
Godzilla vs. Gigan from 1972 was a pretty low budget affair, and if some of the monster sequences look familiar they were, as many were lifted from previous films. In addition, regular Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube was not hired for the film and instead his themes, plus some stock music, were used. However, director Jun Fukuda returned to the Godzilla series after a gap of 5 years, and while we have indeed seen most of this before he knows his Godzilla, and returns to the kind of excessive monster mayhem we can all enjoy.
Godzilla vs. Gigan may not be up with the best of the Godzilla series, but amidst a number of poor 1970s efforts, at least it provides a wealth of monster action and is a lot of fun.
Godzilla vs. Gigan is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced. It is not a great print as many scenes lack sharpness; in fact, quite a few are very hazy indeed. However, the print does improve as the film continues, and in fact looks best in the monster sequences, which is a major plus, and the later night scenes. Colours look washed out in general, skin tones on the pale side. Again, the monster sequences look best. Blacks are fine and, perhaps surprisingly, the shadow detail in the few night scenes (shot day for night) are OK. There is mild grain but I did not notice any artefacts, so this is a clean print.
Lip synchronisation is occasionally off, but nothing too serious.
The English subtitles are in a clear yellow font. I did not see any obvious grammatical or spelling errors.
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Audio is a choice between Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps, Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps and English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 224 Kbps. The 5.1 is reasonable. Dialogue was clear, there is some separation but no panning effects, the surrounds are used for music and effects and the sub woofer offered very limited support. It is not particularly enveloping but is effective.
The original theatrical release was in mono so we have this track on the DVD. It sounds more strident, rendering well the creature roars and storm effects, so it is also quite effective. I actually preferred this track. The English dub sounded flat and is there if one just cannot read subtitles.
The music score features stock themes by Akira Ifukube and a very James Bondish sounding theme. Perhaps because there was no original music is does not sound as obtrusive as some Godzilla scores.
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Overall |
5 colourful Japanese film posters.
Trailers for other films from Madman. Included is Godzilla vs. Hedorah (2:13), Godzilla: Invasion of the Astro Monster (2:24) and Godzilla 2000 (1:12).
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 2 Japanese version includes an audio commentary by Special Effects Director (although not of this film) Shinji Higuchi, stills gallery, trailer and karaoke track, but neither the feature nor commentary has English subtitles. The US Region 1 disc has only Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio tracks and a trailer. Region 4 is the best choice for English speakers
Godzilla vs. Gigan may not be up with the best of the Godzilla series, but amidst a number of poor 1970s efforts, at least it provides a wealth of monster action and is a lot of fun. The film is presented on a DVD with reasonable video, good audio and minimal extras.
Godzilla vs Gigan is included in the Madman 6 disc box set Godzilla Showa Classics Volume 2 along with Godzilla: All Monsters Attack (1969), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975). For a RPI of $49.95 this set is a fabulous way to stay in touch with “the original monster of mass destruction”.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony BDP-S350, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 42inch Hi-Def LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
Amplification | NAD T737 |
Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |