Godzilla is back, (if you are watching the Japanese Version.)

jerekra

Following the success of Godzilla (Gojira) a follow up film was made.

This time the setting is Osaka. Two fisherman pilots, Tsukioka and Kobayashi, come across Godzilla on a remote island after Kobayashi has his plane crash. Godzilla is fighting another monster on this island. Soon it is revealed that this other monster is the Angillasaurus. It is feared that this Godzilla will soon come to Osaka and lay waste to it like the previous Godzilla did to Tokyo. Soon both Godzilla and Angillasaurus come to Osaka and start a vicious battle that goes through Osaka.

Many times sequels are a complete failure. However this time a good film resulted. Godzilla Raids Again is a good follow up to Godzilla although there are a few issues with it. Godzilla gets his first battle with another monster in this film. ANgillasaurus (Anguirus) is a good first time foe for Godzilla since he is another prehistoric dinosaur. Godzilla doing battle with another dinosaur that he may have come across in previous years, great idea.

GOdzilla looks pretty much the same as he did in the first film other than his teeth. His teeth stick out a lot during some parts where they use a puppet I think. They did slim him down a little though so that he would move easier during the fighting scenes with Anguirus. Godzilla is pretty vicious at many parts where he is fighting with Anguirus, that is great though.

Anguirus is also pretty well displayed in this film. He looks good for his first appearance and unlike GOdzilla really does not change in appearance that much until Final Wars. This is definitely Anguirus's best showing in a film with Godzilla. He appears after this film on a couple occasions but this is his best performance.

THe story is pretty simple to follow. However they never really do that good of a job explaining how another Godzilla managed to just show up. It is a different Godzilla too, not just the first one re-spawned. I guess they figured the fact that he was back should not be questioned too much, especially since this is a science fiction film. Putting too much thought into these movies by the viewer is not always the best idea. So Godzilla is back and that is good, maybe a little more theory on how he got back would have been good but hey who cares? The scenes in which Godzilla and Anguirus fight through out Osaka are easily the highlight of the film. While in the first film you got to see Godzilla as a menace to society in this one you get to see him battle another monster. A great idea that would continue for the rest of the series.

Watching the American Version of this film is much different than watching the Japanese Version. The way it was altered from Japanese to American creates major differences. Here are a few.

1. The title of the film is "Gigantis the Fire Monster" rather than Godzilla Raids Again. Also Godzilla is called Gigantis through out the film rather than Godzilla. Why this happened, I don't know. Probably rights of the film sold over to the U.S. did not allow them to call the monster Godzilla. At least Anguirus keeps his name.

2. Godzilla's roar in the American Version is the same as Anguirus's roar. So you get to have two monsters fight against each other that have the same exact roar. Kind of odd, and it is also weird for Godzilla not to have his trade mark roar.

3. Several of the scenes are voiced over differently than how they were in Japan. THis usually happens in Godzilla films but in this one going from one version to another it is obvious that the dialogues are different.

A great follow up film to Godzilla King of the monsters. It is one of the better Godzilla films ever made and definitely one that impacted the rest of the series in terms of having monster fights. I strongly recommend it, but remember that the Japanese Version is the better version.

score 8/10

jerekra 31 August 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1938642/