Sgathaich: Godzilla Raids Again

By sgathaich0 on November 9, 2022 • ( Leave a comment )

Hmm, I’ve reviewed the original Godzilla/Gojira and his first fight against King Kong, but there was a movie between the two that I’ve not talked about.

Released less than a year after the original masterpiece that is Gojira and before the Americanized version of said original. Raids again was hurried through production to capitalize on the monumental success of Gojira (see that isn’t just a western thing). The film would later also get a re-edited Americanized release under the name Gigantis, The Fire Monster but we’re focusing on the proper version… not that it makes it any much better.

While the original dealt with the encroachment and destruction of a giant monster awoken by nuclear weapons to the point there was discussion of holding back that detail as it may create political tensions and then a scientist sacrificing himself to prevent a weapon he created from being used again because of the destruction it would cause… Raids again primarily focuses on a fishing company and their attempts to recover from the destruction caused by the giant monsters.

Yes monsters as this is the first film to introduce the idea of 2 giant monsters fighting each other, which is honestly its only claim to fame. Watching the film, I just felt unable to enjoy it as I was constantly comparing it to the more successful entries before and after.

Probably the only worthwhile scene (and more noteworthy than anything good) is the main fight between Godzilla and Angurius (who made his first appearance in this film). Its main note other than being the first real Kaiju fight is because of a mistake, rather than a slow-motion camera they accidently used a fast one so the two are moving far faster than they were meant to.

Things just kind of happen in this film to have things happen. One of the worst I found was Godzilla only got to the city as at the same time a major black out to prevent him being drawn to the city was happening, for some reason (that reason to be to get the movie to happen) a bunch of convicts were being moved who proceed to break free and they crash a truck into the power plant ruining the plan. They were never talked about before or after, the whole convict scene was there to mess up the government plan (and you would think they would have canceled moving them that day, no explanation for why they didn’t).

The ending is also considerably more underwhelming. While the original had Dr Serizawa using the oxygen destroyer to kill Godzilla while cutting his own escape line ensuring that the secrets of the weapon die with him, followed by a sombre warning about another Godzilla being awoken if nuclear tests continue… Raids again has Kobayashi (not the one with the dragon maid) crash a plane into a glacier Godzilla was under, starting an avalanche completely by accident causing the military to work to bury him under the ice.

The only reason you would watch this is to see it as part of Godzilla’s history. As a movie it’s really not that good even if you don’t compare it to the masterpiece of the original or the fun of King Kong vs. You can really see with this one WHY after the rush to get this out the next year after the original they didn’t make another Godzilla film for 7 years and instead made a bunch of other monster films with Rodan and Mothra.