Sneaky, nattily dressed, space cockroaches attempt to take over Earth by recruiting Ghidorah and Gigan from their secret base in the head of a life-size model of Godzilla. What more could you ask for? They are stopped by the combined forces of Godzilla, his largely ineffectual side-kick Anguirus, and a plucky Japanese cartoonist and his friends (the significance of having a cartoonist as a protagonist is revealed during the climactic battle in a scene that is silly beyond words (and hence I won't attempt to describe)). As kaiju films go, this one is pretty weak: Ghidorah, generally a great monster, arrives as a static model that is completely out of scale with his later appearances in the movie (mostly lifted from previous films) while his ally Gigan is a ridiculous looking cybernetic space bird-bat with huge rubbery-looking claws and a potbelly containing a buzz-saw. After a tedious preamble (oddly full of phallic symbolism), the movie is essentially a continuous fight with some good fiery destruction scenes marred by the monsters throwing rocks at each other. The Earth-protecting monsters seem to actually speak to one another in the dubbed version I watched (and, based on the trailer, may communicate via cartoon-style speech bubbles in the Japanese version -*shudder*). A late entry into the Showa series of Godzilla films, G vs. G continues the emphasis on pollution, rather than radiation, as a plot driver and the role of Godzilla as Our Saviour. Overall, number 12 is a weak entry into the canon but watchable to fans of the genre. A '4' amongst movies in general, a '6' in the in world of daikaiju eiga. Followed by the dire Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Twelfth Godzilla film sees yet another group of aliens once again plotting to take over the Earth, and only a comic book writer and his friends can stop them... Meanwhile, another Anguirus shows up to help Godzilla fight the aliens, who have summoned King Ghidorah and a new monster called Gigan to fight them, and destroy the humans. Only the use of a Godzilla themed amusement park(!) gives this otherwise ridiculous and tiresome film any distinction, which also uses flashback footage of battle scenes to compensate for the obvious low budget look of this film. Series really started to fall into a state of decay here, which was a shame, though kids may not mind.

Today, I watched 1972's "Godzilla vs. Gigan" for the first time in years, to mark the film's 40th anniversary."Godzilla vs. Gigan" was directed in 1972 by "Godzilla" film series regular Jun Fukuda. It was a childhood favorite of mine. Although I can't be truly sure about it, I do believe that this was probably the very first "Godzilla" movie I ever saw when I was a kid. It's the movie that made me a loyal fan of the mighty King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla.In the film, alien cockroaches from the planet Nebula Space Hunter M have arrived on Earth, assuming human form by possessing the corpses of the recently dead, with plans of world domination; they are led by "The Chairman" (Zan Fujita), a child prodigy, and his chief lieutenant Kubota (Toshiaki Nishizawa). To do this, they have enlisted the aid of the three-headed space demon King Ghidorah and the cyborg-monster Gigan. Standing in their way, are Godzilla and Anguirus, who break free of their prison on Monster Island and it climaxes with a four-way battle between the four monsters at the cockroaches' base of operations at a children's amusement park."Godzilla vs. Gigan," made during a time in Japanese film history when Toho (which has produced every single "Godzilla" film made from 1954 to the present) was going through some well-publicized financial troubles. This was almost partially because money was being diverted away from films and into television, which was becoming increasingly popular at the time and was cheaper to produce. As a result of this, Toho was forced to take short cuts whenever, wherever possible, and the "Godzilla" films made during the 1970s suffered as a result.Quite popular at the time was the trend of recycling stock footage from past "Godzilla" movies and incorporating them with newly shot scenes to give the illusion of new footage. This will work well for people who do not possess a keen eye, but observant viewers will note the recycled scenery. "Godzilla vs. Gigan" and the next film after this one, "Godzilla vs. Megalon" (1973), suffered horribly from this. It also resulted, unfortunately, in a terrible inconsistency with the portrayal of the monsters. Primary example: the fire-breathing King Ghidorah, known for its aggressive, hyper-violent nature in past films, is largely on the sidelines this time, and it's clear when the monster is being shown in stock footage and is being presented in newly shot scenes by Fukuda.However, regardless of how poorly/cheaply made the movie is, "Godzilla vs. Gigan" is still quite entertaining and is nowhere near as bad as "Godzilla vs. Megalon" would be. "Godzilla vs. Gigan" also includes a cast of "regular" Joes and Joannes, rather than the heroic scientist and soldier types common to these types of films. These characters include the "cunning but stupid" struggling comic book artist Gengo Kotaka (Hiroshi Ishikawa), his fierce and independent girlfriend Tomoko Tomeo (Yuriko Hishimi) who also happens to be a black belt in Karate, and their two associates Machiko (Tomoko Umeda) and her hippie friend Shosaku (Minoru Takashima)."Godzilla vs. Gigan" deserves to be seen by any true fan of the King of the monsters. It's a good afternoon-killer and a "Godzilla" film that no matter how many faults it has, is still pretty gosh-darn entertaining.6/10P.S.: Is the new monster Gigan one of the coolest-looking "kaiju" ever created by Toho, or what?

...and i don't regret it one bit.This is classic kid-friendly Godzilla, doing for man what man can't do for himself; fend off yet another alien invasion by interstellar miscreants with a disgusting secret.The characters are dynamic, and again kid friendly, and the actors who play them actually do a fairy decent job of it, making the film that much easier to enjoy. And, as for Gojira himself, we get to witness the more dynamic and athletic Godzilla battle yet again the aliens' secret weapons; a couple of space monsters; Gigan and King Ghidorah!Accompanying Gojira is Megaruis, a.k.a. Anzilla from "Godzilla's Revenge", but, like the well meaning best friend who comes to support his buddy, he's more monster fodder than anything else.However corny, hokey, and sometimes just plain fake the Japanese effects are, there's something really compelling about Godzilla that brings us back for more.If you're single, pop in a copy for a trip down memory lane. If you have a family, then watch it with your son and enjoy some bonding time with the king of all monsters.Enjoy!