4. Gigan
The 1970s were a tough time for Toho. A string of bad Godzilla movies made for kids and a lack of money meant that the quality of kaiju output was minimal at best. A classic example of this is 1971’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah (or Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster), a anti-pollution movie that saw director Yoshimitsu Banno use Godzilla as a conduit for his political statement in a baffling and perplexing movie. Upon a special screening of the movie, Godzilla producer Tomoyuki Tanaka barred Banno from ever working on a Godzilla movie again. A ban that would last until the 2014 movie…
The movie was so bad in Tanaka’s eyes that he made one request – make Godzilla a bad ass again with a more adult/teenager-themed movie. The result was Godzilla vs. Gigan, a super low budget 2-on-2 film that brought back some classic characters, a great alien plot line and the creation of a new kaiju – Gigan.
A cybernetic alien creature from Nebula M, Gigan is a formidable foe for Godzilla with hook hands and a spinning buzzsaw on his chest. In Godzilla: Final Wars, Gigan would be re-designed to shoot lazers from his eye and his hook hands were replaced with chainsaws. That’s pretty bad ass.
Originally published October 27, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
