G Movies

Gamera , Guardian of the Universe

Director Kaneko revamps the old Gamera series into something hugely entertaining. Gamera and Gyaos are the products of a lost civilization, and they've both been awakened in the present day. Great special effects and a good story.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

An alien insect with a complicated life-cycle lands in Japan and gives Gamera no end of trouble. In some ways this film is an improvement over Gamera, Guardian of the Universe, with a plot more rooted in the sci-fi films of the 1950s than Japanese fantasy. The final form of Legion makes a good opponent for our favorite turtle.

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris

The Gamera trilogy comes to an incredible conclusion as Gamera takes on another monster born of ancient super-science. This one, Iris, is controlled by a young girl who lost her family in one of Gamera's earlier rampages. There's an early scene, in which Gamera fights two Gyaos in a heavily populated city, that must be seen to be believed. The ending may be one of the frustrating ever given to a genre film.

Gamera Super Monster

Gamera vs. stock footage! Yes, rather than film any new Gamera footage, a bunch of his old fights were edited into a movie about some female superheroes trying to stop a space pirate.

This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV, but rarely seen. The TV version cut perhaps the most interesting bits for viewers today, some brief scenes where Gamera "met" the Space Cruiser Yamato and Galaxy Express 999.

Gamera vs. Barugon

Gamera returns from space, just in time to fight Barugon, a giant chameleon who hatches from an opal. This is probably the last time the original Gamera movies even pretended to be entertainment for anything but the smallest children. However, the gory monster violence on display here would only get worse in later films. This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV by AIP.

Gamera vs. Guillon

More or less a remake of the previous film in the Gamera series, Gamera vs. Viras. Two young children (again, one Japanese and one Caucasian) are kidnapped by a flying saucer and taken to a planet directly opposite the Earth on the other side of the sun. Gamera follows and battles the monster Guillon, who is employed by the two inhabitants of the planet to protect them.

We've seen three different versions of this movie. Neptune Video has released excellent uncut subtitles and dubbed versions on VHS. The AIP TV version has been released on DVD, though it has some violence cut from the bizarre scene where Guiron carves up a Space Gyaos. The movie was also seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Gamera vs. Gyaos

In the third Gamera movie, our favorite giant turtle takes on flying monster that shoots a powerful cutting beam from its mouth and can spray fire retardant gas from its chest. Of course there's a little kid and Gamera saves him. Also, humanity shows much more creativity in trying to dispose of Gyaos than in practically any other giant monster film. This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV by AIP.

Gamera vs. Jiger

The Gamera series continues to wind down with this, the cheap sixth entry. Gamera fights Jiger, a mystical creature who attacks a world's fair held in Japan. This movie is mostly noteworthy for the sequence in which some children travel inside Gamera, Fantastic Voyage style. This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV by AIP.

Gamera vs. Viras

The fourth Gamera movie, this is the point in the series where the budgets start to decline drastically. There's a fifteen minute stretch which is nothing but stock footage from the previous two movies, and some of the city destruction is from the original Giant Monster Gamera tinted to match the surrounding color footage as well as possible. Aliens who travel around in spaceships that look like yellow and black striped beach balls decide to take over earth, but they first they have to neutralize Gamera. Luckily for the planet two Japanese boy scouts (one Asian, one Caucasian) are on the case, and stymie the aliens at every turn. At the end the aliens combine into one huge monster called Viras. This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV by AIP. It's now available on DVD as a double feature with Gamera vs. Guillon.

Gamera vs. Zigra

Gamera's original adventures ended with this stinker about Gamera and some kids foiling an invasion of Earth by an alien shark. Lots of filler shot in a Japanese version of Sea World. This movie was dubbed for U.S. TV. It has been released on video in both Japanese and English by Neptune video. The movie was also seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Gappa - The Triphibian Monsters

A poor imitation of Godzilla, Gamera, and Gorgo. The natives of Obelisk Island worship a giant monster, because when you're stuck on an island with a monster, it's not like you have a choice. Unfortunately, some outsiders come and muck things up by stealing the monster's baby. Will the mama monster come to kick the crap out of Japan? What do you think?

Substandard costumes, effects, and acting ruined what could have been perfectly good fun. Skip it and watch another Godzilla movie instead.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Gargantua

A FOX TV movie about a marine biologist who finds a family of giant bipedal salamanders living near a Pacific island. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the movie is that the main characters keep finding larger and larger salamanders, culminating in the adult male, which is about 60 feet tall. Beyond that, the movie skimps in every department, especially city destruction. When one of the monsters come ashore it doesn't so much knock down buildings as knock over marines with rocket launchers who accidently fire them as a result. There's also a cute little mini-salamander for the kiddies.

Garuda

Subway excavations under Bangkok unearth an ancient bird-man from Thai mythology, which then goes on a killing spree. Killing the beast falls to a special group of soldiers trained to fight "spirits" and a pretty young archeologist. (Aren't they all?) In a flashback we also see the soldiers fight a naga, or giant snake.

Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster

King Ghidorah falls to earth and can only be opposed by three already established monsters: Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan. This sprawling story has destruction, huge battles, and lots of spy intrigue. It also has a hilarious real-sounding-but-made-up country called Selgina and conversation between the various monsters, who can understand each other's roars.

Ghostbusters

Although the film mainly focused on paranormal critters of roughly human size, Ghostbusters did feature the unforgettable appearance of a 112-foot tall Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The jolly sailor took a stroll in Manhattan's Central Park West and crushed the roof of a church before the Ghostbusters toasted him with their proton accelerators. Break out the graham crackers and chocolate bars.

Giant Behemoth, The

Pity London. New York got The Beast from 20,000 Fatmoms, but London got stuck with this stop-motion animated dud. A radioactive dinosaur attacks some ships, then takes a couple of strolls around England's capital. Just his walking by can burns soldiers to a crisp, so long as somebody remembers to to do a negative effect to the film. The stop-motion effects were done by Willis O'Brien, but clearly there was no budget.

Giant Claw, The

B-movie experts agree: the giant space buzzard in The Giant Claw is quite possibly the worst-looking monster ever committed to film. A production so completely on the cheap, we're surprised they actually hired actors at all, much less b-movie luminaries like Mara "Tarantula" Corday and Morris Ankrum, whose career playing military officers lasted longer than most actual military careers. We suppose this movie could be fun at a party, if things get slow. Make sure everyone has a drink, though.

Review: And You Call Yourself A Scientist!

Giant From the Unknown

Archaeologists comb a small town in California, searching for the remains of a legendary conquistador from ancient times. They get more than they bargained for when it turns out that the conquistador is not only alive and well (suspended animation, natch), but also responsible for a string of recent livestock mutilations. Widely regarded as director Cunha's best film. Not that that's saying much.

Review: Jabootu's Bad Movie Dimension.

Giant Gila Monster, The

Come for the giant monster, stay for the swingin' tunes! A small New Mexico town is terrorized by a giant gila monster, whose existence goes completely unnoticed until it raids the local hoedown. (He was probably drawn by multiple performances of that treacly "Laugh Children Laugh" song our hero loves so much.) The tagline for this film was: "Only hell could breed such an enormous beast. Only God could destroy it!" Apparently God's destructive vehicle of choice is a hotrod loaded with nitroglycerine.

Giant Monster Gamera

When Daiei Studios saw how much money Godzilla was making for Toho, they created their own franchise with a giant fire-breathing turtle named Gamera. This first film in the series is straightforward, with borrowings from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and some of the early Godzilla films particularly obvious. The main innovation Giant Monster Gamera added was that a kid named Toshio was a main character, leading to a tradition of short-pants wearing kids who would plague giant monster movies for years to come. The special effects are okay, but not up to the same standards as the Godzilla movies of the same time. The American version cut some scenes and added 24 minutes of footage with English speaking actors. Both versions are available on video from Neptune. The movie was also seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo

In this comedy characters in a rural village hear about giant monsters attacking Tokyo from the news. No giant monsters actually appear.

Giant Spider Invasion, The

The Skipper - er, Sheriff (Alan Hale Jr) and friends fend off, well, an invasion of giant spiders. Of course, they're only invading Wisconsin, so you can be forgiven for not caring all that much. An interesting wrinkle in the plot is that the spider eggs are apparently composed of diamonds, which causes the populace to behave a wee bit irrationally, even in the face of humongous, slavering death-monsters.

Godzilla

Godzilla is given the big budget treatment, courtesy of the guys who made Independence Day. An iguana is irradiated by radiation, then attacks New York City. Easily the best special effects of any Godzilla movie, shame about the script.

Godzilla , King of the Monsters

The legend of Godzilla starts here. A mysterious monster is destroying ships and island villiages in the Pacific Ocean. A Japanese island and his freinds investigate, and soon find out that a giant aquatic dinosaur is heading for Tokyo. The monster, named Godzilla after an old legend, arrives in Tokyo Bay and begins making nightly raids into the city. All military might is useless, but there may be a scientist who has an invention that can save Japan. Moody, and meticulously made, Godzilla set the bar for all monster movies that followed. And there were a lot.

Versions: The American version deleted quite a lot of material and inserted copious footage of Raymond Burr pretending to talk to the original Japanese actors. This cut is widely available in the US. The original Japanese cut may be found at Video Daikaiju.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo, Barry's Temple of Godzilla.

Godzilla , Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

It's a giant monster jamboree! In this new continuity Godzilla attacks Japan after leaving the island alone for nearly fifty years. His reappearance triggers the return of Japan's guardians; Mothra, Baragon and Ghidorah!

Despite bringing some of the most vibrant incarnations of the classic Godzilla monsters to the screen, director Shusuke Kaneko was unable to give the same life to this series as he did to Gamera in the 1990s. Although the "mystical guardians" element puts an interesting spin on the old characters, it makes one wonder if Kaneko has any other plot ideas. We can see the reasons for casting Godzilla as the villain, but after so many years of rooting for him, it feels kind of weird.

Still, GMK features some of the scariest Godzilla moments we've seen in a long time (especially the kitchen sequence), and some of the slickest giant monster battles yet. Definitely worth watching.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla 1985

Godzilla's big comeback movie after the demise of the original series of films is unfortunately irrepressibly boring. After a thirty year absence Godzilla returns, stomps through Tokyo, and is opposed by Japanese super science, represented mainly by the flying saucer Super-X. The robotic monster used in some shots had some innovative animatronics, but ultimately the human element of the story was too slow to please audiences. The fact that Godzilla spends half the film unconscious doesn't help. As with the original movie, scenes with a (much larger) Raymond Burr were added after the fact for American audiences. The film also took some criticism for its blatant product placements for Dr. Pepper cola.

Godzilla 2000

Godzilla returns! Too bad the movie doesn't get good until the last few scenes. Godzilla is a constant threat to Japan, so much so that people make their living tracking him. When a UFO found on the ocean bottom is exposed to sunlight it coes to life and heads straight for Godzilla. Soon Japan has to deal with the twin threat of a pissed off monster and an enigmatic alien craft. The climax is a fight between Godzilla and Orga, the monster the UFO evolves into.

Versions: There are an American and Japanese version of this film, both available on DVD.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo, Barry's Temple of Godzilla.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

After a new Godzilla attacks Japan the Japanese government builds a giant robot Godzilla to contain the threat. For some reason they build the robot's control system with Godzilla DNA recovered from the original monster, with predictably disastrous results. The monster action in this movie is fast and furious, but the humans are deadly boring.

Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth

Toho resurrected their second most popular monster in what was their most successful Heisei film. An archeologist is hired by a heartless tycoon to go to a remote island and find a lost civilization. He succeeds, though the whole civilization consists of a giant insect and two six inch tall psychic twins. Then an evil version of Mothra called Batra makes the scene. A fun movie, though so much is going on that Godzilla is pushed into the background.

Godzilla Raids Again

In his second outing Godzilla fights another giant dinosaur, this one called Anguirus. This movie started the trend of pitting Godzilla against other giant monsters, but otherwise it isn't an improvement over Godzilla, King of the Monsters.

Godzilla vs. Biollante

For the first movie in 15 years where Godzilla fights another monster his opponent is... a giant rose?! A scientist crosses Godzilla's cells with that of a flower bush and, as you might expect, the resulting crime against nature is possessed by the scientist's dead daughter and grows to gigantic proportions. It sounds silly, but this movie is pretty somber in tone and has some good monster action. Biollante is an inspired design in both her incarnations.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah

This movie was promoted as the death of Godzilla, which it technically is. But you didn't really think Toho would just give up the beloved series, right?

A new monster, Destroyah, is spawned from prehistoric mites mutated by the oxygen destroyer that killed Godzilla back in 1954. (No explanation is given as to whether the current Godzilla is a different monster, or if he survived somehow.) The new monster attacks Japan at the same time Godzilla is building towards a nuculear meltdown from the energy he contains. In some ways this movie is a fitting conclusion to the series, with some great effects and monster fights. But the ending sets up a new series of films that never came.

Godzilla vs. Gigan

For the umpteenth time aliens try to take over Earth, but this time they try to do it with an amusement park with a tower in the shape of Godzilla. This fails. So they go to their backup plan, which is Gigan and King Ghidorah. Meanwhile on Monster Island, Godzilla talks Anguirus into heading to Japan and kicking the two space monsters' butts.

The human element of this film is particularly poor, as it presents us with a cartoonist as the hero, includes some atrocious acting, and forces us to endure even more atrocious wardrobe. The monster action isn't bad, exactly, but by this movie the Godzilla suit in question had been through three outings and pieces of it fly off during some of the battles. Another cause of some disappointment is the fact that most of Ghidorah's scenes are compiled of stock footage from other movies.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah

From this film's opening minutes, which feature the wacky '60s theme song, "Save the Earth," you just know you're not in for a normal sort of Godzilla movie. The storytelling methods here border on hallucinogenic, but the movie does include everybody's favorite short-pantsed hero Kenny. This is one of Kenny's finer moments, as he not only predicts the movements of Godzilla, but also directs a scientist in his work to destroy Hedorah, a monster whose job is apparently to spread pollution across the planet. Not looked upon kindly by Godzilla purists, it features scenes of Godzilla flying under his own power, an environmentalist cartoon, and some bizarre split-screen techniques.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla and King Ghidorah are both given revamped origin in this, their first solo match. People from the future come back to the present day, saying they want to "uncreate" Godzilla. They take a journalist back to WWII to find the dinosaur that will be Godzilla and move him out of the way of the atomic bomb that will mutate him into an monster. But it's a double-cross, and the future people actually create King Ghidorah to subjugate Japan in the present. Luckily, Godzilla was created anyway, bigger and meaner.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

If you have fond memories of watching Godzilla movies on tv on Saturday afternoons, then Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is probably one of the films you saw. Released in the States in 1977 with an awful English dub, this movie is the stuff of which surrealistic memories are made. With the ridiculous story, hokey props, bizarre special effects, and the surprise bonus monsters hidden inside, we almost reached Godzilla Heaven with this tape in our VCR.

Part spy flick, part alien invasion movie, part Godzilla film, Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is all about style over substance. The dialogue is ridiculous, the plot too laughable to mention, and the acting is way over the top. But it's almost guaranteed to fascinate anyone who walks into the room during a screening.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II

The Heisei Godzilla never featured aliens, so this version of Mechagodzilla was built by the japanese to defend their country against the nearly constant attacks of Godzilla. Also in this film are a new version of Rodan, and Baby Godzilla, another member of Godzilla's species that would feature in the next two films.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus

Godzilla lore diverges into yet another alternate version of G-history. When Japan starts testing a new form of "clean energy" to power its cities, Godzilla shows up to trample it from existence. The special corps of Godzilla fighters (code named G-Grasper, probably the worst name for an anti-Godzilla team yet) decide to retaliate by hiring a few crackpots to create a weapon that can (get this) shoot artificial black holes. What could go wrong with that plan?

When G-Grasper tests this weapon, however, they open a portal to a dimension inhabited by giant beasty insect things, which promptly escape into the sewer system and begin to breed by the thousands. Before you can say "super size me," the insects (called Meganuron in an apparent nod to Rodan), attack Godzilla, and then combine to become Megaguirus. Much ass-kicking takes place, some of which recalls the sillier kaiju antics of films like Godzilla vs Monster Zero or Godzilla vs Gigan. This isn't exactly Godzilla's finest hour, but it's a passable waste of time for G-fans looking for their next fix.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. Megalon

Godzilla vs. Megalon has many of the hallmarks of the Godzilla series: a goofy monster against whom Godzilla must fight, a little boy whom we'll call Kenny, and the gullible adults who take little Kenny so seriously that they actually believe his half-baked theories about Godzilla's motives. Unfortunately, it also has the ridiculous Jet Jaguar, an Ultraman-like robot who can not only turn his own artificial intelligence on and off, but can also "program himself in some way to increase in size."

Even that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the film's underwhelming production values and the fact that it plays out like a toy commercial. Oh yeah, there's some plot or another about the Seatopians, who want to wipe out we surface dwellers, but you'll probably be distracted by the googly-eyed Godzilla suit, which keeps changing shape during footage from the previous film, Godzilla vs Gigan. Let this be one of the last Godzilla movies you watch, so you can hug yourself and think of happier times, when Godzilla movies were something you enjoyed.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero

Aliens offer to help us with our monster problems by taking Godzilla and Rodan to their planet to fight King Ghidorah. The twist is pretty easy to predict these days, of course. The aliens are lying and soon all three monsters, under alien control, are trashing Japan.

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero is pretty silly by any standard, but it is fun. You have to love the aliens' fashion sense and light-up saucers. There's more than enough monster action, and the cast features lots of faces familiar to anyone who watches Japanese fantasy.

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Probably the Godzilla film. Mothra's egg washes ashore in Japan, causing a general ruckas as the Cosmos Twins, a greedy tycoon and Mothra herself try to posess it in one way or another. And then Godzilla shows up, just to ruin everybody's day. The special effects in this installment of the the series would not be equalled until the 1990s.

Versions: The American version is largely the same as the Japanese version. It even includes an extra scene of the U. S. Navy shooting missiles at Godzilla. It's currently out on DVD and video from Classic Media. The Japanese version can be found on video.

Reviews: Stomp Tokyo, Barry's Temple of Godzilla.

Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla

Godzilla fights his evil doppelganger from space. Spacegodzilla is a fairly spectacular design, and the filmmakers have given him lots of powers, but the monster action is so slackly edited boredom results. There's also a human subplot about gangsters who want to use Godzilla to blackmail the Japanese government.

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster

Spunky dance contestants find themselves aboard a hijacked boat while searching for a friend lost at sea. The boat has been stolen by a bank robber on the lam, but at least he’s useful when they stumble upon a mysterious island whose natives have been enslaved by a terrorist syndicate! Godzilla and Mothra guest-star in this campy tale of intrigue which also happens to feature a giant shrimp monster that does the terrorists’ bidding. Classic ‘60s story and style.

Those of us with a weakness for giant monsters will find this a particularly enjoyable film, despite the ruinous condition of the Godzilla suit and the fact that Godzilla's presence kind of takes a back seat to the human action. Recommended for those parties when the non-initiated ask to see a Godzilla movie.

Review: Stomp Tokyo.

Godzilla's Revenge

All the monster action in this movie takes place in one little kid's dream. He dreams that he flies to Monster Island, meets Minilla and helps him overcome a monster called Gabra. Then the kid applies the lessons he learned to the real world.

Godzilla: Final Wars

Allegedly the last Godzilla movie for the foreseeable future, Godzilla: Final Wars is a big budget blow-out with Godzilla and twelve other monsters.It was supposed to be in honor of the 50th anniversary of Godzilla (1954) but it's more in line with the 30th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) in terms of goofy tone.

Giant monsters appear all over the world, overwhelming the Earth Defense Forces. Earth's salvation comes in the form of aliens from Planet X, who make all the monsters disappear and warn humanity that an astral body called Gorath is on a collision course with our planet. Are the aliens sincere? Of course not! When the aliens' true motives are uncovered the only force on earth that can stand up to them is Godzilla!

Among the classic monsters appearing (at least briefly) are Anguirus, Ebirah, Gigan, Hedorah, Kamacuras, King Seesar, Kumonga, Manda, Minilla, Mothra, and Rodan. There's also a new monster called Monster X which is revealed to be a new version of King Ghidorah.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

As Japan prepares Mechagodzilla for another assault on Godzilla, the Cosmos twins ask Japan to scrap the robot so the original Godzilla's bones can rest in piece. Instead, they offer Mothra to fight Godzilla if he appears again.

This move features some of the best monster action of the series yet, though trying to figure out what's going on with the humans can be challenging. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is a direct sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002), and features a cameo by the turtle from Yog: Monster from Space (1970).

Gorath

While “Gorath” would make a great name for a monster, it isn’t the name of the monster that has a small role in this science fiction thriller from Toho.

Scientists spot Gorath, a planet many times the size of the Earth, heading straight for a collision with our world. The authorities come up with a plan for survival that is surprisingly logical: Because Earth is much smaller than Gorath, they decide to move Earth out of the way rather than try to destroy or divert Gorath! Giant engines are built at the South Pole and our planet is mobile.

A complication arises when a giant animal destroys the base that controls the engines. The increased temperature thawed a huge walrus, which has the unlikely name of Magma according to Japanese sources. Our heroes fly to the site in a futuristic plane and blast the wayward beast from the air with ray guns, killing it.

The American version of the film cut all shots of Magma, yet included most of the shots of the main characters flying to the area and shooting at it. What the American producers wanted viewers to think they were shooting at remains a mystery.

Gorgo

If you had asked the average moviegoer on the street in 1961 from whence the next giant monster movie would come, their answer would have most likely been "Japan." They would have been wrong; American filmmakers would take to the Isles of Britain to bring us Gorgo. This tale of a giant dino turned circus attraction is not the most finely crafted movie ever made, but if monster fans insisted upon the ultimate in special effects, most of the Godzilla movies would never have been made.

The villains are a bit harder to point out in Gorgo than in the Japanese kaiju films; one can hardly blame the leaders of a salvage crew for trying to capture Gorgo when the critter threatens the entire population of an Irish coastal village. Perhaps they do go a bit overboard in selling the monster to a London circus rather than turning it over to Irish authorities for scientific study. Would you listen to Sean, the young lad who comes to pity Gorgo, when he tells you that it's a "teddible bad thing ye're doin'"? Whoever the culprit may be, punishment is meted out on all of the people of London when Gorgo's mama comes a-calling. If you thought Tokyo took a beating from Godzilla, you'll be all the more shocked when Ms. Gorgo starts wrecking landmarks that you actually recognize. London hasn't seen this much rubble since the Blitz, and it's refreshing to know that British extras look just as silly running from an imaginary monster as do their Japanese counterparts.

Review: Stomp Tokyo