In 1972, a terrifying new force arrived from outer space. A threatening and formidable foe, that quickly earned it’s notoriety for brutality. It’s name: Gigan!
Since it’s debut in 1972, Gigan has become one of the most recognizable monsters in the Godzilla series. It’s gained this, by having A) a recognizable design, and B) for how genuinley near lethal it actually is. Afterall, Gigan holds the rather unique statistic, of being the first monster to make Godzilla visually and physically bleed on camera.
Whilst most of the monsters in the Godzilla film series can be argued as unique in their design, Gigan’s design helped him stand out from the start, due to how he’s been designed to look as lethal as possible. Virtually every surface is covered in sharp points. His wings have points, his spines, beak, jaws, hands and feet are made of hooks, and he of course has a buzzsaw running down his stomach. He’s also dangerous in how he’s more or less used. He’s a mutant cyborg, with a lack of self control, due to how often he is being controlled by a remote system or person. Maybe then this could be seen as more a positive thing, in that at least someone has control of this terrifying weapon of mass destruction (and therefore his actions aren’t wasted, but serve a grander purpose)?
Despite his fame among fans of the genre, it’s rather surprising that he’s only been in three films. Fact: just three films. He has appeared in lots of comics, video games, and even a few TV shows (including Zone Fighter and Godzilla Island), but for some unknown reason, he doesn’t have many movie appearances. But given his standout position as one of the series best known monsters, I thought it would be fun to write a list of them, plus it allows room for future comparisons (provided he does indeed appear in more films…Legendary – you are in the best position to do it sooner than later!). Anyway, without further ado, Here are My Top 3 Favourite Films featuring the Intergalactic Menace simply known as Gigan; Enjoy!
3. Godzilla vs. Megalon – The long forgotten undersea kingdom of Seatopia, fed up with constant underground Nuclear tests, decide to send their Beetle like God, Megalon to destroy the surface in retaliation!
There is no sugar coating this; Godzilla vs. Megalon is one of the worst films in the entire series (I recently ranked it third worst). It does feel a little harsh talking about the film in this way, but it does need mentioning. The film does have some plus points (like the dam scene), but it is just mostly bad (like the fish boat scene). In retrospect, adding Gigan does sort of help it, by adding a villainous monster that can actually fight, instead of looking formiddable, but being totally weak (Megalon). The fight scenes though are ruined with a terrible soundtrack. Like I said, there’s no sugar coating it. The involvement of Gigan though, is definetely a positive!
2. Godzilla vs. Gigan – An unemployed artisit, starts his new job working for a small children’s theme park, which features a tower built to look like Godzilla. But suspicion soon grows for the artist and his friends, given his new bosses strange desires, which include a wish to actively blow up an island (OK, yes, it’s one filled with giant monsters, but he just says it in casual passing)!
It almost came down to a coin toss between this film and the number one position. If you are looking for a film that takes a really focussed approach to the existence and capabilities of Gigan, this is that film, but I chose to place it second, due to some of the films production qualities. Produced just one year before Megalon, it falls into the same trap of using way too much Stock Footage to pad out the film’s length, which does create some continuity issues (but thankfully not as much noticeably as Megalon). The film though does feature more than plenty actual footage, to create a cool, but toneally dark film, featuring brutal and raw fight scenes, as well as a stock, but perfectly suited soundtrack!
1. Godzilla: Final Wars – Giant Monsters have appeared out of no-where, but all of a sudden they are contained by a group of ‘peace’ loving aliens. Not long after however, the aliens show their true colours, and release the monsters, and it’s left up to a rebel group to release a creature not seen in several decades!
Godzilla: Final Wars is a rather epic way to celebrate the Godzilla series’ 50th Anniversary. It features a whole wealth of monsters from he series, some of which have not been seen in 30 years…such as Gigan. Gigan returns to the fold in a rather glorious fashion, with an updated and sinister look, plus after an initial defeat, returns better than ever (although the film does highlight an inherant weakness, in how easy it is to decapitate him). For this reason and others (such as the fantastic Gotengo launch theme, and what happens to Zilla), it’s hard not to place this film at number one, on a list all about Gigan!
Things I Like 
Leave a comment