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Movie Title: Gigantis the Fire Monster Studio: Toho Studios, Warner Brothers Release Date: May 21, 1959 Director(s): Motoyoshi Oda Producer(s): Tomoyuki Tanaka Rated (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, X): N/A Starring: Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki IMDB Page ONLINE MOVIE REVIEW RATING: 1 1/2 out of 5

American arrogance can sometimes lead to bumps in the road of history. After the successful release of the movie Godzilla in the United States in 1956, producer Joseph E. Levine owned the rights to the name “Godzilla” in the United States . When Warner Brothers wanted to release Godzilla Raids Again in the United States , Levine wanted a prohibitive amount of money for the rights to the name “Godzilla' in the United States .

The result was a three-year wait for American Godzilla fans to see a movie called Gigantis the Fire Monster. Godzilla was not mentioned and once again, the American version completely changed the tone of the original Japanese versions. The music was even changed from the Japanese-inspired score of Masaru Sato to a mish-mash of music from the movie Kronos and The Deerslayer. Once again, American movie makers completely missed the point of Godzilla.

We see Godzilla fight another monster for the first time as he squares off with Anguirus in this movie, but there is too much wrong with this movie to allow even Godzilla to save it.

If you only watch the American version of the sequel then you would think this movie is worse than it really is. The American version uses Anguirus' roar almost exclusively and we hear very little of the famous Godzilla roar. The script for the American version is simplistic, childish and difficult to follow.

The story is choppy and we really do not get a feel for the terror Godzilla causes. Just as with the way an American production company mutilated Godzilla , Gigantis the Fire Monster was poorly planned and horribly executed. The story is boring and silly. The voice-overs are stereotypical and make the characters sound like cartoon characters.

Some of the scenes of the battle between Godzilla and Anguirus look quite natural and meticulously planned out. The scenes of Godzilla walking among the ice and the jets flying overhead are impressive shots as well. The final battle scenes from the original Godzilla Raids Again are left intact and look spectacular. Even in this hacked-up form, the black and white film format really makes this movie shine.

Gigantis the Fire Monster set the Godzilla franchise back a few years in the United States as movie audiences were puzzled about this new monster that looks like Godzilla, sounds like Anguirus and is called Gigantis. It would take another famous movie monster, one created by an American in 1933 named King Kong, to finally put Godzilla over with American movie audiences.