Product Details

• Actors: Hiroshi Ishikawa, Yuriko Hishimi, Minoru Takashima, Tomoko Umeda, Toshiaki Nishizawa
• Directors: Jun Fukuda
• Writers: Shin'ichi Sekizawa, Takeshi Kimura
• Producers: Tomoyuki Tanaka
• Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English, French
• Dubbed: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: October 19, 2004
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002V7OEC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,701 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Godzilla Vs. Gigan" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Known to Stateside moviegoers as Godzilla on Monster Island, this slight but fun 1972 entry in the Godzilla franchise pits the King of the Monsters and four-legged cohort Angilas against aliens bent on world domination, as well as their old nemesis, the space dragon King Ghidorah, and a new creature, the birdlike cyborg Gigan. Diehard G-fans may be disappointed by the film's kid-friendly tone (a shift in direction signaled several years earlier by Godzilla's Revenge) and its overreliance on stock footage from other Godzilla films to depict the monsters' orgy of destruction, as well as an unfortunate decision to make Godzilla "talk"; however, children (Gigan's real audience) will undoubtedly enjoy the frantic action. Parents should know that there are two brief moments of blood-letting (Godzilla and Angilas both suffer wounds from a buzzsaw that juts from Gigan's torso), but otherwise, the film is free of objectionable material. --Paul Gaita

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG
Release Date: 1-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVD

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Release So Far October 20, 2004

By Ryan Clark

Format:DVD

Presented in widescreen this release blows away all the past VHS ones from Starmaker, Anchor Bay, etc. Sony seems to have doen some work on the title screen and other credits, and the Japanese word balloons are lacking from the kaiju "speaking" scenes. Nonetheless, this is an excellent release of a great film.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Godzilla talks the talk and walks the walk in this one April 13, 2002

By Daniel Jolley HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:VHS Tape

Godzilla talks in this movie. I don't know who came up with this idea or why, nor do I know why his voice is made to sound like a Billy Crystal impersonation of an old Jewish man. Thankfully, Godzilla is a monster of few words; he and Anguiras speak only a couple of times in the movie. As for the plot, it is your typical inane Godzilla story--aliens have begun building a Children's Land Amusement Park, centered around a giant Godzilla replica; claiming to be seeking world peace, they are actually plotting to take over the earth. An out-of-work cartoonist, whose comics feature such horrible monsters as the Monster of Homework and the Monster of Overbearing Mothers, manages to stumble across the group's evil plans. Working with such allies as a black belt lady not immune to fainting and a Japanese Jerry Garcia lookalike, he sets about foiling the plans of the bad guys. The aliens send for King Ghidorah and Gigan from their home world in the Hunter Nebula. The alien monsters begin laying waste to Tokyo, but finally Godzilla and his sidekick Anguiras arrive to fight. Godzilla had apparently become lazy and neglected his normal training regimen because he is far from all-powerful when the melee begins. Not only is he abused by Ghidorah and Gigan, but he walks right into an alien trap. Anguiras, who really has little offensive capabilities, gives a gritty performance, even taking on King Ghidorah monster-a-monster at one point. At points in this battle, though, it is anyone's fight.

The special effects here are not that special, but that's okay with me. Many of the scenes of destruction make obvious use of model cars, buildings, tanks with toy soldiers, etc.. Godzilla' costume does indeed look pretty ragged, barely holding up through the end of the fight.... Gigan does not impress me that much; the tusk-like hands are okay, but the rotating circular saw in his chest seems sort of weird. King Ghidorah, my favorite Godzilla foe, looks horrible in this movie. His three heads each look like they have reached middle age, and his whole appearance seemed rather drab. Most disappointingly, he is totally static (with unmoving heads) when he is shown flying in outer space.

A lot of people seem to prefer this film to its successor, Godzilla vs Megalon, but give me Megalon over Gigan any day. For me, besides the utter ridiculousness of making Godzilla and Anguiras talk, this movie represents Godzilla's worst fight performance and most bedraggled appearance. It's not the worst Godzilla movie, but it is far from the best. Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Hippies, stock footage and a talking Godzilla! July 12, 2005

By Zack Davisson HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Any long running series has its ups and downs, and in a series as long-running as Godzilla those downs can be pretty low. This one isn't bottom of the barrel, but you can definitely see it from there.

"Godzilla vs. Gigan" ("Chikyű kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan" or "Earth Assault Order: Godzilla vs. Gigan ") is the 12th film in the Showa series, at a time when Godzilla had turned from a rampaging beast of fear and destruction into a kid-friendly beastie cheered by the citizens of Japan. Due to the hard times of the 70's Japanese film, the budget is tiny, and there is a heavy reliance on stock footage taken from previous Godzilla films.

The plot is somewhat oddball, with developers attempting to build Godzilla-land, a theme park built around Godzilla. Of course, the developers are secretly cockroach-aliens, and when a hippie and a failed cartoonist get wind of their plan, quickly summon the terrors of King Ghidra and Gigan to Earth to help in their nefarious plan. Godzilla and his stocky pal Angirasu are on hand to stop them.

Of course, the worst and most bizarre aspect of "Godzilla vs. Gigan" is the chatty Godzilla, as he and Angirasu exchange a few well-timed quips. This isn't so bad in the original Japanese, where the audio is growling sounds and the dialog appears as word-balloons, but in the English dub there is an actual Godzilla voice. A horrible decision on someones part.

However, unforgivable cheesyness aside, Gigan is a decent foe for the Big G, with his buzz-saw belly and sharp claws. He and King Ghidra make a nice tag-team pair, easily trouncing Godzilla and Angirasu to within an inch of their lives. Godzilla isn't quite so mighty here, and he seems to have forgotten how to breath his atomic fire, until the last possible moment....

While more kid-friendly, the series gets bloodier with this picture, as Godzilla starts spouting red, and gives some back to Gigan and King Ghidra. King Ghidra takes some nasty neck damage as well.

People attracted to the sillier aspects of Godzilla will love "Godzilla vs. Gigan." Those who like at least a little menace with their monster should probably give this one a miss. Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Godzilla on Monster Island... February 7, 2010

By Mark Rainey

Format:DVD

A cartoonist and his friends discover that a Godzilla-related theme park is actually a front for space aliens bent on world domination. When the cartoonist plays an audio tape stolen from the aliens, Godzilla and Angilas, on Monster Island, detect it and set out to discover the source. Meanwhile, the aliens summon King Ghidorah and a new monster, Gigan, from outer space to wreak havoc on Earth. Godzilla and Angilas are soon pitted in a grand, occasionally bloody battle with the two space monsters.

After the experimental Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Toho returned to the more familiar theme of space aliens invading Earth with Godzilla vs. Gigan (a.k.a. Godzilla on Monster Island). The result, however, is a mish-mosh of stock footage, canned Akira Ifukube music, and juvenile monster antics that fall far short of the fantastic daikaiju romps of the 1960s. If not for a few shining moments of monsters destroying civilization, the lackluster cast and foolish script would make this a totally forgettable entry in the Godzilla series.

Despite featuring one of Godzilla's coolest-looking foes, the movie carries silliness to its utmost extreme, the monster battles largely being pale imitations of those in such classics as Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster; Monster Zero; and Destroy All Monsters. Extensive use of stock footage ruins any number of the sequences, and many of the new special effects scenes fall laughably below the standard set by the series' earlier entries. Still, the high-quality, widescreen DVD presentation greatly enhances the cheesy fun factor, and the movie can be recommended for the sheer amount of monster action.