Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)

Classic Media?s US home video premiere of the original Japanese version of Godzilla / Gojira came this past summer in a terrific 2-disc DVD featuring decent transfers of both versions of the film and generous extras, all packaged in a nostalgic but reverential set that treated the film like the world cinema classic it has become. Now the company has followed up with two DVDs showcasing important early sequels to Godzilla that, between them, established many of the series? recurring elements and set the tone for multiple films to come.

Green-lit by Toho Studios immediately following the enormous success of the first film, Godzilla Raids Again (Gojira no gyakushu, literally ?Godzilla?s Counterattack?) is in many ways a quick buck sequel ? director Ishiro Honda and composer Akira Ifukube, whose contributions to the original accounted for much of its greatness, were absent for this production. Instead, their duties went to reliable studio workhorse Motoyoshi Oda in the director?s chair and fledgling composer Masaru Sato, who went on to compose many scores for Toho, especially for famed filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. What resulted from the quick turnaround was an enjoyable, but fairly formulaic retread of many of the best elements from the previous Godzilla, but with none of its emotion, pathos or drama.

As in the original film, the story starts with three main characters, but replaces Godzilla?s tragic love triangle with a more buddy-buddy relationship. Tsukioka and Kobayashi are spotter pilots for a major fishing company, and radio girl Hidemi is not only Tsukioka?s sweetheart, but also the boss?s daughter. When Kobayashi has engine trouble one day, he makes an emergency landing on a seemingly deserted island. Tsukioka arrives for a rescue, and the two men are shocked to witness a battle between two gigantic creatures, Godzilla and what they later determine to be Anguirus, another remnant from the prehistoric age.

The monsters quickly tumble into the sea and vanish from sight. The men return to Osaka and report what they?ve seen to an understandably concerned scientific and military community. In a cameo from the first film, paleontologist Dr. Yamane (Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura) explains that this is a new Godzilla, the original having been killed in Tokyo Bay by the Oxygen Destroyer (in the first film). The authorities begin to make their preparations to repel his attack, but to no avail: Godzilla soon surfaces in the bay and approaches the city. A shower of flares briefly distracts the creature?s attention (a nice sequence), but when a group of escaped convicts crash a truck into an oil refinery (in a section of the film that feels as though it?s been lifted from a 1940s Warner Bros gangster picture), the resulting fire not only draws Godzilla back, but Anguirus as well, and the two creatures battle throughout Osaka, laying waste to the city. Afterwards, the fishing company relocates to northern Hokkaido island, and our heroes soon follow, Godzilla included, where the pilots ? re-united with their wartime squadron of fighter buddies ? do battle with him on a snowy, desolate island. But can they hope to destroy a menace that seems to be unstoppable?

Despite its cash-in feel, Godzilla Raids Again has some notable things going for it. For one thing, it?s the only other Godzilla film shot in a full-frame aspect ratio and in black-and-white, which makes it feel distinctly different from later entries. The monster battles ? the first time in the series Godzilla fights another creature ? also have a different tone and execution than those seen in the next film in the series, 1962?s King Kong vs. Godzilla, and beyond. In this one, extensive use of puppets is made to double the heads of the creatures during their fights, and in the big scene in Osaka, the action is sometimes shown at normal or fast speed, in sharp contrast to the usual slowed-down action of such fights. (The commentary reveals that this was actually a camera operator mistake.)

Furthermore, the monsters appear extremely early on in the film, in only the second scene ? viewers grew accustomed in the later films to waiting at least half an hour to see the first appearance of Godzilla. The filmmakers make good use of the Osaka locations, both real and in the model sets, making sure to include the spectacular destruction of the nearly 400-year old Osaka Castle in Godzilla?s hit list. The later Hokkaido setting is also unique, and lends a completely different feel to the second half of the movie. Sato?s music is very distinct from the themes Ifukube established in the original, although some of these are recycled sparingly in the sequel; Sato?s music is much more atonal and wouldn?t be heard again in the series until 1966?s Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster. While it?s definitely a lesser film than its predecessor, Godzilla Raids Again emerges as a fun matinee picture that doesn?t feel at all like a retread of the earlier film. But it wouldn?t be until nine years later that the series would come anywhere close to the level of quality established by its original entry.

And that would be in 1964?s brilliant Mothra vs. Godzilla (Mosura tai Gojira), in many ways the first ?proper? Godzilla sequel, and one which established a tone and filmmaking method that lasted for another ten years, until the end of the original series in 1975. A semi-remake, semi-sequel to 1961?s Mothra, which didn?t feature Godzilla and only has the characters of the ?Small Beauties? in common with this film, M vs. G begins when a typhoon brings a gigantic egg ashore near a small fishing village. Reporters Sakai and Junko cover the story, and meet up with Professor Miura (Hiroshi Koizumi, who played Tsukioka in Raids Again), who shares their interest in the odd discovery, as well as their horror that the villagers have sold the egg to local tycoon Kumayama, who, in cahoots with amoral developer Torahata, plans to build a theme park around it.

Enter the Twin Fairies (or the Small Beauties, as they?re called in Japanese), the tiny little twins from Infant Island (played by pop duo ?The Peanuts?) who speak on behalf of Mothra, guardian of their island and parent to the egg. Their pleas to return the egg to its home fall on deaf ears, however, and Kumayama and Torahata proceed with their development plan. It?s not long (33 minutes into the film, to be precise) before Godzilla pops up nearby, presumably another by-product of the typhoon?s arrival, and kicks the hell out of neighboring Nagoya. Since the military doesn?t stand a chance against the leviathan, the reporters and professor head to Infant Island to beg the natives for Mothra?s help in defeating Godzilla. Eventually, the Small Beauties relent and send Mothra on one final mission; she is dying already, they say, and will never return to her home. It is the egg which holds the future for Mothra?s species and for the island and its people.

So another battle shapes up, with Godzilla eyeing the egg menacingly and Mothra defending it to her dying breath. And just when all hope seems lost, the egg cracks and out comes?well, if you don?t know already, I don?t want to spoil the one major surprise of the film. Suffice to say that it?s another fight for Godzilla, both with something his own size and with the military forces of Japan (and in the U.S. cut of the film, a brief skirmish with the U.S. Navy!). The rapacious developers are defeated, Infant Island?s future is secure and the peril of Godzilla is temporarily lifted, but who can know for how long?

If Godzilla Raids Again is an entertaining but empty follow-up to the original, then Mothra vs. Godzilla is nearly the match of the first film in terms of thematic resonance, technical achievement and overall entertainment value. Director Honda is back, as is composer Ifukube, and both are at the height of their abilities here (the music in particular is central to the success of the film). They lead a crew of amazing technicians and artisans who are able to pull off some of the best monster battles and special effects in the series. The screenplay, as well, is top-notch ? there is no fat at all on the film, and its 88 minutes virtually fly by, as subplots are introduced and characters are kept running in and out of the main action. And somehow, the movie even allots time for some of Honda?s trademark humanistic motifs and themes, like the plight of the Infant Islanders, subjected to post-war nuclear testing, and the noble sacrifice made by Mothra herself. Light-hearted when it needs to be, tense and exciting during the destruction sequences, and able to give its characters life through just the briefest of sketches, G vs. M was the pinnacle of the series, post-original, and from here until the mid-70s, the films devolved into more and more inane kiddie matinee material, never again to reach such heights until midway through the second series of films in the 1990s.

Classic Media?s DVDs are equal in quality to their original release of Godzilla, presenting new transfers which show some age in the elements (particularly in the case of Raids Again) but which are superior to anything seen previously on video. Both discs feature both the original Japanese cut of the films ? with newly-translated English subtitles ? and the distinct American versions.

In the case of Raids Again, this is the heavily-redubbed Gigantis, the Fire Monster , although that original title has been replaced by something more Toho-friendly for the disc (except for a new title card, the cut of the film is the same). It provides a ?how-not-to? lesson on releasing foreign films in America that sadly is still business as usual for many companies (are you listening, Weinstein brothers?). Producer Paul Schreibman?s version of the movie featured imbecilic, near-constant narration and overdubbing by Chinese-American actor Keye Luke (the old, blind master from the TV series Kung Fu), as well as music borrowed from other 1950s American sci-fi films, and sloppy scripting which changed character and monster names haphazardly. A good commentary by Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle and others explains the history of the American version of the film, as well as all the changes made to it. Also on the disc is a featurette about the unheralded suit actors who brought the monsters to life, and a short slide show of posters.

Mothra vs. Godzilla fared much better in the States, even getting a release the same year as it came out in Japan (Raids Again had to wait four years), and in basically the same version as what Japanese audiences saw?with one major exception. Long a holy grail for Godzilla fans, the U.S. version (originally called Godzilla vs. The Thing) actually contains one scene ? a Godzilla-versus-the Navy battle referred to as the ?Frontier Missile sequence? ? that was not included in the Japanese edition, and has never been present in any Japanese versions of the film. It rocks, and it?s viewable here in US version, cropped to a more HDTV-friendly 1.78;1 aspect ratio. Originally released by American International, the dubbing is well done and the English language script retains the same plot, character and monster names as the original. The commentary ? by Ryfle again, joined by historian Ed Godziszewski ? is another top-notch one, covering the production of the original film, how many of its effects were done, and the history of its release in the U.S. They also manage to get some phoned-in comments from ex-dubber (and Speed Racer voice artist) Peter Fernandez. Also on the disc is a video biography and appreciation of late composer Ifukube, and another poster slide show. The subtitle font is also much improved over the previous two discs, being more pleasant to the eye and white instead of yellow. Let?s hope that Classic Media sticks with this, and with their overall quality presentation, for their subsequent releases, including Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and more. Bring ?em on!