Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
★★½ — Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
Released just seven months after the original 1954 Gojira, this first Godzilla sequel was rushed into production by Toho to capitalise on the unprecedented box office success of Honda Ishiro's film. Notably, Honda himself did not return to direct, with the duties passing to Oda Motoyoshi, a journeyman filmmaker whose career never again reached this level of visibility. The speed of production shows in places, though the film does introduce a template, monster-versus-monster combat, that Toho would return to repeatedly across the following decades. When the film eventually reached American audiences in 1959, it was retitled Gigantis, the Fire Monster, with distributors oddly choosing to obscure the Godzilla name entirely, adding new footage and dubbing the creature under a different identity altogether.
Godzilla Raids Again (1955) is a landmark in kaiju cinema, not because it’s great, but because it’s the film that started the monster vs. monster tradition and officially kicked off the long-running Godzilla franchise. As the first sequel to the original 1954 classic, it introduces Anguirus (or Ankylosaurus, as some might say), setting the stage for decades of titanic battles, city-crushing chaos, and rubber-suited mayhem. For fans of the genre, it’s essential viewing just for its historical significance. The story is simple: two pilots crash-land on an island, discover Godzilla and Anguirus locked in battle, and barely escape, only for the fight to follow them back to civilization. The military scrambles, cities burn, and eventually, our heroes defeat Godzilla by luring him into an iceberg (yes, really). It’s pulpy, fast-paced, and packed with the kind of practical effects and miniature destruction that defined Toho’s golden age. That said, it’s aged very badly. The suitmation looks stiff and unconvincing even by 1950s standards, the pacing is uneven, and the human drama is flat and forgettable. Compared to the depth and dread of the original Godzilla, this one trades social commentary for spectacle and ends up feeling more like a B-movie action flick than a meaningful continuation. The now infamous American edit (Gigantis, the Fire Monster) only made things worse, but even in its original form, it’s rough around the edges. Decent as an early kaiju romp and a must-watch for franchise completists, but not much more. A stepping stone, not a classic. Still, without it, we wouldn’t have Ghidrah, Mechagodzilla, or half the fun of giant monsters punching each other. So… thanks, I guess?
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 1955 | Watched: 2025-10-29
Where to watch (UK)
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