Gigantis the Fire Monster (1955)

Gigantis the Fire Monster
Credits
Title:	Gigantis the Fire Monster
Genres:	Sci-fi Horror
Directed by:	Motoyoshi Oda
Written by:	Takeo Murata; Shigeaki Hidaka; Shigeru Kayama
Produced by:	Tomoyuki Tanaka
Music by:	Masaru Satô
Cinematography:	Seiichi Endô
Edited by:	Kazuji Taira
Production
Distributed by:	Toho Company, Ltd.
Released:	April 24th, 1955
Rating:	Approved
Running time:	78 min.
Country:	Japan
Language:	Japanese
Budget:	¥1,000,000
Gross:	¥131,912,591
Navigation
Previous:	Gojira (1954) Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)
Next:	King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)

Gigantis the Fire Monster, also known as Godzilla Raids Again, is a Japanese science fiction tokusatsu film of the daikaiju (giant monster) subgenre. It is the second film in the Godzilla film series and is part of the Shōwa period of Japanese filmmaking. The movie was directed by Motoyoshi Oda and written by Takeo Murata and Shigeaki Hidaka based on a story treatment by Shigeru Kayama. It was produced by Toho Company, Ltd., and premiered in Japan on April 24th, 1955.

Cast

Actor	Role
Hiroshi Koizumi	Shoichi Tsukioka
Setsuko Wakayama	Hidemi Yamaji, Koehi's daughter
Minoru Chiaki	Kôji Kobayashi
Takashi Shimura	Kyohei Yamane-hakase
Masao Shimizu	Doctor Tadokoro, Zoologist
Seijirô Onda	Captain Terasaw, Osaka Defense Corps.
Sônosuke Sawamura	Shingo Shibeki, Hokkaido branch manager
Yoshio Tsuchiya	Tajima, member of Osaka Defense Corps.
Mayuri Mokushô	Radio operator Yasuko Inouye
Minosuke Yamada	Chief of Civil Defense
Yukio Kasama	Koehi Yamaji, President of the fishery

Appearances

Locations

• Japan

• Osaka Prefecture
• Osaka

Miscellaneous

• Ankylosaur
• Giant monster

Notes

• Copyright holder: © 1955, Toho Company, Ltd.

• The original Japanese title of the film is Gojira no gyakushû, which translates to Counterattack of Godzilla. The title Gigantis the Fire Monster was used in the 1959 American release of the film.

• This film was not released in the United States until May 21st, 1959.

• This is the second film in the Godzilla film series. It is the second and final film in the series shot in black and white.

• This is Motoyoshi Oda's eleventh film as a director. He will direct twenty-five films over the course of his career. This is his first work in the science fiction genre, and his only work in the Godzilla film series.

• Takeo Murata and Shigeru Kayama were also the screenwriters on Gojira.

• This is the third film work for director of photography Seiichi Endô. It is his first work in the daikaiju genre.

• This is the first daikaiju film for actor Hiroshi Koizumi, who will become a recurring face in such features in years to come, appearing in films such as Mothra, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S..

Fun Facts

• Taglines for this film include, "Born in Hell!", and "Roasting anything in its path!".

• Actor Takashi Shimura reprises the role of Kyohei Yamane from the 1954 movie, Gojira. Outside of daikaiju, this is one of the few instances where a human character appears in more than one film (at least in the Shōwa series).

• First appearance of the second Godzilla, who bears a distinctively different appearance than how he will be portrayed in later films. This is the creature that will appear in the remainder of the Godzillaverse films throughout the Shōwa period.

• First appearance of Anguirus, who will go on to become a fan favorite in later Godzilla films; often regarded as the beloved "red-headed stepchild" of the kaiju set.

• Anguirus is the first kaiju to appear in the Godzilla film series other than Godzilla himself. He is also the only other kaiju from the series to appear in black and white.

Redirects

The following links redirect to this page.

• ゴジラの逆襲
• Counterattack of Godzilla
• Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1955)
• Gigantis, the Fire Monster
• Gigantis the Fire Monster
• Godzilla Raids Again
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
• Gojira no gyakushu
• Gojira no gyakushû

Recommendations

1950s Sci-Fi

20 Million Miles to Earth Attack of the Crab Monsters Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Battle Beyond the Sun Brain from Planet Arous, The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Creature Walks Among Us, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The It Came from Beneath the Sea Not of This Earth Thing from Another World, The War of the Satellites

Giant monster films

Godzilla films

Gojira Godzilla (2014) Godzilla 1985 Godzilla 2000 Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla Godzilla Raids Again Godzilla: Final Wars Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Godzilla vs. Biollante Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Godzilla vs. Gigan Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Godzilla vs. Megalon Godzilla vs. Monster Zero Godzilla vs. Mothra Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster Godzilla's Revenge Destroy All Monsters King Kong vs. Godzilla Mothra vs. Godzilla Return of Godzilla, The Son of Godzilla Terror of Mechagodzilla

Other Kaiju

Atragon Cloverfield Frankenstein Conquers the World Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster King Kong King Kong Escapes Kong: Skull Island

Mothra Pacific Rim Reptisaurus Rodan Varan the Unbelievable War of the Gargantuas Yog, Monster from Space

Related categories

• Gigantis the Fire Monster
• Gigantis the Fire Monster media
• Gigantis the Fire Monster images
• Gigantis the Fire Monster characters
• Gigantis the Fire Monster miscellaneous

See also

Godzilla Godzilla films Godzilla media Godzilla images

Godzilla locations Godzilla monsters Godzilla characters Godzilla miscellaneous

External Links

Gigantis the Fire Monster at IMDB Gigantis the Fire Monster at Wikipedia Gigantis the Fire Monster at TV Guide Gigantis the Fire Monster at Toho Kingdom

Gigantis the Fire Monster at Themoviedb.org Gigantis the Fire Monster at the Godzilla Wiki Gigantis the Fire Monster at Horrormovies.org Gigantis the Fire Monster at Rotten Tomatoes

Keywords

Daikaiju; Shōwa period; Tokusatsu

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