“SPACE MONSTERS FROM BEYOND THE STARS… AT WAR WITH GODZILLA FOR THE EARTH!”
Two weeks ago, the GNP created a poll on Twitter, asking Godzilla fans to choose between four randomly selected G-films (one from each era), with the winner becoming the next novelization to be started. Two days and 66 votes later, the fans had spoken…
The incontrovertible winner – with a whopping 50% of the votes – was 1972’s Godzilla vs. Gigan!
Beloved for innumerable reasons by fans of all ages, Godzilla vs. Gigan represents a bold experiment on the part of Toho and its team of monster makers: with budgets slashed, a cast devoid of Toho’s legendary repertory of Golden Age actors, and the bad taste left in the mouth of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka after the release of 1971’s psychedelic opus Godzilla vs. Hedorah, how could Godzilla be returned to his 1960’s heyday? With Jun Fukuda directing and Teruyoshi Nakano handling the special effects, the end result was a film that aimed to capture the feel a classic kaiju film. Despite its prolific (and obvious) use of stock footage, well-worn monster suits, and a soundtrack comprised almost entirely from Akira Ifukube stock cues, this Frankenstein-esque patchwork of reused footage, music, and plot points not only works, but works incredibly well. The film has thrilled audiences on both sides of the Pacific for over 45 years, and has become a well-deserved fan favorite in the series.
Also, Gigan is one HELL of an awesome monster.
The opportunity to tackle the novelization of this film has been a wonderful one, as the film is one of the earliest Godzilla movies I saw as a child. Sandwiched on a VHS tape between Hedorah and 1974’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (all of which I taped during a wondrous Labor Day monster marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel), Gigan quickly became – and has remained – an all-time favorite of mine. Its a film I revisit often, and cannot wait to continue converting into the written word.
So, without further ado, I present the first chapter of the GNP’s novelization of Godzilla vs. Gigan! I hope you all enjoy it!
The Godzilla Novelization Project 