Godzilla Raids Again

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Motoyoshi Oda directs. Seiichi Endo behind the camera. Masaru Satō scores. Kazuji Taira cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 371 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Part of the "Godzilla (Showa) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Directed by Motoyoshi Oda, shot by Seiichi Endo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Masaru Satō. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Kazuji Taira shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Hiroshi Koizumi and Setsuko Wakayama and Minoru Chiaki carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "A tremendous, astonishing story that rages across the nation of Japan!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0048127 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 16 themes, including "island", "japan", "monster", "nightclub".
• 12Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Seiichi Endo

Original score

Masaru Satō

Editing

Kazuji Taira

Production design

Takeo Kita

Runtime

82 min · 1h 22m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$800,000

Box office

$1,952,653

Return

244% of budget

Original language

JA

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Godzilla Raids Again (1955) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

64% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

5.7/10 · 9,556 votes

MPAA

Approved

Part of

Godzilla (Showa) Collection

Film series featuring Godzilla from the Showa era.

• 
  Godzilla

  1954
• 
  Godzilla Raids Again

  1955 · this one
• 
  King Kong vs. Godzilla

  1962
• 
  Mothra vs. Godzilla

  1964
• 
  Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

  1964
• 
  Invasion of Astro-Monster

  1965
• 
  Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

  1966
• 
  Son of Godzilla

  1967
• 
  Destroy All Monsters

  1968
• 
  All Monsters Attack

  1969
• 
  Godzilla vs. Hedorah

  1971
• 
  Godzilla vs. Gigan

  1972
• 
  Godzilla vs. Megalon

  1973
• 
  Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla

  1974
• 
  Terror of Mechagodzilla

  1975

Also by

Motoyoshi Oda

• 
  Eleven High School Girls

  1946 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Will-o'-the-Wisp

  1956 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Lady From Hell

  1949 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Masura o hashutsu fukai

  1956 · ★ 8.0
• 
  A Texan in Tokyo

  1957 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Tora-san's Home Run

  1958 · ★ 7.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Godzilla Raids Again (1955) - Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• feathermcgrawlover2024-11-24
  ★ 6/10

  An ok sequel what doesn’t even come close to the original the two good things that the movie brought was Godzilla fighting a monster and the spikey boy Angurius

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  TOHO

  JP

• TO

  Toho Laboratory

  JP

Key crew

• EditorKazuji Taira
• ProducerTomoyuki Tanaka
• Production DesignTakeo Kita
• Sound RecordistMasanobu Miyazaki
• Production DesignTeruaki Abe
• NovelShigeru Kayama
• Costume DesignerYasuei Yagi
• Costume DesignerTeizô Toshimitsu
• Costume DesignerKanju Yagi
• Production ManagerKazuo Baba
• Lighting TechnicianMasaki Ônuma
• Original StoryShigeru Kayama
• Special EffectsHajime Tsuburaya
• Special EffectsEiji Tsuburaya
• Special EffectsMasakatsu Asai
• Visual Effects DirectorEiji Tsuburaya
• Visual Effects Art DirectorAkira Watanabe
• Special EffectsKoichi Takano
• Special Effects AssistantKoichi Takano
• Special EffectsHiroshi Mukoyama
• VFX Director of PhotographySadamasa Arikawa
• Special EffectsYôichi Manoda
• Special Effects AssistantMasakatsu Asai
• Visual Effects CameraMotoyoshi Tomioka

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• island
• japan
• monster
• nightclub
• giant monster
• sequel
• disaster
• osaka, japan
• dinosaur
• black and white
• destruction
• kaiju
• flood
• plane crash
• godzilla
• tokusatsu

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1959-05-21· "Gigantis, the Fire Monster" version from Warner Bros.
• Physical2006-11-07NR· Classic Media DVD. Japanese w/EN subs. Packaged with "Gigantis, the Fire Monster" (1959) (one disc).

Also known as

International titles

• Le Retour de GodzillaFR
• Godzilla Contra-AtacaBR
• Godzilla Raids AgainUS
• Gojira no GyakushūJP
• De Terugkeer van GodzillaBE
• Il Re dei MostriIT
• El Rey de los MonstruosES
• Ο Γκοτζίλα ΞαναχτυπάGR
• Gigantis, the Fire MonsterUS
• Godzilla's CounterattackJP
• Gigantis, the Fire MonsterGB
• Godzilla kehrt zurückDE
• Le Retour de GodzillaBE
• Godzilla 2 - Godzilla Raids AgainUS
• Godzilla - Il Re Dei MostriIT