Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) Poster

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5/10
Fun for kids
BandSAboutMovies31 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions - the makers of Ultraman, whose close ties to Toho provided them with directors and costumes - and Toho was released to Japanese theaters on December 17, 1972. It was originally going to be a Godzilla film entitled Godzilla vs. Redmoon, which would have celebrated Tsuburaya Productions' tenth anniversary and the character that started it all - Godzilla.

The film would have Redmoon - who arrived from the moon - and Erabus - arriving from Habu Island - being guided together by the Japanese Self Defense Forces to attack and eliminate one another, but instead hooking up and giving birth to a new kaiju named Hafun. However, a carny entrepreneur would exploit and ultimately kill the child, leading both creatures to go wild until stopped by Godzilla.

Instead, we got this.

Daigoro became an orphan after the military destroyed his mother and the one soldier who stood up to the order has adopted the kaiju as his own child. In order to pay for his huge food bills, he's had to start a business all around the monster, so you can see some hints of the canceled film in the final product.

Meanwhile, another kaiju named Goliath has come to Earth and Daigoro decides to prove himself by battling the monster. Since many of the folks in his hometown didn't trust Daigoro, they had been feeding him an anti-growth drug that makes him too weak to defeat Goliath.

He nearly dies but recovers and trains hard every single day, coming back to save humanity, who strap Goliath on a rocket and send him into space.

Daigoro is made up of parts from Red King, one of Ultraman's best-known foes and he has a roar that would later be used for Godzilla Jr. In Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla. As for Goliath, he was made from the canceled Redmoon costume. He has Astromons' roar.

While a more child-friendly kaiju movie, it's still a blast.
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6/10
Must-watch for kaiju fans, and a must-avoid for non-kaiju fans
Jeremy_Urquhart27 January 2023
Another weird monster movie for the list... literally! I'm going to be writing about the most obscure ones I can find tomorrow. This qualified perfectly, as it's really going for the same market the more kid-friendly Godzilla films of the Showa Era went for, but getting significantly sillier and more child-friendly (though not quite so far in a humourous direction that it feels like a parody of Godzilla - there's a degree of sincerity that shines through, albeit dimly).

So there's a giant ugly walrus monster, but he also seems cool, and he's Daigoro. He's the good guy. There's a cheery theme song early on that details his backstory, even if the lyrics are sad and entirely at odds with the instrumental (they mention his mother being dead, and him living on an island all by himself and stuff).

There are budgetary restrictions on what Daigoro can be fed, just like there were clear budgetary restrictions on the film's crew (I'm hoping this was intentional meta-commentary. If so, that rocks). The lack of food's one problem. But things get worse when the fairly generic enemy "Goliath" shows up, and then we get a couple of fun scenes of monster fights. They are so schlocky, but also so much fun, and I think the suit actors and the filmmakers behind the camera knew exactly what they were doing.

Still, I don't know if it's a whole lot better than a 6/10. It's a lot of stuff I've seen before, and besides an interesting tone, there's very little else here that makes it stand out or feel in any way ambitious. So it works for light entertainment for giant monster movie fans who have progressed through all the Godzillas, the Gameras, the Mothra movies, even the more recent Reigo trilogy, the Daimajin series, the Ultraman shows (if you're truly dedicated), and even obscure (now sort of cult) kaiju movies like Pulgasari.

I only have a finite amount of memory in my brain, and look how much of it goes to remembering monster names and monster series! #priorities.
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7/10
Perfect for a lazy day-Better than most Gamera films!
darthsmythe113817 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Daigoro vs. Goliath is Tsuburaya's 10th anniversary film. Intended originally to be a Godzilla film, for unknown reasons the film was never done in this fashion. However Toho still distributed the film and Eiji Tsuburaya's protégé at Toho, Teruyoshi Nakano(or as he was credited at this time, Shokei Nakano) was retained as special effects director. The basic plot of the film is that an orphaned kaiju(Daigoro) is orphaned by a Self Defense Force attack on it's mom and raised by a human family until he becomes too big to manage. A new monster named Goliath pops up and rampages, duking it out with Daigoro.

The plot is extremely childish, however it's much more fun and watchable than any of the Showa Gamera films except the first two. The effects by Teruyoshi Nakano are the film's standout. Nakano does an excellent job on the film's miniatures and scenes where water effects are used.

Overall this is a recommended view for any fans of the 70s Godzilla films or the 60s Gamera films. More serious kaiju fans may pass it.
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If you thought Gamera was juvenile...
bajbij8 March 2002
Here is the heartwarming story of a giant bipedic hippopatomus who has two conflicts he must resolve. First, the arrival of a renegade giant lizard from outer space who threatens the hero's territory. And second, there is the struggle to use the proper - and I'm not making this up- the proper TOILET for Daigaro. The movie plays like a pre-K Gamera film, with the thrown in Japanese boys to suit the needs of Nippon's pedophiles. However, the special effects and miniatures are surprisingly well done. And the suitmation styles for Daigaro and Goliath are very unique for them (at least they weren't recycled suits from the Ultraman series of that period.) This joint effort between Toho and Tsuburaya productions actually has more integrity, believe it or not, than the 70's Godzilla flicks (and Gamera flicks.) Unfortunately, there is no English version of this film available as it was never released in the US in any format. However, it is available via underground video dealers who have the "connections." Without any translation, the story is relatively easy to follow, a tribute to disciplined filmmaking I guess.
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10/10
A great critique on Communism in the 21st century. Belongs in the Criterinoin Collection.
HarleyThomas-7604324 November 2020
Daigoro VS. Goliath handles several political issues that still plagues the Earth today such as Communism. Daigoro represents the United States, and Goliath represents the Soviet Union. And although Daigoro does not have the greatest past, and isn't having the best time due to money, with the help of the smarts from his caretaker and his family, he pulls through to stop the overtaking power of Goliath that is trying to stop him and put him and his friends in danger. Daigoro ultimately defeats Goliath in the end, and even though there is peace among the citizens of Japan, it feels almost as if like another monster will return. But Goliath has learned to handle it, and will protect his friends. Even when another monster does return.
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