Daigoro vs. Goliath

Daigoro vs. Goliath
Theatrical release poster
Directed byToshihiro Iijima
Screenplay byKitao Senzoku[1]
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyYuzo Inagaki[1]
Music byToru Fuyuki[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 17 December 1972 (1972-12-17) (Japan)
Running time
84 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Daigoro vs. Goliath (怪獣大奮戦　ダイゴロウ対ゴリアス, Kaijū Daifunsen Daigorō tai Goriasu; lit. Great Monster Battle: Daigoro vs. Goliath) is a 1972 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film directed and written by Toshihiro Iijima, with special effects by Jun Oki and Minoru Nakano. Co-produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Toho Studios, the film stars Hiroshi Inuzuka and Akiji Kobayashi.

Plot

Daigoro is a monster who was orphaned after the military used intercontinental missiles to kill his mother while she tried to protect him. Only one man stood against that decision. He pitied the infant, and took it as his own and raised him in Japan. But Daigoro grew too large and too expensive to feed. The man made Daigoro an icon for a business. Elsewhere Goliath, a monster who had been trapped in an asteroid for a long time, went to Earth and battled Daigoro. Goliath eventually defeated Daigoro by striking him with lightning from his horn. Goliath then left to pillage the world, leaving Daigoro to die. Daigoro recovered and practiced daily for his next battle against Goliath. After an intense fight, Daigoro breathed his fire ray and managed to defeat Goliath. The humans then grabbed Goliath while he was still weak and strapped him to a rocket and launched him into space.

Cast

Production

Daigoro vs. Goliath was made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tsuburaya Productions.[3] Tsubaraya initially wanted to produce a historical drama to celebrate their 10th anniversary, but due to budget limitations and the excessive bureaucracy that would've been involved it was instead decided to produce a kaiju film[3] Due to his experience directing other Tsuburaya Productions such as Ultra Q and Ultraman, Toshihiro Iijima was selected as director and would also write the screenplay under the pseudonym Kitao Senzoku (his second writing effort under the name after an episode of Return of Ultraman).[3]

Former staffs from Daiei Film, which was declared bankrupt in the previous year, participated in the productions of both Daigoro vs. Goliath and Fireman (1973), and these productions utilized Daiei Tokyo Studio and practical effects and explosives from the Gamera series.[4][5]

Release

Daigoro vs. Goliath was released in Japan on 17 December 1972 where it was distributed by Toho.[1]

Follow-up production

After Daigoro vs. Goliath proved a commercial success, producer Noboru Tsuburaya made a deal with Toho to license Godzilla for a children's monster film recycling assets from Daigoro vs. Goliath which itself was reverse engineered from a Godzilla pitch rejected in favor of Godzilla vs. Hedorah.[3][6] The film was to be titled Godzilla vs. Redmoon and came close to starting production with Shohei Tôjô as director and special effects by Kazuo Sagawa until ultimately being cancelled for unknown reasons.[6]

Legacy

See also: Kaiju Booska § Reception and legacy

While the production of Daigoro vs. Goliath was influenced by Daiei Film and its Gamera franchise,[4][5] the "Konaka Gamera", one of the original scripts of the 1995 film Gamera: Guardian of the Universe by Chiaki and Kazuya Konaka (the other was by Yoshikazu Okada, was influenced by Daigoro vs. Goliath.[7][8] These scrapped scripts were later redeveloped into Gamera the Brave (2006), Ultraman Tiga (1996) by Tsuburaya Productions, and Digimon Tamers (2001) by Toei Animation. Chiaki Konaka's fondness of Ultraman productions since his childhood has influenced his creativity, and he additionally cited Tsuburaya Production's Kaiju Booska (and Ultra Q) and Future Boy Conan by Hayao Miyazaki for the production of the Digimon anime, along with referring to Kanegon the Ultra-kaiju in the novel Digimon Tamers 1984.[7][9][10][11]

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Galbraith IV 2008, p. 286.
  2. ^ PERFECT MOOK vol.10 Ultraman A Kodansha Kodansha Series MOOK, November 25, 2020. ISBN 978-4-06-520932-5
  3. ^ a b c d "Daigoro: Thoughts on Tsuburaya's Progressive Obscurity". ourculture. 27 March 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b Masumi Kaneda [@KanedaMasumi] [in Japanese] (20 November 2025). "『怪獣大奮戦ダイゴロウ対ゴリアス』('72)は大映東京撮影所で撮影。" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  5. ^ a b MANTANWEB Editorial Department, ed. (16 December 2025). "樋口真嗣×小椋俊一：「ガメラ」60周年の魅力"あえて消さない"修復版　志が高かった「平成ガメラ」". MANTANWEB (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b Ryfle, S. (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 177. ISBN 1550223488.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ a b ASCII Media Works, 2014, Heisei Gamera Perfection, p.237, Kadokawa Shoten
  8. ^ Ozawa, Ryoko (20 February 2021). "平成ガメラへの道". Eiga Hiho. Vol. April 2021. Futabasha. p. 6.
  9. ^ Chiaki Konaka, Guilmon, konaka.com
  10. ^ Chiaki Konaka, The tweet on March 17, 2018
  11. ^ Chiaki Konaka, March 29, 2021, テイマーズの参照モデル, Digimon Tamers 2021 Blog

Sources

  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.
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