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Gojira (1954)

Gojira (1954)
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One of the longest-running series in film history began with Ishiro Honda's grim, black-and-white allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb. As his visual metaphor, Honda uses a 400-foot-tall mutant dinosaur called Gojira, awakened from the depths of the sea as a rampaging nuclear nightmare, complete with glowing dorsal fins and fiery, radioactive breath. Crushing ships, villages, and buildings in his wake, Gojira marches toward Tokyo, bringing all of the country's worst nightmares back until an evil more terrible bomb -- capable of sucking all the oxygen from the sea -- returns the monster to its watery grave. The original film is chilling, despite some rather unconvincing man-in-a-suit special effects, and brimming with explicitly stated anti-American sentiment. All of that was removed for the U.S. release directed by Terry Morse. It was replaced with bad dubbing and tedious added footage starring Raymond Burr. The resulting edit was just another monster movie, but was still popular enough to assure future Toho Studios monster films a wide American release. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

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Director(s):
Ishiro Honda
Format(s):
DVD  |  Blu-ray
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Synopsis of Gojira

One of the longest-running series in film history began with Ishiro Honda's grim, black-and-white allegory for the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bomb. As his visual metaphor, Honda uses a 400-foot-tall mutant dinosaur called Gojira, awakened from the depths of the sea as a rampaging nuclear nightmare, complete with glowing dorsal fins and fiery, radioactive breath. Crushing ships, villages, and buildings in his wake, Gojira marches toward Tokyo, bringing all of the country's worst nightmares back until an evil more terrible bomb -- capable of sucking all the oxygen from the sea -- returns the monster to its watery grave. The original film is chilling, despite some rather unconvincing man-in-a-suit special effects, and brimming with explicitly stated anti-American sentiment. All of that was removed for the U.S. release directed by Terry Morse. It was replaced with bad dubbing and tedious added footage starring Raymond Burr. The resulting edit was just another monster movie, but was still popular enough to assure future Toho Studios monster films a wide American release. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Complete Cast of Gojira


Director(s):
Ishiro Honda
Writer(s):
Takeo Murata, Ishiro Honda
Producer(s):
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Categories:
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
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    Kristopher P.

    Watch Gojira, the Japanese version. The US version takes a character drama and turns it into a bland, 50's era monster film. The film does not hold up by today's standards. The original Gojira, however, is quite a telling piece that was one of the few Japanese movies after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to reference or deal with those events or the aftermath. Don't be deceived, Godzilla is only a theme, a menace, a problem, which tests the intertwined characters and their morality. He is not the focus of the movie, and in that way, the film stands boldly where other monster movies would cripple without their star monster. The characters are well acted and explored. The special effects peak and dip, but serve their purpose well and are rarely distracting. There are many themes and interactions within the movie that paint a picture of Japan after WWII and their occupation. This movie succeeds in extending beyond the terrifying visage of Godzilla.

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    Scott P.

    Growing up with monster movies on TV (I'm 44), I thought I knew Godzilla. Wow, was I wrong. Watched the original first. What an amazing film. Realizing this was released a mere 9 years after the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki added a chilling air to everything on the screen. Next, the Americanized version w/ Raymond Burr. I never realized what a hatchet job was performed on the original. A beautiful love story, lost. The well-rounded characters I cared for so much in Gojira reduced to cartoons. An amazing allegory about the dangers of nuclear weaponry reduced to "monster-run-amok", with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the forehead. Bottom line-Gojira is one of those fantasy films that transcends its genre. I was amazed at how much of "Jurassic Park" could be traced back to Gojira, right down to the sound of the creature’s footfalls. A stellar piece of filmmaking that will make you think. Watch it. Love it. And don't bother with the Raymond Burr version ever again.

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    Russell S.

    Ray Harryhausen once said that the reason his films stand the test of time is because his "creations" exist in a reality all to themselves. Godzilla is exactly the same. Big rubber floppy feet leveling buildings is sheer genius, and integral to its charm. In America for years, we were cheated by bad dubbing and awful editing. Seeing this in the original Japanese is amazing and frankly disturbing (in a good way). America needs its own Godzilla-like monster. Kong was too mortal and well...furry. And Roland Emerrich's insult-to-intelligence Godzilla, isn't worth mentioning. "Cloverfield" is a good first attempt but American directors need to study in Japan for a while. They do monsters right.

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