Gojira (1954)

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Ishirô Honda (writer)
Shigeru Kayama (story)

Release Date:

7 May 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The legend begins....

Plot:

American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable, dinosaur-like beast.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Japan | Nuclear Weapon | Monster Terrorizes City | Giant Monster

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Akira Takarada	...	Hideto Ogata
Momoko Kôchi	...	Emiko Yamane
Akihiko Hirata	...	Daisuke Serizawa-hakase
Takashi Shimura	...	Kyohei Yamane-hakase
Fuyuki Murakami	...	Professor Tanabe
Sachio Sakai	...	Newspaper Reporter Hagiwara
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	Nankai Shipping Company Manager
Ren Yamamoto	...	Masaji the Fisherman
Miki Hayashi	...	Chairman of Diet Committee
Takeo Oikawa	...	Chief of Emergency Headquarters
Seijiro Onda	...	Parliamentarian Oyama
Tsuruko Mano	...	Shinkichi's Mother
Toyoaki Suzuki	...	Shinkichi (Masaji's Younger Brother)
Kokuten Kodo	...	The Old Fisherman
Kin Sugai	...	Ozawa-san

Also Known As:

Godzilla (International: English title) (USA)
Kaihatsu keikaku G (Japan) (working title)
Kaitei ni-man mairu kara kita daikaijû (Japan) (working title)
Godzilla (France) [fr]
Godzilla (Hungary) [hu]
Godzilla (Poland) [pl]
Godzilla (Italy) [it]
Godzilla - Der sensationellste Film der Gegenwart (West Germany) (video title) [de]
Godzilla - monstret från havet (Sweden) [sv]
Godzilla, to teras tou aionos (Greece) [el]
Japón bajo el terror del monstruo (Spain) [es]
O Monstro do Oceano Pacífico (Portugal) [pt]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (nf) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Toba, Mie, Japan

Company:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

Because the entire film was storyboarded, additional sketch artists had to be hired for the production. Also, since the actual look of Gojira hadn't been decided upon, the creature's appearance varied throughout the storyboard, depending on who did the individual sketch.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As the monster lumbers through Tokyo, the emergency officials are shown evacuating their office just before the building is wrecked by Gojira. After the office has been destroyed, a shot shows the monster's tail outside the wrecked building, and the wires holding up the tail are plainly visible.

Quotes:

Dr. Serizawa: If my device can serve a good purpose, i would announce it to everyone in the world! But in its current form, it's just a weapon of horrible destruction. Please understand, Ogata!
Hideto Ogata: I understand. But if we don't use your device against Godzilla, what are we going to do?
Dr. Serizawa: Ogata, if the oxygen destroyer is used even once, politicians from around the world will see it. Of course, they'll want to use it as a weapon. Bombs versus bombs, missiles versus missiles, and now a new superweapon to throw upon us all! As a scientist - no, as a human being - I can't allow that to happen! Am I right?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo (#10.23)" (1999)

Why in God's Green Earth Isn't This Version Shown More?

Finally, I had the pleasure of finally seeing the original Japanese version of this classic and I have to say that it is much better than the "Raymond Burr" version. This film pretty much makes one think about what we are doing to mother Earth with all the pollution and war going on. Perhaps the thing that made this film great was that not only did it have great effects, but it also had a great story that made a great social commentary on what could have happened if the arms race continued to go unchecked. Besides the story about Gojira, you also had a pretty decent love story. Akihiko Hirata, does a good job of playing Serizawa, who is really the tragic figure in this film who must decide whether or not to use his weapon, which potentially was more dangerous than the monster itself. This film is definitely one of the all time classics and fortunately the original version will be released on DVD in September 2006.