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 Kôdô	...	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:

Haruo Nakajima could walk about thirty feet in the original costume, which weighed over 200 pounds (91 kilograms). Later costumes were a little lighter but all of the costumes were very heavy. It was also very hot inside the costume. All of the costumes after the first one were easy to work with, as they were made to fit Nakajima, whereas the one that had been built for Godzilla had not been made for his body size.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the jets attack Gojira as he's walking out to sea after destroying Tokyo, the rockets they fire at the monster can be seen bouncing off the sky backdrop.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Kyohei Yamane-hakase: I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

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.