Gojira (1954)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

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)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

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:

Spoofed in "Futurama: Anthology of Interest I (#2.20)" (2000)

The First and Definitely Best of the Series

Gojira (not Godzilla, King of the Monsters, with Raymond Burr), stands as one of the best monster movies...and one of Japan's finest and most allegory pieces of cinema. The original version of the movie has a lot of anti-nuclear sentiment that the US editors dropped from the Raymond Burr version. A woman on a subway noting that is seemed like she survived Nagaski only to die from Godzilla is an offhand but telling comment on Japan's unique view of the use of nuclear weapons.

The story itself is makes a bit more sense than the patchwork used with Raymond Burr (though that version is also quite good for the genre that it helps perpetuate). The effects are (I think) still great...the grainy, documentary feel of the movie makes it seem a lot more real.