Gojira (1954)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Ishirô Honda

Writers:

Ishirô Honda (writer)
Shigeru Kayama (story)
(more)

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
Tadashi Okabe	...	Reporter Killed on Tower
Ren Imaizumi	...	Radio Operator
Junpei Natsuki	...	Power Substation Engineer
Katsumi Tezuka	...	Gojira / Hagiwara's Editor
Haruo Nakajima	...	Gojira / Power Station Worker
Yasuhisa Tsutsumi
Jiro Suzuki
Saburo Iketani	...	News Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shizuko Higashi	...	Partygoer
Kiyoshi Kamata	...	Partygoer's Escort
Kenji Sahara	...	Young Lover on the sound
Keiji Sakakida	...	Mayor Inada
Tamae Sengo	...	Mother
Ryosaku Takasugi
Ishirô Honda	...	Power Station Worker (The Hand that Throws the Switch) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ishirô Honda

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ishirô Honda		writer
Shigeru Kayama		story
Takeo Murata		writer

Produced by
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Akira Ifukube

Cinematography by
Masao Tamai

Film Editing by
Kazuji Taira		(as Yasunobu Taira)

Production Design by
Satoshi Chuko
Takeo Kita

Art Direction by
Satoshi Chuko
Takeo Kita

Production Management
Teruo Maki	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Kajita	....	chief assistant director
Susumu Takebayashi	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound recordist
Nobuyuki Tanaka	....	sound assistant
Norio Tone	....	sound assistant

Special Effects by
Sadamasa Arikawa	....	director of photography: special effects
Kuichiro Kishida	....	special effects lighting
Yoichi Manoda	....	assistant camera
Hiroshi Mukoyama	....	matte work
Fumio Nakadai	....	special effects wire work
Yasuaki Sakamoto	....	production manager
Sokei Tomioka	....	assistant camera
Teizo Toshimitsu	....	monster builder
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	special effects director
Hajime Tsuburaya	....	assistant camera
Akira Watanabe	....	art director
Taka Yuki	....	opticals
Fuminori Ohashi	....	special effects technical advisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Haruo Nakajima	....	stunt choreographer

Camera and Electrical Department
Yuzuru Aizawa	....	assistant camera
Choshiro Ishii	....	lighting technician
Shinji Kojima	....	lighting assistant
Shoshichi Kojima	....	lighting assistant

Other crew
Sei Ikeno	....	assistant: Akira Ifukube
Fumio Nakadai	....	tail supervisor
Shôji Okawa	....	tail supervisor

Production Companies

• Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Distributors

• Toho Company (Japan)
• Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vestron Video (1983) (USA) (VHS)
• Zontarian Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Rialto Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2005) (UK) (all media)
• Atlantic Film (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Classic Media (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Wonder (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2008) (Japan) (TV)
• Kuk Dong (South Korea)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

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

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:

There were three cables coming out of the back of the costume. Two were for the operation of the eyes, and one was for the operation of the mouth. Eizo Kaimai was responsible for the movement of the eyes and the mouth. Batteries were installed in the Godzilla costume that was made for the second Godzilla movie. They were for the operation of the eyes and the mouth. The batteries made the costume even heavier than the one that had been constructed for the first Godzilla film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Yemane's arrive on Odo Island, Emiko is wearing a skirt and Doctor Yemane is wearing a suit and a tie. However, a few minutes later Emiko is wearing slacks and Doctor Yemane's tie is gone.

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:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: Operation Rich in Spirit (#1.17)" (2005)

Dark, terrifying, excellent

Essentially a Japanese remake of Hollywood's 1953 classic 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms', 'Gojira' took the same formula and became so much more than simple giant-monster entertainment.

Both films told stories about a pre-historic creature released/mutated by atomic testing. 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' followed the appearance of a dinosaur released by an atomic blast. This dinosaur proceeded to destroy some stuff, turned up in New York, and destroyed New York too. Fun, but that was it, and not much more (I'm not saying its a bad film).

On the other hand, 'Gojira' used the same idea, and had a great impact in Japan. Gojira represented a real threat, a danger that Japanese of the time knew all too well. The message behind 'Gojira' was warning of the dangers of nuclear testing and nuclear weapons. Conversely, the message of 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' is one for aspiring comic-book writers: exposure to radiation is a cheap but easy way to explain your character's freaky superpowers.

'Gojira' starts off with several boats going missing. One old man claims that Godzilla has returned, and in surprisingly un-Godzilla movie like fashion, no one believes him. I can understand this, Japan wasn't accustomed to giant-monster attacks yet. Anyway, Japan asks an imminent paleontologist, Dr. Yamane, to investigate the disappearances around Ohto Island. He discovers a two-million year old shellfish and lots of radiation. Oh, and a dinosaur the locals have dubbed Gojira. Back in Japan, Dr. Yamane is convinced that Gojira has been released by atomic testing, and that it should be isolated and studied. Obviously, no one else shares his view, and they all look for a way to destroy Gojira.

The key to Gojira's destruction lies in the hands of Dr. Serizawa. You can tell he is mad scientist because of his eye-patch. He is arranged to be married to Emiko Yamane, but she is in love with Hideto Ogata, a naval officer. Meanwhile, Gojira is turning Tokyo into a fiery crater.

Story-wise, its pretty similar to any irradiated monster movie of the 1950s. However, what all the other movies lack is the gripping images of destruction. Gojira is depicted as an evil force of nature - instead of wanting to see cities get crushed, we see Tokyo in Gojira's wake: it resembles a nuclear wasteland, and then we are treated to hospital scenes where medical staff try their best to deal with the scores of Gojira's victims. I can only imagine how terrifying scenes like those would have been so soon after World War Two. These are scenes we don't to see, in contrast to the sheer joy of watching two giant monsters have at each other in a big metropolis with no apparent consequences (see: nearly every other Godzilla movie ever made, for starters) Interestingly enough, Godzilla was only 50 metres tall in this, and he left radioactive fallout wherever he went. Somewhere along the along the line in the following movies, he got significantly taller, and lost the radioactive fallout. I guess it was a good career move seeing as he wanted to become a super-hero later on.

Great film, worthy of a 10/10