Godzilla

Watch: Godzilla

5/7/20041h 36m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Godzilla, a weapon of science, a great battle of wonder and terror! ~

Overview:

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

Director:

Ishirō Honda

Status:

Released

Language:

Japanese

Buget:

$900,000.00

Revenue:

$2,250,000.00

Key words:

ship
island
japan
atomic bomb
shipwreck
giant monster
nuclear radiation
tokyo, japan
dinosaur
black and white
creature feature
kaiju
post war japan
animal horror
godzilla
tokusatsu

Cast

Akira Takarada

~ as ~

Hideto Ogata

Momoko Kôchi

~ as ~

Emiko Yamane

Akihiko Hirata

~ as ~

Daisuke Serizawa

Takashi Shimura

~ as ~

Kyohei Yamane

Fuyuki Murakami

~ as ~

Professor Tanabe

Sachio Sakai

~ as ~

Newspaper Reporter Hagiwara

Ren Yamamoto

~ as ~

Masaji Yamada

Toyoaki Suzuki

~ as ~

Shinkichi Yamada

Toranosuke Ogawa

~ as ~

President of Company

Hiroshi Hayashi

~ as ~

Chairman of Diet Committee

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 9 year(s) ago
8
The big political atomic lizard is cheesed off!

After H bomb testing in the pacific, ships start to go missing and a remote island is apparently under attack from a prehistoric monster. Japanese scientists hasten to find out just what is going on, what they find is Gojira, and he is mightily hell bent on destruction...next stop Tokyo.

Gojira is such an influential film, it has spawned many sequels, remakes, copyists, and numerous homages, and of course there is two versions of this film for the viewer to choose from. The American version is a decent enough watch, it has integrated Raymond Burr into this original versions plot, and although it's unintentionally funny at times, it holds up pretty well as a no brainer piece of fluff. But it fails to compare to this original Ishirô Honda classic because this has a wonderful ambiance of fear at its heart, coming some 10 years after the Hiroshima bomb, the Japanese audiences of the time would surely have noted the heavy aura of destruction seaming through the picture.

Watching it today, now that it's restored in all its original glory, is still a memorable and exhilarating experience, the build up is perfect, we are practically on the edge of our seats waiting to glimpse the giant atomic creature, and when he/it/she shows up for the first time, it gives us a truly memorable classic piece of cinema. Sadly the film is hampered a touch by a meandering romantic sub-plot, but the performances (notably Takeshi Shimura) are very engaging, while Akira Ifkube's score is poignantly perfect.

As man in a rubber suit movies go, Gojira has no peers, it's smart, fun, and above all else, memorable. 8/10