Godzilla

1954 [JAPANESE]

Action / Drama / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

32
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 89% · 79 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 89% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.6/10 10 44748 44.7K

monster ship island japan atomic bomb shipwreck

Plot summary

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

Ishirô Honda Photo
Ishirô Honda

Top cast

Ren Yamamoto Photo
Ren Yamamoto as Masaji Sieji
Yû Fujiki Photo
Yû Fujiki as Eiko-Maru sailing vessel wireless communications officer
Fuyuki Murakami Photo
Fuyuki Murakami as Professor Tanabe
Teruko Mita Photo
Teruko Mita as Activist
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
818.19 MB
988*720
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 13
1.47 GB
1472*1072
Japanese 2.0
NR
Subtitles jp  
23.976 fps
1 hr 36 min
Seeds 67

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Aaron1375 9 / 10

Wow, watching the Japanese version makes quite a bit of difference.

Yes, I have seen the rather cheesy Americanized version of this film with the obviously inserted Raymond Burr scenes and while you do get to see Godzilla crush Tokyo you miss most the the plot from the original Japanese version. The Japanese version is very well done and has a very good story, which for some reason we felt like changing. I don't know why, there really isn't any overtly anti-American messages to be found, rather a message against Japan's own nuclear testing and the dangers of said weapon to all people. So suffice to say this movie has a giant monster who comes out of the ocean, apparently a dinosaur that was entrapped in some underwater area where it remained undetected for millions of years...a nuclear test has not only released the beast it has horribly mutated it as well to a much bigger radioactive super beast. So scientist and military and politicians must now find a way to destroy the beast before it destroys all of Japan. The movie is very good and rather sad at the same time. The sweeping march on Tokyo is very well done as there is a rather good scene of a mother with her children surrounded by flames trying to comfort her kids by saying they will be with their father soon. Also a very good ending and very sad ending. It is also an ending in the Japanese version that warns that other Godzilla's may emerge and indeed they do as the next Godzilla to emerge would actually never be killed and end up being somewhat of a hero, kind of funny they did turn one of the most effective destructive monsters scarred by radiation into a hero, however I liked those Godzilla movies as well.
Reviewed by StevePulaski 8 / 10

One of the only cases where we review and analyze an original work entirely different from its sucessors

Trying to convince somebody that isn't wholly invested in cinema, or somebody simply not willing to learn about the culture, that the first Godzilla film was actually a film littered with commentary and played nothing like the idea we all have in our heads about the towering monster is a daunting and almost thankless task in itself. Once you grasp the idea of a postwar Japan that was left demilitarized and financially and structurally battered, fearful of invaders, nuclear repercussions, and the country's future in terms of basic economic prosperity, the original, 1954 Japanese film (known as Gojira in Japanese) becomes a film ripe for thoughtful dissection and analysis by just your average cinephile or history buff.Little needs to be explained in the way of the film's story, I feel, but the basic idea concerns the awakening of a towering behemoth thanks to prolific nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese are petrified of the destruction possible with this creature lurking around, find their government is content on hiding and obscuring facts related to the issue, and see a dissenting country in the mix of deciding what to do with the monster. While a good majority of the people, understandably, want this monster extinct and destroyed as soon as possible, Dr. Yamane Emiko (Momoko Kōchi) finds the possibility for research and analysis on Godzilla invaluable and has the ambition to try and capture him alive. Dr. Emiko is in the minority on this view, but he sees the long-term value in the creature, while the townspeople, acting on impulse and responding to an immediate conception of fear, want nothing to do with the creature.This ignites an idea brought on by classic Universal monster movies of the 1930's and 1940's about humans' role in these man-made disasters, or whether or not humans have the responsibility to "play God" in any way. This idea, in conjunction with relativistic looks at the Japanese mindset in the 1940's and 1950's, after the repercussions of World War II, the basic elements of human fear, and what Godzilla metaphorically represents, are all relative in analyzing this particular piece, and it may indeed be the only franchise where the first film is looked at and critiqued in an entirely different light than its successors. Following the boom of the Japanese film industry in the 1950's and 1960's, American activities such as golf were beginning to become prominent in Japan, along with the ubiquity of home Television sets, which saw exponential sales from a few thousands to two million during the mid to late 1960's. As a result, Japan's successful film industry became short-lived, as less and less people flocked out to the theaters due to the lack of popularity of the establishments comparative to the United States. The company that released Gojira, Toho and its director Ishirō Honda, began catering to the lowest common-denominator, not filling their follow-up efforts to Godzilla with thought-provoking commentary on Japanese culture and topical events, but instead, loading them with the kind of cheesiness and glitz expected to attract young children or a late-night audience. The Godzilla films became more concerned with the sounds-and-lights aesthetic, ridiculous and often ludicrous monsters that were totally geared towards selling action figures, and a line of comic books and video games to license the everlasting hell out of Godzilla name.This kind of franchise and international ubiquity obscured the original film not only for its datedness but made its justifications for social commentary laughable to those uninformed about Japanese culture at the time . This is one of the many things licensing does to hurt a brand or product in the long-term sense, for it alienates consumers because they can't seem to escape it no matter which way they turn, but the reasons for the greatness of the original product become lessened or forgotten due to the constant influx of new material related to the original work.Gojira may find itself crude in parts, with its assembly of miniatures optimistically passing off as a rogue monstrosity devastating a large community, or its evident aspects showcasing overacting, but it's nonetheless enjoyable on an entertainment level and thoughtful on a commentary-level. This is one of the few films that can be so relevant and topical while playing one of the most simplistic but effective instrumental tracks, and that in its own right is uncommonly beautiful. Starring: Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura. Directed by: Ishirō Honda.
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