flash-hammer's Full Review: Godzilla, King of the Monsters
Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Few film series have stuck with me in the popularity stakes like the Godzilla movies. Maybe because there are now 20+ films in the series, all of them coming in a variety of tones and qualities, so there is something to suit every mood I have, but one that I have always liked, since I was a young one, was the original. Or at least the chopped up American version of the original, which is still very good.
The basic story of both versions of the film is that the Atomic Bombs dropped on Japan have somehow caused a giant Dinosaur like creature which can breath radioactive fire from its mouth to emerge from the ocean and attack Tokyo. The creature is dubbed ‘Gojira’, pronounced ‘Godzilla’ by some local natives, and the name sticks. After the creature stomps all hell out of the Japanese military, the only hope lies in an experiment gone wrong from eye-patched scientist Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata – King Kong Vs. Godzilla), but Serizawa is in a time of great personal troubles, as his wife Emiko (Momoko Kochi – The Mysterians), a marriage which was arranged, has fallen in love with a sailor.
In the American version, a US actor was added in new scenes and several steps were taken to ensure that he blended in with the previously shot Japanese footage. If a character had to be in a scene with the US character, they would have their back to the camera, due to the fact that they were portrayed by someone else dolled up to look like the real actor (a process the makers of the 80s horror series The Evil Dead dubbed ‘fake shemping’) and Japanese actors were also hired to be in scenes with him, so it appeared as if he was in Japan.
The American character came in the form of a reporter named Steve Martin (Raymond Burr – TV’s Perry Mason) who is in Japan to visit his old buddy Dr.Serizawa but gets caught up in the carnage as Godzilla wreaks havoc.
While I feel it would be a bit harsh to criticise the Japanese actors, seeing as all their dialogue is dubbed, they do seem to perform very well, especially Hirata, who plays Serizawa perfectly in a haunted manner, as he does not want to unleash his device on the world.
As for Raymond Burr, he does a fairly good job in his role, considering he was not involved at all in the majority of the film’s creation, he does manage to capture the general tone of the Japanese footage and acts in a way that it could be believable he was actually there from the start.
The music, from Akira Ifukube, who’s music would become synonymous with Godzilla. Is quite frankly awesome. The haunting theme tune is memorable. The way the title cards come up, and you hear the thunderous footsteps of the monster is spine tingling.
The special effects in Godzilla movies are often the place in which they come in for the most stick, but in the original, for 1954 anyway, the effects are really good. In case you don’t know, Godzilla is, for the most part, portrayed as a man in an extremely heavy rubber costume. In this movie, he is listed as being played by 3 actors, most notably Haruo Nakajima, who portrayed the King of the Monsters in 12 movies, as well as portraying Spin-Off monsters like Rodan and Varan in their own movies. The effects were created Eiji Tsuburaya, who went on to create the incredibly popular Ultraman TV series.
The suit used in this movie is probably one of the best Godzilla suits used, with a lot of effort clearly being put into this one. Its quite amusing that the first movie, made in the 50s, has some of the most convincing effects in any of the movies.
In case you aren’t aware, Godzilla himself is a thinly veiled metaphor for the Hiroshima bombing. Apparently producer Tomoyuki Tanaka originally wanted to make a war picture on an island, but was refused permission, but on the plane home dreamt up Godzilla, who in his original form was to be a giant octopus.
I have to admit it has been a while since I watched my subtitled Japanese version of the movie, but I’m sure the movie has been given a slightly less anti-American tone to it. While the original wasn’t exactly Anti-America, I’m sure it did give a little bit more of an indication of less than all out love for the USA.
The whole movie is just one of the perfect examples of the 50’s monster film, and one of the most powerful films in the genre in terms of actually having any sort of message.
Its often hailed as a rip-off of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and while there are similarities, and the Beast came first, I personally feel Godzilla edges it out as a better movie.
The film really doesn’t have many faults. The special effects, while not anywhere near as complex as most of the stuff done today, actually work better for me than the majority of CGI. Personally, I’ll take a well made suit smashing painstakingly crafted miniatures than hokey CGI crap (see: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). While the world and its cat is masturbating the crew of Lord of the Rings for its ‘big’atures (god do I hate the people that came up with that), the stuff created here by Tsuburaya is not only brilliant for its time, but also stands up now, and isn’t exactly miles behind, especially considering the crew of this had to make the buildings look, and smash, like real structures.
For those who want to laugh at the movie, several members of the cast worked with the legendary Akira Kurosawa, and he himself spoke at the Godzilla director Ishiro Honda’s funeral in 93.
The story of the movie is simple, but greatly effective, and the US version doesn’t really alter all that much of the plot at all.
If you have any love for old monster films, or can in any form stomach black and white movies, I would recommend you see the original Godzilla, in either its American or subbed Japanese version, because not only is it a Sci-Fi Horror classic, but it also kickstarted what I believe is the longest running movie series ever, and is probably one of the greatest monster movies of all time.
Even if you never see another Godzilla movie, this is the only one that really matters.
On a slightly more trivial note, the dubbed voice for Dr.Serizawa was provided by underappreciated should-be Legend James Hong (Big Trouble in Little China)
Year: 1956
Titles: Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Kaiju no Gojira
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