Godzilla (1954 film)

Godzilla
Japanese release poster
Directed by	Ishirō Honda
Produced by	Tomoyuki Tanaka
Screenplay by	Ishirō Honda Takeo Murata
Story by	Shigeru Kayama
Starring	Akira Takarada Momoko Kōchi Akihiko Hirata Takashi Shimura
Music by	Akira Ifukube
Cinematography	Masao Tamai
Edited by	Kazuji Taira
Production company	Toho
Distributed by	Toho
Release dates	November 3, 1954 (1954-11-03)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Budget	¥60 million
Box office	¥225 million ($2.25 million)

Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) is a 1954 Japanese science fiction kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda. It is the first film in the Godzilla franchise and the first film in the Showa series. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as the performers for Godzilla, Tezuka performed the Godzilla puppets and Nakajima performed the Godzilla suit. Nakajima would go on to portray the character until his retirement in 1972.

In 1956, TransWorld Releasing Corp. released Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, a heavily re-edited "Americanized" version of the original film with additional footage featuring Raymond Burr. In 2004 Rialto Pictures gave the 1954 film a limited theatrical release in the United States to coincide with the franchise's 50th anniversary.

Plot

When the Japanese freighter Eiko-maru is destroyed near Odo Island, the Bingo-maru is sent to investigate, only to meet the same fate with few survivors. A fishing boat from Odo is also destroyed, with one survivor. Fishing catches mysteriously drop to zero, blamed by an elder on the ancient sea creature known as "Godzilla". Reporters arrive on Odo Island to further investigate. A villager tells one of the reporters that "something large is going crazy down there" ruining the fishing. That evening, a ritual dance to appease Godzilla is held during which the reporter learns that the locals used to sacrifice young girls. That night, a large storm strikes the island, destroying the reporters' helicopter, and an unseen force destroys 17 homes, kills nine persons and 20 of the villagers' livestock.

Odo residents travel to Tokyo to demand disaster relief. Evidence of villagers and the reporter describe damage consistent with something large crushing the village. The government sends paleontologist Kyohei Yamane to lead an investigation to the island, where giant radioactive footprints and a trilobite are discovered. The village alarm bell is rung and Yamane and the villagers rush to see the monster, retreating after seeing it is a giant dinosaur, which then roars, and returns to the ocean.

Yamane presents his findings in Tokyo, estimating that Godzilla is 165 feet (50 m) tall and is evolved from an ancient sea creature becoming a terrestrial animal. He concludes that Godzilla has been disturbed from its deep underwater natural habitat by underwater hydrogen bomb testing. Debate ensues about notifying the public about the danger of the monster. Meanwhile, 17 ships are lost at sea.

Ten frigates are dispatched to attempt to kill the monster using depth charges. The mission disappoints Yamane who wants Godzilla to be studied. Godzilla survives the attack and appears off-shore. Officials appeal to Yamane for ideas to kill the monster, but Yamane tells them that Godzilla is unkillable, having survived H-bomb testing, and must be studied.

Yamane's daughter, Emiko, decides to break off her arranged engagement to Yamane's colleague, Daisuke Serizawa, because of her love for Hideto Ogata, a salvage ship captain.When a reporter arrives and asks to interview Serizawa, Emiko escorts the reporter to Serizawa's lab. After Serizawa refuses to divulge his current work to the reporter, gives her a demonstration of his recent project on the condition she must keep it a secret. The demonstration horrifies her and she leaves without breaking off the engagement. Shortly after she returns home, the sound of Godzilla's footsteps approaching is heard. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay and enters the city, scattering residents from its path. A passing commuter train collides with Godzilla, who then destroys the train. After further destruction, Godzilla returns to the ocean.

After consulting with international experts, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces construct a 100 feet (30 m) tall, 50,000 volt electrified fence along the coast and deploy military forces to stop and kill Godzilla. Yamane returns home, dismayed that there is no plan to study Godzilla for its resistance to radiation, where Emiko and Ogata await hoping to get his consent for them to wed. When Ogata disagrees with Yamane, Yamane tells him to leave. Godzilla resurfaces and breaks through to Tokyo, unleashing a more destructive rampage across Tokyo. The Tokyo Tower and the Diet building are destroyed and there is a large loss of life.

Distraught by the devastation, Emiko tells Ogata about Serizawa's research, a weapon called the "Oxygen Destroyer", which disintegrates oxygen atoms and the organisms die of a rotting asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Serizawa to convince him to use the Oxygen Destroyer but he initially refuses. After watching a program displaying the nation's current tragedy, Serizawa finally accepts Emiko and Ogata's pleas.

A navy ship takes Ogata and Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. After finding Godzilla, Serizawa unloads the device and cuts off his air support, taking the secrets of the Oxygen Destroyer to his death. The mission proves to be a success and Godzilla is destroyed but many mourn Serizawa's death. Yamane reveals his belief that if nuclear tests continue, another Godzilla may rise in the future.

Cast

• Akira Takarada as Hideto Ogata (尾形 秀人, Ogata Hideto), a sea captain for the Nankai Salvage Company.
• Momoko Kōchi as Emiko Yamane (山根 恵美子, Yamane Emiko), the daughter of Dr. Yamane.
• Akihiko Hirata as Daisuke Serizawa (芹沢 大助, Serizawa Daisuke), a reclusive scientist.
• Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kyohei Yamane (山根 恭平 博士, Yamane Kyōhei), a paleontologist.
• Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Tanabe (田辺 博士, Tanabe-hakase), a physicist.
• Sachio Sakai as Hagiwara (萩原, Hagiwara), a newspaper reporter.
• Ren Yamamoto as Masaji Yamada (山田 政治, Yamada Masaji), a fisherman on Odo Island.
• Toyoaki Suzuki as Shinkichi Yamada (山田 新吉, Yamada Shinkichi), Masaji's younger brother.
• Toranosuke Ogawa as President of the Nankai Shipping Company
• Hiroshi Hayashi as Chairman of Diet Committee
• Seijiro Onda as Oyama, Diet Committee member
• Kin Sugai as Ozawa, Diet Committee member
• Kokuten Kōdō as The Old Fisherman
• Tadashi Okabe as Assistant of Dr. Tanabe
• Jiro Mitsuaki as Employee of Nankai Salvage Company
• Ren Imaizumi as Radio Officer Nankai Salvage Company
• Sokichi Maki as Chief at Maritime Safety Agency
• Kenji Sahara as partygoer
• Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and a reporter (Power Station worker )
• Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla & Newspaper Desk Editor

Themes

In the film, Godzilla is represented as a symbol for nuclear holocaust and ever since the film's initial release, Godzilla has been culturally identified as a strong metaphor for nuclear weapons. In the film, Godzilla's attack mirrors the same horrors the Japanese experienced near the end of World War II, with the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka stated that, "The theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the bomb. Mankind had created the bomb, and now nature was going to take revenge on mankind." Director Ishirō Honda filmed Godzilla's rampage on Tokyo with the mentality that the monster's onslaught was a parallel to, and a physical manifestation of, an Atom bomb attack. He stated, "If Godzilla had been a dinosaur or some other animal, he would have been killed by just one cannonball. But if he were equal to an atomic bomb, we wouldn't know what to do. So, I took the characteristics of an atomic bomb and applied them to Godzilla."

Production

Development

The opening scene of the Eiko Maru being obliterated by Godzilla's first attack and later scenes of survivors of other attacks being found with radiation burns, were inspired by the 1954 U.S. testing of a hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll. A real Japanese fishing ship, the Lucky Dragon 5, was overwhelmed when the U.S. Castle Bravo nuclear test had a yield of 15 megatons rather than the planned 6 megatons. Military personnel, island natives and several Lucky Dragon 5 crew members, persons believed to be in a zone of safety, suffered from radiation sickness and at least one died six months later. This created widespread fear of uncontrolled and unpredictable nuclear weapons, which the film makers symbolized with Godzilla. The actual event played a major role in drawing attention to the hazards of nuclear fallout, and concerns were widespread about radioactively contaminated fish affecting the Japanese food supply.

Godzilla's climactic attack on Tokyo was meant to exemplify a rolling nuclear attack, like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only much more slowly. Honda had plotted it this way, having been shocked by the real devastation of those cities.

Story

The film went through several different drafts. Science fiction and horror novelist Shigeru Kayama was hired to write the original story. The screenplay was written by Takeo Murata and Ishiro Honda. In Kayama's draft, originally entitled Kaitei ni-man mairu kara kita daikaijû (lit. "The Giant Monster from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"), and then later renamed G-Sakuhun (lit. Project G, with the G standing for the English word for Giant), Dr. Yamane was the antagonist and was seen as a mad scientist wearing a cape who lived in a gothic style house. Godzilla's first appearance was to have him rise from the sea at night and destroy a light house. This was an obvious homage to The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Murata and Honda altered and changed a few things from Kayama's draft and added new elements, like the love triangle between Emiko, Ogata, and Dr. Serizawa. Dr. Yamane was changed from a mad scientist to an acclaimed paleontologist who seeks to study Godzilla rather than destroy him. Godzilla itself was changed from Kayama's initial wild beast that came ashore to feed on live animals.

Design

File:Godzilla '54 design.jpg

The filmmakers took inspiration from various Dinosaurs, such as the Tyrannosaurus, Iguanodon, and Stegosaurus, to shape Godzilla's final and iconic design.

The monster story itself had been necessitated by an emergency. The producers had planned a completely different film, to be shot in Indonesia, but that project had fallen apart. Toho would demand a project to take its place and that fell on the shoulders of a young producer, Tomoyuki Tanaka. During the flight back to Tokyo, Tanaka, like most Japanese, had the Lucky Dragon incident on his mind. The monster angle was derived from reading about the success of Warner Bros.' 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in a trade magazine. It was then that the creation of the monster's design began to take place, beginning with the film's special effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya's earlier suggestion to shoot a film about a giant octopus, was dismissed, as Tanaka's idea was for a giant dinosaurian creature. The design underwent several variations and features, such as a hideous disproportionate creature with head shaped like a mushroom cloud, recalling the suggested references of the H-Bomb tests. In the end, the filmmakers eventually settled on a design that was a cross of between a Tyrannosaurus rex, an Iguanodon and a Stegosaurus, with the abilities of a fire-breathing dragon.

Bringing Godzilla to life via a man-in-suit had actually been a last resort. Tsuburaya had been deeply impressed with the stop-motion animation method used in King Kong. However, that method was far too costly and time-consuming (even though stop-motion would be used briefly, in one scene where Godzilla destroys the Nichigeki Theatre with his tail). It was decided that the easiest way to go was an actor in a monster suit, and miniature sets of Tokyo. This also proved difficult. Actor Haruo Nakajima volunteered to play (the full suit) Godzilla. Nakajima would play Godzilla in later sequels until his retirement from the character in 1972. The first attempt at a Godzilla suit was far too stiff and heavy, nearly impossible to use. They finally hit on a design that worked; but even that was grueling. The stuntman would suffer numerous bouts of heat exhaustion and dehydration. The suit had to have a valve to drain the sweat from it. Also, in order to avoid suffocation, the suit could have only been worn for three minutes. It has also been said that, at one point, Nakajima passed out in the suit due to heat exhaustion. The suit's tail was attached by wires and controlled by off-camera technicians. A large robotic model with eyes that blinked and moved, and a smaller puppet were also used.

Godzilla's name was also a source of consternation for the filmmakers. Because the monster had no name, the first draft of the film was not called Gojira but rather titled G, also known as Kaihatsu keikaku G ("Development Plan G"), the "G" of the title stood for "Giant", however. Nakajima confirmed that Toho held a contest to name the monster. The monster was eventually named Gojira, a combination of the Japanese words Gorilla (gorira) and Whale (kujira). One explanation that is chalked up to legend is that a hulking Toho Studios employee's physical attributes led him to be nicknamed Gojira. Kimi Honda, the widow of the director, dismissed this as a "tall tale" in the 1998 BBC documentary on Godzilla. NHK's investigative series, Project X, was able to locate the family of this man, but their verdict was inconclusive.

Filming

Toho Studios had balked at the suggestion of filming Godzilla in color. Ironically, the cheaper black-and-white film had actually enhanced the special effects (e.g. hiding wires and other things in the shadows), and otherwise adding to the overall chill of Godzilla's nighttime attacks. Two years later, Toho would film Rodan in color, which it would subsequently use in nearly all its giant-monster films.

For a special effects shoot for the movie, Nakajima, who was inside the Godzilla suit, was placed in a swimming pool. Masaaki Tachibana (an announcer of a scene in a steel tower) painted his face with olive oil to express that he was sweating with fear. There were many scenes filmed that were not used, but most have not been recovered. The best known example was the scene that was meant to replace the iconic appearance of Godzilla on Odo Island. Originally, Godzilla arrives holding a dead cow in his mouth, but the effect was not convincing enough and was cut, and only a few stills remain.

Box office and reception

Japan

When Godzilla was first released in 1954 the film sold approximately 9,610,000 tickets and was the eighth best-attended film in Japan that year. It remains the second most-attended "Godzilla" film in Japan, behind King Kong vs. Godzilla. Its box office earnings were 152 million Yen ($2.25 million).

The film initially received mixed to negative reviews in Japan. Japanese critics accused the film of exploiting the widespread devastation that the country had suffered in World War II, as well as the Daigo Fukuryū Maru (Lucky Dragon) incident that occurred a few months before filming began. Ishiro Honda lamented years later in the Tokyo Journal, "They called it grotesque junk, and said it looked like something you'd spit up. I felt sorry for my crew because they had worked so hard!". However as time went on, the film gained more respect in its home country. In 1984, Kinema Junpo magazine listed Gojira as one of the top 20 Japanese films of all time, while a survey of 370 Japanese movie critics published in Nihon Eiga Besuto 150 (Best 150 Japanese Films), had Godzilla ranked as the 27th best Japanese film ever made.

The film was nominated for two Japanese Movie Association awards. One for best special effects and the other for best film. It won best special effects but lost best picture to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

North America

In 1955 and in the 1960s, the original Gojira played in theaters catering to Japanese-Americans in predominantly Japanese neighborhoods in the United States. An English sub-titled version was shown at film festivals in New York, Chicago and other cities in 1982.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Main article: Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

In 1956, Jewell Enterprises re-edited, and eliminated many scenes from the film for American audiences. They combined the original Japanese footage of Godzilla with new American-made footage of Raymond Burr as an American reporter covering the monster's activities who would explain the action for an English-speaking audience with minimal dubbing. This version was released in Japan in 1957 in faux widescreen format, where, like the original, it became very popular.

In 1977 Italian director Luigi Cozzi released a well received modified and colorized version to magnetic band and sensurround theaters of the 1956 American version, known as Cozzilla by fans.

2004 and 2014 releases

File:Rialtogodzilla.jpg

Rialto Pictures theatrical poster for the 2004 U.S release of Godzilla.

To coincide with Godzilla's 50th anniversary, art-house distributor Rialto Pictures gave the film a traveling tour style limited release coast to coast across the United States. Uncut and featuring English-language subtitles, the film's release began on May 7, 2004, and ran until December 19, 2004. Starting in two theaters, the film would gross $38,030 USD in its opening weekend. It never played on more than six screens at any given point during its run. By the end of its run, it grossed $412,520 USD. The film played in roughly sixty theaters and cities across the United States during its ​7 ¹⁄₂-month run.

On April 18, 2014, Rialto re-released the film in another traveling tour style limited release coast to coast across the United States. This was to coincide with not only Godzilla's 60th anniversary, but also in celebration of the new Godzilla movie, which was released in theaters in May. To avoid confusion with the Hollywood film, the re-release was subtitled The Japanese Original. The film opened with $10,903 playing in one theater in New York City. The film played in roughly 66 theaters in 64 cities from April 18 to October 31. After its run, the film had a final gross of $150,191.

Critical reception

The 2004 American re-release of Godzilla received acclaim by many critics who had never seen the film in its original form without Raymond Burr. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has received a "certified fresh" rating of 93%, with a consensus saying "More than straight monster-movie fare, Gojira offers potent, sobering postwar commentary".

In Entertainment Weekly, Owen Glieberman, who gave the film an A- rating, wrote:

"Godzilla, an ancient beast roused from the ocean depths and irradiated by Japanese H-bomb tests, reduces Tokyo to a pile of ash, yet, like Kong, he grows more sympathetic as his rampage goes on. The characters talk about him not as an enemy but as a force of destiny, a "god". The inescapable subtext is that Japan, in some bizarre way, deserves this hell. Godzilla is pop culture's grandest symbol of nuclear apocalypse, but he is also the primordial spirit of Japanese aggression turned, with something like fate, against itself."

In the Dallas Observer, Luke Y. Thompson wrote:

"A lot of people are likely to be surprised by what they see. The 1954 Japanese cut is shot like a classic film noir, and the buildup to Tokyo's inevitable thrashing is quite slow by today's standards. The echoes of World War II are very strong, and the devastation wrought by Godzilla (played by Haruo Nakajima) is not sugar-coated; it eerily mirrors that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the deaths and injuries are dwelt upon. The monster himself is not fully revealed for quite a while, and even when he finally shows up, he's a malevolent black predator with glistening skin, who stays mostly in the shadows, many times more fearsome than the green-skinned cookie monster who showed up in the various sequels to layeth the smacketh down on the candyasses of numerous alien invaders in ugly leotards."

One of the few recent mixed reviews was written by Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. Ebert admitted the film was "an important one" and "properly decoded, was the Fahrenheit 9/11 of its time", but he also said:

"In these days of flawless special effects, Godzilla and the city he destroys are equally crude. Godzilla at times looks uncannily like a man in a rubber suit, stomping on cardboard sets, as indeed he was, and did. Other scenes show him as a stuffed, awkward animatronic model. This was not state-of-the-art even at the time; King Kong (1933) was much more convincing. When Dr. Serizawa demonstrates the Oxygen Destroyer to his fiancee, Emiko [sic], the super weapon is somewhat anticlimactic. He drops a pill into a tank of tropical fish, the tank lights up, he shouts, "stand back!" the fiancée screams, and the fish go belly-up. Yeah, that'll stop Godzilla in his tracks."

Since its release, Godzilla has been regarded not only as one of the best giant monster films ever made but an important cinematic achievement. The film was ranked #31 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. In 2015, Variety named it one of the "10 Best Monster Movies of All-Time".

Legacy

Main article: Godzilla (franchise)

The film became popular enough to spawn 27 Toho sequels, three American re-productions, (Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, King Kong vs. Godzilla and Godzilla 1985) two American films (a 1998 American reimagining and a 2014 American reboot) and inspire countless ripoffs, knockoffs, imitations, parodies and tributes. Since his debut, Godzilla has morphed into a worldwide cultural icon.

Multimedia

Soundtrack

The score by Akira Ifukube was released three times over a period of 13 years. The first recording was released by Futureland Toshiba in 1993, and nearly contained the film's complete score, missing only a brief source cue used for the pleasure boat scene. The track list is as follows:

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Main Title"	1:31
2.	"Footsteps (SFX)"	0:49
3.	"Eiko-Maru Sinking"	1:06
4.	"Bingo-Maru Sinking"	0:23
5.	"Uneasiness on Odo Island"	0:49
6.	"Rituals of Odo Island (Source Music)"	1:21
7.	"The Storm on Odo Island"	1:53
8.	"Theme from Odo Island"	0:34
9.	"Godzilla appears on Odo Island"	1:02
10.	"Frigate March I"	0:42
11.	"Horror of the Water Tank"	0:42
12.	"Godzilla Comes Ashore"	1:52
13.	"Fury of Godzilla"	2:25
14.	"Deadly Broadcast"	1:12
15.	"Godzilla heads to Tokyo Bay"	1:25
16.	"Attack Godzilla!"	1:27
17.	"Devastated Tokyo (Contains SFX)"	2:18
18.	"The Oxygen Destroyer"	3:11
19.	"Prayer for Peace"	2:48
20.	"Frigate March II"	0:21
21.	"Godzilla Under the Sea"	6:20
22.	"Ending"	1:41

The most recent release of the soundtrack was in April 2010, by Classic Media. It included the above tracks and an additional five tracks:

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Godzilla Leaving"	1:04
2.	"Main Title (extended)"	2:03
3.	"First Landing"	3:37
4.	"Tokyo In Flames"	2:17
5.	"Last Assault"	2:21

Home media

The 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters! version of the film was released on DVD by Simitar in 1998 and Classic Media in 2002. A DVD of the original Japanese version of the film was released in Japan in 2002. The quality of the print used for the Japanese version was partially restored and remastered, including three audio tracks (the original mono track, an isolated audio track, and an isolated track and special effects track), and an interview with Akira Ifukube.

In 2006, Classic Media released a two-disc DVD set titled Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece. This release features both the original 1954 Japanese Gojira film and the 1956 American Godzilla, King of the Monsters! version, making the original Japanese version of the film available on DVD in North America for the first time. This release features theatrical trailers for both films, audio commentary tracks on both films with Godzilla experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, two 13-minute documentaries titled "Godzilla Story Development" and "Making of the Godzilla Suit," and a 12-page essay booklet that was written by Steve Ryfle. This release also restores the original ending credits of the American film, which, until recently, were thought to have been lost.

In the fall of 2005, BFI released the original Japanese version in the UK theatrically, and later in the same year on DVD. The DVD includes the original mono track and several extra features, such as documentaries and commentary tracks by Steve Ryfle, Ed Godziszewski, and Keith Aiken. The DVD also includes a documentary about the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, a Japanese fishing boat that was caught in an American nuclear blast and partially inspired the creation of the movie. A region-4 DVD was released in Australia by Mad Co. Ltd in 2004 for the film's 50th Anniversary.

Classic Media released Godzilla on Blu-ray on September 22, 2009. This release includes the theatrical trailers, featurettes, and audio commentary on Godzilla by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski from the 2006 Classic Media DVD release, but it does not include the 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters! version of the film.

On January 24, 2012, the Criterion Collection released a "new high-definition digital restoration" of Godzilla on Blu-ray and DVD. Included as a special feature is Godzilla, King of the Monsters as well as commentary on both films by David Kalat, author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series. Also included are interviews with Akira Ikufube, Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato, actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, and effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai.

American films

Main articles: Godzilla (1998 film) and Godzilla (2014 film)

In 1998, TriStar Pictures released a reimagining of Godzilla. The film was a financial success but was received negatively from critics and fans of the franchise. In 2011, writer and producer Dean Devlin apologized for the film, blaming the script that he and director Roland Emmerich wrote. Emmerich admitted to never liking the original Godzilla films. Toho has retconned TriStar's Godzillas as Zilla for future appearances.

In 2014, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released a reboot of Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards. The film became a critical and financial success. Critics and fans have praised director Edwards for honoring the spirit and legacy of the Godzilla character and franchise. The film's success has prompted Legendary to proceed with sequels with director Edwards confirmed to return to direct a planned trilogy that is set to feature other Toho characters such as Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah.

Awards and nominations

Japan Movie Association Awards (1954)

• Winner - Special Effects
• Nominated - Best Picture

Bibliography

• Brothers, Peter H. (2015) Atomic Dreams and the Nuclear Nightmare: the Making of Godzilla (1954), CreateSpace ISBN 978-1508975830.

External links

• Criterion Collection Essay "Godzilla: Poetry After the A-Bomb" by J. Hoberman"
• G,history(Japan)
• Godzilla at IMDb
• Godzilla at AllMovie
• G-FAN Magazine
• Monster Zero News

Reviews

• Godzilla at Rotten Tomatoes
• Godzilla at Metacritic
• 'Godzilla,' Uncut and Unmatched by Desson Thomson.
• 'Godzilla': Not Your Daddy's Dinosaur by Stephen Hunter.
• It's the Bomb: We're off to see the lizard by J. Hoberman.