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Godzilla is a 1954 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise and the Shōwa era. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, Japan's authorities deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster, whose attacks trigger fears of nuclear holocaust during post-war Japan.

Godzilla entered production after a Japanese-Indonesian co-production collapsed. Tsuburaya originally opted for a giant octopus before the filmmakers decided on a dinosaur-inspired creature. Godzilla pioneered a form of special effects called suitmation, in which a stunt performer wearing a suit interacts with miniature sets. Principal photography lasted 51 days, and special effects photography lasted 71 days.

Godzilla was theatrically released in Japan on November 3, 1954, and grossed ¥183 million ($1.6 million) during its original theatrical run. In 1956, a heavily re-edited "Americanized" version, titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was released in the United States. The film spawned a multimedia franchise, being recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest running film franchise in history. The character Godzilla has since become an international pop culture icon. The film and Tsuburaya have been largely credited for establishing the template for media. Since its release, the film has been regarded as a cinematic achievement and one of the best monster films ever made.

When the Japanese freighter Eiko-maru is destroyed near Odo Island, another ship-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 in the sea is ruining the fishing. That evening, a storm strikes the island, destroying the reporters' helicopter, and Godzilla, briefly seen, destroys 17 homes and kills nine people and 20 of the villagers' livestock.

Odo residents travel to Tokyo to demand disaster relief. The villagers' and reporters' evidence describes damage consistent with something large crushing the village. The government sends paleontologist Kyohei Yamane to lead an investigation on 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 that it is a giant dinosaur. Yamane presents his findings in Tokyo, estimating that Godzilla is 50 m tall and is evolved from an ancient sea creature becoming a terrestrial creature. He concludes that Godzilla has been disturbed 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. When Godzilla survives the attack, 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 home. After Serizawa refuses to divulge his current work to the reporter, he gives Emiko a demonstration of his recent project on the condition that she must keep it a secret. The demonstration horrifies her and she leaves without mentioning the engagement. Shortly after she returns home, Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay and attacks Shinagawa. After attacking a passing train, Godzilla returns to the ocean.

After consulting international experts, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces construct a 30 m tall and 50,000 volt electrified fence along the coast and deploy forces to stop and kill Godzilla. Dismayed that there is no plan to study Godzilla for its resistance to radiation, Yamane returns home, where Emiko and Ogata await, hoping to get his consent for them to wed. When Ogata disagrees with Yamane, arguing that the threat that Godzilla poses outweighs any potential benefits from studying the monster, Yamane tells him to leave. Godzilla resurfaces and breaks through the fence to Tokyo with its atomic breath, unleashing more destruction across the city. Further attempts to kill the monster with tanks and fighter jets fail and Godzilla returns to the ocean. The day after, hospitals and shelters are crowded with the maimed and the dead, with some survivors suffering from radiation sickness.

Distraught by the devastation, Emiko tells Ogata about Serizawa's research, a weapon called the "Oxygen Destroyer", which disintegrates oxygen atoms and causes organisms to die of a rotting asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Serizawa to convince him to use the Oxygen Destroyer but he initially refuses, explaining that if he uses the device, the superpowers of the world will surely force him to construct more Oxygen Destroyers for use as a superweapon. After watching a program displaying the nation's current tragedy, Serizawa finally accepts their pleas. As Serizawa burns his notes, Emiko breaks down crying.

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 secret of the Oxygen Destroyer to his grave. Godzilla is destroyed, but many mourn Serizawa's death. Yamane believes that if nuclear weapons testing continues, another Godzilla may rise in the future.

Akira Takarada as Hideto Ogata

Momoko Kōchi as Emiko Yamane

Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Daisuke Serizawa

Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kyohei Yamane

Fuyuki Murakami as Dr. Tanabe

Sachio Sakai as Hagiwara

Ren Yamamoto as Masaji Yamada

Toyoaki Suzuki as Shinkichi Yamada

Toranosuke Ogawa as the President of the Nankai Shipping Company

Hiroshi Hayashi as the 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 the assistant of Dr. Tanabe

Jiro Mitsuaki as an employee of the Nankai Salvage Company

Ren Imaizumi as a radio officer of the Nankai Salvage Company

Sokichi Maki as the chief at the Maritime Safety Agency

Kenji Sahara as a partygoer

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and a reporter

Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla and a newspaper deskman

In the film, Godzilla symbolizes nuclear holocaust from Japan's perspective and has since been culturally identified as a strong metaphor for nuclear weapons. 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 Tokyo rampage to mirror the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stating, "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."

On March 1, 1954, just a few months before the film was made, the Japanese fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryū Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") had been showered with radioactive fallout from the U.S. military's 15-megaton " Castle Bravo" hydrogen bomb test at nearby Bikini Atoll. The boat's catch was contaminated, spurring a panic in Japan about the safety of eating fish, and the crew was sickened, with one crew member eventually dying from radiation sickness. This event led to the emergence of a large and enduring anti-nuclear movement that gathered 30 million signatures on an anti-nuclear petition by August 1955 and eventually became institutionalized as the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. The film's opening scene of Godzilla destroying a Japanese vessel is a direct reference to these events, and had a strong impact on Japanese viewers with this recent event still fresh in the mind of the public.

Academics Anne Allison, Thomas Schnellbächer, and Steve Ryfle have stated that Godzilla contains political and cultural undertones that can be attributed to what the Japanese had experienced in World War II and that Japanese audiences were able to connect emotionally to the monster. They theorized that these viewers saw Godzilla as a victim and felt that the creature's backstory reminded them of their experiences in World War II. These academics have also claimed that as the atomic bomb testing that woke Godzilla was carried out by the United States, the film in a way can be seen to blame the United States for the problems and struggles that Japan experienced after World War II had ended. They also felt that the movie could have served as a cultural coping method to help the people of Japan move on from the events of the war.

Brian Merchant from Motherboard called the film "a bleak, powerful metaphor for nuclear power that still endures today" and on its themes, he stated: "It's an unflinchingly bleak, deceptively powerful film about coping with and taking responsibility for incomprehensible, manmade tragedy. Specifically, nuclear tragedies. It's arguably the best window into post-war attitudes towards nuclear power we've got-as seen from the perspective of its greatest victims." Terrence Rafferty from The New York Times stated Godzilla was "an obvious gigantic, unsubtle, grimly purposeful metaphor for the atomic bomb" and felt the film was "extraordinarily solemn, full of earnest discussions".

Mark Jacobson from the website of magazine stated that Godzilla "transcends humanist prattle. Very few constructs have so perfectly embodied the overriding fears of a particular era. He is the symbol of a world gone wrong, a work of man that once created cannot be taken back or deleted. He rears up out of the sea as a creature of no particular belief system, apart from even the most elastic version of evolution and taxonomy, a reptilian id that lives inside the deepest recesses of the collective unconscious that cannot be reasoned with, a merciless undertaker who broaches no deals." Regarding the film, Jacobson stated, "Honda's first Godzilla... is in line with these inwardly turned post-war films and perhaps the most brutally unforgiving of them. Shame-ridden self-flagellation was in order, and who better to supply the rubber-suited psychic punishment than the Rorschach-shaped big fella himself?"

Tim Martin from The Daily Telegraph (London) stated that the original 1954 film was "a far cry from its B-movie successors. It was a sober allegory of a film with ambitions as large as its thrice-normal budget, designed to shock and horrify an adult audience. Its roster of frightening images-cities in flames, overstuffed hospitals, irradiated children-would have been all too familiar to cinemagoers for whom memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still less than a decade old, while its script posed deliberately inflammatory questions about the balance of postwar power and the development of nuclear energy." Martin also commented how the film's themes were omitted in the American version, stating, "Its thematic preoccupation with nuclear energy proved even less acceptable to the American distributors who, after buying the film, began an extensive reshoot and recut for Western markets."

Ishirō Honda - director, co-writer

Eiji Tsuburaya - special effects director

Koji Kajita - assistant director

Teruo Maki - production manager

Choshiro Ishii - lighting

Takeo Kita - chief art director

Satoshi Chuko - art director

Akira Watanabe - special effects art director

Kuichiro Kishida - special effects lighting

Teizo Toshimitsu - monster builder

Hisashi Shimonaga - sound recording

Ichiro Minawa - sound and musical effects

[If] our hearts were not in it 100 percent it would not have worked. We wanted [the monster] to possess the terrifying characteristics of an atomic bomb. This was our approach, without any reservations.

- Honda on his and the crew's vision for the film.

In 1954, Toho originally planned to produce Eikō no Kage ni (栄光の影に; In the Shadow of Glory), a Japanese-Indonesian co-production about the aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. However, anti-Japanese sentiment in Indonesia forced political pressure on the government to deny visas for the Japanese filmmakers. The film was to be co-produced with Perfini, filmed on location in Jakarta in color (a first for a major Toho production), and was to open markets for Japanese films in Southeast Asia.

Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka flew to Jakarta to renegotiate with the Indonesian government but was unsuccessful and on the flight back to Japan, conceived the idea for a giant monster film inspired by the 1953 film The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident that happened in March 1954. The film's opening sequence is a direct reference to the incident. Tanaka felt the film had potential due to nuclear fears generating news and monster films becoming popular, due to the financial success of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and the 1952 re-release of , the latter of which earned more money than previous releases.

During his flight, Tanaka wrote an outline with the working title The Giant Monster from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and pitched it to executive producer Iwao Mori. Mori approved the project in April 1954 after special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya agreed to do the film's effects and confirmed that the film was financially feasible. Mori also felt the project was a perfect vehicle for Tsuburaya and to test the storyboarding system that he instituted at the time. Mori also approved Tanaka's choice to have Ishirō Honda direct the film and shortened the title of the production to Project G (G for Giant), as well as giving the production classified status and ordered Tanaka to minimize his attention on other films and mainly focus on Project G.

Toho originally intended for Senkichi Taniguchi to direct the film, as he was originally attached to direct In the Shadow of Glory, however, Taniguchi declined the assignment. Honda was not Toho's first choice for the film's director, however, his war-time experience made him an ideal candidate for the film's anti-nuclear themes. Several other directors passed on the project, feeling the idea was "stupid", however, Honda accepted the assignment due to this interest in science and "unusual things", stating, "I had no problem taking it seriously." It was during the production of Godzilla that Honda worked with assistant director Koji Kajita for the first time. Afterwards, Kajita would go on to collaborate with Honda as his chief assistant director for 17 films over the course of 10 years. Due to sci-fi films lacking respect from film critics, Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya agreed on depicting a monster attack as if it were a real event, with the serious tone of a documentary.

Tsuburaya submitted an outline of his own, written three years prior; it featured a giant octopus attacking ships in the Indian Ocean. In May 1954, Tanaka hired sci-fi writer Shigeru Kayama to write the story. Only 50 pages long and written in 11 days, Kayama's treatment depicted Dr. Yamane wearing dark shades, a cape and living in a European-style house from which he only emerged at night. Godzilla was portrayed as more animal-like by coming ashore to feed on animals, with an ostensibly gorilla-like interest in females. Kayama's story also featured less destruction and borrowed a scene from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms by having Godzilla attack a lighthouse.

Takeo Murata and Honda co-wrote the screenplay in three weeks, confining themselves in a Japanese inn in Tokyo's Shibuya ward. On writing the script, Murata stated, "Director Honda and I... racked our brains to make Mr. Kayama's original treatment into a full, working vision." Murata stated that Tsuburaya and Tanaka pitched their ideas as well. Tanaka requested that they do not spend too much money, while Tsuburaya encouraged them to "do whatever it takes to make it work". Murata and Honda redeveloped key characters and elements by adding Emiko's love triangle. In Kayama's story, Serizawa was depicted as merely a colleague of Dr. Yamane's. Godzilla's full appearance was to be revealed during the Odo Island hurricane but Honda and Murata opted to show parts of the creature as the film built up to his full reveal. Honda and Murata also introduced the characters Hagiwara and Dr. Tanabe in their draft but the role of Shinkichi, who had a substantial role in Kayama's story, was cut down.

Godzilla was designed by Teizo Toshimitsu and Akira Watanabe under Eiji Tsuburaya's supervision. Early on, Tanaka contemplated having the monster be gorilla-like or whale-like in design, due to the name "Gojira" (a combination of the Japanese words for "gorilla", ゴリラ gorira, and "whale", クジラ kujira), but eventually settled on a dinosaur-like design. Kazuyoshi Abe was hired earlier to design Godzilla but his ideas were later rejected due to Godzilla looking too humanoid and mammalian, with a head shaped like a mushroom cloud; however, Abe was retained to help draw the film's storyboards.

Toshimitsu and Watanabe decided to base Godzilla's design on dinosaurs and, by using dinosaur books and magazines as a reference, combined elements of a Tyrannosaurus, Iguanodon and the dorsal fins of a Stegosaurus. Despite wanting to have utilized stop motion animation, Tsuburaya reluctantly settled on suitmation. Toshimitsu sculpted three clay models on which the suit would be based. The first two were rejected but the third was approved by Tsuburaya, Tanaka, and Honda.

The Godzilla suit was constructed by Kanji Yagi, Koei Yagi, and Eizo Kaimai, who used thin bamboo sticks and wire to build a frame for the interior of the suit and added metal mesh and cushioning over it to bolster its structure and finally applied coats of latex. Coats of molten rubber were additionally applied, followed by carved indentations and strips of latex glued onto the surface of the suit to create Godzilla's scaly hide. This first version of the suit weighed 100 kilograms (220 pounds). For close-ups, Toshimitsu created a smaller scale, mechanical, hand-operated puppet that sprayed streams of mist from its mouth to act as Godzilla's atomic breath.

Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka were chosen to perform in the Godzilla suit, due to their strength and endurance. At the first costume fitting, Nakajima fell down while inside the suit, due to the heavy latex and inflexible materials used to create the suit. This first version of the suit was cut in half and used for scenes requiring only partial shots of Godzilla or close-ups, with the lower-half fitted with rope suspenders for Nakajima to wear. For full-body shots, a second identical suit was created which was made lighter than the first suit, but Nakajima was still only able to be inside for three minutes before passing out. Nakajima lost 20 pounds during the production of the film. Nakajima would go on to portray Godzilla and other monsters until his retirement in 1972. Tezuka filmed scenes in the Godzilla suit but, due to his older body, he was unable to fully commit to the physical demands required by the role. As a result, few of his scenes made it to the final cut as very few scenes were considered usable. Tezuka filled in for Nakajima when he was unavailable or needed relief from the physically demanding role.

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. One explanation that is chalked up to legend is that a hulking Toho Studios employee's physical attributes led him to be nicknamed Gojira. In a 1998 BBC documentary on Godzilla, Kimi Honda, the widow of the director, dismissed the employee-name story as a tall tale, believing that Honda, Tanaka, and Tsuburaya gave "considerable thought" to the name of the monster, stating, "the backstage boys at Toho loved to joke around with tall stories, but I don't believe that one". In 2003, a Japanese television special claimed to have identified the anonymous hulking Toho employee as Shiro Amikura, a Toho contract actor from the 1950s.

For Godzilla's roar, the recording artists initially used multiple roars from various large animals. These recordings ended up sounding like their animal counterparts and went unused. The film's composer Akira Ifukube decided to create the roar with instruments. Ifukube rubbed a leather glove through the loosened lower strings of a contrabass and altered the pitch and speed of the recording until the final roar was conceived.

The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. In order for the effects footage to sync with the live-action footage, Honda and Tsuburaya would develop plans early during development and briefly meet prior to the day's shoot. Kajita would shuttle Tsuburaya to Honda's set to observe how a scene was being shot and where the actors were being positioned. Kajita also ushered Honda to the effects stage to observe how Tsuburaya was shooting certain effects. While Honda edited the live-action footage, he left blank leaders for Tsuburaya to insert the effects footage. At times, Honda had to cut out certain effects footage. Tsuburaya disapproved of these decisions due to Honda's cuts not matching the effects; however, Honda had final say in these matters.

Tsuburaya originally wanted to use stop motion for the film's special effects but realized it would have taken seven years to complete based on the then-current staff and infrastructure at Toho. Settling on suitmation and miniature effects, Tsuburaya and his crew scouted the locations Godzilla was to destroy and were nearly arrested after a security guard overheard their plans for destruction but were released after showing police their Toho business cards. Kintaro Makino, the chief of miniature construction, was given blueprints by Akira Watanabe for the miniatures and assigned 30 to 40 workers from the carpentry department to build them, which took a month to build the scaled down version of Ginza. A majority of the miniatures were built at 1:25 scale but the Diet building was scaled down to a 1:33 scale to look smaller than Godzilla.

The buildings' framework were made of thin wooden boards reinforced with a mixture of plaster and white chalk. Explosives were installed inside miniatures that were to be destroyed by Godzilla's atomic breath while some were sprayed with gasoline to make them burn more easily; others included small cracks so they could crumble easily. Optical animation techniques were used for Godzilla's glowing dorsal fins by having hundreds of cells drawn frame-by-frame. Haruo Nakajima perspired inside the suit so much that the Yagi brothers had to dry out the cotton lining every morning and sometimes re-line the interior of the suit and repair damages.

The typhoon waves were created by stagehands who overturned barrels of water into a water tank where the miniature Odo Island shoreline was built. Multiple composition shots were used for the Odo Island scenes. Most of the Odo Island scenes were filmed near rice fields. Toho hired en masse part-time employees to work on the film's optical effects. Half of the 400 hired staff were mostly part-timers with little to no experience. An early version of Godzilla's full reveal was filmed that featured Godzilla, via hand-operated puppet, devouring a cow. Sadamasa Arikawa thought the scene was too gruesome and convinced Tsuburaya to re-film it. Optical effects were utilized for Godzilla's footprints on the beach by painting them onto glass and inserting it onto an area of the live-action footage. Special effects photography lasted for 71 days.

On the first day of filming, Honda addressed a crew of 30 to read the script and leave the project if they did not feel convinced, wanting only to work with those who had confidence in him and the film. Most of the film was shot in the Toho lot. Honda's team also filmed on location in the Shima Peninsula in Mie Prefecture to film the Odo Island scenes, which used 50 Toho extras and Honda's team establishing their base in the town of Toba. Local villagers were also used as extras for the Odo Island scenes. The dance ritual scene was filmed on location in Mie Prefecture, with local villagers performing as the dancers. The cast and crew commuted every morning by boat to Toba, Mie, working under harsh weather temperatures. Honda worked shirtless and as a result, suffered blistering sunburn on his back that left permanent scars.

Toho had negotiated with the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to film scenes requiring the military and filmed target practices and drills for the film; Honda's team followed a convoy of JSDF vehicles for the convoy dispatch scene. Two thousand girls were used from an all-girls high school for the prayer for peace scene. The filmmakers had little cooperation from the JSDF and had to rely on World War II stock footage, provided by the Japanese military, for certain scenes. The stock footage was sourced from 16mm prints. Honda's team spent 51 days shooting the film.

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:

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

Godzilla was first released in Nagoya on October 27, 1954. A week later, it was released nationwide on November 3, 1954. From 1955 into the 1960s, Godzilla played in theaters catering to Japanese-Americans in predominantly Japanese neighborhoods in the United States. An English subtitled version was shown at film festivals in New York, Chicago, and other cities in 1982. An 84-minute cut of the Japanese version was theatrically released in West Germany on April 10, 1956, as Godzilla. This version removes the Japanese Parliament argument, acknowledgement of Godzilla as a "child of the H-bomb", references to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and an altered translation of the mother holding her children. The film was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 21, 1982, to commemorate Toho's 50th anniversary. Since its release, the 1954 film remained unavailable officially in the West until 2004.

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, on May 7, 2004. It ran uncut with English subtitles until December 19, 2004. The film never played on more than six screens at any given point during its limited release. The film played in roughly sixty theaters and cities across the United States during its -month release. On April 18, 2014, Rialto re-released the film in the United States, coast-to-coast, using another limited-style traveling tour. This coincided with not only Godzilla's 60th anniversary, but also celebrated the American Godzilla film which was released that same year. To avoid confusion with the Hollywood feature, the Rialto release was subtitled The Japanese Original. It was screened in 66 theaters in 64 cities from April 18 to October 31, 2014.

Following the film's success in Japan, Toho sold the American rights to Joseph E. Levine for $25,000. A heavily altered version of the film was released in the United States and worldwide as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! on April 27, 1956. This version trimmed the original down to 80 minutes and featured new footage with Canadian actor Raymond Burr interacting with body doubles mixed with Honda's footage to make it seem like he was part of the original Japanese production. Many of the film's political themes were trimmed or removed completely. It was this version of the original Godzilla film that introduced audiences worldwide to the character and franchise and the only version that critics and scholars had access to until 2004 when the 1954 film was released in select theaters in North America. Godzilla, King of the Monsters grossed $2 million during its theatrical run, more than what the 1954 film grossed in Japan.

Honda was unaware that Godzilla had been re-edited until Toho released Godzilla, King of the Monsters in Japan in May 1957 as Monster King Godzilla. Toho converted the entire film from its original scope to a widescreen 2.35:1 scope, which resulted in an awkward crop for the entire film. Japanese subtitles were given to the Japanese actors since their original dialogue differed greatly from the original script and were dubbed in English. Since the release of the film, Toho had adopted the moniker "King of the Monsters" for Godzilla, which has since appeared in official marketing, advertisement, and promotional materials.

The 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters! version of the film was released on DVD by Simitar in 1998 and Classic Media in 2002. In 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 Fukuryū Maru, a Japanese fishing boat that was caught in an American nuclear blast and partially inspired the creation of the movie.

In 2006, Classic Media and Sony BMG Music Entertainment Home Entertainment released a two-disc DVD set titled Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece. This release features both the 1954 Japanese version and the 1956 American version, making the 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 scholars Steve Ryfle (author of Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G) and Ed Godziszewski (editor of Japanese Giants Magazine), two 13-minute documentaries titled "Godzilla Story Development" and "Making of the Godzilla Suit", and a 12-page essay booklet 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 2009, Classic Media released Godzilla on Blu-ray. This release includes the same special features from the 2006 Classic Media DVD release, but does not feature the 1956 American version. In 2012, the Criterion Collection released a "new high-definition digital restoration" of Godzilla on Blu-ray and DVD. This release includes a remaster of the 1956 American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, as well as other special features such as interviews with Akira Ikufube, Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai and audio commentaries on both films by David Kalat, author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series.

In 2014, Classic Media reissued Godzilla and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! on DVD, to commemorate the release of Legendary's Godzilla film. This release retained the same specs and features as the 2006 DVD release. In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck. In 2019, the film and the American version were included in the Godzilla: The Showa Era Films Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.

During its initial Japanese theatrical run, the film sold approximately 9.6 million tickets and was the eighth best-attended film in Japan that year. The film earned a distribution rental income of ¥183 million (). During its 2004 limited theatrical release in North America, the film grossed $ 38,030 on its opening weekend and grossed $412,520 by the end of its limited run. For the 2014 limited re-release in North America, it grossed $10,903 after playing in one theater in New York and grossed $150,191 at the end of its run. In the United Kingdom, the film sold 3,643 tickets from limited releases during 2005-2006 and 2016-2017.

Prior to the release of the film, skeptics predicted the film would flop. At the time of the film's release, Japanese reviews were mixed. 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 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!" Honda also stated, "At the time they wrote things like 'This movie is absurd, because such giant monsters do not exist.'"

Others said that depicting a fire breathing organism was strange. Honda also believed Japanese critics began to change their minds after the good reviews the film received in the United States. He stated "The first film critics to appreciate Godzilla were those in the U.S. When Godzilla was released there as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in 1956, the critics said such things as, 'For the start, this film frankly depicts the horrors of the Atomic Bomb', and by these evaluations, the assessment began to impact critics in Japan and has changed their opinions over the years."

As time went on, the film gained more respect in its home country. In 1984, Kinema Junpo magazine listed Godzilla 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.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 93% based on 74 reviews, with an average score of 7.66/10. The site's consensus states, "More than straight monster-movie fare, Gojira offers potent, sobering postwar commentary". On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average based on selected critic reviews, the film has a score of 78/100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Owen Gleiberman from Entertainment Weekly noted the film is more "serious" than the 1956 American cut yet "its tone just veers closer to that of solemn American B-horror cheese like The real difference is that the film's famous metaphor for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki looks more nuttily masochistic than ever." Luke Y. Thompson from Dallas Observer defended the film's effects as products of their time and felt that viewers would be "surprised by what they see", stating, "This ain't your standard goofy monster rampage." Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian awarded the film four stars out of five, praising the storytelling as "muscular" and the nuclear themes as "passionate and fascinatingly ambiguous", stating, "the sheer fervency of this film takes it beyond the crash-bang entertainment of most blockbusters, ancient and modern." David Nusair from Reel Film Reviews awarded the film one and a half stars out of four, saying the film turns into a "terminally erratic narrative that's more dull than engrossing." Nusair criticized Honda for his "inability to offer up even a single compelling human character" and found the film's ending as "anticlimactic and pointless", concluding, "the film is entirely lacking in elements designed to capture and hold the viewer's ongoing attention."

Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film one and a half stars out of four, stating, "regaled for 50 years by the stupendous idiocy of the American version of Godzilla, audiences can now see the original Japanese version, which is equally idiotic, but, properly decoded, was the Fahrenheit 9/11 of its time." Ebert criticized the effects as looking "crude", feeling the effects of the 1933 film were "more convincing" and concluded that "This is a bad movie, but it has earned its place in history."

Keith Uhlich from awarded the film four stars out of five, calling the film "Pop Art as purge", and praising the film's characters, themes, and Godzilla as a "potent and provocative metaphor, a lumbering embodiment of atomic-age anxieties birthed from mankind's own desire to destroy." Desson Thomson from the Washington Post called the film's effects "pretty extraordinary" and "amazingly credible" for their time. Thomson felt some of the acting was "ham-handed" but said "there's a surprisingly powerful thrust to this film." Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle called the film a "classic", stating, "Such moments go beyond spectacle. Godzilla is a collective metaphor and a collective nightmare, a message film that says more than its message, that captures, with a horrified poetry, the terrors that stomped through the minds of people 50 years ago."

Since its release, Godzilla has been regarded as one of the best giant monster films ever made: critic Allen Perkins called the film "not just a classic monster movie, but also an important cinematic achievement." In 2010, the film was ranked No. 31 in magazine's "100 Best Films Of World Cinema". In 2013, Rolling Stone ranked the film No. 1 on their "Best Monster Movies of All Time" list. In 2015, listed the film amongst their "10 Best Monster Movies of All-Time" list. In 2019, Time Out Film ranked the film No. 9 on their "50 best monster movies" list.

The film spawned a multimedia franchise consisting of 33 films in total, video games, books, comics, toys and other media. The Godzilla franchise has been recognized by Guinness World Records as being the longest running film franchise in history. Since his debut, Godzilla became an international pop culture icon, inspiring countless rip-offs, imitations, parodies and tributes. The 1954 film and its special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya have been largely credited for establishing the template for , a technique of practical special effects filmmaking that would become essential in Japan's film industry since the release of Godzilla. Critic and scholar Ryusuke Hikawa stated: "Disney created the template for American animation, In the same way, (special-effects studio) Tsubaraya created the template for the Japanese movie business. It was their use of cheap but craftsman-like approaches to movie-making that made tokusatsu unique." Steven Spielberg cited Godzilla as an inspiration for Jurassic Park (1993), specifically Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), which he grew up watching.

In 1998, TriStar Pictures released a reimagining, titled Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich. Emmerich wanted his Godzilla to have nothing to do with Toho's Godzilla but chose to retain key elements from the 1954 film, stating, "We took part of [the original movie's] basic storyline, in that the creature becomes created by radiation and it becomes a big challenge. But that's all we took."

In 2014, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures released a reboot, also titled Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards. Edwards stated that his film was inspired by the 1954 film, and attempted to retain some of its themes, stating, "Godzilla is a metaphor for Hiroshima in the original movie. We tried to keep that, and there are a lot of themes from the '54 movie that we've kept."

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Godzilla is a 1954 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the first film in the Godzilla franchise and the Shōwa era. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla.

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Godzilla Raids Again

Theatrical release poster

Japanese | ゴジラの逆襲
Hepburn | Gojira no Gyakushū
Directed by | Motoyoshi Oda

Screenplay by

Takeo Murata

Shigeaki Hidaka[1]

Story by | Shigeru Kayama[1]
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka

Starring

Hiroshi Koizumi

Setsuko Wakayama

Minoru Chiaki

Takashi Shimura

Cinematography | Seiichi Endo[1]
Music by | Masaru Satō[1]

Production
company

Toho Co., Ltd[1]

Distributed by | Toho[1]

Release date

April 24, 1955 (Japan)

Running time

81 minutes[1]

Country | Japan
Language | Japanese

Box office

¥170 million
(Japan rentals)[2]

Godzilla Raids Again (Japanese: ゴジラの逆襲, Hepburn: Gojira no Gyakushū, lit. 'Godzilla's Counterattack') is a 1955 Japanese kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the second film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive Godzilla's return, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus.

Executive producer Iwao Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to immediately commence production on a second Godzilla film, fearing to lose the momentum of the first film's success. Oda was chosen to direct the film as Ishirō Honda was busy directing Lovetide.[3]

Godzilla Raids Again was released theatrically in Japan on April 24, 1955. A re-edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on June 2, 1959, by Warner Bros. Pictures, under the title Gigantis, the Fire Monster.

The film was followed by King Kong vs. Godzilla, released on August 11, 1962.

Plot[edit]

Working for the Kaiyo Fishing, Inc., a pilot named Shoichi Tsukioka guides a fishing trawler towards a school of Bonito. Koji Kobayashi, another pilot, faces engine troubles and makes an emergency landing on Iwato Island. Tsukioka is sent to rescue Kobayashi, but they both encounter two giant dinosaur-like creatures locked in battle: Godzilla and a new quadruped monster. The pilots escape as the monsters tumble into the sea.

Tsukioka and Kobayashi go to Osaka to help Dr. Yamane and the authorities investigate the encounter. The new monster is identified as an Ankylosaurus and named Anguirus. Dr. Yamane shows the authorities footage of the first Godzilla attack and notes that it was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, but its inventor died, and that there are no proven countermeasures left against Godzilla. Dr. Yamane suggests issuing a blackout and using drop flares to lure Godzilla away due to the first Godzilla being sensitive to light.

Tsukioka’s girlfriend, Hidemi, expresses her concern for Osaka to him, and he reveals that he thought about her when he thought he might die on Iwato Island. They watch as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) takeoff to find Godzilla, but scientists note that it may prove difficult due to the possibility of Godzilla hiding in caves within the seabed. Later, Godzilla is spotted heading for the Kii Channel between Shikoku and Wakayama Prefecture. Yamaji, Tsukioka’s boss and Hidemi’s father, notes that if Godzilla wreaks havoc in those waters, their fishing company will lose valuable fishing ground and strike a blow at production.

Later, an alert is issued for the Osaka region as Godzilla changes course for Osaka Bay. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) cut off the lights in the city and lure Godzilla with flares. Tsukioka leaves Hidemi at her home for safety and leaves with Kobayashi to meet Yamaji at his cannery. Convicts escape from their transport and lead police on a chase that ends with a few convicts crashing into an oil refinery, triggering an explosion, while other convicts escape into Osaka. The explosion lures Godzilla back to Osaka, forcing the JSDF to attack it. Attracted by the flares, Anguirus emerges and engages Godzilla. They move their battle throughout the city, destroying Yamaji’s cannery and killing the convicts in the process. Godzilla kills Anguirus and returns to the sea after burning the body with its atomic breath.

In the aftermath, Yamaji moves operations to Hokkaido to make full use of the fisheries and cannery, and also sends Kobayashi to guide trawlers. During a company dinner, Tsukioka reunites with Tajima, a friend from college, and the war. Kobayashi hints to Hidemi that he’s fallen in love with a certain woman. The dinner is interrupted by news that a ship was sunk by Godzilla. The following morning, Tsukioka helps the JASDF search for Godzilla and tracks its location on Kamiko Island. Kobayashi departs to aide Tsukioka but leaves his notebook behind. Hidemi peaks at the notebook and discovers a picture of her inside.

Kobayashi attempts to stop Godzilla from escaping but is struck by Godzilla’s atomic breath and crashes into the mountaintop, killing him. The crash creates a small avalanche that engulfs Godzilla, inspiring the JASDF to bury it with a bigger avalanche but lack firepower. The JASDF return to base to reload missiles and Tajima reluctantly accepts Tsukioka’s request to take him. The JSDF creates a wall of fire to block Godzilla’s escape, while the JASDF triggers avalanches by blasting the mountaintops. Godzilla exhales one last atomic breath before being completely buried by the last avalanche triggered by Tsukioka. Relieved, Tsukioka lets Kobayashi’s spirit know that they have finally defeated Godzilla.

Cast[edit]

Hiroshi Koizumi as Shoichi Tsukioka

Setsuko Wakayama as Hidemi Yamaji

Minoru Chiaki[a] as Koji Kobayashi

Takashi Shimura as Dr. Kyohei Yamane

Masao Shimizu as Zoologist Dr. Tadokoro

Seijirō Onda[b] as Captain Terasawa, JASDF

Sōnosuke Sawamura as Hokkaido Branch Manager Shingo Shibeki

Yoshio Tsuchiya as Tajima, JASDF

Mayuri Mokushō as Radio Operator Yasuko Inouye

Minosuke Yamada as Chief of Civil Defense

Yukio Kasama[c] as Kohei Yamaji, President of the Fishery

Senkichi Ōmura as Escaped Convict

Ren Yamamoto as Commander of Landing Craft

Shin Ōtomo as Convict Leader

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla[4]

Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus[4]

Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star,[5] except where cited otherwise.

Production[edit]

Crew[edit]

Motoyoshi Oda[d] – director

Eiji Tsuburaya[e] – special effects director

Eiji Iwashiro – assistant director

Kazuo Baba – production coordinator

Takeo Kita – art director

Sadamasa Arikawa – special effects photography

Akira Watanabe – special effects art director

Kiroshi Mukoyama – optical effects

Masayoshi Onuma – lighting

Masanobu Miyazawa – sound recording

Ichiro Mitsunawa – sound effects

Personnel taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.[5]

Development[edit]

"Believe it or not, we had no plans for a sequel and naively hoped that the end of Godzilla was going to coincide with the end of nuclear testing."

— Ishirō Honda on Toho's initial intentions.[4]

A few weeks after Godzilla was released in November 1954, a welcome home party was held for executive producer Iwao Mori. During the party, Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to produce a sequel, due to Mori being pleased with the box office results for the first film.[6]

Ishirō Honda, director of the first Godzilla film, was unavailable to return to direct the sequel due to directing Lovetide at the time.[3] Japanese publications indicated that Tanaka attached Motoyoshi Oda to direct the film, rather than waiting for Honda, due to Mori fearing to lose the momentum of the first Godzilla film's success.[3] Film historians Steve Ryfle and David Kalat deduced that Oda was chosen to direct due to his experience with effects-driven films such as Eagle of the Pacific, and his then-latest film The Invisible Avenger.[3][7] Kalat added that Oda was a director content with accepting B–picture level assignments, stating, "putting such a man in charge of the Godzilla sequel then was a clear signal of intent: This was to be a quickie profit center, not an artistic indulgence."[7]

Screenwriter Takeo Murata originally wanted to show a scene of chaos and looting in the middle of the monster battle, but time and budget limitations forced him to drop this idea.[8] The Dinosaur Book by Edwin H. Colbert was used during the film's conference scene.[9]

Special effects[edit]

In early 1957, Toho shipped the Godzilla and Anguirus suits to Los Angeles for additional photography for The Volcano Monsters.

The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya.[4] Some of the effects footage was shot at a slower speed, 18 frames per second. Three cameras were set to capture the effects footage. Two cameras were set at high speed, while the third was indirectly left at slow speed. Despite the error, Tsuburaya felt the slow speed footage was usable and since then, used different camera speeds for different scenes. Some Japanese publications identified Yoichi Manoda as the cameraman who accidentally left the third camera on slow speed, while others identified Koichi Takano as the culprit.[10]

Haruo Nakajima portrayed Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka portrayed Anguirus, respectively. Nakajima and Tezuka were able to move in the suits more fluidly due to the suits being made from lighter materials, as well as casting them from plaster molds to fit the suit performers' physiques. For Godzilla, the new design was sculpted by Teizo Toshimitsu. The Godzilla suit was constructed with a cloth-base where latex was applied over it. A motor was built into the head to move the eyes and mouth, with the batteries built at the base of the tail. Due to this, Nakajima felt discomfort each time he jumped in the suit. For Anguirus, Tezuka had to crawl on his knees with the bottom of his feet exposed. The effects crew hid this by placing trees, buildings, and other obstacles in the foreground and filming from certain angles that hid the hind legs.[10]

Hand puppets were built for close-up shots. The Godzilla puppet had a spray built in to depict the atomic breath. Some of the monster battles were photographed from low angles to emphasize size and scale. The Osaka miniature set was constructed at Toho's then-new soundstage No. 8, which allowed the effects crew more space to work in. The Osaka castle miniature failed to crumble as planned. Wires were attached to the castle that ran beneath the platform. Due to heavy construction, the model failed to collapse even when the suit performers rammed into it as the crew members pulled the wires. Tsuburaya ordered to "cut" but the crew members did not hear him and the castle model collapsed when camera were not rolling. Due to this, the model had to be partially rebuilt. The ice island battle was partially filmed on an outdoor set. To bury Godzilla in ice, an ice machine was borrowed from the Tokyo skating rink.[8]

For the opening scene, Nakajima and Tezuka were required to be in the suits as they plummeted into the water in order to avoid having the suits float upon impact. Several handlers were on-set to prevent Nakajima and Tezuka from drowning.[11] A Godzilla prop equipped with a wind up motor was built to walk during the ice island scenes, however, the prop malfunctioned and was filmed in a stationary position instead.[12] Real snow was added for the ice island set.[13] Several shots of Godzilla reacting to the ice canyon explosions were filmed outdoors in order to avoid filming the roof of the studio set.[14]

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

Godzilla Raids Again was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on April 24, 1955.[1] The film generated 8.3 million tickets, less than what the first Godzilla film drew but still considered moderate business. The film drew little enthusiasm from audiences, the press, and Toho staff. Tanaka later admitted that the crew had little time to prepare and hardly considers the film a success.[8] The Japanese version was released to Japanese speaking theaters in the United States prior to the altered American version.[1] The film was Toho's fourth highest-grossing film of the year domestically, and the 10th highest grossing Japanese release domestically.[1]

American version[edit]

American theatrical poster for Gigantis, the Fire Monster. Schreibman renamed Godzilla as "Gigantis" in an attempt to pass it off as a brand new monster due to the previous film having killed off Godzilla.

The North American rights to the film were purchased by Harry Rybnick, Richard Kay, Edward Barison, Paul Schreibman, and Edmund Goldman, the same producers who acquired the rights to Godzilla and released it as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. Instead of dubbing the film, the producers first planned to produce a new film titled The Volcano Monsters, while utilizing the effects footage from the original Japanese film.[15] The producers announced in Variety that filming was expected to commence on June 17, 1957.[16] Rybnick hired Ib Melchior and Edwin Watson to write the screenplay.[15]

Melchior and Watson spent hours watching the Japanese version on a Moviola to build an American story around the footage and to note down footage of the monsters, military mobilization, crowds fleeing, and jets flying and attacking. The duo completed a 129 paged script, dated May 7, 1957, with instructions for the editor of where the Japanese footage was to be used. In their script, Godzilla and Anguirus were changed to dinosaurs, with Godzilla identified as a female Tyrannosaurus. All shots of Godzilla using his atomic breath were eliminated, to be replaced with new footage of Godzilla swiping his claws at jets. Panic, disaster, and military mobilization scenes from news reels were to be included between the Japanese monster footage. The blackout was re-written to signify that the monsters destroyed a power plant. The new effects footage was to be shot at Howard A. Anderson's special effects studio.[17]

Toho approved of the idea and in early 1957, shipped the Godzilla and Anguirus suits to Los Angeles for additional photography.[18] While filming Invasion of the Saucer Men, Bob Burns III and Paul Blaisdell recalled stumbling upon two crates holding the Godzilla and Anguirus suits. Burns recalls that the suits were made out of rubber over canvas and had already been used due to significant burns and damages. Howard A. Anderson Jr. told Burns that they recently received them at the time and were intended for "shooting some inserts."[19]

Rybnick and Barison initially struck a deal with AB-PT Pictures Corp. to co-finance the film but the company closed shop in 1957.[15] Schreibman, Goldman, and then-new financier Newton P. Jacobs decided to dub the film instead. Hugo Grimaldi was hired to oversee the dubbing and editing of the film.[20] Masaru Sato's original music was replaced (except for a couple of tracks) with stock music from various libraries, including the MUTEL library, as well as music from films such as Kronos (1957), Project Moonbase (1958) and The Deerslayer (1957).[21] Godzilla's roar was largely replaced with Anguirus' roar. This version had the working title of Godzilla Raids Again, but the film was released in May 1959 as Gigantis the Fire Monster on a double-bill with Teenagers from Outer Space.[20] Schreibman took full credit for changing Godzilla's name to Gigantis, which was an attempt to convince audiences that "Gigantis" was a brand new monster, stating, "We called it 'Gigantis' because we did not want it to be confused with 'Godzilla' [who had clearly been killed irreparably by the oxygenator]." At one point, Schreibman inaccurately told reporters that the original Japanese film was called Angirus.[22]

The film was dubbed at Ryder Sound Services in New York and featured the voice talents of Keye Luke, Paul Frees, and George Takei.[23] The English dialogue was based on a loose interpretation, rather than an accurate translation, of the original Japanese dialogue.[24] Credit for the English dialogue script had not been revealed since the release of the film.[25] According to Takei, the word "banana oil" was created by the dub's director due to having difficulty finding a word to match the lip movement of the original Japanese word "bakayaro".[26] Takei stated that people laughed during the recording due to the word being an outdated expression.[27] The English version utilizes stock footage from various films, such as Unknown Island and the first Godzilla film, as well as news reels, military footage, the space program, and educational films.[28][29]

Prior to the film's release, Schreibman approached Bill Foreman (then-President of Pacific Theaters) and convinced him to purchase the theatrical and television rights to both Gigantis and Teenagers from Outer Space and helped Foreman sell the theatrical rights to Warner Bros. According to the deal, Foreman agreed to show both films in all of his theatres while Warner Bros. would distribute the films to other theatres and were given the American and Latin American theatrical rights to both films for four years.[20] The American version of the film was released theatrically on May 21, 1959, where it played as a double feature with Teenagers from Outer Space.[1]

After the film reverted to Foreman and his attorney Harry B. Swerdlow (who became designated owner of both films because Foreman did not want his name to appear on the copyright notices), they did not pursue any interest in continuing to sell the television rights, which resulted in Gigantis the Fire Monster disappearing from American theatres and television for two decades until the rights reverted to Toho in the mid-1980s.[20]

Critical response[edit]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 60% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 5.00/10.[30]

From contemporary reviews in the United States, Joe R. Patrick of Des Moines Tribune described the film as "amateurish", finding the acting to be "confined primarily to facial expressions, in tight close-ups" and that the film "suffers most of all from dubbed-in English." The review did praise the animation of the monsters as "at times very good, at other times poor," and concluded that the film was not as well made as its double feature, Rodan.[31] Donald Willis of Variety declared the film as being "inept and tedious" but declared the miniature work as "remarkably good" specifically that scenes of "the dinosaur-like animal crunching his way through houses, traffic and high-tension wires are interesting and exciting."[32]

Ishirō Honda (director of the previous Godzilla film) noted that reviews for Godzilla Raids Again were more positive compared to the previous film, stating that it was considered "stupid" by the media for a director to add "ideas or themes" into a science fiction film, he commented, "That's why I think that the first Godzilla was only considered a 'weird' movie. That's probably why they liked the second movie much better."[33] Film historian Steve Ryfle noted that some writers felt that while Godzilla (1954) was a metaphor for the Hiroshima bombing, Godzilla Raids Again serves as metaphor for the Nagasaki bombing. Ryfle noted the scene of Hidemi gazing at the flames of Osaka strikes parallels with the imagery of a mushroom cloud.[34]

Home media[edit]

Japan[edit]

In 1982, the Japanese version was released on VHS in Japan by Toho. In 1986, Toho released the film on LaserDisc. In 1991, Toho reissued the film on VHS. In 1993, Toho released a new master of the film on LaserDisc. In 2001, Toho released the film on DVD. In 2005, Toho included the film on the Godzilla Final Box DVD Set. In 2014, Toho released the film on Blu-ray.[35]

In 2008, Toho remastered the film in High-definition and premiered it on the Japanese Movie Speciality Channel, along with the rest of the Godzilla films also remastered in HD.[36]

International[edit]

In 1989, Video Treasures released the American version on EP and LP VHS in the United States and Canada.[37] In 2007, Classic Media and Sony BMG Home Entertainment released both the Japanese and American versions on DVD in the United States and Canada. The special features include an audio commentary by Steve Ryfle, a featurette titled The Art of Suit Acting by Ed Godziszewski and Bill Gudmundson, and a slideshow of the film's theatrical posters. Per Toho's request, the original title card for Gigantis, the Fire Monster was replaced with a new title card sporting the film's official English title.[38][39]

In 2017, Janus Films and The Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck.[40] In 2019, the Japanese version was included as part of a Blu-ray box set released by The Criterion Collection, which includes all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[41] In May 2020, the Japanese version became available on HBO Max upon its launch.[42]

Legacy[edit]

The film was followed by King Kong vs. Godzilla, released on August 11, 1962.[43] Godzilla Raids Again introduced the monster vs. monster formula that would be become prominent and synonymous with the franchise.[44] After the release of the film, Toho featured Anguirus in various multimedia (see Appearances).

Notes[edit]

1. ^ Credited as "Mindru Chiaki" in the American version of the film.

2. ^ Credited as "Serjiro Onda" in the American version of the film.

3. ^ Credited as "Yokio Kasama" in the American version of the film.

4. ^ Credited as "Motoyoshi Qdq" in the American version of the film.

5. ^ Credited as "Eliji Tsuburaya" in the American version of the film.

References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Galbraith IV 2008, p. 110.

2. ^ "歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧／年代流行". Nendai Ryuukou. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.

3. ^ a b c d Ryfle 1998, p. 62.

4. ^ a b c d Kalat 2010, p. 34.

5. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 352.

6. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 61.

7. ^ a b Kalat 2010, p. 35.

8. ^ a b c Ryfle 1998, p. 64.

9. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:11:59.

10. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 63.

11. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:09:36.

12. ^ Ryfle 2007, 01:04:45.

13. ^ Ryfle 2007, 01:11:23.

14. ^ Ryfle 2007, 01:13:31.

15. ^ a b c Ryfle 1998, p. 67.

16. ^ Kalat 2010, p. 37.

17. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 68.

18. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 67-68.

19. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 68-69.

20. ^ a b c d Ryfle 1998, p. 72.

21. ^ The Missing Music of Gigantis, the Fire Monster

22. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 74.

23. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 73.

24. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:10:52.

25. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:12:17.

26. ^ Burns 2005, 00:15:29.

27. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:18:05.

28. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:00:40.

29. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:14:34.

30. ^ "Godzilla Raids Again". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 16, 2021.

31. ^ Patrick 1959.

32. ^ Willis 1985, p. 138.

33. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 107.

34. ^ Ryfle 2007, 00:46:50.

35. ^ "ゴジラの逆襲". LD, DVD, & Blu-ray Gallery. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

36. ^ Ballard, James (August 7, 2008). "Godzilla X Hi-vision - Godzilla Restored in HD". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

37. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 367.

38. ^ DeSentis, John (June 4, 2007). "DVD Reviews: Godzilla Raids Again and Mothra vs. Godzilla". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

39. ^ Erickson, Glenn (November 8, 2006). "DVD Savant Review: Godzilla Raids Again". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on July 4, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.

40. ^ Squires, John (November 8, 2017). "Criterion Collection Has Obtained Most of the Shōwa Era 'Godzilla' Films!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2017.

41. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

42. ^ Alexander, Julia (May 18, 2020). "Here are the hundreds of classic movies people can stream on HBO Max". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2021.

43. ^ Kalat 2010, p. 55.

44. ^ Godziszewski 2019, p. 8.

Sources[edit]

Burns, Kevin (2005). Animal Icons: It Came from Japan (TV Special). Animal Planet.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

Godziszewski, Ed (2019). Notes on Godzilla, the Showa–Era Films. The Criterion Collection. ASIN B07VLJ9KB6.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (Second ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Lees, J.D.; Cerasini, Marc (1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. ISBN 0-679-88822-5.

Patrick, Joe R. (June 11, 1959). "Japanese Try Hand at Horror Film". Des Moines Tribune. p. 26. Retrieved October 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Ryfle, Steve (2007). Godzilla Raids Again Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0819570871.

Solomon, Brian (2017). Godzilla FAQ: all that's left to know about the king of the monsters. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 9781495045684.

Willis, Donald, ed. (1985). Variety's Complete Science Fiction Reviews. Garland Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-8240-6263-7.

External links[edit]

Official Godzilla website by Toho

Godzilla Raids Again at IMDb

Gigantis, the Fire Monster at AllMovie

Godzilla Raids Again at Rotten Tomatoes

Godzilla Raids Again at the TCM Movie Database

ゴジラの逆襲 (Gojira no Gyakushū) at Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)

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Godzilla, King of the Monsters!

Japanese

怪獣王ゴジラ

Hepburn
Kaijū Ō Gojira

Directed by
Terry O. Morse
Ishirō Honda

Screenplay by

Takeo Murata
Ishirō Honda
Uncredited:
Terry O. Morse

Story by

Shigeru Kayama

Produced by

Tomoyuki Tanaka
Uncredited:
Richard Kay
Harold Ross
Edward B. Barison

Starring
Raymond Burr

Cinematography

Masao Tamai
Guy Roe

Edited by

Terry Morse

Music by
Akira Ifukube

Distributed by

Trans World Releasing Corporation (US, (US, West)
Embassy Pictures East)
Toho (Japan)

April 4, 1956 (New York City)

April 27, 1956 (United States)

May 29, 1957 (Japan)

80 minutes

Countries

Japan
United States

Languages

Japanese
English

Box office

$2 million (US rentals)

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film . The film was a Japanese- American co-production, with the original footage produced by Toho Co., Ltd, and the new footage produced by Jewell Enterprises. The film stars Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, an American reporter covers a giant reptilian monster's attack on Japan.

In 1955, Edmund Goldman acquired the 1954 film from Toho and enlisted the aid of Paul Schreibman, Harold Ross, Richard Kay, and Joseph E. Levine to produce a revised version for American audiences. This version dubbed most of the Japanese dialogue into English, altered and removed key plot points and themes. New footage was produced with Burr interacting with body-doubles and Japanese-American actors in an attempt to make it seem like Burr was part of the original Japanese production.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was theatrically released in the United States on April 27, 1956, and was followed by an international release. The film was responsible for introducing Godzilla to a worldwide audience, as the 1954 film remained unavailable officially outside of Japan until 2004.

Injured American reporter Steve Martin is brought from the ruins of Tokyo to a hospital filled with maimed and wounded citizens. A recent acquaintance, Emiko, discovers him by chance among the victims and attempts to find a doctor for him. Martin recalls in flashback stopping over in Tokyo, where a series of inexplicable offshore ship disasters catches his attention. When a victim of those disasters washes up on Odo Island, Martin flies there for the story, along with security officer Tomo Iwanaga. There he learns of the island inhabitants' long-held belief in a sea monster god known as " Godzilla", which they believe caused the ship disasters. That night, a heavy storm strikes the island, destroying houses and killing some villagers. The islanders believe that Godzilla was actually responsible for the destruction.

Martin returns to the island with Dr. Yamane, who is leading a team to investigate the damage. Huge radioactive footprints and prehistoric trilobite are discovered. An alarm rings and Martin, the villagers, and Dr. Yamane's team head up a hill for safety. Near the summit, they encounter Godzilla, and they quickly flee downhill. Upon Dr. Yamane's later return to Tokyo, he deduces that Godzilla is 400 feet (122 m) tall and was resurrected by the repeated hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. To Yamane's dismay, the military responds by attempting to kill the monster using depth charges. Martin contacts his old friend, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, for dinner, but Serizawa declines due to a previous commitment with his fiancée, Emiko, Dr. Yamane's daughter.

Emiko goes to Serizawa's home to break off her arranged engagement with him because she is actually in love with Hideo Ogata, a salvage ship captain. Dr. Serizawa, however, gives her a demonstration of his secret project, which horrifies her. She is sworn to secrecy and unable to bring herself to break off the engagement. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay, unharmed by the depth charges, and attacks the city, destroying a train before returning to the bay. The next morning, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) supercharges the tall electrical towers along Tokyo's coast to repel the monster.

Godzilla resurfaces that night and breaks through the electrical towers and JSDF defense line using his atomic heat breath. Martin documents Godzilla's rampage via tape recorder and is injured during the attack. Godzilla returns to the sea and the flashback ends. Martin wakes up in the hospital with Emiko and Ogata. Horrified by the destruction, Emiko reveals to them the existence of Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer, which disintegrates oxygen atoms in saltwater and causes all marine organisms to die of acidic asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Dr. Serizawa to convince him to use his powerful weapon on Godzilla, but he initially refuses. After watching a television broadcast showing the nation's continuing plight, Serizawa finally gives in to their pleas.

A ship takes Ogata, Serizawa, Yamane, Martin, and Emiko out to the deepest part of Tokyo Bay. In hardhat diving suits, Ogata and Serizawa are lowered down by lifelines near Godzilla to plant the weapon. Ogata is pulled up, but Serizawa delays his ascent and activates the device. He radios the surface of its success and wishes Emiko and Ogata happiness together. Serizawa cuts his lifelines, taking the secret of his invention to the grave. Godzilla succumbs to the Oxygen Destroyer, which dissolves his body and bones. All aboard the ship mourn the loss of Dr. Serizawa. Martin reflects that the world can "live again" due to Serizawa's ultimate sacrifice.

Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.

Terry O. Morse - co-director, writer, supervising editor

Joseph E. Levine - executive producer

Terry Turner - executive producer

Ed Barison - executive producer

Ira Webb - assistant director

Art Smith - sound

George Rohrs - sets, sound effects

Guy Roe - cameraman

Personnel taken from A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series.

"We weren't interested in politics, believe me. We only wanted to make a movie we could sell. At that time, the American public wouldn't have gone for a movie with an all-Japanese cast. That's why we did what we did. We didn't really change the story. We just gave it an American point of view."

-Richard Kay on the film's alterations

In 1955, Edmund Goldman approached Toho International Inc., (a Los Angeles-based subsidiary created to distribute Toho films overseas) about purchasing the rights to Godzilla. Toho had shown Goldman advertising materials, which interested him in a screening of the film. Goldman then made Toho an offer of $25,000 for the theatrical and television rights, which they accepted quickly. The contract was signed on September 27, 1955. The contract stipulated that Toho and Goldman agreed that the film would be "narrated, dubbed in English and completed by the revisions, additions, and deletions," with final approval by Toho.

Paul Schreibman assisted in the film's acquisition. Samuel Z. Arkoff of American International Pictures also made a bid for the film, negotiating with Toho for three months until he discovered the rights had already been sold to Goldman. Goldman enlisted the help of Harold Ross (sometimes credited as Henry Rybnick) and Richard Kay of Jewell Enterprises to distribute the film. According to Goldman, Ross and Kay's idea was to dub the film and hire Raymond Burr. Goldman would later sell his interest to Jewell Enterprises.

Ross and Kay turned to Joseph E. Levine to further finance the project. The duo arranged a screening of the film for Levine in Los Angeles. The film's possibilities excited Levine and paid $100,000 for half of the rights. This arrangement allowed the rights to Godzilla to be split between Jewell Enterprises and Levine's Embassy Pictures. Levine enlisted Edward Barison to create Trans World Releasing Corp., to distribute the film. Levine also enlisted producer Terry Turner to develop promotional strategies, which cost $400,000. Turner managed to get the film mentioned by Steve Allen on The Tonight Show. Levine and Turner initially considered the title Godzilla, the Sea Beast, but eventually settled on Godzilla, King of the Monsters. Ross and Kay hired Terry O. Morse to direct the film. Schreibman had arranged for Burr to participate in the film. Morse was paid $10,000 for re-writing and directing the film and Burr was paid the same amount for a single day's work.

Alterations and new footage with Burr interacting with body doubles were produced to appeal to American audiences, as foreign films held no appeal to the mainstream public at the time. Morse viewed the original Japanese cut, with an English translation of the script, to find key scenes in which Burr could be inserted. Rather than dub the entire film, Morse chose to retain most of the original Japanese dialogue and have Frank Iwanaga translate, albeit inaccurately, those scenes and alternate with Burr narrating. Burr worked with body-doubles, who were filmed over their shoulder to conceal their faces. Editing techniques were also used to mask the body doubles and the original Japanese actors. Asian-American extras were hired to play minor roles. The new footage was filmed in three days on a rented soundstage at Visual Drama Inc. Since he was contracted for only one day, Burr was forced to work a 24-hour shift to shoot all his scenes. Set decorator George Rohr provided mock-up sets that resembled the sets in the original Japanese cut. Overt references to the atom bomb and hydrogen bomb, such as the bombing of Nagasaki, the Bikini Island tests, radioactive contamination of tuna by American and Russian bomb tests, were omitted.

The dubbing required for the entire film was recorded in under five hours. James Hong and the other voice actors have not given any details of the film's production. The voice actors were locked in a room with Morse and were told to read for every role. Each line was recorded at different speeds and the best one was chosen to match the footage. The voice actors never saw the film as they recorded their lines. The voice actors dubbed the entire film sitting at a table with a microphone before them. Hong confirmed that several Japanese actors auditioned for the voice-over job. However, Hong and Sammee Tong were hired due to their versatility. Tong recorded voices for six older characters, while Hong recorded for seven younger characters.

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! opened on April 4, 1956, in Loew's State Theater in New York City. It was theatrically released in the United States on April 27, 1956, to 283 theaters as a double-feature with Prehistoric Women. The film earned more than $2 million in rentals during its initial theatrical run. The film earned a $200,000 profit for its producers. The TV rights were sold to RKO, and it made its television broadcast debut in 1959 on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles. The film was theatrically released in Japan on May 29, 1957, as Kaijū Ō Gojira ( Monster King Godzilla) to a positive reception from Japanese audiences, with the English dialogue subtitled in Japanese and the film cropped in Toho Pan Scope 2:1.

It was the first Japanese feature to become a commercial success in the United States and was, at the time, the fourth foreign film to have grossed more than $1 million at the American box office. Goldman originally acquired the film to distribute in the American and Canadian markets. Due to the film's commercial success, however, foreign distributors became interested in acquiring the American cut. Trans World, therefore, renegotiated with Toho to license the American version to foreign markets.

This version of the film became an international hit across the Western world. It was released in France on February 14, 1957, where it became the 79th top-grossing film of 1957, selling 835,511 tickets.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60/100 based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther disparaged Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, dismissing it as "an incredibly awful film". After complaining about the dubbing, the special effects ("a miniature of a dinosaur") and the similarity to , he concluded, "The whole thing is in the category of cheap cinematic horror-stuff, and it is too bad that a respectable theater has to lure children and gullible grown-ups with such fare". On the film's alterations, critic Danny Peary accused the producers of making "deletions that arouse suspicions regarding the cover up of references to damage done by the A-bomb". Film critic Tim Lucas noted, "Much has been done to Americanize the Godzilla series over the decades, much of it inane and destructive, but the craft and cleverness that went into Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is immediately apparent". Over the years, original director Ishirō Honda was asked by film historians if the alterations made by the American version without his permission had offended him. Honda found the alterations amusing, stating that his film was "trying to imitate American monster movies".

In writing for Ritual and Event, Aaron Kerner stated, "the 1956 Godzilla, King of the Monsters transforms Gojira into a run of the mill science fiction film". William Tsutsui criticized the film for watering down the original themes, stating, "although Gojira was not exactly eviscerated in this transition, with the terrifying charm of the monster thankfully surviving the cinematic surgery, much of the emotional power, intellectual depth, social relevance, and visceral impact of Gojira was lost in its translation to US movie screens". Film historian David Kalat felt that Burr's narration during Godzilla's rampage improves upon the original scene, stating, "Burr's speeches here are chilling and memorable". Kalat further praised how the narration renders Burr's character as impotent, stating, "not even the American hero can save the day this time".

Film historian Steve Ryfle called the film's flaws "obvious" when compared with the Japanese version. However, when judged on its own merits, Ryfle commented, "the film is one of the best American atomic-monster movies of the 1950s, on par with - or even better than - the classic giant-ant thriller Them!." Ryfle added that the film's scripting, directing, and special effects were "far superior" than other American monster films of the same period.

In 1994, the cropped "widescreen" version was included on Toho Video's 40th anniversary special edition LaserDisc release.

The film was released on DVD and VHS by Simitar in 1998 and on DVD and VHS by Classic Media in 2002. In 2006, Classic Media and Sony BMG released a two-disc DVD set titled Gojira: The Original Japanese Masterpiece. This release features both the 1954 film and the 1956 American version, making the original Japanese version of the film available on DVD in North America for the first time. This release features theatrical trailers, audio commentaries by film historians 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 by Ryfle. This release also restores the original ending credits of the American film which, until recently, were thought to have been lost.

In 2012, the Criterion Collection released a "new high-definition digital restoration" of Godzilla on Blu-ray and DVD. This release includes a remaster of the 1956 American version, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, as well as other special features such as interviews with Akira Ikufube, Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai and audio commentaries on both films by David Kalat, author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. In 2014, Classic Media reissued Gojira and Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in a 2-disc DVD release, to commemorate the release of Legendary's Godzilla film. This release retained the same specs and features as the 2006 DVD release.

In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck. In 2019, the film was included as part of a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection (their 1000th release), which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era. In May 2020, the film became available on HBO Max upon its launch.

Italian re-release

In 1977, Italian filmmaker Luigi Cozzi released to Italian theaters a further modified and colorized version of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, with a soundtrack that used a magnetic tape process similar to Sensurround. Though the Italian colorized version was released as Godzilla, it is referred to by fans, and by Cozzi himself, as Cozzilla. Cozzi coined that title as a pen name when he was writing for magazines, later adopting it as the production company name for re-releasing the film. According to Cozzi, Toho had licensed the colorized version to Turkey. Cozzi noted that his colorization was the first attempt ever done at colorizing a black-and-white feature.

Due to the success of the 1976 remake of , Cozzi attempted to cash in on the film's success by re-releasing . Cozzi, however, was unable to acquire the film because "the King Brothers asked for too much money". Cozzi then selected Godzilla as his second option. He originally intended to acquire the original 1954 film, but Toho was only able to provide negatives for the 1956 American version. Cozzi's regional distributors refused to release it after discovering that the film was in black-and-white, so he chose to colorize it to secure its release. Cozzi renegotiated with Toho, gaining their approval. Included in the new deal was that Toho retained sole ownership of the colorized negative. Cozzi had final approval over the stock footage, music, and colorization. At the time, theatrical films were required to run for 90 minutes. Therefore, Cozzi was forced to add stock footage to extend the film's runtime:

"The decision to insert extra footage was because the original film was 1 hour and 20 minutes. While this was the normal length in the fifties, a film to be shown theatrically had to run 1 hour and 30 minutes in the mid-seventies. So we were forced to add material to it to reach that length. Its final length was 1 hour and 45 minutes".

The decision by Cozzi to specifically add real footage of death and destruction from war-time film reels was intentional. He wanted to give such an old feature an "up-to-date and more violent look". While editing the film, Cozzi was aware that certain stock footage did not match the Godzilla footage, but he chose to proceed anyway, feeling that the "effect would have been stronger than the defects". Additional footage was recycled from and The Day the Earth Caught Fire. As tributes, Cozzi added brief clips from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Godzilla Raids Again, taken from his personal 16mm prints. He coined the term "Spectrorama 70" for advertising purposes, referring to the film's colorization and for a feeling of 70mm. Cozzi stated that it "helped to give a 'bigger' look to my Godzilla theatrical re-release advertising materials".

For the soundtrack, Cozzi reprocessed the original 1956 soundtrack, turning it into a magnetic band eight-track stereophonic variation by adding new music and sound effects. Cozzi later added Sensurround effects and special giant loudspeakers to the theaters playing the film. Using the pseudonym "Magnetic System", Vince Tempera composed the film's additional score using his personal electric piano. Cozzi hired Tempera after he expressed interest in collaborating on a project. Tempera, a fan of Godzilla, immediately accepted. Cozzi selected synth music because he wanted the score to give his version of the film a "modern look" and have audiences see the difference between the new scenes and the originals. During the film's opening weekend, Tempera's additional score was released as a 45 rpm record (it was later released as a 33 rpm LP).

Cozzi hired Enzo Nistri to paint a new poster for Cozzi's colorized release (Nistri's poster was later used on the cover of magazine). Cozzi hired Armando Valcauda to do the colorization of the film, while Alberto Moro, Cozzi's mentor, was hired to edit the film. It was colorized frame-by-frame using stop motion gel photography. The process took only three months, as they were in a rush to release the film. Valcauda did all the colorization himself, while Cozzi edited the film with Moro. Cozzi noted that Yamato Video in Milan owns one new 35mm print of the colorized version and an original colorized 35mm film negative, acquired from Toho. Yamato planned to release the original 1954 version, the 1956 American cut, and the 1977 Italian color cut on DVD. Those plans, however, were abandoned after the DVD release of the 1954 film flopped financially.

While the 1954 film is credited for starting the franchise and establishing the template for filmmaking, Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was responsible for introducing international audiences to the character of Godzilla. The Japanese version was unavailable overseas until 2004, when it was given a limited theatrical run in North America to commemorate the franchise's 50th anniversary. In 1982, a subtitled version of the Japanese cut was screened at New York and Chicago film festivals honoring Takeshi Shimura's work.

After the release of the 1956 American version, Toho adopted the moniker "King of the Monsters" in publicity materials. The moniker was used as the title for the 1983 unproduced American film and as the title for Legendary's Godzilla sequel. Subsequent Godzilla films featured reporters as the leads. Author David Kalat credits Burr for this trend, stating, "these reporter heroes may owe their prominence to the legacy of Raymond Burr's Steve Martin". In 2018, NECA released a repainted Godzilla figure based on the theatrical poster of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!.

In 1985, New World Pictures released Godzilla 1985, an American localization of the 1984 Japanese film The Return of Godzilla. Like Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, new footage was filmed for the American version, scenes and themes re-edited or omitted, and the entire dialogue dubbed in English. Burr reprised his role as Steve Martin, acting as an adviser to the Pentagon, but did not interact within the Japanese characters as he had done in King of the Monsters. The Return of Godzilla was a sequel to the 1954 film, and Godzilla 1985 served as a sequel to Godzilla, King of the Monsters!.

Davis, Blair (2012). The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-5324-5.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films : A Critical Analysis of 103 Features Released in the United States, 1950-1992. McFarland.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810860049.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (Second ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Kalat, David (2012). Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Audio Commentary (Blu-ray/DVD). The Criterion Collection.

Lees, J.D.; Cerasini, Marc (1998). The Official Godzilla Compendium. Random House. ISBN 0-679-88822-5.

Mamiya, Naohiko (2000). Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4091014702.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2006). Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

Warren, Bill. Keep Watching The Skies, American Science Fiction Movies of the 50s, Vol. I: 1950 - 1957. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1982. ISBN 0-89950-032-3.

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Godzilla, King of the Monsters! - Wikipedia

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Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Japanese 怪獣王ゴジラ Hepburn Kaijū Ō Gojira Directed by Terry O. Morse Ishirō Honda Screenplay by Takeo MurataIshirō Honda Uncredited: Terry O. Morse Story by Shigeru Kayama Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Uncredited: Richard Kay Harold RossEdward B.

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Mothra vs. Godzilla is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fourth film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, and Emi and Yumi Itō, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, humans beseech the aid of the insect god Mothra to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan.

Due to the success of (1961) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Toho chose to pair Godzilla against Mothra for the following film. The film was intended for children as well as adults, as a way to compete with television's growing popularity in Japan. A new Godzilla suit and Mothra prop were built although the 1962 Godzilla suit was used for water scenes. At Tsuburaya's insistence, Toho purchased an Oxberry 1900 optical printer to remove damages in composite photography shots. It is the final film in the franchise's Shōwa era to depict Godzilla as the antagonist.

Mothra vs. Godzilla was released theatrically in Japan on April 29, 1964. An edited version titled Godzilla vs. the Thing was released by American International Pictures in the United States on August 26, 1964. The film received generally positive reviews from early and contemporary American critics. American film historians have praised the film's themes of unity, greed, and Honda's depiction of Godzilla as a "specter of nuclear annihilation" and a symbol of moral judgement.

The film was followed by Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released on December 20, 1964.

Kurata Beach is stricken by a typhoon. The following morning, reporter Ichiro Saki and his photographer Junko Nakanishi find a strange blue-gray object amongst the wreckage. Later, a giant egg is found floating near Nishi Beach in Shizunoura. Professor Miura attempts to investigate the egg, only to be pestered with questions by Saki. They soon learn that the villagers had sold the egg to businessman Kumayama for exploitation purposes for his firm Happy Enterprises. At a local hotel, Saki, Junko, and Miura discuss how to legally counter Kumayama's plans, and find him at the lobby. Kumayama meets with his financial backer Jiro Torahata, who reveals his plans to build the Shizunoura Happy Center around the egg. They are visited by the Shobijin, tiny twin fairies, who attempt to convince them to return the egg but have to escape when the businessmen try to capture them. The Shobijin run into Saki, Junko, and Miura, and reveal to them that the egg belongs to the colossal insect god Mothra, the recent typhoon caused it to wash up on Japanese waters, and destruction will follow when the larva emerges. The trio agree to help them retrieve the egg, and try to plead with Kumayama and Torahata but are met with resistance. The Shobijin eventually return home to Infant Island without the egg.

Later, Saki writes scathing articles about Happy Enterprises' insensitivity towards the Shobijin. However, the firm dismisses the articles as slander and open the Shizunoura Happy Center to the public. Kumayama is confronted by the villagers for not paying in full for the egg and renting from their land. Torahata agrees to loan Kumayama additional funds in exchange for putting the egg up as collateral. Kumayama reluctantly accepts and begins incubating the egg. Miura decontaminates Saki and Junko after touching the object they found in the wreckage, revealing it to be highly radioactive. The trio return to Kurata beach to investigate further, but the giant reptilian monster Godzilla emerges from the buried mud. Citizens evacuate as Godzilla wrecks havoc on Yokkaichi and Nagoya. The Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) are deployed to lead Godzilla to the coast to minimize casualties.

At the suggestion from a colleague, the trio travel to Infant Island to appeal with the Shobijin for Mothra's help. When they arrive, they are horrified by the desolation left behind by past nuclear tests. They are captured by the natives and reveal their intentions to ask for Mothra's help against Godzilla. The Shobijin and natives refuse, seeing it as divine retribution on outsiders for ravaging their island with nuclear tests, and not returning the egg. Junko and Saki plead that the innocent are also in danger, that they have no right to decide which lives deserve salvation, and that civilization is flawed, but is trying hard to make the world better. Mothra agrees to help, but the Shobijin warn that she is on her deathbed.

Back in Japan, the JSDF launch multiple campaigns against Godzilla but to no avail. After losing his finances, Kumayama confronts Torahata at his hotel, attacks him, and steals his secret funds. Torahata shoots Kumayama, and attempts to escape with the money but is crushed as Godzilla destroys the hotel. Godzilla reaches Nishi Beach, and prepares to destroy the egg until Mothra intervenes and engages him in battle. Mothra initially gets the upper hand, but is defeated by Godzilla's atomic breath. Mothra uses her last strength to fly to the egg and die next to it.

As the JSDF resume their attacks on Godzilla, the trio and the Shobijin remain with the egg as the twins attempt to make the egg hatch quicker via musical incantations. Twin larvae emerge from the egg and follow Godzilla to Iwa island. As the monsters battle, the trio join a rescue party to retrieve students and their teacher left behind on Iwa Island. Godzilla is entrapped by the larvae's silk and tumbles into the sea where he sinks. The students and teacher are returned to safety, and the larvae and Shobijin return to Infant Island. Saki asserts that humanity will thank them by building a better world.

Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-Star, except where cited otherwise.

The film historian Steve Ryfle calls Mothra vs. Godzilla a "classic good-versus-evil stand-off". He says the film raises philosophical questions about unity and humanity's will to put aside their differences for the greater good. Ryfle refers to Godzilla as a "specter of nuclear annihilation", metaphorically casting its shadow over Japan. Ryle also describes Godzilla as a symbol of moral judgement after indirectly killing the film's villains. The director Ishirō Honda had directed the original (1954) and (1961) films, and the actor Hiroshi Koizumi said Honda was able to emphasize his themes better through Mothra than Godzilla, stating, "Mothra's role was a messenger of peace". Kenji Sahara said his character Torahata symbolized greed. Honda purposely chose to portray the film's version of Infant Island as a partial wasteland as a way to "visualize the terror and the power of the atomic bomb".

The film historian David Kalat writes that the film brings the shame of civilized man to the forefront, and says that the film's Japanese character do little to nothing to return Mothra's egg yet travel to Infant Island to ask Mothra for more. Kalat writes that Mothra is the first to respond to Saki's speech about the brotherhood between mankind, adding that Mothra "possesses a more developed faculty of forgiveness than her subjects," thus making Mothra "morally and spiritually superior" than humans.

Eiji Tsuburaya - special effects director

Kōji Kajita - assistant director

Boku Norimoto - production coordinator

Sadamasa Arikawa - special effects photography

Akira Watanabe - special effects art director

Takeo Kita - art director

Hiroshi Mukoyama - optical effects

Personnel taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-Star.

After having success with King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), Toho Co., Ltd wanted to pair Godzilla with another popular monster and chose Mothra, the title character of a successful 1961 film. Honda and Toho aimed the film towards a general audience due to the rise of television at the time. To prepare for his role, Sahara spent time around "pushy" real-estate agents by posing as a buyer. Tanaka cast the twin sisters Emi and Yumi Itō as the Shobijin due to their popularity as the singing duo The Peanuts, as this would create publicity for the film.

The story in Mothra vs. Godzilla was originally intended to pick up after Mothra, with the Rolisicans, the fictional people of the fictional country Rolisica, re-cast as the villains. The screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa's earlier drafts have several key difference from the final version: the villain Torahata did not exist; Sakai was accompanied by two scientists, a colleague and a friend's mentor; Godzilla's body washes ashore rather than Mothra's egg; the leads offer themselves as hostages to the Infant Island natives in exchange for Mothra's help; Rolisica was to be attacked by Godzilla; the Frontier Missiles were to be used by the Rolisican military; Himeji Castle was to be destroyed; Godzilla was to move East until reaching close to Tokyo; The artificial lightning tactic is conceived when Godzilla is repelled by electrical towers in Tokyo; Mothra attacks Godzilla when he becomes immune to electricity; Mothra engages Godzilla in a final battle when he stalks the lead characters on a beach. Honda changed much of Sekizawa's original script to accommodate his own vision. Saki's speech about the brotherhood of man was not in Sekizawa's script, but was later added by Honda during filming. The film marks the last time Godzilla is depicted as the antagonist during the franchise's Shōwa era.

The film score was composed by Akira Ifukube. Ifukube adapted elements from Yuji Koseki's "Song of Mothra" theme from the 1961 film into his score. Honda and Ifukube were regular collaborators and held planning sessions to discuss which scenes would feature music. They had a disagreement over a scene which featured Godzilla rising behind a ridge-line. Honda asked for aggressive music for the scene but Ifukube refused, feeling that it was unnecessary due to Godzilla being "impressive enough". Godzilla's theme was eventually added to the scene, which upset Ifukube. The track "The Sacred Springs" was the only track Ifukube wrote for The Peanuts and was intended to lament Infant Island's destruction. For the 1980 re-release, the Japanese pop and rock band Talizman recorded a new song simply titled "Godzilla", which was later included as a bonus feature on Toho's 2014 Blu-ray.

Mothra vs. Godzilla's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya. Teruyoshi Nakano served as the assistant special effects director. Mechanical props and puppets were built for both monsters. The Godzilla suit was constructed by Teizo Toshimitsu two months prior to filming, with input from the actor Haruo Nakajima whenever he visited the workshop. The new suit was lighter than previous ones and allowed Nakajima to make more fluid movement. Reinforced heels gave Nakajima freedom to roll and flip without losing his footing. The 1962 Godzilla suit was recycled for water scenes and a shot with Godzilla tumbling off a cliff. For Mothra, a new prop was built, similar to the 1961 prop, with Y-shaped braces attached to the back that allowed the wings to flap. High-powered fans were used to create wind for Mothra's wings. The wing-span for the new Mothra prop was 15 feet. Mechanisms were added that allowed the prop's head and legs to move via remote control.

The larvae were a combination of hand puppetry and motor-driven mechanical props. The larvae's web was made of liquified polystyrene. When the web was shot off-screen, it was poured onto a cup stationed at the center of a heavy industrial fan. The cup was sealed with small gaps around the edges. To shoot the web out of the larvae's mouths, compressed air was run into a sealed tube of liquid polystyrene. At a high pressure level, the liquid polystyrene was forced through a tube that ran through the back of the larvae and into nozzles in their mouths. As long as the nozzle was small, the solution vaporized when first emitted and solidified into the web. Gasoline had to be used to remove the webbing and the suit had to be thoroughly dried to prevent it from combusting.

The larva movements were designed by Soujiro Iijima and used a conveyor belt with rotating gears that allowed the bodies to move up and down. For the scenes with the Shobijin, furniture eight times their size was built to make the Shobijin appear to be 30 centimeters tall. Honda originally intended to depict the wasteland part of Infant Island with more realism and graphic imagery but this idea was dropped due to budgetary issues with the art department. Honda later regretted this decision, saying he should have been more stubborn.

Tsuburaya had Toho purchase an Oxberry 1900 optical printer which was used to remove damages in composite photography shots. The optical printer was also used to create Godzilla's atomic breath. For a scene where Godzilla destroys Nagoya Castle, Nakajima was unable to completely destroy the model of the castle. He attempted to salvage the shot by having Godzilla appear enraged by the Castle's strong fortification, but the filmmakers chose to re-shoot the scene with a rebuilt model designed to crumble more easily. For a scene where Mothra drags Godzilla by the tail, the Godzilla suit was used for medium shots and a prop used for long shots. A sequence featuring the United States military attacking Godzilla with frontier missiles was filmed for the American market, but omitted in the Japanese version of the film.

The Mothra prop used for the New Kirk City scenes in Mothra was recycled for the Infant Island scenes. This prop was smaller compared to the prop built for the new film's adult Mothra. The 1961 model had a motor built into it that flapped the wings at a rapid pace. For the scenes with Godzilla near the cliff face, part of the set's support structure was hidden by using matte painting. The miniature tanks used in the film were purchased from Ihara models rather than typically custom built. The tank models were built to a 1/15th scale and were constructed from aluminum. The antennas were used for remote control.

For the scene where Godzilla destroys the incubator, the scene proved difficult for Nakajima and the wire staff, which required coordination. Close ups of the tail were done with a prop that was operated by two people due to the heavy weight of the tail. The scenes with Godzilla thrashing wildly at Mothra were shot at high speed, then projected at a quicker speed. The end results have been compared to the movement of stop-motion animation. The scene with Godzilla thrashing from the nets was shot with different cameras at once and as a result, the same scene plays over from different angles.

A second egg was produced for the hatching scene. A styrofoam egg was molded and a calcium carbonate substance was mixed with glue and added on top. The styrofoam egg was removed from its interior with a heated wire, which left a hollow form. For the opening typhoon scene, Iijima built a shallow water tank to create the illusion of violent waves. Wider water scenes were filmed at massive pool at Toho's studios.

Rubber glue was blown onto Godzilla's suit by an electric fan for the scene where Mothra's larvae entrap him in silk. In the process of filming, the rubber glue hardened, making it difficult to remove afterwards.

Mothra vs. Godzilla was released in Japan by Toho on April 29, 1964, as a double feature with Operation Anti Hell. Prior to the Golden Week, it sold 3.5 million tickets. According to Henry G. Saperstein, the film grossed $217,000 for three weeks from eight theaters in Tokyo. In 1970, a heavily re-edited version was screened at the Toho Champion Festival, a children's festival centered on marathon screenings of kaiju films and cartoons. The Champion Festival version was edited by Honda, and runs 74 minutes. The Champion Festival release sold 730,000 tickets. In 1980, the film was theatrically re-released in Japan as a double feature with Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur. An entirely new poster featuring an illustration of Godzilla by Japanese manga artist Leiji Matsumoto was designed for the 1980 re-release. It sold 3 million tickets (¥2.33 billion), totaling 7.22 million tickets sold in Japan.

In May 1964, Henry G. Saperstein acquired the American theatrical and television rights to the film, under the proposed working title Godzilla vs. the Giant Moth, and sold the rights to American International Pictures (AIP). AIP released the film as Godzilla vs. the Thing on August 26, 1964, when it premiered in Los Angeles. AIP chose the title Godzilla vs. the Thing purposely to generate curiosity and anticipation for Godzilla's foe. AIP hired Reynold Brown to create a poster that featured Godzilla, but censored the other monster. Brown was paid $350 for his services.

The American version of the film contains footage shot by Toho specifically for the American release. The American version of the film received only a few minor adjustments: the Shobijin song on Infant Island was shortened as was a scene where Sakai, Junko Miura and Makamura wave goodbye to the Mothras swimming home. Removed scenes include one of Kumayama handing out leaflets to attract visitors to the giant egg incubator and one where Torahata shoots Kumayama in a hotel room. New scenes added included a sequence where U.S. military officials help Japan against Godzilla. The American release of the film was double-billed with Voyage to the End of the Universe. Titra Studios dubbed the film into English. The film was followed by Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released on December 20, 1964.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10.

A 1964 review for Kinema Junpo praised the effects but criticized the military attacking Godzilla, writing, "It's strange that the people don't learn from the past. From the Self-Defense Forces on down, every single person just plain looks stupid." In a contemporary review from the Monthly Film Bulletin, the critic wrote that "In spite of some clumsy model shots, Godzilla's fight with the giant moth and its caterpillar progeny is one of Toho's better efforts". The critic praised Godzilla's design in the film and wrote that the "ineffectual attempts to bring him to a halt are cleverly and spectacularly staged. Unfortunately, nothing else quite matches the special effects", writing that the plot is "ridiculous" and the acting "lamentable, and the two miniature twins' habit of repeating every line of dialogue simultaneously is intensely irksome".

Reviewing the American version, Variety said it was "long on special effect" and lacked "appeal for general trade", and that "in spite of the slick production, the story and acting don't offer enough to attract large general audiences". The review said that the "virtually all-Japanese cast, with unfamiliar faces and broad emoting typical of such Japanese pics, also detracts from general appeal". The review said that Honda's direction and the script "keep story moving at lively pace, building up to tense climactic scenes" and that Tsuburaya "labored mightily to cook up monsters and their battles, the tiny twins and the military assaults against Godzilla".

In 1998, Ryfle praised Mothra vs. Godzilla as it stood "indisputably as the greatest of all the Godzilla sequels, with a fast-paced story and likable characters, the most impressive Godzilla design ever, two of the Big G's most spectacular battles, and an abundance of special-effects "money shots" that evoke the thrills of the 1954 original." In 2017, Ryfle and Godziszewski gave their impression that "[t]he final twenty-plus minutes hint at the genre's impending tilt toward young boys. It's a near nonstop barrage of military hardware and monster action", and added that "Honda seemed to know that kids were now rooting for Godzilla, and so the film never gets too scary".

In his 2007 audio commentary, Ryfle praised the English dubbing for the American version, saying that it is one of the reasons that the film is considered amongst the best Godzilla films. Ryfle said that the English script was "snappy" and "well written" and that the voice performances sounded sincere and pulled with effort, stating, "You'd be hard pressed to find another movie where the dubbing is done as well as it is here." Reviewing the American version in 2017, the film critic Leonard Maltin gave it two and a half out of a possible four stars, praising the "vivid" special effects, which he called the highlight of the film.

ranked Mothra vs. Godzilla at number three in their 2019 ranking of the Shōwa Godzilla films, writing that the film has an "intelligent script that brings together mythology and modern sociopolitical themes is married to some of the best monster action in the series." Screen Rant ranked it at number three on their list of the "Best Kaiju Movies Featuring Mothra", calling the film a "kaiju classic" and a "great time overall" despite a lackluster final battle. ranked the film number three on their Shōwa Godzilla list in 2022, calling the Godzilla suit an "impressive figure", the marionette work and puppeteering done with Mothra and the larvae as "impressive", and describing the battles as the "most unique" in the series.

In 1983, the Japanese version of Mothra vs. Godzilla was released on VHS in Japan by Toho, followed by a LaserDisc release in 1986. The Champion Festival cut was given a LaserDisc release in 1992, and the American version was included on a LaserDisc combo pack the following year. Toho released the film on DVD in 2003, and later included the film, along with the rest of the Godzilla films, on the Godzilla Final Box DVD Set in 2005. The film was included along with (1954), Godzilla Raids Again (1955), and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) on the Godzilla DVD Collection I, released by Toho on January 25, 2008. In 2010, Toho released the film on Blu-ray.

In 2008, Toho remastered the film in High-definition and premiered it on the Japanese Movie Speciality Channel, along with the rest of the Godzilla films also remastered in HD. In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.

In 1989, the American version was released on VHS in North America by Paramount Home Video under the title Godzilla vs. Mothra. In 1998, Simitar Video reissued the American version on VHS and DVD, which included a widescreen edition. This release retained the previous title Godzilla vs. Mothra, however, the widescreen side of the DVD featured the original American print with the title Godzilla vs. The Thing. In 2002, Sony Music Entertainment released a pan-and-scan version of the American version on DVD. This release also retained the previous title, Godzilla vs. Mothra.

In 2007, Classic Media released both the Japanese and American versions on a single disc DVD in North America. The special features include an audio commentary by film historians Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, a featurette on Akira Ifukube's life and career by Godziszewski and Bill Gudmundson, a slideshow, and the film's theatrical trailer. In 2017, Janus Films and The Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck. In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era. In May 2020, the Japanese version became available on HBO Max upon its launch.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

Iwabatake, Toshiaki; Ono, Kōichirō (1992). Kodansha Hit Books: Godzilla vs. Mothra (in Japanese). Kodansha. ISBN 978-4061777309.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (Second ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786447497.

Macias, Patrick (2006). Otaku in USA - Love & Misunderstanding! The History of Adopted Anime in America!. Ohta Publishing. ISBN 978-4778310028.

Maltin, Leonard (2017). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: The Modern Era. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0525536314.

Mamiya, Naohiko (2000). Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4091014702.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. ISBN 9781550223484.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2007). Godzilla vs. The Thing Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

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Mothra vs. Godzilla is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fourth film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Akira Takarada, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kenji Sahara, and Emi and Yumi Itō, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla.

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(三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦 , Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen, lit. Three Giant Monsters: Earth's Greatest Battle) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fifth film in the Godzilla franchise, and was the second Godzilla film produced that year, after Mothra vs. Godzilla. The film stars Yosuke Natsuki, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masanori Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, an extraterrestrial from Venus, possessing the body of a princess, warns humanity of the arrival of King Ghidorah, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra being their last hope for survival.

The film was rushed into production in order to replace , which fell behind schedule, in Toho's New Year's holiday slate. The Godzilla suit and Mothra larva prop were recycled from the previous film, with modifications added, while new suits were produced for Rodan and Ghidorah. Principal photography began and ended in 1964 in Mount Aso, Yokohama, Gotenba, and Ueno Park. New suits were produced for Rodan and Ghidorah, however, the Godzilla suit and Mothra prop were recycled from past films. Scenes involving Ghidorah took longer to film due to the wires attached to the heads and tails getting tangled or reflecting the studio lights.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was theatrically released in Japan on December 20, 1964, followed by a theatrical release in the United States on September 29, 1965 by Continental Distributing as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. It earned ¥375 million (over $1 million) at the Japanese box office and $1.3 million at the American box office. The film received generally positive reviews from early and contemporary American critics.

The film was followed by Invasion of Astro-Monster, released on December 19, 1965.

Reporter Naoko Shindo attends a communications session with the UFO society for her television program. After deeming the session a failure due to Naoko's skepticism, a meteor shower descends on Japan, with the largest crashing in Mount Kurodake. Shindo, a police detective and Naoko's brother, is assigned to guard Princess Salno of Selgina from a political assassination during an unannounced visit to Japan. En route to Japan, an alien entity leads Salno to jump from her plane before it explodes. Professor Miura leads a research team to Mt. Kurodake to investigate the large meteor, where they discover it randomly emits magnetic waves. Naoko is sent to investigate a prophetess claiming to be from Venus, who predicts that Rodan will emerge from Mount Aso.

The Prophetess catches the attention of both Shindo and Salno's uncle, both who believed her to be dead. Responsible for the assassination plot, Salno's uncle sends the assassin, Malmess, to kill her and arrives in Japan after Rodan awakens. After participating in a TV program, the Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies, prepare to depart for home but are warned by the Prophetess to not sail. Naoko takes the Prophetess to a hotel to interview her, and discover that the Shobijin had followed them, heeding the Prophetess' warning before Godzilla sunk their ship. After confirming that the Prophetess is Salno, Shindo finds her at the hotel and saves her from Malmess. They evacuate after Godzilla and Rodan converge on the city and battle throughout the countryside.

After Dr. Tsukamoto, a psychiatrist, determines the Prophetess to be normal, she predicts the arrival of King Ghidorah, a monster that destroyed her home on Venus. Miura and his team witness the meteor explode, unleashing the golden three-headed space dragon Ghidorah, who proceeds to attack Matsumoto city. The authorities plea with the Shobijin to summon Mothra for help, but they warn that Mothra alone could not defeat Ghidorah, and their only hope would be for Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra to join forces. Under hypnosis, the Prophetess reveals that some Venusians escaped to Earth from Ghidorah and assimilated with humans, resulting in them losing their abilities with the exception of predictions.

After Malmess overhears Tsukamoto recommend shock therapy next, he increases the voltage knowing it will immediately kill her but fails after the power lines are destroyed by Godzilla. After thwarting off Malmess and his crew, Shindo evacuates to the mountains with the Prophetess, Tsukamoto, Naoko, Murai, and the Shobijin. Mothra attempts to convince Godzilla and Rodan to set aside their differences to save the planet, but both refuse due to years of harassment from humans. After seeing Mothra attempt to battle Ghidorah on her own, Godzilla and Rodan rush to her aid. The Prophetess wanders off and regains her memories after Malmess nearly kills her. Shindo protects her in time and Malmess falls to his death. The monsters overwhelm Ghidorah and force it to flee into outer space. Prior to departing for home, Princess Salno reveals to Shindo that she doesn't recall her recent memories as the Prophetess but remembers the three events when Shindo saved her and thanks him and Naoko for their help. Godzilla and Rodan watch on as Mothra journeys back home with the Shobijin, who bid farewell to all.

Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.

Eiji Tsuburaya - special effects director

Ken Sano - assistant director

Shigeru Nakamura - production manager

Takeo Kita - art director

Sadamasa Arikawa - special effects photography

Akira Watanabe - special effects art director

Hiroshi Mukoyama - optical effects

Personnel taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.

"[Ghidorah] is basically Yamata no Orochi. It is an old folktale, and we wrote it as a creature from outer space. It is fine for audiences to think that way, but I do not believe it was written with such a political notion."

-Honda on the theory that Ghidorah symbolized China's nuclear threat.

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster was rushed into production due to falling behind schedule and a replacement was need for Toho's New Year's holiday slate. After the success of previous films where monsters were partnered up such as King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka decided to develop a film which would feature Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra.

The film also includes a new monster, King Ghidorah. Ghidorah was designed as an homage to Yamata no Orochi. Yoshio Tsuchiya was originally attached to play Malmess but his commitments to Red Beard prevented him from participating. Honda felt "uncomfortable" with Toho and Eiji Tsuburaya's decision to anthropomorphize the monsters, particularly the summit scene, stating, "I used the Peanuts as Mothra's interpreters, but even that was something I had to force myself to do." The film was shot on various locations, such as Mount Aso, Yokohama, Gotenba, and Ueno Park.

Akiko Wakabayashi was briefly blinded by the flash of light that represented the Venusian. Additionally, Honda permitted Wakabayashi to sleep on the gurney during the shock therapy scenes, due to Wakabayashi working the previous night without sleep for a separate film. Wakabayashi noted that the Venusian's homely attire came about when Honda spotted her walking the studio in jeans and a "bug guy's hat." Honda liked the attire and chose to adopt it for the Venusian. Wakabayashi chose to play the Venusian as someone who sleepwalks, stating, "I tried to play the character as someone who was sleepwalking. I tried not to look at each person's face.' The track Cry for Happiness was written by Hiroshi Miyagawa.

The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, while Teruyoshi Nakano served as the assistant special effects director. For Ghidorah's hatching scene, a variety of techniques were used such as a miniature meteorite prop, pyrotechnics, and rapidly edited explosions. Optical animation was used for the hovering fireball and Ghidorah's rays. For the Yokohama sequence, pyrotechnics were wire-rigged to send up debris and fans used to emulate strong winds. Haruo Nakajima reprised his role as Godzilla. The effects crew recycled the Godzilla suit from Mothra vs. Godzilla, however, alterations were made to the head. The original glass-like wooden eyes were replaced with radio controlled eyeballs. The installation of mechanics flattened the head by a small margin. Katsumi Tezuka portrayed the Mothra larva prop. The prop was recycled from Mothra vs. Godzilla and its eyes were changed from blue to red. Masanori Shinohara portrayed Rodan. A new Rodan suit was constructed with a different appearance for the face, with a muscular neck and triangular wings.

King Ghidorah was designed by Akira Watanabe and portrayed by Shoichi Hirose, who spent hours hunched over inside the costume, holding onto a crossbar for support. A team of wire work puppeteers manipulated the necks, tails and wings. As many as seven men were in the rafters over the sound stage working the wires. Effects cameraman Sadamasa Arikawa stated "There were times when all three necks got tangled up or the plastic wires would reflect the studio lights, or the wires would get caught in Ghidorah's scales. It was an agonizing operation!" Due to this, it took longer to film Ghidorah's scenes. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa suggested to Tsuburaya that the Ghidorah suit be built from light weight silicon-based materials to allow more mobility for the suit performer. The wings were originally intended to have a rainbow hue. Small models of the monsters were also used for far away shots or flying shots of Rodan and King Ghidorah.

The set for the base of Mt. Fuji was built at 1/25th scale and took 12,000 hours to build. The set was raised so cameras could be positioned at low angles.The miniature buildings were built with working sliding doors, lights, and were built backless, to be seen from one direction. The miniatures meant to be destroyed were pre-cut and compressed. Miniature buildings that were not meant to be destroyed were repurposed for later scenes or other sets. While filming Godzilla and Rodan's battle in Toho's massive water tank, one of the edges of the tank was exposed on film. Tsuburaya hid this error by superimposing trees on the exposed area.

(ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 地球最大の決戦 , Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster was released theatrically in Japan on December 20, 1964, by Toho, on a double-bill with Samurai Joker. The film became the fourth highest-grossing film of the 1964-1965 season in Japan. The film earned ¥375 million (over $1 million) in distributor rentals at the Japanese box office. In 1971, a heavily re-edited version was screened at the Toho Champion Festival, a children's festival centered on marathon screenings of kaiju films and cartoons. For the Champion Festival, the film was re-titled Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Greatest Battle on Earth Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Ghidorah: Chikyu Saidai No Kessen), was re-edited by Honda, and runs 73 minutes. The Champion festival release sold 1.09 million tickets.

Months after the film's Japanese release, the film was acquired by Walter Reade-Sterling, Inc., with plans to distribute the film in the United States through their subsidiary, Continental Distributing. The film was theatrically released in the United States on September 29, 1965, as Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster. The film opened to 83 theaters in Boston, on a double-bill with Agent 8 3/4. In later areas, it was double-billed with Harum Scarum. Continental boasted to that the film earned $200,000 in film rentals within five days of its release and $1.3 million overall. To promote the film in the United States, Ghidorah masks were created as promotional tie-ins with local super markets and radio stations.

The dubbing of the American version was supervised by Joseph Belucci and runs at 85 minutes. The American version shifts some scenes and removes some outright, Akira Ifukube's score is replaced with library music during some of the Godzilla/Rodan battle scenes, and a rough translation was provided for Cry for Happiness, which is read off-camera by Annie Sukiyaki. Some alterations from the American version were added to the Champion Festival release. Author David Kalat opined that the American version is superior in some ways, stating that the film is dramatically tightened and that continuity corrections resulted in an "improvement over the original".

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10.

In a contemporary review, Vincent Canby from New York Times noted that the film "at least provides a smile or two as Ghidorah lurches and lunges through a veritable anthology of Japanese monster picture plots." and that "This fascination, on the part of contemporary Japanese film makers, with the destruction of their land by fantastic, prehistoric forces only 20 years after Hiroshima, might be of interest to social historians. The film, otherwise, is strictly for the comic book set." noted that "When the viewer finds himself cheering on the trio of unlikely allies, it's a tribute to Honda's ability to capture an audience" while noting that the dubbing in the film was "as usual, atrocious."

From retrospective reviews, the American version was reviewed by Leonard Maltin who gave the film two and a half stars, calling it "one of the better Toho monster rallies". Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction noted that the film's visual effects "are better than usual and the cast includes Okada (Mistakenly believing actor Eiji Okada to be in the film), best known for his performance in Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959), as well as the brilliant Shimura, star of Kurosawa's (1952)."Slant Magazine awarded the film three stars out of four and stated that the film "embodies much of what the popular monster films have come to be known for over the years: reptilian wrestling matches on a citywide scale, human drama paralleling the monster threat, rubbery creature effects, and the gleeful destruction of many a miniature architectural set piece."

Film historian August Ragone called the monster effects "somewhat uneven," but added that "Tsuburaya still delivers a punch with the production's bountiful visual effects."

ranked the film at number two in their 2019 ranking of the Shōwa Godzilla films, calling it a "superb entry" and describing the battle sequences as "classic." Screen Rant ranked it at number six on their list of the "Best Kaiju Movies Featuring Mothra", calling it "one of the wackier plots to meet the history of kaiju cinema." ranked the film number four on their Shōwa Godzilla list in 2022, stating, "there's a nice balance here between presenting the monsters as genuine threats and having fun with their antics, probably the best such mix of the Shōwa era."

In 1983, Toho released the film on VHS, and followed it with a LaserDisc release two years later. In 1992, the Champion festival cut was released in a LaserDisc box set. In 2001, the film was released on DVD. In 2005, Toho included the film on the Godzilla Final Box DVD Set. In 2010, the film was released on Blu-ray.

In 2008, Toho remastered the film in High-definition and premiered it on the Japanese Movie Speciality Channel, along with the rest of the Godzilla films also remastered in HD. In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.

In 1988, the American version was released on VHS by Video Treasures. In 2004, the American version was unofficially released on DVD, bootlegged by CineVu. In 2007, Classic Media released the film on DVD in North America, along with other Godzilla titles. This release included the remastered, widescreen versions of the Japanese and American versions, as well as a biography on Eiji Tsuburaya, image galleries, promotional material, and an audio commentary by David Kalat.

In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck. In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era. In May 2020, the Japanese version became available on HBO Max upon its launch.

The film marks the debut of King Ghidorah, a recurring antagonist of the Godzilla franchise. Ragone described King Ghidorah as "one of the most famous and popular creations in the Toho canon." Don Kaye from Den of Geek echoed these sentiments, stating, "Ghidorah remains a formidable enemy, which is why his debut is still one of the best-remembered entries in the series." The film was also the turning point in Godzilla's transformation from villain to hero, with Godzilla taking on a radioactive superhero role. The film also marks the first ensemble between Godzilla and other established monster characters.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.

Kalat, David (2007d). Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.

Kaneko, Masumi; Nakajima, Shinsuke (1983). Gojira Mook (Godzilla Graph Book). Kondansya Publishing.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster - Wikipedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦 , Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen, lit. Three Giant Monsters: Earth's Greatest Battle) is a 1964 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the fifth film in the Godzilla franchise, and was the second Godzilla film produced that year, after Mothra vs.

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Invasion of Astro-Monster

Theatrical release poster

Japanese | 怪獣大戦争
Hepburn | Kaijū Daisensō
Directed by | Ishirō Honda
Screenplay by | Shinichi Sekizawa
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka[1]

Starring

Akira Takarada

Nick Adams

Kumi Mizuno

Akira Kubo

Cinematography | Hajime Koizumi[2]
Edited by | Ryohei Fujii[2]
Music by | Akira Ifukube[2]

Production
companies

Toho Co., Ltd
UPA

Distributed by

Toho (Japan)

Maron Films (United States)

Release dates

December 19, 1965 (Japan)

July 29, 1970 (United States)

Running time

94 minutes[3]

Countries

Japan

United States[4]

Language | Japanese[4][a]
Budget | ¥132 million[7]
Box office | $4.2 million (US/Japan rentals)[b]

Invasion of Astro-Monster (怪獣大戦争, Kaijū Daisensō, lit. 'The Giant Monster War')[1] is a 1965 kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is the sixth film in the Godzilla franchise and Shōwa period. The film was a Japanese-American co-production; it was the second collaboration between Toho Co., Ltd and UPA.[3][11][12] The film stars Akira Takarada, Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Akira Kubo, and Yoshio Tsuchiya, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Masaki Shinohara as Rodan, and Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah. In the film, aliens plead with humanity to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to defeat King Ghidorah, only to betray the humans and unleash the monsters on the Earth.

Invasion of Astro-Monster was theatrically released in Japan on December 19, 1965. It was followed by a theatrical release in the United States on July 29, 1970 by Maron Films as Monster Zero, on a double bill with The War of the Gargantuas.

The film was followed by Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, released on December 17, 1966.[13]

Plot[edit]

In the year 196X,[4] two astronauts, Fuji and Glenn, are sent to investigate the surface of the mysterious "Planet X". There they encounter advanced and seemingly benevolent human-like beings called the Xiliens and their leader the Controller. The aliens usher the astronauts into their underground base, and moments later the surface is attacked by a creature that the Xiliens call "Monster Zero", but which the astronauts recognize as King Ghidorah, a planet-destroying monster that had attacked Earth once before. The monster eventually leaves, but the Controller states that King Ghidorah has been attacking repeatedly, forcing them to live underground in constant fear. He requests to borrow the Earth monsters Godzilla and Rodan to act as protectors to fight it once more (since 1964), in return for the cure for cancer (the English dub says that the formula can cure any disease). The astronauts return to Earth and deliver the message.

Meanwhile, an inventor named Tetsuo has designed a personal alarm that emits an ear-splitting electric siren. He sells it to a businesswoman named Namikawa, but she disappears before paying him. Tetsuo is romantically involved with Fuji's sister, Haruno, but Fuji disapproves, finding him unworthy of Haruno. Tetsuo sees Namikawa with Glenn and later follows her, but he is captured and imprisoned by Xilien spies.

Glenn and Fuji begin to worry that the Xiliens may have ulterior motives. Their suspicions appear confirmed when three Xilien spacecraft appear in Japan. The Controller apologizes for coming to Earth without permission. The Xiliens locate Godzilla and Rodan, both sleeping, and use their technology to transport them to Planet X. They also bring Glenn, Fuji, and the scientist Sakurai with them. After a brief confrontation, the Earth monsters succeed in driving King Ghidorah away. Glenn and Fuji sneak away during the battle and encounter two Xilien women, both of whom look identical to Namikawa. Xilien guards confront the astronauts and bring them back to the Controller, who reprimands but does not punish them. The astronauts are given a tape with instructions for the miracle cure and sent home, leaving Godzilla and Rodan behind. The tape is played for the world's leaders, but instead, it contains an ultimatum demanding that they surrender Earth to the Xiliens or be destroyed by Godzilla, Rodan, and King Ghidorah, who are all under the aliens' mental control.

Glenn storms into Namikawa's office and finds her in Xilien garb. She admits that she is one of their spies, but confesses that she has fallen in love with him. Her commander arrives to arrest Glenn and executes Namikawa for letting emotion cloud her judgment, but not before she slips a note into Glenn's pocket. Glenn is taken to the same cell as Tetsuo. They read Namikawa's note, which explains that the sound from Tetsuo's invention disrupts the Xiliens' electronics. Tetsuo has a prototype with him, which he activates, weakening their captors and allowing them to escape.

Sakurai and Fuji build a device to disrupt the Xilien's control over the monsters. Glenn and Tetsuo arrive to share the Xilien's weakness. As the monsters attack, Sakurai's device is activated and the sound from Tetsuo's alarm is broadcast over the radio. The invasion is thwarted and the Xiliens, unable to fight back or retreat, destroy themselves en masse. The monsters awaken from their trances and a fight ensues. All three topple off a cliff into the ocean; King Ghidorah surfaces and flies back into outer space, while those watching speculate that Godzilla and Rodan are probably still alive. Fuji acknowledges Tetsuo's important role in the victory and no longer thinks poorly of him. Sakurai states that he wants to send Glenn and Fuji back to Planet X to study the planet thoroughly (the English dub says that they are to be ambassadors). The astronauts are reluctant, but make the best of the moment, happy that Earth is safe.

Cast[edit]

Akira Takarada as Kazuo Fuji

Nick Adams as Glenn

Gorō Naya as Glenn (Japanese voice)[5]

Kumi Mizuno as Namikawa

Jun Tazaki as Dr. Sakurai

Akira Kubo as Tetsuo Torii

Keiko Sawai as Haruno Fuji

Yoshio Tsuchiya as Controller of Planet X

Takamaru Sasaki as Chairman of Earth Committee

Gen Shimizu as Minister of Defense

Yoshifumi Tajima as General

Nadao Kirino as Military Aide

Kenzo Tabu as Commander from Planet X, Earth Unit

Koji Uno as Namikawa's Associate

Somesho Matsumoto as Buddhist Priest

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla

Masaki Shinohara as Rodan

Shoichi Hirose as King Ghidorah

Cast taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.[14]

Production[edit]

Crew[edit]

Ishirō Honda[c] – director

Eiji Tsuburaya – special effects director

Henry G. Saperstein – associate producer

Reuben Bercovitch – associate producer

Koji Kajita – assistant director

Masao Suzuku – production manager

Tadashi Koike – production manager

Takeo Kita – art director

Sadamasa Arikawa – special effects photography

Mototaka Tomioka – special effects photography

Akira Watanabe – special effects art director

Teruyoshi Nakano – special effects assistant director

Personnel taken from Japan's Favorite Mon-star.[16]

Development[edit]

"When they made Godzilla do that shie thing, I knew how pissed my father [Ishiro Honda] was. He didn't say a word, but he was beyond angry. My father found it humiliating. I am sure he was telling himself, 'We did not create Godzilla for that. It is not right.'"

—Ryuji Honda recalls his father's disapproval over the inclusion of Godzilla's infamous shie victory dance.[12]

In the mid-1960s, United Productions of America (UPA) asked American producer Henry G. Saperstein to acquire high quality monster movies to distribute in North America.[17] Saperstein approached Toho and began involvement in the film when Frankenstein Conquers the World was already in its production phases.[17] The production of Invasion of Astro-Monster saw the film have input from American producer Henry G. Saperstein from the beginning of production and was his first fully-fledged coproduction.[17] Saperstein has claimed to have provided 50 percent of the funding to the three monster movie co-productions he made with Toho.[18]

Saperstein felt that the screenplays by Shinichi Sekizawa were formulaic, noting that these films too often "opened up with a press conference or a government conference of scientists and officials" and that he convinced the production that they "needed to get into the picture a lot quicker. The conference could take place later on".[1][17] The film's script also incorporates an alien invasion theme that had been done in previous Toho films, but not in the Godzilla series.[19]

Saperstein also proposed the inclusion of an American actor to help market the film in the United States.[20] This role was eventually filled by Nick Adams, who had previously starred in Frankenstein Conquers the World without any suggestion from Saperstein.[20][21] Saperstein said Adams was "terrific, a real professional. Very cooperative, always on time, ready with his lines, available, totally cooperative. He loved being there."[21]

The film had a lower budget than some of the previous films in the series. This led to special effects scenes having less elaborate model cities built and including footage which had been shot for previous films such as Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.[22][10] "It was a vicious cycle of time and budget," Honda reflected. "If we recycled scenes from previous movies, we could cut the effects budget. But then we received complaints from our fans saying, 'It looks weird, it's not fresh.' We could fool the audience for a little while, but eventually they would know the trick and stop coming to see the shows. Then the studio would think that special effects film don't sell anymore. It's no wonder we could not make anything good around that period... It is a sad story."[10]

Honda contributed in designing Namikawa's makeup.[23] Yoshio Tsuchiya improvised the Planet X Controller's hand gestures and combined French, German, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Kappa language to form the alien dialect, at Honda's request.[7] While there is a Lake Myojin in Japan, the one featured in the film is fictional.[24] Adams' scenes were filmed within five weeks, between October 13 to November 18, 1965.[25]

Special effects[edit]

The film's special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, while Teruyoshi Nakano served as the assistant special effects director.[26] An Oxberry optical printer was used to composite the actors and saucers on the beach.[23] The Godzilla Shie victory dance was added after Yoshio Tsuchiya suggested it to Tsuburaya, who was already supportive about anthropomorphizing monster characters with comical traits.[27] Godzilla performer Haruo Nakajima, effects cinematographer Sadamasa Arikawa, and director Ishirō Honda were against the inclusion of the dance.[28] Nakano recalled that audiences were divided over the dance.[12] The design of the P1 rocket and astronaut suits were influenced by NASA's Project Gemini missions.[29] Several P1 models were produced, with the biggest reaching 3 meters tall.[30]

In one scene, the effects crew wanted to show the 3-meter P1 lift from a low angle, however, its size would have exposed the top edge of the Planet X set.[31] Against company policy, special effects art director Yasuyuki Inoue broke the sound stage floor, and dug a hole to allow the P1 to rise from the subterranean base.[32] Inoue later got in trouble after the hole was discovered, however, Inoue would later repeat this technique in Destroy All Monsters.[33] The smoke effects in the Lake Myojin scenes were created by filling a thermos bottle with liquid nitrogen and destroying them underwater to create a chemical reaction.[34] Effects animator Sadao Iizuka created the transport tractor beam and designed it after a Neon club sign he saw in Shibuya ward.[35]

For Godzilla, a new suit was produced by Teizo Toshimitsu. The new suit removed the kneecaps from the previous two film, the breast bone is slightly retained and deemphasized, the dorsal fins are less pointed, and the eyes are enlarged.[36] The pupils were built to be moved from left to right.[37] The suits for King Ghidorah and Rodan were recycled from the previous film, albeit with some alterations.[38] For Ghidorah, the suit was repainted with a darker shade of gold, with less details on the faces due to settled rubber.[39] For Rodan, the bulky tops on the wings were flattened and thinned.[40] The melting radar dish model was independently built by a chief carpenter, Keiki Tanaka.[41]

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

Invasion of Astro-Monster was released in Japan on December 19, 1965 by Toho,[3] on a double bill with Young Beats.[42][4][43] The film brought in about 3.8 million viewers in Japan[44] and was the tenth highest grossing Japanese film for that year, earning a distribution rental income of ¥210 million during its theatrical run.[7] Nick Adams' voice was dubbed over by Goro Naya for the Japanese release.[5] It was re-issued in Japan in 1971 where it was edited to a 74-minute running time under the title Kaiju daisenso Kingugidora tai Gojira （怪獣大戦争：キングギドラ対ゴジラ）(lit. 'The Giant Monster War: King Ghidorah vs. Godzilla').[2] In an attempt to give Keiko Sawai more roles, Toho had billed Sawai as the "Hope of '66" in the original posters.[45] With the 1971 re-issue, the film's Japanese box office performance increased to 5.13 million ticket sales and distributor rentals of ¥410 million[8][9] ($1.2 million).[46]

In the United States, the film grossed $3 million during its theatrical run.[10] In Europe, the film sold 1,416,731 tickets in Germany and France upon release in 1967.[47]

American version[edit]

Co-producer Henry G. Saperstein commissioned an English dub from Glen Glenn Sound, a Los Angeles-based company, for the film's American release.[48] Unlike some previous Godzilla films which were heavily edited for their American release, the American and Japanese versions of the film were described as by David Kalat as "virtually identical".[17] Among the changes in the American version of the film include improvised "Planet X language" scenes spoken by Yoshio Tsuchiya being cut, and a few brief shots involving the flying saucers at Lake Myojin. Audio was changed as well with sound effects added for Godzilla and several pieces of Akira Ifukube's score re-arranged.[10] Marvin Miller provided the voice for Fuji and other characters.[49] The American version had a running time of 92 minutes.[26]

The Glen Glenn Sound English dub was released theatrically in the United States on a double feature with The War of the Gargantuas (also dubbed by Glen Glenn Sound)[48] on July 29, 1970 as Monster Zero by Maron Films.[3] Regarding the time it took for the film to be released in the United States, Saperstein stated that Toho did not always want to release a film quickly for international release and that he had a lot of technical work to be done on the film.[10] Variety reported that Saperstein had completed post-production in 1966 and was negotiating a distribution deal. Variety reported again in September 1970 that both the film and The War of the Gargantuas "sat on the shelf at [UPA] because [distributors] figured they had no potential".[10]

Critical response[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2022)

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10.[50]

Jon Matsumoto of The Los Angeles Times declared Godzilla vs. Monster Zero as "a terrific bad movie", declaring that the film "contains most of the elements that made this film form so appealing to the average 5- to 12-year-old boy." and that the film is "riotous adult fun" due to the "unintended shoddiness of the film."[51]

Home media[edit]

Japan[edit]

In 2008, Toho remastered the film in High-definition and premiered it on the Japanese Movie Speciality Channel, along with the rest of the Godzilla films also remastered in HD.[52] In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.[53]

International[edit]

In 1983, Paramount released the American version of the film on VHS and BetaMax as Godzilla vs. Monster Zero.[54] The title Godzilla vs. Monster Zero was used when the film was broadcast on local American TV stations.[55] In 2007, Classic Media released the film on DVD in North America, along with other Godzilla titles. This release included the remastered, widescreen versions of the Japanese and American versions, as well as image galleries, poster slideshows, original trailers, a biography on Tomoyuki Tanaka, and an audio commentary by historian Stuart Galbraith IV.[56] In 2014, Toho released the film on Blu-ray to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the franchise.[57]

In 2017, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection acquired the film, as well as other Godzilla titles, to stream on Starz and FilmStruck.[58] In 2019, the Japanese version and export English version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[59] In May 2020, the export English version became available on HBO Max upon its launch.[60]

In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.[61]

Notes[edit]

1. ^ During filming, Nick Adams delivered all of his lines in English; he was dubbed over by Gorō Naya for the film's Japanese release.[5] Adams's original English dialogue was restored for the film's American release.[6]

2. ^ In Japan, the film (including the 1971 re-issue) earned ¥410 million in distributor rentals,[8][9] and $3 million in the United States.[10]

3. ^ Credited as "Inoshiro Honda" in the American version of the film.[15]

References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Galbraith IV 1996, p. 292.

2. ^ a b c d Galbraith IV 1996, p. 293.

3. ^ a b c d Ryfle 1998, p. 121.

4. ^ a b c d Galbraith IV 2008, p. 225.

5. ^ a b c Galbraith IV 2007, 01:10:18.

6. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 223.

7. ^ a b c Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 229.

8. ^ a b "歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧／年代流行". Nendai Ryuukou. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.

9. ^ a b "「怪獣大戦争」 MONSTER ZERO". Ｇ本情報 - ゴジラ王国. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

10. ^ a b c d e f g Ryfle 1998, p. 125.

11. ^ Kalat 2010, p. 84.

12. ^ a b c Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 227.

13. ^ Kalat 2010, p. 94.

14. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 355.

15. ^ Nakajima, Shinsuke (May 7, 2013). "イシロウ、それともイノシロウ？". IshiroHonda.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2022.

16. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 355–356.

17. ^ a b c d e Kalat 1997, p. 81.

18. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 122.

19. ^ Kalat 1997, p. 84.

20. ^ a b Kalat 1997, p. 82.

21. ^ a b Kalat 1997, p. 83.

22. ^ Kalat 1997, p. 85.

23. ^ a b Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 228.

24. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:31:19.

25. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:41:06.

26. ^ a b Kalat 2010, p. 82.

27. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:49:51.

28. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:50:02.

29. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:02:52.

30. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:10:31.

31. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:10:44.

32. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:10:57.

33. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:11:17.

34. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:34:44.

35. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:35:00.

36. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:53:46.

37. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:54:49.

38. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:55:17.

39. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:55:39.

40. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:56:02.

41. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 01:03:36.

42. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 01:25:02.

43. ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 226.

44. ^ Kalat 1997, p. 100.

45. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:03:51.

46. ^ "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 1971. Retrieved 29 May 2020.

47. ^ "Kaiju Daisenso". JP's Box Office (in French). Retrieved 20 March 2022.

48. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 151.

49. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:01:48.

50. ^ "Monster Zero". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 21, 2022.

51. ^ Matsumoto 1991, p. 13.

52. ^ Ballard, James (August 7, 2008). "Godzilla X Hi-vision - Godzilla Restored in HD". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

53. ^ "『ゴジラ』シリーズ　4Kデジタルリマスター　最恐画質　8ヶ月連続放送". Nihon–eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

54. ^ Glynn, Michael (25 December 1982). "Video Software Notes" (PDF). Cash Box. Retrieved 19 July 2019.

55. ^ Galbraith IV 2007, 00:00:13.

56. ^ Kotz, Sean (June 4, 2007). "DVD Reviews: Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and Invasion of Astro-Monster". SciFi Japan. Retrieved May 4, 2018.

57. ^ 怪獣大戦争

58. ^ Squires, John (November 8, 2017). "Criterion Collection Has Obtained Most of the Shōwa Era 'Godzilla' Films!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2017.

59. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

60. ^ Alexander, Julia (May 18, 2020). "Here are the hundreds of classic movies people can stream on HBO Max". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2021.

61. ^ "『ゴジラ』シリーズ　4Kデジタルリマスター　最恐画質　8ヶ月連続放送". Nihon–eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

Bibliography[edit]

Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2007). Monster Zero Audio Commentary (DVD). Classic Media.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

Kalat, David (1997). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (First ed.). McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0300-4.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (Second ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Matsumoto, Jon (January 10, 1991). "Godzilla as One of the Good Guys". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2020.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. ISBN 9781550223484.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

External links[edit]

Official Godzilla website by Toho

Invasion of Astro-Monster at IMDb

Invasion of Astro-Monster at AllMovie

Invasion of Astro-Monster at Rotten Tomatoes

Invasion of Astro-Monster at the TCM Movie Database

怪獣大戦争 (Kaijū Daisenso) at Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)

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This article is missing information about the film's reception. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (March 2018)

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep

Theatrical release poster

Directed by | Jun Fukuda[1]
Screenplay by | Shinichi Sekizawa[1]
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka[1]

Starring

Akira Takarada

Kumi Mizuno

Chotaro Togin

Hideo Sunazuka

Cinematography | Kazuo Yamada[1]
Edited by | Ryohei Fujii[1]
Music by | Masaru Sato[1]

Production
company

Toho Co., Ltd[1]

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

December 17, 1966 (Japan)

Running time

87 minutes[1]

Country | Japan
Language | Japanese
Box office | ¥330 million (Japan rentals)[2][3]

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ　南海の大決闘, Gojira, Ebira, Mosura Nankai no Daikettō, lit. Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: Big Duel in the South Seas) is a 1966 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda and produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. The film stars Akira Takarada, Kumi Mizuno, Akihiko Hirata and Eisei Amamoto, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mothra, and Ebirah. It is the seventh film in the Godzilla franchise, and features special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa, under the supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya. In the film, Godzilla and Ebirah are portrayed by Haruo Nakajima and Hiroshi Sekita, respectively.[1][4]

During its development, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep was intended to feature King Kong, but the character was replaced by Godzilla. The film was released to theaters in Japan on December 17, 1966, and was released directly to television in the United States in 1968 under the title Godzilla versus the Sea Monster.

Plot[edit]

After Yota is lost at sea, his brother Ryota steals a yacht with his two friends and a bank robber. However, the crew runs afoul of Ebirah, a giant lobster-like creature, and washes ashore on Letchi Island. There, the Red Bamboo, a terrorist organization, manufactures heavy water for selling weapons of mass destruction and a yellow liquid that keeps Ebirah at bay, presumably controlling him. The Red Bamboo has enslaved natives from nearby Infant Island to create the yellow liquid, while the natives hope that Mothra will awaken in her winged, adult form and rescue them.

In their efforts to avoid capture, Ryota and his friends, aided by Daiyo, a native girl, come across Godzilla, who previously fought Ghidorah and is now sleeping within a cliffside cavern. The group devises a plan to defeat the Red Bamboo and escape the island. In the process, they awaken Godzilla using a makeshift lightning rod. Godzilla fights Ebirah, but the huge crustacean escapes. Godzilla is then attacked by a giant condor and a squadron of Red Bamboo fighter jets. Using his atomic ray, Godzilla destroys the jets and kills the giant bird.

The humans retrieve the missing Yata and free the enslaved natives as Godzilla begins to destroy the Red Bamboo's base of operations, smashing a tower that causes a countdown that will destroy the island in a nuclear explosion. Godzilla fights Ebirah and defeats him, ripping his claws off, and forcing him to retreat into the sea. The natives await for Mothra to carry them off in a large net. However, when she gets to the island, Mothra is challenged by Godzilla due to a previous confrontation. Mothra manages to repel Godzilla and save her people and the human heroes. Godzilla also escapes just before the bomb detonates and destroys the island.

Cast[edit]

Akira Takarada as Yoshimura

Toru Watanabe as Ryota Kane

Toru Ibuki as Yata Kane

Chotaro Togin as Ichino

Hideo Sunazuka as Nita

Kumi Mizuno as Daiyo

Pair Bambi as the Shobijin, Mothra's tiny twin priestesses

Jun Tazaki as Red Bamboo Commander

Akihiko Hirata as Red Bamboo Captain Ryuui

Hideyo Amamoto as Red Bamboo Captain Naval Officer

Yutaka Sada as Farmer

Hisaya Ito as Red Bamboo scientist

Tadashi Okabe as Red Bamboo scientist

Chieko Nakakita as Mrs. Kane

Ikio Sawamura as an elderly slave

Shoichi Hirose as an escaped slave

Kazuo Suzuki as an escaped slave

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla[5]

Hiroshi Sekita as Ebirah[5]

Production[edit]

Writing[edit]

By 1966, Toho had their sights set on bringing back King Kong back to the silver screen. Their deal with RKO allowed them the use of King Kong for five years, an agreement that would be over in 1967. Why Toho waited so long to produce another Kong film is unknown. The planned movie, Operation Robinson Caruso: King Kong vs. Ebirah (ロビンソン·クルーソー作戦 キングコング対エビラ, Robinson Kurūsō Sakusen: Kingu Kongu tai Ebira), was a co-production with Rankin/Bass, who was about to debut their animated program, The King Kong Show in September of that same year. According to Toho Special Effects Movies Complete Works, Jun Fukuda was approached about an untitled US/Japanese King Kong co-production April 21, 1966. Even before that in February of 1966, Toho’s senior staff member Makoto Fujimoto met with a movie theater owner in Kansai and spilled the secret that the New year’s season would see the release of a new King Kong movie.

The concept was first pitched by Shinichi Sekizawa on July 13, 1966. Unfortunately, the Kong vehicle was not to be. Rankin-Bass was displeased that Toho was dead-set on Jun Fukuda directing the live action and Eiji Tsuburaya’s protege, Sadamasa Arikawa, directing special effects. Rankin/Bass was equally dead set on the creative team being Ishiro Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya. Toho refused to budge and unable to compromise, Rankin-Bass dropped out of the project. Toho liked the script so much that they just decided to drop Godzilla in place of Kong and made it as Godzilla, Ebirah, Mothra: Big Duel in the South Seas for their New Year’s Blockbuster. Thankfully, Rankin-Bass and Toho would settle their differences the very next year and would begin work on King Kong Escapes (1967), which was based on the recent King Kong cartoon and would feature Honda at the director’s helm.

Even with the loss of one of the title characters, though, Toho continued with production on Sekizawa’s screenplay. Little was done to tweak the script and Godzilla displays a Kong-inspired interest in Daiyo. It’s even possible the electric shock to revive Kong was a nod to the apes love of electricity in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

According to Teruyoshi Nakano, Godzilla was supposed to fight a giant octopus in this film. However, Nakano was likely confused this film with an early version of All Monsters Attack (1969). Interestingly, both Nakano and Fukuda both acted as though they were unaware the film ever started out staring King Kong. Fukuda said, “Godzilla was in the first draft of the script that I saw. I don’t know what the earlier drafts were like.” Fukuda further elaborated that making the film “was like pouring two cups of water into one. I had to cut one sequence after another.” What these cut scenes entitled are unknown. But Godzilla’s infamous helicopter spin of Ebirah which exists only in publicity photo’s was apparently planned for the film as storyboards exist of the scene.

Filming[edit]

This is the first of two Godzilla films in which a Pacific island is the primary setting, rather than a location inside Japan. The second and final one is Son of Godzilla (1967).[citation needed]

Director Jun Fukuda notes that producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was not particularly active on this production, with the exception of being involved with the budget. The producer would, however, visit the set "often" to watch progress but only as an observer.

Daiyo was originally to be played by Noriko Takahashi, from Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965), but fell ill with appendicitis during production was replaced with Kumi Mizuno at the last second.[6]

Although Eiji Tsuburaya is credited as the special effects director, actual directorial duties were handed over to Teisho Arikawa, who at this stage had been promoted to Tsuburaya's first assistant director. Tsuburaya still had the final say on effects sequences but served more of a supervisor role on the production.

With a new special effects director in the seat, Toho tried to limit the effects budget. Sadamasa Arikawa lamented that Toho likely did this due to his inexperience and TV history, noting that "Toho couldn't have made too many demands about the budget if Mr. Tsuburaya had been in charge" and that he "was also doing TV work then, so they must have figured I could produce the movie cheaply." To keep the budget down, Toho instructed Arikawa to avoid expensive composite shots as much as possible. Although the movie has minimal composite shots, it is not devoid of them as scenes such as Godzilla's foot composited near actress Kumi Mizuno or a sequence of Mothra composited as her followers rush toward here are some examples of these sequences that made it into the final film.

Jun Fukuda was not fond of the film. In an interview he was quoted saying, “Toho sent me a copy of the VHS tape edition of Godzilla vs The Sea Monsters when it was released. It was like opening up an old wound, I didn’t watch the tape.”

Music[edit]

Director Jun Fukuda selected Masaru Sato to score his films to give it a "different touch from Ishiro Honda's", noting Sato's music was lighter than Akira Ifukube's. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka didn't agree with this decision but Fukuda won out in the end.

Special effects[edit]

The underwater sequences were filmed on an indoor soundstage where the Godzilla and Ebirah suits were filmed through the glass of a water-filled aquarium, with some scenes of the Godzilla suit shot separately underwater as well. Haruo Nakajima wore a wet suit under the Godzilla suit for every scene that required him to be in the water, which took a week to complete the water scenes, Nakajima stated, , “I worked overtime until about eight o’clock every day. I lived in the water! Generally, in the summer, everybody wants to go in the pool and play, but, when it comes to kaiju movies, it is totally different. Most of the scenes that they shoot in the water are not in the summer, but in the winter. In the middle of winter, shooting started at nine in the morning, going until noon, and then we’d take an hour off. But we’d go from 1:00 P.M. until around 5:00 at night. I needed to stay in the water all day in the suit, and shooting took a week.”[citation needed]

Release[edit]

Ebirah, Horror of the Deep was released theatrically in Japan on December 17, 1966, where it was distributed by Toho.[1]

The American version of the film was released directly to television by Continental Distributing in 1968 under the title Godzilla versus the Sea Monster.[1] The film may have received theatrical distribution in the United States as a Walter Reade, Jr. Presentation, but this has not been confirmed.[1]

Home media[edit]

The film was released on DVD on February 8, 2005 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.[7] The film was released on Blu-ray on May 6, 2014 by Kraken Releasing.[8] In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[9]

References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Galbraith IV 2008, p. 234.

2. ^ ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ　南海の大決闘

3. ^ 歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧

4. ^ Ragone 2007, p. 145.

5. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 356.

6. ^ Toho Tokusatsu Actress Complete Works (in Japanese). Yosensha. 2014. p. 109. ISBN 978-4800304957.

7. ^ "Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2018-01-29.

8. ^ "Ebirah: Horror of the Deep Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 17 November 2016.

9. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

Sources[edit]

Galbraith IV, Stuart (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.

Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9. Archived from the original on 2015-06-20. Retrieved 2015-06-19.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (second ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web (Japan)

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster at IMDb

Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster at Rotten Tomatoes

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Son of Godzilla

Theatrical release poster

Directed by | Jun Fukuda

Screenplay by

Shinichi Sekizawa

Kazue Shiba[1]

Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka[1]

Starring

Akira Kubo

Tadao Takashima

Bibari Maeda

Akihiko Hirata

Cinematography | Kazuo Yamada[1]
Edited by | Ryohei Fujii[1]
Music by | Masaru Sato[1]

Production
company

Toho Co., Ltd[2]

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

16 December 1967 (Japan)

Running time

86 minutes[2]

Country | Japan
Language | Japanese
Box office | ¥260 million (Japan rentals)[3][4]

Son of Godzilla (怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子, Kaijū Shima no Kessen: Gojira no Musuko, lit. Monster Island's Decisive Battle: Godzilla's Son) is a 1967 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa, under the supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the eighth film in the Godzilla franchise. It stars Tadao Takashima, Akira Kubo, Akihiko Hirata, and Beverly Maeda, with Hiroshi Sekita, Seiji Onaka, and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, and Marchan the Dwarf as Minilla.[5]

Son of Godzilla received a theatrical release in Japan on December 16, 1967, and was released directly to television in the United States in 1969 through the Walter Reade Organization.[6]

Plot[edit]

A team of scientists are trying to perfect a weather-controlling system. Their efforts are hampered by the arrival of a nosy reporter and by the sudden presence of giant praying mantises. The first test of the weather control system goes awry when the remote control for a radioactive balloon is jammed by an unexplained signal coming from the center of the island. The balloon detonates prematurely, creating a radioactive storm that causes the giant mantises to grow to enormous sizes. Investigating the mantises, which are named Kamacuras (Gimantis in the English-dubbed version), the scientists find the monstrous insects digging an egg out from under a pile of earth. The egg hatches, revealing a baby Godzilla. The scientists realize that the baby's telepathic cries for help were the cause of the interference that ruined their experiment. Shortly afterwards, Godzilla arrives on the island in response to the infant's cries, demolishing the scientist's base while rushing to defend the baby. Godzilla kills two of the Kamacuras during the battle while one manages to fly away to safety, Godzilla then adopts the baby.

The baby Godzilla, named Minilla, quickly grows to about half the size of the adult Godzilla and Godzilla instructs it on the important monster skills of roaring and using its atomic ray. At first, Minilla has difficulty producing anything more than atomic smoke rings, but Godzilla discovers that stressful conditions (i.e. stomping on his tail) or motivation produces a true radioactive blast. Minilla comes to the aid of Saeko when she is attacked by a Kamacuras, but inadvertently awakens Kumonga (Spiga in the English-dubbed version), a giant spider that was sleeping in a valley. Kumonga attacks the caves where the scientists are hiding and Minilla stumbles into the fray.

Kumonga traps Minilla and the final Kamacuras with its webbing, but as Kumonga begins to feed on the deceased Kamacuras, Godzilla arrives. Godzilla saves Minilla and they work together to defeat Kumonga by using their atomic rays on the giant spider. Hoping to keep the monsters from interfering in their attempt to escape the island, the scientists finally use their perfected weather altering device on the island and the once tropical island becomes buried in snow and ice. As the scientists are saved by an American submarine, Godzilla and Minilla begin to hibernate as they wait for the island to become tropical again.

Cast[edit]

Akira Kubo as Maki Goro

Tadao Takashima as Professor Kusumi

Bibari Maeda as Saeko Matsumiya

Akihiko Hirata as Fujisaki

Yoshio Tsuchiya as Furukawa

Kenji Sahara as Morio

Kenichiro Maruyama as Ozawa

Seishiro Kuno as Tashiro

Hiroshi Sekita, Seiji Onaka, and Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla[7]

Marchan the Dwarf as Minilla[7]

Production[edit]

Writing[edit]

For the second Godzilla film in a row, Toho produced an island themed adventure with a smaller budget than most of their monster films from this time period.[8] While the a-list crew of talent was hired to work on that year's King Kong Escapes, (Ishirō Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Akira Ifukube), the second string crew of cheaper talent was once again tapped to work on this project as they had done with Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. This included Jun Fukuda (director), Sadamasa Arikawa (special effects), and Masaru Sato (composer). This was the first film where Arikawa was officially listed as the director of Special Effects,[9] although he did receive some supervision from Tsuburaya when he was available.[9]

Son of Godzilla was the first Godzilla film to feature a female writer. Kazue Shiba collaborated with Shinichi Sekizawa on the film's screenplay. The early draft of the film, done by Kazue Shiba, titled Two Godzilla's: Japan S.O.S. (2つのゴジラ：日本S.O.S.!, Gojira: Tsu no Nihon S.O.S.!). The overall plot is the same but Kumonga and the Kamacuras are not in the story.

Sadamasa Arikawa gives instructions to Marchan the Dwarf (Minilla). "Marchan the Dwarf" was hired to play the character partially for his ability to perform athletic rolls and flips inside the thick rubber suit.

Filming[edit]

Filming took place in Guam[10] and areas in Japan including Gotemba, Lake Yamana, the Fuji Five Lakes region, and Oshima.[11]

Toho wanted to create a baby Godzilla to appeal to the "date crowd" (a genre of films that were very popular among young couples during this time period), with the idea that girls would like a "cute" baby monster.[12] For the idea behind Minilla, Fukuda stated, "We wanted to take a new approach, so we gave Godzilla a child. We thought it would be a little strange if we gave Godzilla a daughter, so instead we gave him a son".[13] Fukuda also wanted to portray the monsters almost as people[14] in regards to the father-son relationship between Godzilla and Minilla, as Fukuda stated "We focused on the relationship between Godzilla and his son throughout the course of Son of Godzilla.[13]

At the time, Sekizawa was already tired of writing the series and likely complained that he had run out of ideas for further monster movies, and director Jun Fukuda heartily agreed. Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka then proposed the idea of introducing a son to Godzilla.

The budget for the film was 260,000,000 yen. When Son of Godzilla was released on December 16, 1967 in Japan, it sold 2,480,000 tickets. When the film was re-issued on August 1, 1973, it received 610,000 attendees, adding up to a rough attendance total of 3,090,000.

Special effects[edit]

The Godzilla suit built for this film was the biggest in terms of size and girth.[15] This was done in order to give Godzilla a "maternal" appearance and to give a parent-like stature in contrast next to Minilla.[16] Because of the size of the suit, seasoned Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima was only hired to play Godzilla in two scenes because the suit was much too big for him to wear.[17] The smaller suit he had worn for the films Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Invasion of Astro-Monster was used for these sequences.[18] The much larger Seji Onaka instead played Godzilla in the film, although he was replaced midway through filming by Hiroshi Sekita after he broke his fingers.[6]

Minilla was designed to incorporate features of not only a baby Godzilla but a human baby was well.[16] Minilla's face was patterned after the character Chibita from the popular manga Osomatsu-kun published by Shogakukan in Weekly Shonen Saturday at the time. "Marchan the Dwarf" was hired to play the character due to his ability to play-act and to give the character a childlike ambiance. He was also hired because of his ability to perform athletic rolls and flips inside the thick rubber suit.[16]

Outside of the two monster suits, various marionettes and puppets were used to portray the Island's gigantic inhabitants. The various giant preying mantises known as Kamacuras and the huge spider Kumonga.[19][20] Arikawa would usually have 20 puppeteers at a time working on the various marionettes.[6] The massive Kumonga puppet needed 2 to 3 people at a time to operate each leg.[6]

Styrofoam and paraffin were used for the snow falling on Solgell Island.

Deleted Scenes[edit]

Many scenes were shot but deleted showing Godzilla being mean or harsh to Minilla. One sequence shows Godzilla leaving Minilla behind on the freezing Sollgel Island and making it to shore before turning back was cut from the final film's ending.[21] A portion of this sequence has been preserved in both the trailer and an outtake reel included with the Godzilla Final Box DVD collection as supplemental material. More deleted footage included Godzilla expecting the newborn Minilla to get up and walk after the Kamacuras have been defeated. Another featured Godzilla head-butting Minilla to make him stop following Saeko. One scene included Minilla being able to fire his own type of atomic breath during his fight with Kamacuras. However, in the final film, the smoke rings and his Godzilla breath were utilized instead. It is unknown who was responsible for these bits being deleted, but it was possibly Tsuburaya since he would not have allowed time and resources to be wasted shooting each such scenes if he was not okay with them in the first place.

Release[edit]

Theatrical[edit]

Son of Godzilla was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on December 16, 1967.[2] The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom in August of 1969, as a double feature with Ebirah, Horror of the Deep.[21][22] Son of Godzilla was never released theatrically in the United States,[2] instead being released directly to television by Walter Reade Sterling as well as American International Pictures (AIP-TV) in some markets in 1969.[2] The American television version was cut to 84 minutes.[2]

Home media[edit]

In 2005, the film was released on DVD by Sony Pictures in its original uncut length with the original Japanese audio and Toho's international English dub.[2] In 2019, the Japanese version and export English version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[23]

Reception[edit]

In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin declared the film to be "out of the top drawer of the Toho Company's monster file, with the special effects department achieving their best results in monster locomotion" and that the film "has the advantage of a more soundly constructed story than most of its predecessors and a delightful vein of humor that allows for a gentle parody of the genre."[24]

According to the Polish writer Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm, the film appealed to Polish journalist Melchior Wańkowicz: "On August 9, Tomuś's birthday, we all went to see Son of Godzilla. I was afraid [Melchior] would be irritated by this film's type. I was again surprised, I watched with what interest he looked at the picture. Later he said that he had never seen this genre, but he was delighted with the technique of realization."[25]

See also[edit]

List of Japanese films of 1967

List of science fiction films of the 1960s

References[edit]

Footnotes

1. ^ a b c d e Galbraith IV 2008, p. 244.

2. ^ a b c d e f g Galbraith IV 2008, p. 245.

3. ^ 怪獣岛の戦ゴジラの息子

4. ^ 歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧

5. ^ Ragone 2007, p. 169.

6. ^ a b c d Ryfle 1998, p. 143.

7. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 357.

8. ^ Kabushiki 1993, p. 62.

9. ^ a b Kabushiki 1993, p. 63.

10. ^ "» Filmmaking".

11. ^ "Son of Godzilla". TohoKingdom.com. Retrieved October 22, 2020.

12. ^ Ragone, August; Eggleton, Bob (2014). "The Complete Godzilla Chronology 1954-2004". Famous Monsters of Filmland. No. 274. Movieland Classics LLC. p. 23.

13. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 141.

14. ^ Godziszewski, Ed (1979). "Twenty-five Years with Godzilla". Fangoria. No. 1. O'Quinn Studios Inc. p. 38.

15. ^ Kaneko & Nakajima 1983, p. 101.

16. ^ a b c Kabushiki 1993, p. 64.

17. ^ Haruo Nakajima Monster Photo Book(中島春雄怪獣写真集). Yuizumi Publishing. 2014. Pg.264

18. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 142.

19. ^ Kaneko & Nakajima 1983, p. 76.

20. ^ Kaneko & Nakajima 1983, p. 77.

21. ^ a b Godzilla 1954-1999 Super Complete Works. Shogakukan. 1 January 2000. pp. 122, 207. ISBN 978-4091014702.

22. ^ "Monsters From An Unknown Culture: Godzilla (and friends) in Britain 1957-1980 by Sim Branaghan - Part 2". SMGuariento.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

23. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

24. ^ "Godzilla No Musuko (Son of Godzilla)". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 36, no. 427. British Film Institute. August 1969. p. 173.

25. ^ Ziółkowska-Boehm 1988, p. 95.

Bibliography

Rhoads & McCorkle, Sean & Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663906.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

Kabushiki, Gaisha (1993). ゴジラ・デイズ―ゴジラ映画40年史 (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 4087810917.

Kaneko, Masumi; Nakajima, Shinsuke (1983). グラフブックゴジラ (テレビマガジンデラックス 22) (in Japanese). Kondansya Publishing. ISBN 4-06-172472-X.

Ragone, August (2007). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-6078-9.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G". ECW Press. ISBN 9781550223484.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

Ziółkowska-Boehm, Aleksandra (1988). Blisko Wańkowicza (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie. ISBN 830801917X.

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web(Japan)

Son of Godzilla at IMDb

Son of Godzilla at Rotten Tomatoes

"怪獣島の決戦 ゴジラの息子 (Kaijū-tō no Kessen Gojira no Musuko)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-17.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Destroy All Monsters

Directed by
Ishirō Honda

Screenplay by

Produced by
Tomoyuki Tanaka

Starring

Cinematography

Taiichi Kankura

Edited by

Ryohei Fujii

Music by
Akira Ifukube

Distributed by

Toho

88 minutes

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Budget

¥200,000,000 (equivalent to ¥729,524,213 in 2019)

Box office

¥170,000,000 (equivalent to ¥620,095,581 in 2019)
(Japan rentals)

Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the ninth film in the Godzilla franchise, and features eleven monster characters, including Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Minilla. The film stars Akira Kubo, Jun Tazaki, Yukiko Kobayashi and Yoshio Tsuchiya.

In the film, humans have achieved world peace by the year 1999, and various giant monsters are confined to an area known as Monsterland. The monsters are freed from the area and are mind-controlled by aliens known as Kilaaks, who send them to attack major cities. When the monsters are freed from the Kilaaks' influence, the aliens send King Ghidorah to challenge the other monsters.

Destroy All Monsters was released theatrically in Japan on August 1, 1968. The film was released by American International Pictures with an English-language dub in the United States on May 23, 1969. Contemporary American reviews were mixed, with praise mainly held for the climactic monster battle. Retrospectively, the film has received more praise, and is considered a favorite among Godzilla fans for its "audacious and simple story", "innovative action sequences", and a "memorably booming" score by Akira Ifukube.

At the close of the 20th century (1999 in the dub), all of the Earth's kaiju have been collected by the United Nations Science Committee and confined in an area known as Monster Island, located in the Ogasawara island chain. A special control center is constructed underneath the island to ensure that the monsters stay secure and to serve as a research facility to study them.

When communications with Monster Island are suddenly and mysteriously severed, and all of the monsters begin attacking world capitals, Dr. Yoshida of the UNSC orders Captain Yamabe and the crew of his spaceship, Moonlight SY-3, to investigate Ogasawara. There, they discover that the scientists, led by Dr. Otani, have become mind-controlled slaves of a feminine alien race identifying themselves as the Kilaaks, who reveal that they are in control of the monsters. Their leader demands that the human race surrender, or face total annihilation.

Godzilla attacks New York City, Rodan invades Moscow, Mothra lays waste to Beijing, Gorosaurus destroys Paris (although Baragon was credited for its destruction), and Manda attacks London. These attacks were set in to motion to draw attention away from Japan, so that the aliens can establish an underground stronghold near Mount Fuji in Japan. The Kilaaks then turn their next major attack onto Tokyo and, without serious opposition, become arrogant in their aims until the UNSC discover, after recovering the Kilaaks' monster mind-control devices from around the world, that they have switched to broadcasting the control signals from their base under the Moon's surface. In a desperate battle, the crew of the SY-3 destroys the Kilaak's lunar outpost and returns the alien control system to Earth.

With all of the monsters under the control of the UNSC, the Kilaaks call King Ghidorah. The three-headed space dragon is dispatched to protect the alien stronghold at Mount Fuji, and battles Godzilla, Minilla, Mothra, Rodan, Gorosaurus, Anguirus, and Kumonga. While seemingly invincible, King Ghidorah is eventually overpowered by the combined strength of the Earth monsters and is killed. Refusing to admit defeat, the Kilaaks produce their ace, a burning monster they call the Fire Dragon, which begins to torch Tokyo and destroys the control center on Ogasawara. Suddenly, Godzilla attacks and destroys the Kilaaks' underground base, revealing that the Earth's monsters instinctively know who their enemies are. Captain Yamabe then pursues the Fire Dragon in the SY-3 and narrowly achieves victory for the human race. The Fire Dragon is revealed to be a flaming Kilaak saucer and is destroyed. With the Kilaaks defeated, Godzilla and the other monsters eventually return to Monster Island to live in peace.

It is a widely common belief that Destroy All Monsters was created as the grand finale to the Godzilla series. However, the first draft of the script was turned in on November 22, 1967, before Son of Godzilla had even been released in December of that same year. Special effects director Sadamasa Arikawa noted that Toho were going to potentially end the Godzilla series as "Producer Tanaka figured that all the ideas had just run out."

Several sources attest that the film was announced alongside Son of Godzilla, possibly as a competing project. Toho's inspiration for their grand monster opus was probably the Monster Boom of 1967 with several film studio's releasing many kaiju movies at that time. Such as, The X from Outer Space ( Shochiku), Gamera vs. Gyaos ( Daiei), Gappa: The Triphibian Monster ( Nikkatsu), King Kong Escapes ( Toho), Son of Godzilla (Toho), the Ultraseven TV show ( Tsuburaya Productions), and two monster films from South Korea, Yongary, Monster from the Deep and Space Monster Wangmagwi.

The film was written by Takeshi Kimura and Ishirō Honda, making it the first Godzilla film since Godzilla Raids Again not written by Shinichi Sekizawa. Takeshi Kimura is credited to the pen name Kaoru Mabuchi in the film's credits. Kimura and Honda's script developed the concept of Monsterland (referred to as Monster Island in future films).

The earliest screenplay, written by Kimura in 1967, was titled Monster Chushingura (怪獣忠臣蔵, Kaiju Chūshingura). (The word chushingura refers to a famous historical story in Japan about the rebellion of 47 samurai who took revenge after their master was unjustly forced to commit suicide). Supposedly, in this version, every monster in Toho's arsenal was to be included, even King Kong, Sanda, and Gaira. In an interview with David Miller, Ishiro Honda even said "The original idea was to show all of the monsters." This statement is open to interpenetration as to what "all of the monsters" really means.

The first initial screenplay, preliminary titled Monster Total Advancement Order (怪獣総進撃命令, Kaijū Sōshingeki Meirei), by Kaoru Mabuchi (Takashi Kamura) was submitted on November 22, 1967, included a confirmed roster of Godzilla, Mothra (larva), King Ghidorah, Rodan, Baragon, Varan, Kumonga, Manda, Maguma, and Ebirah. Everything plays out just as in the finished film except that Maguma and Baragon guard the Kilaak base and Baragon actually attacks Paris. Also, in this iteration, Varan and Rodan work in tandem to attack King Ghidorah in the final battle.

When it was decided to adapt Two Godzillas!: Japan SOS (an earlier version of Son of Godzilla) instead, the script was shelved for next year, by then the rights to Kong had expired. Ishiro Honda also wanted to show lunar colonies and brand new hybrid monsters, the results of interbreeding and genetic splicing. He also wanted to delve more deeply into undersea farming to feed the monsters. But because of budget constraints he couldn't show all this. In later scripts, the number of monsters was cut as well.

Director Ishiro Honda was fascinated by the concept of a "monster farm", in particular the idea of how humanity could feed them. He noted that a "huge amount of protein" would be needed and envisioned cloning along with undersea farming to accomplish this. However, despite the director's fascination with this concept, the final movie devotes very little time to it outside of the brief introduction to Monsterland and showing Rodan feasting on a dolphin. The director laments that of the original complex idea only the basic "idea of [a] Monster Island survived."

As the film has several monsters who continuously return in the films, the location was developed to be a faraway island where the monsters are pacified. This tied other films not related to the Godzilla series within its universe, as creatures such as Manda (from ) and Varan (Varan the Unbelievable) exist. The film features footage from Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964), specifically King Ghidorah's fiery birth scene.

Like with Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (1966), Teisho Arikawa was the actual special effects director for the movie, although Eiji Tsuburaya is credited for it. However, Tsuburaya had more of a supervisor role regarding the special effects.

During the monster's attack on Tokyo, you can see Godzilla steps over a construction crane model. Looking back on it, Haruo Nakajima did because he was worried he might trip over it and fall. He regretted doing that since he should have kicked it out of the way since it was a very non-monster like thing to do.

Eiji Tsuburaya was always getting letters from kids asking to see a real monster. So, he arranged for Toho to invite to the studio around 100 kids who would be entering first grade. In Japan, entrance into grade school involves a special ceremony to welcome the kids, so this lucky bunch got to see all the monsters on the set rather than endure the usual boring speeches from school officials. On March 26, 1968, the kids assembled at the Mt Fiji set in Stage 11 and were entertained by all 11 monsters and they were also greeted by stars Akira Kubo and Jun Tazaki.

In spring of 1968, while Destroy all Monsters was in production, the Imperial Theater of London was staging a production Oliver in Tokyo and one of the plays child stars known only as Michael was a big Godzilla fan and he wanted to visit Toho. But he couldn't because his commitment to the play wouldn't allow him. So, Toho surprised him with a visit from the monsters and actress Yukiko Kobayashi.

At the climatic battle at Mt. Fuji, Haruo Nakajima wanted Godzilla to reprise his "jumping shie" from Invasion of Astro Monster (1965), but Ishiro Honda removed it from the final film.

New monster suits for Godzilla and Anguirus were constructed for the film, while Rodan, Kumonga, Minilla, Gorosaurus, Manda, Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah suits were modified from previous films, with King Ghidorah having less detail than he had in previous films.

There were 3 different scales of the Moonlight SY-3 created or the film. The largest was 1 meter (3 feet) long used mainly used for shots of the spaceship flying across the surface of the moon, land and tacking off, and for battle with the Fire Dragon (UFO). The core of the model was solid wood with surface details made of balsa wood and molded fiber glass with puddy and paint used to disguise the wood grain and the seams. This model had collapsible wings, functional landing gear and fully firing engines. A 50cm version was made for use for the booster stage and a 30cm version was made for perspective flying shots. Both smaller versions were made of balsa wood covered in putty and paint.

For the scene when Gorosaurus comes out of the ground under the Arc de Triomphe, the floor of the set was six and half feet above the ground with the arc built on top of it. A forklift was brought in under the set and the monster was put on the forklift. They then raised the monster up through the ground by raising the forklift.

The fire trap set by the Kilaaks to trap the Moonlight SY-3 used real flamethrowers. Fire retardant materials were used in the rock walls in the crater.

Destroy All Monsters was released in Japan on 1 August 1968 where it was distributed by Toho. It was released on a double bill with a reissue of the film . The film had a budget of roughly ¥200,000,000 yen and received an attendance of 2,580,000. The film was reissued theatrically in Japan in 1972 where it was re-edited by Honda to a 74-minute running time and released with the title Godzilla: Lightning Fast Strategy (ゴジラ電撃大作戦, Gojira Dengeki Daisakusen). Destroy All Monsters continued the decline in ticket sales in Japan for the Godzilla series, earning 2.6 million in ticket sales. In comparison, Invasion of Astro-Monster brought in 3.8 million and Son of Godzilla collected 2.5 million.

The film was released in the United States by American International Pictures with an English-language dub on 23 May 1969. The film premiered in the United States in Cincinnati. American International Pictures hired Titra Studios to dub the film into English. The American version of the film remains relatively close to the Japanese original. Among the more notable removed elements include Akira Ifukube's title theme and a brief shot of Minilla shielding his eyes and ducking when King Ghidorah drops Anguirus from the sky. Destroy All Monsters was shown on American television until the early 1980s. It resurfaced on cable broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in 1996.

Destroy All Monsters was released on VHS by ADV Films in 1998 which featured English-dubbed dialogue from Toho's own international version of the film. In 2011, Tokyo Shock released the film on DVD and Blu-ray and in 2014 the company re-released it on DVD and Blu-ray. In 2019, the Japanese version and export English version were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.

In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.

From contemporary reviews, both and Monthly Film Bulletin noted the film's best scenes involved the monsters together, while criticising the filmmaking. Variety reviewed the English-dubbed version of the film stating that it may appeal to "Sci-fi addicts and monster fans" while stating that the "plot is on comic strip level, special effects depend on obvious miniatures and acting (human) is from school of Flash Gordon" and that the film's strength relied on its "monster rally". The Monthly Film Bulletin opined that "the model work is poor, and as usual the script is junior comic-strip". Both reviews mentioned the monsters' final scene with Variety commenting that it was "clever" and the Monthly Film Bulletin stating that "apart from [the monsters] statutory devastation of world capitals [...] the monsters have disappointingly little to do until they get together in the last reel for a splendid battle" The Monthly Film Bulletin commented that the film was "almost worth sitting through the banalities for the final confrontation on Mount Fuji" noting the son of Godzilla "endearingly applauding from a safe distance" and "the victorious monsters performing a celebratory jig".

From retrospective reviews, Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique commented that the film "is too slim in its storyline, too thin in its characterizations, to be considered a truly great film [...] But for the ten-year-old living inside us all, it is entertainment of the most awesome sort." Matt Paprocki of Blogcritics said the film is "far from perfect" and "can be downright boring at times" but felt that "the destruction scenes make up for everything else" and "the final battle is an epic that simply can't be matched".

The film is considered a cult favorite among fans of the Godzilla franchise. In Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski's 2017 book covering Ishiro Honda's filmography, they expressed that Destroy All Monsters is now seen as the "last truly spirited entry" in Toho's initial series of kaiju films, due to "its audacious and simple story, a bounty of monsters and destruction, and a memorably booming soundtrack from Akira Ifukube".

director Gareth Edwards previously expressed interest in making a sequel to his 2014 movie inspired by Destroy All Monsters.

1. "Destroy All Monsters (1968)". The Criterion Collection. The Criterion Collection. ... Destroy All Monsters mounts a thrilling display of innovative action sequences and memorable images that have made it a favorite for generations of viewers.

2. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". . Archived from the original on December 17, 2019.

3. ^ "『ゴジラ』シリーズ　4Kデジタルリマスター　最恐画質　8ヶ月連続放送". Nihon-eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 26, 2022.

4. ^ "Kaiju Soshingeki (Destroy All Monsters)". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 36, no. 420. London: British Film Institute. 1969. p. 267. ISSN 0027-0407.

5. ^ Steve, Biodrowski (11 April 2009). "Destroy All Monsters (1968) - Kaiju Review". Cinefantastique. Archived from the original on 10 August 2013.

6. ^ Paprocki, Matt (6 July 2004). "Destroy All Monsters DVD Review". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on 17 November 2016.

7. ^ Kendrick, Ben (25 July 2013). "'Godzilla' Reboot Director Talks Creature Design; Sequel Ideas Inspired by 'Destroy All Monsters'". ScreenRant.

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Destroy All Monsters Directed by Ishirō Honda Screenplay by Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Starring Cinematography Taiichi Kankura Edited by Ryohei Fujii Music by Akira Ifukube Distributed by Toho 88 minutes Country Japan Language Japanese Budget ¥200,000,000 (equivalent to ¥729,524,213 in 2019) Box office ¥170,000,000 (equivalent to ¥620,095,581 in 2019)(Japan rentals) Destroy All Monsters is a 1968 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.

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(ゴジラ・ミニラ・ガバラ オール怪獣大進撃 , All Monsters Attack Gojira Minira Gabara Ōru Kaijū Daishingeki, lit. Godzilla, Minilla, and Gabara: All Monsters Attack) is a 1969 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film, which was produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, is the tenth film in the Godzilla series, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Minilla, and Gabara. The film stars Tomonori Yazaki, Kenji Sahara, and Hideyo Amamoto, with special effects by Honda and Teruyoshi Nakano, and features Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Marchan the Dwarf as Minilla, and Yasuhiko Kakuyuki as Gabara.

All Monsters Attack was released theatrically in Japan on December 20, 1969. It received a theatrical release in the United States in 1971 by Maron Films, under the title Godzilla's Revenge, on a double bill with the 1967 film Night of the Big Heat. The film is often retrospectively considered one of the worst Godzilla films, although Honda had come to consider it as one of his favorites in the series.

Ichiro Miki is a highly imaginative but lonely latchkey kid growing up in urban and polluted Kawasaki. Every day he comes home to his family's empty apartment. His only friends are a toymaker named Shinpei Inami and a young girl named Sachiko. Every day after school, Ichiro is tormented by a gang of bullies led by a child named Sanko Gabara. To escape his loneliness, Ichiro sleeps and dreams about visiting Monster Island. During his visit, he witnesses Godzilla battle three Kamacuras, brutally outpowering the three. Ichiro is then chased by a rogue Kamacuras and falls into a deep cave, but luckily avoids being caught by Kamacuras. Shortly afterwards, Ichiro is rescued from the cave by Minilla. Coincidentally, Ichiro quickly learns that Minilla has bully problems too, as it is bullied by an abusive monster known as Gabara.

Ichiro is then awoken by Shinpei who informs him that his mother must work late again. Ichiro goes out to play, but is then frightened by the bullies and finds and explores an abandoned factory. After finding some souvenirs (tubes, a headset, and a wallet with someone's [necessarily the suspect's] license), Ichiro leaves the factory after hearing some sirens close by. After Ichiro leaves, two bank robbers who were hiding out in the factory learn that Ichiro has found one of their driver's licenses and follow him in order to kidnap him.

Later, after his sukiyaki dinner with Shinpei, Ichiro dreams again and reunites with Minilla. Together they both watch as Godzilla fights Ebirah, Kumonga, a giant condor, and some invading jets. Then in the middle of Godzilla's fights, Gabara appears and Minilla is forced to battle it, and after a short and one-sided battle, Minilla runs away in fear. Godzilla returns to train Minilla how to fight and use its own atomic breath. However, Ichiro is woken up this time by the bank robbers and is taken hostage as a means of protection from the authorities.

Out of fear and being watched by the thieves, Ichiro calls for Minilla's help and falls asleep again where he witnesses Minilla being beaten up by Gabara again. Finally, Ichiro helps Minilla fight back at Gabara and eventually, Minilla wins, catapulting the bully through the air by a seesaw-like log. Godzilla, who was in the area watching comes to congratulate Minilla for its victory but is ambushed by a vengeful Gabara. Godzilla easily beats down Gabara and sends the bully into retreat, never to bother Minilla again. Now from his experiences in his dreams, Ichiro learns how to face his fears and fight back, gaining the courage to outwit the thieves just in time for the police, called by Shinpei, to arrive and arrest them. The next day, Ichiro stands up to Sanko and his gang and wins, regaining his pride and confidence in the process. He also gains their friendship when he plays a prank on a billboard painter.

Midori Uchiyama as the voice of Minilla

Yasuhiko Kakuyuki as Gabara, the monster

Due to production costs, All Monsters Attack includes extensive stock footage of Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla, King Kong Escapes, and Destroy All Monsters. The filmmakers also employed the same Godzilla suit used for Destroy All Monsters. Despite being credited as the film's special effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya was not actively involved with the production. Director Ishirō Honda not only directed the drama scenes but the special effects scenes as well, with assistance from Teruyoshi Nakano, who was a first assistant special effects director at the time. Honda would later confirm that Tsuburaya was given credit as the film's special effects director "out of respect", and the reason why Honda took over Tsuburaya's duties was due to "budget and time constraints". A small studio was used for the production, where both the special effects and drama scenes were filmed (usually the two were filmed in separate studios).

All Monsters Attack was released theatrically in Japan on 20 December 1969 where it was distributed by Toho. The film was the first "Toho Champion Matsuri", a festival-style program that included shorts and feature films.

The film had been test-screened under the title Minya, Son of Godzilla in the United States. The version was edited further and released with an English-language dubbed version in 1971 under the title Godzilla's Revenge. This version of the film was distributed by Maron Films as a double feature with Island of the Burning Damned.

The film was released on home video in the United States in 2007 with its original Japanese version.

In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the series' Shōwa era.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

The film is commonly regarded by critics and fans as being one of the worst Godzilla films, with many criticizing the film's tone, characters, and overwhelming use of stock footage. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 25%, based on eight critic reviews. Anthony Gramuglia and Nicholas Raymond of Screen Rant each named All Monsters Attack the worst Godzilla film, with Gramuglia calling it a "downright painful film", and Raymond referring to it as "universally disliked by Godzilla fans, and for good reason".

Matthew Jackson of Looper.com ranked the film among the worst Godzilla films, criticizing its usage of stock footage, referring to Minilla as "annoying", and writing that "There's nothing necessarily wrong with the premise, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired".

Jacob Knight of /Film ranked the film as the 27th best Godzilla movie out of 31 films, writing that "While it's almost universally accepted that Godzilla's Revenge is the ' worst' Godzilla movie by enthusiasts, there's an audacious ' so bad it's good' element to the proceedings that makes it endlessly watchable". Patrick Galvan of Syfy Wire defended the film, calling it "a rather sweet little movie and one of Ishiro Honda's most earnest efforts in the Godzilla series. A poignant gem dealing with serious issues - many of them still relevant today - providing food for thought for adults while entertaining its target audience." Honda had since stated that All Monsters Attack is "one of my favorites" of the Godzilla films.

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(ゴジラ・ミニラ・ガバラ オール怪獣大進撃 , All Monsters Attack Gojira Minira Gabara Ōru Kaijū Daishingeki, lit. Godzilla, Minilla, and Gabara: All Monsters Attack) is a 1969 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka.

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Godzilla vs. Hedorah

Theatrical release poster

Directed by | Yoshimitsu Banno

Written by

Yoshimitsu Banno
Takeshi Kimura

Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka

Starring

Akira Yamauchi
Toshie Kimura
Hiroyuki Kawase
Keiko Mari
Toshio Shiba

Cinematography | Yoichi Manoda
Edited by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa
Music by | Riichiro Manabe

Production
company

Toho Co., Ltd

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

July 24, 1971

Running time

85 minutes

Country | Japan
Language | Japanese
Box office | ¥300 million (Japan rentals)[1][2]

Godzilla vs. Hedorah (ゴジラ対ヘドラ, Gojira tai Hedora) is a 1971 Japanese kaiju film directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, co-written by Banno and Takeshi Kimura, and produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. It is the 11th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and Hedorah. The film stars Akira Yamauchi, Toshie Kimura, and Hiroyuki Kawase, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, and features Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Kenpachiro Satsuma as Hedorah. Satsuma would go on to portray Godzilla in later Godzilla films.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah features an environmentalist message, with the malevolent Hedorah being spawned from pollution. The film was released theatrically in Japan on July 24, 1971. It received a theatrical release in the United States under the title Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster in July 1972 by American International Pictures, as a double feature with the American film The Dethmaster.[3]

Plot[edit]

The microscopic alien life-form Hedorah feeds on Earth's pollution and grows into a poisonous, acid-secreting sea monster. After he sinks an oil tanker and attacks Dr. Toru Yano and his young son Ken Yano, scarring the doctor, Hedorah's toxic existence is revealed to the public. Ken Yano has visions of Godzilla fighting the world's pollution and insists Godzilla will come to humankind's aid against Hedorah.

Hedorah metamorphoses into an amphibious form, allowing it to move onto land to feed on additional sources of pollution. Hedorah, having emerged at a power station to consume pollutant gases from the smokestacks, is confronted by Godzilla. Hedorah is easily overpowered by Godzilla and retreats into the sea. During the fight, however, several pieces of its new body are flung nearby, which then crawl back into the sea to grow anew and allow the monster to become even more powerful. It returns shortly thereafter in a flying saucer-like shape, then assuming its strongest form of all, its "Perfect Form", which demonstrates some of the strongest powers it has access to yet.

Thousands of people die in Hedorah's raids and even Godzilla is unable to defend against Hedorah's poisonous emissions. As hope sinks, a party is thrown on Mt. Fuji to celebrate one last day of life before Japan - and then, the rest of the world - succumbs to Hedorah. Ken Yano, Yukio Keuchi, Miki Fujinomiya, and the other partygoers realize that Godzilla and Hedorah have come to Mt. Fuji as well for a decisive confrontation. During the battle, Godzilla fights valiantly against Hedorah, but is overpowered by the amorphous alien, losing an eye and having its hand burnt to the bone by Hedorah's acidic body tissues, which corrodes anything it comes into contact with. Finally, Godzilla is almost killed by Hedorah after Hedorah hurls Godzilla into a giant pit, then proceeds to attempt to drown Godzilla in a deluge of chemical sludge.

Dr. Toru Yano and his wife Toshie Yano has determined that drying out Hedorah's body may destroy the otherwise unkillable monster. While Godzilla and Hedorah fought, the JSDF swiftly constructed two gigantic electrodes for this purpose, and attempted to fire them, giving Godzilla the chance to return to the fight.

All of a sudden the electrodes short out, the power cut off by Godzilla and Hedorah's violent battle. Godzilla reactivates and energises the electrodes with its atomic heat ray, dehydrating Hedorah's outer body. Hedorah sheds this outer body and takes flight to escape, but Godzilla propels itself through the air with its atomic heat ray to give chase. Godzilla drags Hedorah back to the electrodes and continues to dehydrate it until Hedorah is on the brink of defeat. Godzilla tears open Hedorah's dried-out body and exposes it to the electrodes again, dehydrating the pieces until nothing remains but dust.

Godzilla returns to the sea, but not before pausing to gaze sternly at the surviving humans. Ken Yano bids goodbye to Godzilla.

Cast[edit]

Akira Yamanouchi as Dr. Toru Yano[4]

Hiroyuki Kawase as Ken Yano[4]

Toshie Kimura as Toshie Yano[4]

Keiko Mari as Miki Fujinomiya[4]

Toshio Shiba as Yukio Keuchi[4]

Yoshio Yoshida as Gohei, a fisherman[4]

Haruo Suzuki as JSDF officer[4]

Yoshio Katsube as JSDF engineer[5]

Tadashi Okabe as a scholar[5]

Wataru Omae as a policeman[5]

Takuya Yuki as a communications officer[5]

Yukihiko Gondo as a helicopter pilot[5]

Haruo Nakazawa[5]

Kentaro Watanabe as a TV news anchor[5]

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla[5]

Kenpachiro Satsuma as Hedorah[5]

Production[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2018)

Director Banno initially conceived the idea for Godzilla vs. Hedorah after seeing cities like Yokkaichi covered in black smog and the ocean filled with foam from dumped detergent and formulated the story of an alien tadpole transforming into a monster as a result of the pollution.[6]

The film marked director Banno's directorial debut; however, the budget for Godzilla vs. Hedorah was significantly lower than previous Godzilla films. Banno was only given 35 days to shoot the film and only had one team available to shoot both the drama and monster effects scenes. Veteran Godzilla director Ishirō Honda was later tasked by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to watch Banno's rough cut and provide advice.[7]

Kenpachiro Satsuma, the actor who played Hedorah, was struck with appendicitis during the production. Doctors were forced to perform the appendectomy while he was still wearing the Hedorah suit, due to the length of time it took to take off. During the operation, Satsuma learned that painkillers had no effect on him.[8]

Director Yoshimitsu Banno was going to make a sequel to this film, but it was scrapped due to the fact that Tomoyuki Tanaka reportedly hated Godzilla vs. Hedorah, so he fired Yoshimitsu Banno.[9] The next film was going to be called Godzilla vs. Redmoon, but this was scrapped and later became Daigoro vs. Goliath[citation needed], then they planned a new film called Godzilla vs. The Space Monsters: Earth Defensive Directive, but this was also scrapped and then became The Return of King Ghidorah, which was also scrapped, after which they ultimately made Godzilla vs. Gigan.[citation needed]

The film also includes animated sequences, which were intended to convey the environmental message.[10]

Release[edit]

English versions[edit]

The film was released in February 1972 by American International Pictures under the title Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. There were several small alterations: dialogue was dubbed into English by Titan Productions,[3][11] several shots with Japanese text were replaced with English or textless equivalents, additional sound effects and foley were added to some scenes, and the song "Save the Earth" (based on "Give Back the Sun!", a song in the original Japanese version of the film) was added. This version was rated 'G' by the MPAA, and the same version was given an 'A' certificate by the BBFC for its UK theatrical release in 1975.[12]

The AIP version has been replaced in the North American home video and television markets (including Sony's DVD and Kraken Releasing's DVD and Blu-ray) by Toho's international version, titled Godzilla vs. Hedorah. This version features the original English dub produced in Hong Kong and by extension lacks the English-language song "Save the Earth". This version was first broadcast in the United States by the Sci-Fi Channel on January 20, 1996.[13]

Critical reception[edit]

Critical reaction to the film has been mixed, with some embracing its eccentricity and others deriding it.[citation needed] According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 62% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10.[14]

Japan Hero said the film is "recommended for Godzilla fans, but don't expect much out of it," adding that while "the special effects appear to be pretty good" and "watching it in its original [Japanese] language does make the movie more tolerable," "the character designs ... are bad" and "the music ... really kills the movie."[15] Monster Zero criticized the film's production values and said that it "succeeds in carrying the series over the edge into strictly kid's stuff" and "begins the series' inexorable slide into oblivion."[16] Stomp Tokyo said the film has "many obvious, crippling flaws" but added that "there are some good things," praising the monster action in particular.[17] In a review of Godzilla 1985, Roger Ebert cited it as his favorite of the Godzilla movies.[18]

American Kaiju called the film "a confused Godzilla non-epic that doesn't seem to be sure just who it was made for in the first place."[19] DVD Talk said it "earns points for trying something new, to break away from what was fast becoming a tired formula. The film isn't as entertaining as Godzilla vs. Gigan or Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, but it is more original and daring, and ... fans will want to pick [it] up."[20] The U.S. dubbed version was featured in the 1978 book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time.[21]

In their scholarly book Japan's Green Monsters on kaiju cinema, Rhoads and McCorkle offer an ecocritical assessment of Banno's film. Unlike other reviews and studies that criticize some of movie's special effects and production values, the scholars argue that viewing Godzilla vs. Hedorah through the three lenses of Japanese environmental history, the monster genre, and the historical trends that crippled the Japanese film industry provide a new understanding of the film and Banno's intentions. Rhoads and McCorkle specifically counter prior poor reviews of the film like those proffered by Harry Medved and Stuart Galbraith, and argue that Godzilla vs. Hedorah possesses far deeper environmental appeals than the obvious ones present on the film's surface.[22]

Home media[edit]

The film was released on VHS by Orion Pictures in 1989 and on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on October 19, 2004. The film received another DVD release and a Blu-ray release by Kraken Releasing on May 6, 2014.[23][24] A video transfer of Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster was released in Canada on DVD packaged with Godzilla vs. Megalon by Digital Disc.[25] In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[26]

In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.[27]

Legacy[edit]

After director Yoshimitsu Banno finished directing Godzilla vs. Hedorah, he began work on creating another installment in the Godzilla series. Like his first Godzilla movie, Banno had wanted the next film to have a strong message against pollution. The initial idea was that a mutant starfish-like monster named Deathla battles Godzilla. However, he scrapped this idea and wrote what was going to be Godzilla vs. Hedorah 2. In it, Godzilla was to fight another Hedorah, this time in Africa. Due to Tomoyuki Tanaka's reaction to Banno's first Godzilla film, this was never realized.

Banno spent several years trying to acquire funding for a 40-minute IMAX 3D Godzilla film starring a new version of Hedorah called Deathla. The project was tentatively titled Godzilla 3D: To The Max. The project was eventually scrapped but several members of the production team, including Banno, would work on the 2014 Godzilla. In November 2013, Banno stated that he still hoped to make a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but died in 2017.[28] He also served as an executive producer of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), both of which were released after his death.

Cancelled sequel[edit]

Yoshimitsu Banno was so pleased with Godzilla vs. Hedorah that he started writing another Godzilla film. Banno began preparing a script for Godzilla vs. Hedorah 2. However, Tomoyuki Tanaka, who was hospitalized during the production of Godzilla vs. Hedorah, was extremely dissatisfied with the final product and went as far as to tell Banno that he had "ruined Godzilla."[citation needed] Tanaka prevented Banno from directing another Toho film afterwards and demoted him from director to producer on several upcoming films.[citation needed]

According to Banno though, from later interviews conducted with him, Godzilla vs. Hedorah 2 was actually still being worked on after he was removed from the project. Whether the film was going to keep its Africa setting at this stage is not known. The project was eventually scrapped and three more proposed projects would be introduced that following year before finally settling on Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). In a 2014 interview, Banno stated that he read a Godzilla film history book from the US and that he was surprised to read that the next film would take place in Africa and that Tanaka had said that he had banned him from his director position.[29]

A single remnant of Banno's intentions to produce a sequel exists in the finished film. At the end of the film, an illustration of Hedorah's tadpole form can be seen, followed by a black screen with red text stating "And another one?", implying that Banno was in the process of preparing, or had already prepared a sequel premise for approval.[30]

References[edit]

1. ^ "「ゴジラ対ヘドラ」 GODZILLA VS. The SMOG MONSTER". Ｇ本情報 - ゴジラ王国. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

2. ^ "歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧／年代流行". 年代流行 (Nendai Ryuukou). Retrieved 27 December 2018.

3. ^ a b Craig 2019, p. 168.

4. ^ a b c d e f g Ryfle 1998, p. 358.

5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ryfle 1998, p. 359.

6. ^ "Smog Monster Director EXTRA". Scifi Japan. September 11, 2014.

7. ^ "Smog Monster Director". Scifi Japan TV. September 4, 2014. Retrieved 2017-09-08.

8. ^ Guy Marriner Tucker, Age of the Gods.

9. ^ Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-4766-7294-6.

10. ^ Stewardson, Christopher (June 16, 2017). "Review: Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)". Our Culture. Retrieved October 16, 2020.

11. ^ "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster (Image Entertainment laserdisc)". I.imgur.com. Retrieved 2017-09-08.

12. ^ "GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER - British Board of Film Classification". Bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 June 2017.

13. ^ "Sci-Fi Channel schedule for January 1996". Innermind.com. Retrieved 21 June 2017.

14. ^ "Godzilla Vs Hedorah (Gojira tai Hedorâ) (Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster) (1971)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2019-04-04.

15. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2008-11-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

17. ^ "Stomp Tokyo Review - Godzilla vs. Hedora". Stomptokyo.com. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

18. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Godzilla 1985 Movie Review & Film Summary (1985) - Roger Ebert". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 21 June 2017.

19. ^ "American Kaiju: Mike Bogue's Articles and Reviews: Godzilla vs Hedorah". Americankaiju.kaijuphile.com. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

20. ^ "Godzilla vs. Hedorah (aka Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

21. ^ "Sake-Drenched Postcards - Yoshimitsu Banno: Behind Hedorah". Bigempire.com. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

22. ^ Rhoads, Sean; McCorkle, Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476663906.

23. ^ "Kraken Releasing Acquires 'Godzilla Vs. Hedora' & More". The Fandom Post. January 21, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2020.

24. ^ "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

25. ^ product no. DDC55332

26. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

27. ^ "『ゴジラ』シリーズ　4Kデジタルリマスター　最恐画質　8ヶ月連続放送". Nihon–eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

28. ^ McGloin, Matt (November 26, 2013). "Hedorah Confirmed For Godzilla 2014 Movie & Smog Monster Sequel?!". Cosmic Book News. Retrieved February 6, 2014.

29. ^ "Smog Monster Director EXTRA". Retrieved April 29, 2020.

30. ^ Rhoads, Sean; McCorkle, Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476663906.

Bibliography

Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland. ISBN 9781476666310.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland. ISBN 9781476672946.

Rhoads & McCorkle, Sean & Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663906.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web (Japan)

Godzilla vs. Hedorah at IMDb

Godzilla vs. Hedorah at AllMovie

Godzilla vs. Hedorah at Rotten Tomatoes

"ゴジラ対ヘドラ (Gojira tai Hedora)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

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Godzilla vs. Gigan

Theatrical release poster

Japanese | 地球攻撃命令 ゴジラ対ガイガン
Hepburn | Chikyū Kōgeki Meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan
Directed by | Jun Fukuda
Written by | Shinichi Sekizawa
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka

Starring

Hiroshi Ishikawa
Tomoko Umeda
Yuriko Hishimi
Minoru Takashima
Zan Fujita
Toshiaki Nishizawa
Kunio Murai

Cinematography | Kiyoshi Hasegawa
Music by | Akira Ifukube

Production
company

Toho-Eizo[1]

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

March 12, 1972

Running time

89 minutes

Country | Japan
Language | Japanese
Budget | $1.2 million[2]
Box office | $20 million[2]

Godzilla vs. Gigan (Japanese: 地球攻撃命令 ゴジラ対ガイガン, Hepburn: Chikyū Kōgeki Meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan, lit. Earth Destruction Directive: Godzilla vs. Gigan), is a 1972 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects-based subsidiary Toho-Eizo, it is the 12th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Gigan, Anguirus, and King Ghidorah. The film stars Hiroshi Ishikawa, Yuriko Hishimi, Tomoko Umeda, and Minoru Takashima, alongside Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla, Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan, Koetsu Omiya as Anguirus, and Kanta Ina as King Ghidorah. It is the last film in which Godzilla was portrayed by Nakajima after playing the character since the original 1954 film; he subsequently retired from suit acting.

Godzilla vs. Gigan was released theatrically in Japan on March 12, 1972. It received a wide theatrical release in the United States in 1977 by Cinema Shares, under the title Godzilla on Monster Island.

Plot[edit]

Giant insectoid aliens resembling cockroaches from the dying planet "M Space Hunter Nebula" plot to colonize the Earth, their planet having become uninhabitable after another race on the planet polluted it, then died out from the effects of their own destruction. The aliens assume the forms of dead humans and work as the development staff of the peace-themed theme park, World Children's Land, the centerpiece of which is "Godzilla Tower". The Nebula M aliens plan to use the space monsters Gigan and King Ghidorah, guided by two "Action Signal Tapes", to wipe out human civilization.

Manga artist Gengo Kotaka stumbles onto their plan after being hired as a concept artist for the park. When Gengo and his friends accidentally obtain one of the Action Signal Tapes and play it, Godzilla and Anguirus hear the signal and realize something is amiss. Godzilla sends Anguirus to investigate. When Anguirus approaches Tokyo, the Japan Self Defense Forces, misunderstanding the monster's intentions, drive him away.

Anguirus reports back to Monster Island, and Godzilla follows him back to Japan to save the Earth from Gigan and King Ghidorah. The aliens attempt to kill Godzilla with a lethal laser cannon hidden inside Godzilla Tower, but Gengo and his companions use the aliens' over-reliance on technology against them, forcing the invaders to unwittingly destroy themselves. After a lengthy fight, Godzilla and Anguirus force Gigan and King Ghidorah back into space and then Godzilla and Anguirus swim back to Monster Island, but not before Godzilla turns around and gives a roar of triumph, in thanks to his human friends.

Cast[edit]

Hiroshi Ishikawa as Gengo Kotaka

Tomoko Umeda as Machiko Shima

Yuriko Hishimi as Tomoko Tomoe

Minoru Takashima as Shosaku Takasugi

Zan Fujita as Fumio Sudo, the Chairman of World Children's Land

Toshiaki Nishizawa as Kubota, Secretary of World Children's Land

Kunio Murai as Takashi Shima

Gen Shimizu as the Commander of Defense Forces

Kuniko Ashihara as Mrs. Fudo

Zeko Nakamura as Priest

Akio Muto as Kadohisa

Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla

Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan

Koetsu Omiya as Anguirus

Kanta Ina as King Ghidorah

Production[edit]

Writing[edit]

Disappointed with the critical and commercial reception of Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), Tomoyuki Tanaka immediately began thinking about how to take Godzilla back to the golden era of the 1960’s. Taking note of the Champion Matsuri Festival Reissue of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1971 and Invasion of Astro-Monster in 1972, which drew in strong attendance of 1,350,000 people (whereas Godzilla vs. Hedorah had 400,000 people), Tanaka felt the best way to reinvigorate Godzilla was not to try new things, but bring back fan- favorite villain, King Ghidorah.

He commissioned both Shinichi Sekizawa and Kaoru Mabuchi, to write different drafts for the next Godzilla film. Each of them coming up with their own separate concepts. Both writers were given stipulations from Tanaka though to include King Ghidorah and a new monster, Gigan. Presumably, someone at the studio also insisted upon the Godzilla Tower, as it appears in both writers’ drafts as well. The two drafts were turned in on July 1971.

Two drafts were turned in on July 1971. Kimura's draft, titled Godzilla vs. The Space Monsters: Earth Destruction Directive (ゴジラ対宇宙怪獣 地球防衛命令, Gojira tai Uchū Kaijū: Chikyū Bōei Meirei) involved Miko, an alien being resembling a large brain, intends to conquer the Earth using King Ghidorah, Gigan, and Megalon (later to be reworked into the main villain in 1973's Godzilla vs. Megalon). However Godzilla and Anguirus appear in Tokyo in defense of Earth. Miko uses the three space monsters to install his being into a giant statue of Majin Tuol, a fictional Inca god, which has been erected at Tokyo's Science Land. Gigan uses the buzzsaw in his chest to cut the statue, causing it to bleed. Majin Tuol, now having come to life and inhabiting the statue, allies itself with Godzilla and Anguirus. The three Earth monsters defeat the space creatures and Godzilla destroys Miko. After the decisive battle, Majin Tuol again turns to stone. [3]

Sekizawa's pitch, titled King Ghidorah's Great Counterattack! (キングギドラの大逆襲!, Kingu Gidora no Daigyakushū!) or The Return of King Ghidorah, featured Godzilla, Rodan, and Varan in combat with King Ghidorah, Gigan, and a new monster called Mogu. Except for its monster cast, this draft was reportedly much closer to the final filmed version of Godzilla vs. Gigan.[4]

Music[edit]

The majority of the film's soundtrack consists of recycled cues from previous Toho films such as Frankenstein Conquers the World, Atragon, King Kong Escapes, Battle in Outer Space, and several other Godzilla films. Akira Ifukube, who composed the music for those films, receives credit in the film. In addition to those stock tracks, several themes composed by Ifukube for the Mitsubishi Pavilion at Expo '70 are used throughout the movie. A new song called "Godzilla March", sung by Susumu Ishikawa and composed by Kunio Miyauchi, plays at the end of the film. Ishikawa also performed two more new songs ("Go! Go! Godzilla" and "Defeat Gigan") that were released on the soundtrack album.

Filming[edit]

This was Haruo Nakajima's final time playing Godzilla, a role he had played since 1954.

This was the first film in which Godzilla actually drew blood. It first happens during the big battle later in the film when Gigan flies over past Godzilla and swipes his shoulder, and later, when Gigan repeatedly strikes a severely weakened Godzilla in his forehead.

Creature design[edit]

Gigan was designed by Shōnen Magazine illustrator Takayoshi Mizuki, based on ideas by Teruyoshi Nakano. Mizuki was contacted in early 1971 by Toho production manager Masao Suzuki to design a space monster for a new Godzilla film.

According to Nakano, "the idea for Gigan was to create a monster with quite a different shape," wanting for the monster to be akin to a "richly colored dinosaur" and also being inspired by the designs of the multilayered jūnihitoe kimonos worn by Japanese court ladies. Mizuki created two potential looks for Gigan, a "triangular" design reminiscent of his final appearance, and a "circular" design sporting a number of hemispheres across its body. Mizuki aimed for a "sharp, florid" look when creating Gigan's design, and took inspiration after birds; he based Gigan's form on migratory birds such as geese, and adopted the sharpness of an eagle from his neck up.

In this film, King Ghidorah's three heads required completely new sculpts to be made, which were created by Nobuyuki Yasumaru. A year later, the suit would be used one final time for the television series Zone Fighter, before being formally retired.

Release[edit]

Box office[edit]

In Japan, the film sold approximately 1,780,000 tickets.[citation needed] The film earned ¥320 million in Japan distribution income (rentals)[5][6] and grossed about $20 million worldwide.[2]

English version[edit]

Following the film's release in Japan in March, 1972, Toho commissioned Hong Kong broadcaster and voice actor Ted Thomas to produce an English language dub. As was usual with Toho's international export versions of its films, Godzilla vs. Gigan was left uncut, although the credits were changed to English. One significant change was made for this international version. In the Japanese release, speech bubbles, as seen in comic books, are used to depict a conversation between Godzilla and Anguirus. The speech bubbles were removed in original prints of the English version and the conversation was dubbed into English with Thomas as the voice of Godzilla.

In 1977, Mel Maron's Cinema Shares International Distribution purchased the North American rights to Godzilla vs. Gigan and released the film as Godzilla on Monster Island in the U.S.[7] Rather than going to the expense of dubbing the film again, Cinema Shares utilized Toho's English dub.[8] Aiming for a "G" rating from the MPAA, the company's editors removed three instances of blood from the monster scenes and muted the phrase "You're a hard bitch" on the soundtrack.[9] Following the theatrical release, Godzilla on Monster Island entered television syndication.

In the 1980s, Toho had regained control of the film's American distribution rights and licensed the film to New World Pictures. New World's home video division released the international version of Godzilla vs. Gigan on video in 1988, fully uncut.[9] Several budget re-releases of the film continued from New World's successors over the next decade. Shortly thereafter, the Sci-Fi Channel began broadcasting Cinema Shares' version, Godzilla on Monster Island, in the early 1990s. A letterboxed transfer of Toho's international version replaced Godzilla on Monster Island on the channel in 2002.[10]

Home media[edit]

The film received several VHS releases during the 1990s by distributors such as Anchor Bay Entertainment and PolyGram Video.[11] The film was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on October 19, 2004,[12] and on Blu-ray by Kraken Releasing on May 6, 2014.[13] In 2019, the Japanese version was included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[14]

References[edit]

1. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 173.

2. ^ a b c Edelson, Edward (1980). Great animals of the movies. Doubleday. p. 85. ISBN 9780385147286. By the late 1970s, Godzilla films settled down to a comfortable formula. Toho was making two films a year. Each cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million and could be counted on to earn about $20 million.

3. ^ Godziszewski 1994, p. 167.

4. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 176.

5. ^ 地球攻撃命令　ゴジラ対ガイガン

6. ^ 歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧

7. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 175.

8. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 153.

9. ^ a b Kalat 1997, p. 125.

10. ^ Sci-Fi Channel schedule for March 2002

11. ^ "VHS Box Art (1970's-1980's)". Toho Kingdom. 18 May 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

12. ^ "Godzilla vs. Gigan DVD". DVD Talk. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

13. ^ "Godzilla vs. Gigan Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.

14. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

Bibliography[edit]

Godziszewski, Ed (1994). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla. Daikaiju Enterprises.

Kalat, David (1997). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786403004.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web (Japan)

Godzilla vs. Gigan at IMDb

Godzilla vs. Gigan at AllMovie

Godzilla vs. Gigan at Rotten Tomatoes

"地球攻撃命令 ゴジラ対ガイガン (Chikyū Kogeki Meirei Gojira tai Gaigan)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

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Godzilla vs. Megalon

Theatrical release poster

Directed by | Jun Fukuda
Screenplay by | Jun Fukuda[1]
Story by | Shinichi Sekizawa[1]
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka

Starring

Katsuhiko Sasaki
Hiroyuki Kawase
Yutaka Hayashi
Robert Dunham
Kotaro Tomita
Wolf Ohtsuki
Gentaro Nakajima

Cinematography | Yuzuru Aizawa
Music by | Riichiro Manabe

Production
company

Toho–Eizo

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

March 17, 1973

Running time

81 minutes

Language | Japanese
Budget | $1.2 million[2]
Box office | $20 million[2]

Godzilla vs. Megalon (ゴジラ対メガロ, Gojira tai Megaro) is a 1973 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Fukuda and Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 13th film in the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Megalon, and Gigan, along with the mecha character Jet Jaguar. The film stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi, and Robert Dunham, alongside Shinji Takagi as Godzilla, Hideto Date as Megalon, Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan, and Tsugutoshi Komada as Jet Jaguar.

Godzilla vs. Megalon was released theatrically in Japan on March 17, 1973. It received a theatrical release in the United States in the summer of 1976 by Cinema Shares. Due to this release and subsequent home media, the film has become one of the most well-known kaiju films in the United States. The film's popularity might also be a major contributor to western perceptions of kaiju films as comedic or campy. The film received revived recognition after an appearance on Myster Science Theater 3000 in 1991.[3]

The film was followed up by Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla on March 21, 1974.

Plot[edit]

In the first part of 1971 (197X in the Japanese version), the second of series of underground nuclear tests was conducted, near the Aleutians, sending shockwaves as far as Monster Island in the South Pacific, severely damaging the island paradise and sending Anguirus plummeting into the depths of the Earth, with Godzilla narrowly escaping the fissure which his friends tumbled into.

For millions of years, Seatopia, an opulent undersea civilization that resides in vast cities reminiscent of those of Ancient Greece and Rome, has existed in relative peace, ruled by Emperor Antonio, but nuclear tests in recent years have severely affected the cities via the earthquakes the tests produced. With the Seatopian capital badly affected by the most recent test, the Seatopians plan to unleash their civilization's beetle-styled god, Megalon, to destroy the surface world out of vengeance.

On the surface, an inventor named Goro Ibuki, his little brother Rokuro, and Goro's friend Hiroshi Jinkawa are off on an outing near a lake when Seatopia makes itself known to the Earth by drying up the lake the trio was relaxing nearby and using it as a base of operation. As they return home they are ambushed by agents of Seatopia who are trying to steal Jet Jaguar, a humanoid robot under construction by the trio of inventors. However the agents' first attempt is botched and they are forced to flee to safety.

Some time later, Jet Jaguar is completed but the trio of inventors are knocked unconscious by the returning Seatopian agents. The agents' plan is to use Jet Jaguar to guide and direct Megalon to destroy whatever city Seatopia commands him to do. Goro and Rokuro are sent to be killed, while Hiroshi is taken hostage. Megalon is finally released to the surface while Jet Jaguar is put under the control of the Seatopians and is used to guide Megalon to attack Tokyo with the Japan Self Defense Forces failing to defeat the monster. Eventually, the trio of heroes manage to escape their situation with the Seatopians and reunite to devise a plan to send Jet Jaguar to get Godzilla's help using Jet Jaguar's secondary control system.

After uniting with Japan's Defense Force, Goro manages to regain control of Jet Jaguar and sends the robot to Monster Island to bring Godzilla to fight Megalon. Without a guide to control its actions, Megalon flails around relentlessly and aimlessly fighting with the Defense Force and destroying the outskirts of Tokyo. The Seatopians learn of Jet Jaguar's turn and thus send out a distress call to their allies, the Space Hunter Nebula M aliens (from the previous film) to send the alien monster Gigan to assist their allies.

As Godzilla journeys to fight Megalon, Jet Jaguar starts acting on its own and ignoring commands to the surprise of its inventors, and grows to gigantic proportions to face Megalon himself until Godzilla arrives. The battle is roughly at a standstill, until Gigan arrives and both Megalon and Gigan double team against Jet Jaguar. Godzilla finally arrives to assist Jet Jaguar and the odds become even. After a long and brutal fight, Gigan and Megalon both retreat and Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shake hands on a job well done. Jet Jaguar bids Godzilla farewell and Godzilla returns to its home on Monster Island. Jet Jaguar turns back to its human size, and returns home with Goro and Rokuro.

Cast[edit]

Katsuhiko Sasaki as Inventor Goro Ibuki

Hiroyuki Kawase as Rokuro 'Roku-chan' Ibuki

Yutaka Hayashi as Hiroshi Jinkawa

Robert Dunham as Emperor Antonio of Seatopia

Kotaro Tomita as Lead Seatopian Agent

Wolf Ohtsuki as Seatopian Agent

Gentaro Nakajima as Truck Driver

Sakyo Mikami as Truck Driver's Assistant

Shinji Takagi as Godzilla

Hideto Date as Megalon

Tsugutoshi Komada as Jet Jaguar

Kenpachiro Satsuma as Gigan

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

The origins of Megalon can be traced back to 1969's All Monsters Attack, as the original working idea for the film's antagonist Gabara was initially envisioned as a giant mole cricket called Gebara.[4] The character was later reworked into Kaoru Mabuchi's 1971 treatment for Godzilla vs. the Space Monsters: Earth Defense Directive, a precursor to 1972's Godzilla vs. Gigan. The proposal called for Megalon to be paired with Gigan and King Ghidorah under the command of the hostile alien invader Miko, only to be defeated and driven off by the combined might of Godzilla, Anguirus, and a brand new monster called Majin Tuol. The next draft of the script, titled The Return of King Ghidorah!, retained the core villain cast of Gigan, King Ghidorah, and Megalon, but replaced Anguirus and Majin Tuol with Varan and Rodan. However, most of the proposed monsters were cut, leading to the final version of Godzilla vs. Gigan.[5]

Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence Godzilla vs. Megalon was originally planned as a Jet Jaguar solo film, and no Japanese sources have surfaced which claim otherwise.[6] Rather, the creation of Jet Jaguar was the result of a contest Toho had for children in mid-to-late 1972. The winner of the contest was an elementary school student, who submitted the drawing of a robot called Red Arone. Red Arone was turned into a monster suit, but when the child was shown the suit, he became upset because the suit did not resemble his original design. The boy's original design was white but the costume was colored red, blue and yellow. Red Arone was used for publicity, but Toho had renamed the character Jet Jaguar and had special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano redesign the character, only keeping the colors from the Red Arone suit. The Red Arone suit had a different head and wings.[7][9]

According to Teruyoshi Nakano, Godzilla vs. Megalon was a replacement project for another film that was cancelled at the last minute, and evidence suggests this cancelled film was Godzilla vs. Red Moon, slated for 1973.[10] As a result, the project was postponed during pre-production. Screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa had no time to write out a full script, and instead thought out a general story. Director Jun Fukuda ultimately ended up writing the screenplay.[11] To make up for lost production time, the film was shot in a hasty three weeks. The production time totaled nearly six months from planning to finish.

The film had three early treatments, each written by Shinichi Sekizawa, one was titled Godzilla vs. The Megalon Brothers: The Undersea Kingdom's Annihilation Strategy which was completed in September 1972. The second was titled Insect Monster Megalon vs. Godzilla: Undersea Kingdom's Annihilation Strategy, which was turned in on September 5, 1972, and the third draft was submitted on September 7, 1972.

Creature design[edit]

According to Teruyoshi Nakano, the Godzilla suit used in this film (nicknamed "MegaroGoji" メガロゴジ ) was made in a week, making it the fastest Godzilla suit ever made to date. They did not have time to make the eyes work correctly, something they had more time to fix for Godzilla's five appearances on Toho's superhero TV series Zone Fighter (1973), which was produced around the same time.

The Megalon suit was one of the heaviest suits produced since the 1954 Godzilla suit, which made it even more difficult to raise the Megalon suit via wires in certain scenes up to the point where Nakano almost decided to scrap those scenes altogether. Since the film was shot in the winter, Katsuhiko Sasaki stated that director Jun Fukuda gave him and Yutaka Hayashi a shot of whiskey to warm them up.

The Gigan suit is similar to the previous design, but the suit was made thinner, less bulky, the horn on the head was less pointed, and the buzzsaw didn't move, since it was made of static pieces. This suit also has different-sized back fins, a more circular visor, scales running up the back/sides of the neck and longer legs compared to the original version.

Teruyoshi Nakano recalls how the film was rushed and that it took three weeks to shoot, stating, "It went into productions without enough preparation. There was no time to ask Mr. Sekizawa to write the script, so Mr. Sekizawa kind of thought up the general story and director Fukuda wrote the screenplay. The screenplay was completed right before crank-in".[12]

Filming[edit]

Like previous Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Megalon heavily employs stock footage from previous films such as Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), The War of the Gargantuas (1966), Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), Destroy All Monsters (1968), Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), and Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972).[12]

English versions[edit]

Cinema Shares theatrical poster for the 1976 U.S release of Godzilla vs. Megalon. The poster (which spoofs the theatrical poster for King Kong) incorrectly places the monsters atop the World Trade Center; no such scene - nor any scenes set in the United States at all, for that matter - occurs in the film itself.

In 1976, Cinema Shares gave Godzilla vs. Megalon a wide theatrical release in the United States and launched a massive marketing campaign for the film, along with the poster, buttons with one of the four monsters' faces on them were released. Given away at theatrical showings was a comic that told a simplified version of the film, which incorrectly named Jet Jaguar as "Robotman" and Gigan as "Borodan". These incorrect names were also featured in the U.S. trailer.[12]

Cinema Shares originally planned to use the uncut Toho international English version, but to ensure a G rating, several minor cuts were made, which resulted in the film running three minutes shorter than the original version.[12]

Godzilla vs. Megalon is the first Godzilla film to receive an American prime time network television premiere, where it was broadcast nationwide at 9:00 PM on NBC on March 15, 1977. However, to accommodate commercials, the film was only shown in a one-hour time slot, which resulted in the film being cut down to 48 minutes. John Belushi hosted the broadcast where he did some skits, all in a Godzilla suit.

Mel Maron (who was president of Cinema Shares at the time) chose to release Godzilla vs. Megalon because he saw Godzilla as a heroic figure by that point and felt the timing was right to show children a hero who was a friendly monster and not Superman.

The U.S. rights for the film eventually fell into the public domain in the late 80s, which resulted in companies releasing poorly-cropped, fullscreen VHS tapes mastered from pan and scan sources.[13] This also led to the film being featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000. In 1988, New World Video intended to release the original uncut version of the English dub but, declined the project, due to a lack of budget that was required for a full release. However, despite this, the film was released uncut and in widescreen in 1992 by UK company Polygram Ltd as a double feature with Godzilla vs. Gigan.[14] In 1998 the film was again released by UK company, 4 Front Video. As of now it appears those are the only two VHS tapes on the film that are unedited and in high quality. It was also released on DVD by Power Multimedia in 1999 in Taiwan.[15] Originally the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) showed the cut version, until finally in 2002 as Toho regained ownership of that title alongside Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (both of which also were released by Cinema Shares) and broadcast the film fully uncut for the first time in the U.S.[16]

Release[edit]

Box office[edit]

In Japan, Godzilla vs. Megalon sold approximately 980,000 tickets. It was the first Godzilla film to sell less than one million admissions.[17] It earned ¥220 million in Japan distribution income (rentals).[18][19]

The film was a success in American theaters, earning $383,744 in its first three days in Texas and Louisiana alone.[20] The film grossed about $20 million worldwide.[2]

Critical reception[edit]

Godzilla vs. Megalon was released theatrically in America on May 9, 1976, though the San Francisco Chronicle indicates that it opened there in June, and The New York Times indicates that it opened in New York City on July 11. The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby, who a decade before had given a negative review to Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, gave Godzilla vs. Megalon a generally positive review. In his review on July 12, 1976, Canby said, "Godzilla vs. Megalon completes the canonization of Godzilla...It's been a remarkable transformation of character - the dragon has become St. George...It's wildly preposterous, imaginative and funny (often intentionally). It demonstrates the rewards of friendship, between humans as well as monsters, and it is gentle."[21]

Godzilla vs. Megalon has attracted the ire of many Godzilla fans in the decades since its original release. The film contributed to the reputation of Godzilla films in the United States as cheap children's entertainment that should not be taken seriously.[22][23] It has been described as "incredibly, undeniably, mind-numbingly bad"[24] and one of the "poorer moments" in the history of kaiju films.[23]

Author Stephen Mark Rainey's critique of the film was strongly negative, published in Japanese Giants, issue four. 1977. Edited and published by Bradford G. Boyle.[1]

In particular, the special effects of the film have been heavily criticized. One review described the Godzilla costume as appearing to be "crossed with Kermit the Frog"[23] and another sneeringly compared it to Godzilla vs. Gigan, stating that it did "everything wrong that Gigan did, and then some." However, most of the criticism is of the lack of actual special effects work, as most of it consists of stock footage from previous films, including Godzilla vs. Gigan and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, but a few pieces of effects work have garnered praise, specifically a scene where Megalon breaks through a dam and the draining of the lake.[22]

The other aspects of the film have been similarly skewered. The acting is usually described as flat and generally poor, and as not improving, or sometimes, worsening, the already weak script.[22] One part of the film, on the other hand, has garnered almost universal praise: Godzilla's final attack on Megalon, a flying kick. It has been called the saving grace of the film,[24] and was made famous by the mock exclamations of shock and awe displayed on Godzilla vs. Megalon's appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Through the end of season three to the middle of season five, that clip would be shown at the opening of each show.

Despite all this, the film is also one of the most widely seen Godzilla films in the United States — it was popular in its initial theatrical release, largely due to an aggressive marketing campaign, including elaborate posters of the two title monsters battling atop New York City's World Trade Center towers, presumably to capitalize on the hype surrounding the Dino De Laurentiis remake of King Kong, which used a similar image for its own poster.[22]

Home media[edit]

The film was released numerous times in the VHS format, mostly as videos from bargain basement studios that featured the edited TV version (which was wrongly assumed to be in the public domain for many years), while PolyGram and 4 Front released the unedited version of the film in 1992 and 1998, respectively. Some rumors have circulated that the film's original VHS releases in the States were uncut, but there is no evidence confirming or denying this.

Media Blasters acquired the DVD rights to both Godzilla vs. Megalon and Destroy All Monsters. Both films were released under one of the company's divisions, Tokyo Shock. Media Blasters originally planned to release Godzilla vs. Megalon on DVD and Blu-ray on December 20, 2011; however, due to technical difficulties with the dubbing and Toho having yet to give its approval for the release, the DVD/Blu-ray release was delayed.[25] Media Blasters finally released the film on August 14, 2012, but only on a bare-bones DVD and Blu-ray. Despite this, a manufacturing error led to several copies of the originally planned version featuring bonus content to be released by accident.[26] These special features versions are incredibly rare and are not labelled differently from the standard version, making them nearly impossible to find.[27] This release was commercially the first to remaster the film to its original full-length version. In 2019, the Japanese version and export English dub were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[28]

References[edit]

1. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 360.

2. ^ a b c Edelson, Edward (1980). Great animals of the movies. Doubleday. p. 85. ISBN 9780385147286. By the late 1970s, Godzilla films settled down to a comfortable formula. Toho was making two films a year. Each cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million and could be counted on to earn about $20 million.

3. ^ Mystery Science Theater 3000, Toho, Mystery Science Theater 3000 S 2 E 12 Godzilla Vs Megalon, retrieved 2022-02-08

4. ^ Godzilla Chronicle. Sony Magazines. July 1998. p. 285. ISBN 978-4789712941.

5. ^ Toho Special Effects Movie Complete Works. Village Books. September 28, 2012. pp. 135, 154, 159. ISBN 978-4864910132.

6. ^ LeMay 2019, p. 121.

7. ^ "Original image of 'Red Arone'".

8. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 182.

9. ^ LeMay 2019, p. 121, cf. 117-21.

10. ^ Galbraith, Stuart (1998). Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films. Venice, CA: Feral House. p. 115. ISBN 0-922915-47-4.

11. ^ a b c d Ryfle 1998, p. 183.

12. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 184.

13. ^ "Godzilla vs Gigan (1972)/Godzilla vs Megalon (1973) on PolyGram Video (United Kingdom VHS videotape)". www.videocollector.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-04-20.

14. ^ "Digital Monster Island - Godzilla vs. Megalon (Power Multimedia / Tailent Video & Multimedia) DVD Review". www.digitalmonsterisland.com. Retrieved 2019-04-20.

15. ^ "Sci-Fi Channel schedule for March 2002". innermind.com. Retrieved 2019-04-20.

16. ^ "Godzilla vs. Megalon". Tohokingdom.com. Retrieved 2014-07-10.

17. ^ ゴジラ対メガロ

18. ^ 歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧

19. ^ The Hollywood Reporter. May 12, 1976.

20. ^ Canby, Vincent (1976-07-22). "Another 'Godzilla' Movie". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-28.

21. ^ a b c d Anthony Romero (19 April 2003). "Toho Kingdom; Godzilla vs. Megalon review".

22. ^ a b c Chris Holland & Scott Hamilton. "Stomp Tokyo- Godzilla vs. Megalon review".

23. ^ a b "Review at "Barry's Temple of Godzilla"".

24. ^ Famous Monsters of Filmland: "“GODZILLA VS MEGALON” Blu/DVD Release Delayed", January 19, 2012.

25. ^ Sci-Fi Japan: "The Great Godzilla vs Megalon Mix-Up Mystery", October 22, 2012.

26. ^ Sci-Fi Japan: "Godzilla vs Megalon Special Edition DVD Extras Detailed", November 10, 2012.

27. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

Bibliography

Canby, Vincent. (July 22, 1976). Another 'Godzilla' Movie; Monster Is Now a Good Guy (film review at The New York Times).

Galbraith, Stuart (1998). Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! The Incredible World of Japanese Fantasy Films. Venice, CA: Feral House. ISBN 0-922915-47-4.

LeMay, John (2019). The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films. Roswell, NM: Bicep Books. ISBN 978-1701683945.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1550223484.

Stanley, John. "Godzilla - The Asian Beast Who Refuses to Die". San Francisco Chronicle (Sunday Datebook), June 20, 1976 (review of Godzilla vs. Megalon - actually a history of the Godzilla films to date, mentions Megalon currently playing at three theaters and a drive-in in passing).

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web (in Japanese)

Godzilla vs. Megalon at IMDb

Godzilla vs. Megalon at AllMovie

Godzilla vs. Megalon at Rotten Tomatoes

"ゴジラ対メガロ (Gojira tai Megaro)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is a 1974 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho-Eizo, it is the 14th film of the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Anguirus, and King Caesar, along with the mecha character Mechagodzilla. The film stars Masaaki Daimon, Kazuya Aoyama, Gorō Mutsumi, and Akihiko Hirata, with Isao Zushi as Godzilla, Satoru Kuzumi as both Anguirus and King Caesar, and Kazunari Mori as Mechagodzilla. The film marks the first appearances of King Caesar and Mechagodzilla in the franchise.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released theatrically in Japan on March 21, 1974. The film received a limited release in the United States in 1977 by Cinema Shares, under the title Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster. It was then quickly re-released under the title Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster. The film was followed up with a direct sequel in 1975 titled Terror of Mechagodzilla.

In Okinawa, an Azumi priestess has a vision of a city being destroyed by a giant monster. Meanwhile, Masahiko Shimizu discovers a type of metal not found on Earth while spelunking and takes it to Professor Miyajima for examination. An excavation led by Masahiko's brother Keisuke uncovers a chamber filled with ancient artifacts and a mural bearing an ominous prophecy: " When a black mountain appears above the clouds, a huge monster will arise and try to destroy the world; but when the red moon sets and the sun rises in the west, two monsters shall appear to save the people." Keisuke is joined by archaeologist Saeko Kaneshiro, who translates the prophecy and takes a statue bearing the likeness of Okinawa's guardian monster King Caesar to study. Two men stalk them, with one claiming to be a reporter while the other attempts to steal the statue, but fails and flees.

Following the appearance of a black cloud resembling a mountain, Godzilla emerges from Mount Fuji and begins a destructive rampage despite having become tolerant of humans within the past years. Godzilla's ally, Anguirus, confronts him, only to be nearly killed and forced to retreat. Keisuke arrives shortly after to check on Masahiko and Miyajima. Godzilla's rampage continues until another (and the real) Godzilla emerges and battles it. During the fight, the first Godzilla is revealed to be an imposter called Mechagodzilla, a massive robot armed with advanced weaponry made of the same strange metal, later revealed to be space titanium. Godzilla is severely wounded, but inflicts some damage on Mechagodzilla before both monsters retreat. Miyajima hypothesizes, based on Mechagodzilla's advanced technology and composition, that the robot is an alien superweapon.

Keisuke and Saeko take the statue back to the temple, but are confronted by the thief once again. During the fight, the skin on half of the stranger's face melts away, revealing an ape-like visage. The intruder attempts to kill Keisuke, but a bullet from an unseen gunman kills him before Keisuke and Saeko catch a brief glimpse of the reporter. Concurrently, Godzilla arrives on Monster Island during a thunderstorm and is struck by lightning multiple times, reinvigorating himself.

Masahiko, Miyajima and his daughter Ikuko explore the cave where the space titanium was first found, but are captured by ape-like aliens from the Third Planet of the Black Hole, who plan to use Mechagodzilla to conquer Earth. Their leader, Kuronuma, forces Miyajima to repair the robot. While Saeko checks into a hotel and guards the statue, Keisuke leaves to meet Masahiko at the caves, only to encounter the reporter, who reveals his real name is Nanbara and that he is an Interpol agent who has been tracking the aliens. After Nanbara and Keisuke infiltrate the alien base and free the prisoners, Keisuke and Ikuko leave to pick up Saeko and the statue while Miyajima, Nanbara, and Masahiko stay behind, only to be recaptured by Kuronuma.

The next morning, a lunar eclipse results in a red moon and a mirage of the sun rising in the west. Seeing this, the team realizes they have to awaken King Caesar. They meet with the priestess and her grandfather and place the statue in the temple, revealing King Caesar's resting place. As Kuronuma dispatches Mechagodzilla, the priestess sings to awaken King Caesar and Godzilla appears shortly afterward. The two monsters join forces to fight Mechagodzilla. When the robot tries to escape, Godzilla uses his stored electricity to create an electromagnetic field to attract Mechagodzilla before tearing off its head; causing it to explode. While the mortified aliens are distracted, Nanbara and the others free themselves, kill their captors, and sabotage the base, fleeing as it explodes. With the enemy defeated, Godzilla heads out to sea and King Caesar returns to his resting place while the humans rejoice.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released in Japan on March 21, 1974, where it was distributed by Toho. The film was followed up with a direct sequel in 1975 titled Terror of Mechagodzilla.

The film was released in the United States in March 1977. It was released by Cinema Shares in the United States under the title Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster where the film was shown predominantly at Saturday "kiddie" matinees. The Cinema Shares theatrical version deleted four minutes of credits, profanity and blood-letting from the film. Universal Television threatened to sue Cinema Shares over the use of the name "Bionic" in the film's title, as they owned the rights to The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series. The film title was quickly changed to Godzilla vs. the Cosmic Monster, which was also used for the 1977 U.K. theatrical release.

The film made slightly more money than Godzilla vs. Megalon, but was still not making as big a box office profit as the other films in the Godzilla series had in the early 1960s. The 1974 Japanese release earned a distribution income ( rentals) of ¥370 million. It also grossed $17.1 million overseas, for a worldwide total of about $20 million by 1980.

In 1988, New World Video restored the film on home video, using a complete and unedited print titled Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. In 2004, TriStar released the film on DVD as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, with both English and Japanese audio included. In 2019, both the Japanese version and export English version were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.

In a contemporary review in the Monthly Film Bulletin, Tony Rayns stated that at this point in the Godzilla series, there was no way the film "could have been anything other than formulary, but it could clearly have been much less shambling than it is." Rayns noted that Shinichi Sekizawa's story was "for once, quite ambitious" while noting that the film's "'mythic' elements are never coherent or impressive enough to match the array of alien technology, and the script seems to forget all about fulfilling its own prophecies as it hurries towards the regulation free-style wrestling climax."

From retrospective reviews, Stuart Galbraith IV discussed the film in his book on Japanese genre films. Galbraith described the film as a "complete mess", finding that the aliens in the film were a rip-off of Planet of the Apes and that the film had poor effects work and "equally poor direction of Jun Fukuda." Galbraith opined that the film was "an improvement over Godzilla vs. Megalon, but that's not saying much." Among the positive attributes, Galbraith noted that Masaru Sato's score was interesting and series veterans Akihiko Hirata, Hiroshi Koizumi and Kenji Sahara "make welcome appearances." In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984), a review stated that "the final fight is suitably impressive although the tongue-in-cheek reference to Leone slows the action down too much."

1. ^ Edelson, Edward (1980). Great animals of the movies. Doubleday. p. 85. ISBN 9780385147286. By the late 1970s, Godzilla films settled down to a comfortable formula. Toho was making two films a year. Each cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million and could be counted on to earn about $20 million.

2. ^ Travis Bean (June 4, 2019). "Where 'King Of The Monsters' Ranks In Godzilla's Box Office History". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019.

3. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". . Archived from the original on December 17, 2019.

4. ^ Rayns, Tony (1977). "Gojira Tai Mekagojira (Godzilla vs. the Bionic Monster)". Monthly Film Bulletin. London: British Film Institute. 44 (516): 122.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla is a 1974 Japanese kaiju film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho-Eizo, it is the 14th film of the Godzilla franchise, and features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Anguirus, and King Caesar, along with the mecha character Mechagodzilla.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Terror of Mechagodzilla

Theatrical release poster

Directed by | Ishirō Honda
Written by | Yukiko Takayama

Produced by

Tomoyuki Tanaka
Henry G. Saperstein

Starring

Katsuhiko Sasaki
Tomoko Ai
Akihiko Hirata
Katsumasa Uchida
Gorō Mutsumi
Tadao Nakamaru
Toru Kawai

Cinematography | Sokei Tomioka
Edited by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa
Music by | Akira Ifukube

Production
company

Toho–Eizo

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

March 15, 1975

Running time

83 minutes

Language | Japanese
Budget | $1.2 million[1]

Box office

¥330 million (Japan rentals)[2][3]
$20 million (worldwide)[1]

Terror of Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラの逆襲, Mekagojira no Gyakushū, lit. 'Mechagodzilla's Counterattack') is a 1975 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 15th film in the Godzilla franchise, serving as a direct sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.

Terror of Mechagodzilla stars Katsuhiko Sasaki, Tomoko Ai, Akihiko Hirata, and Gorō Mutsumi, and features Toru Kawai, Kazunari Mori, and Tatsumi Nikamoto as the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mechagodzilla 2, and Titanosaurus, respectively. The film was released theatrically in Japan on March 15, 1975. It received a limited release in the United States in 1978 by Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. The film remains the least financially successful entry in the Godzilla franchise to this day.

Plot[edit]

Following the events of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Interpol agents search for Mechagodzilla's remains at the bottom of the Okinawan Sea in the hopes of gathering information on the robot's builders, the alien Simeons. However, their submarine is attacked by a giant, aquatic dinosaur called Titanosaurus and the crew vanishes.

Interpol launches an investigation into the incident. With the help of marine biologist Akira Ichinose, they trace Titanosaurus to a reclusive, mad scientist named Shinzô Mafune, who wants to destroy mankind. While the group is visiting the scientist's old home, they meet Mafune's daughter, Katsura, who claims her father is dead and that she burned his notes about Titanosaurus at his request. Unbeknownst to Interpol, the living Mafune is visited by Tsuda, aide to the Simeon leader Mugal, who is leading a project to rebuild Mechagodzilla. Mugal offers the Simeons' services to Mafune so that their respective monsters can wipe out mankind and allow them to rebuild the world for themselves.

Complicating matters, Ichinose falls in love with Katsura and unwittingly gives her Interpol's information on the Simeons, Mechagodzilla, and Titanosaurus. She is also revealed to be a cyborg, having undergone cybernetic surgery after she was nearly killed during one of her father's experiments as a child, and implanted with Mechagodzilla's control device. Additionally, an impatient Mafune releases Titanosaurus on Yokosuka without the aliens' permission. While Interpol discovers the dinosaur is vulnerable to supersonic waves, Katsura destroys their supersonic wave oscillator. However, Godzilla arrives and easily defeats Titanosaurus, causing the latter to retreat.

When Ichinose visits Katsura, the Simeons capture him and force him to watch as they unleash Mechagodzilla 2 and Titanosaurus on Tokyo while Interpol struggles to repair their wave oscillator and the Japanese armed forces struggle to fend off the monsters. Godzilla arrives, but is initially outmatched until Interpol distracts Titanosaurus with the repaired wave oscillator, allowing Godzilla to focus on Mechagodzilla 2. Interpol agents infiltrate the aliens' hideout, rescue Ichinose, and kill Mafune and many of the aliens. The remaining Simeons attempt to escape, but Godzilla shoots down their ships with its atomic breath. The wounded Katsura shoots herself to destroy Mechagodzilla 2's control device and dies in Ichinose's arms. With the robot non-functional, Godzilla tosses it into a chasm before blasting it with its atomic breath, causing it to explode and get buried. With help from Interpol, Godzilla then defeats Titanosaurus, who returns to the sea.

Cast[edit]

Katsuhiko Sasaki as Akira Ichinose

Tomoko Ai as Katsura Mafune

Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Shinzo Mafune

Katsumasa Uchida as Jiro Murakoshi, Interpol Agent

Gorō Mutsumi as Mugal, Black Hole Alien leader

Toru Ibuki as Tsuda, Black Hole Alien lieutenant

Kenji Sahara as General Segawa

Tadao Nakamaru as Chief of Interpol Tagawa

Akinori Umezu as boy #1

Toru Kawai as Godzilla[4]

Kazunari Mori as Mechagodzilla 2[4]

Tatsumi Fuyamoto as Titanosaurus[4]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

A Shinto priest performs a purification ceremony prior to the start of filming

The original screenplay that Yukiko Takayama created after winning Toho's story contest for the next installment in the Godzilla series was picked by assistant producer Kenji Tokoro and was submitted for approval on July 1, 1974, less than four months after Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla was released.

The original concept is similar to the finished version of Terror of Mechagodzilla, with many of the changes being budgetary in nature. The most obvious alteration is the removal of the two dinosaurs called the Titans, which merged to become Titanosaurus in the first draft. It was an interesting concept, although something that was also under-explained, considering the magnitude of such an occurrence of the creatures merging. Another noticeable change to the script is that of the final battle, which does not move to the countryside but instead would have reduced Tokyo to rubble during the ensuing conflict between the three monsters.

After her initial draft, Takayama submitted a revised version on October 14, 1974. This went through a third revision on December 4, and then yet another on December 28 of that same year before it was met with approval and filming began.

Filming[edit]

This film is one of two Godzilla films with brief nudity (the other being 1994's Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla). The scene occurs when Katsura undergoes an operation to have Mechagodzilla 2's control device placed inside her body, at which point her breasts are exposed. While she was portrayed by a mannequin in the scene, the scene was cut when the film was released in the U.S., both from the theatrical and TV versions of the film.

Director Ishiro Honda laments not being able to work with the story's writer, Yukiko Takayama, on other films, enjoying that a "woman's perspective was especially fresh" for the genre.

Kensho Yamashita was the chief assistant director on the project. He notes, though, that Honda never actually assigned any of the shooting to him, possibly because he was happy to be directing again after a long gap in his career and wanted to do the work himself.

English version[edit]

Bob Conn Enterprises' theatrical poster for the 1978 U.S release of The Terror of Godzilla. The images of the monsters come from a promotional still for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.[5]

Toho titled its English version of the film Terror of Mechagodzilla and had it dubbed into English in Hong Kong. This “international version” has never seen wide release in the United States, but has been issued on VHS in the United Kingdom by PolyGram Video Ltd.[6] and on DVD in Taiwan by Power Multimedia.[7]

The film was given a North American theatrical release in March 1978 by independent distributor Bob Conn Enterprises under the title The Terror of Godzilla. Just as Cinema Shares had done with the previous three Godzilla movies, Bob Conn Enterprises chose to utilize the Toho-commissioned English dub instead of hiring a new crew to re-dub the film. The Terror of Godzilla was heavily edited to obtain a "G" rating from the MPAA. Several scenes with violent content were entirely removed, disrupting the flow of the narrative.[8]

Henry G. Saperstein, who sold the theatrical rights to Bob Conn Enterprises, also released the film to television in late 1978, this time under Toho's international title, Terror of Mechagodzilla. Unlike The Terror of Godzilla, the television version remained mostly uncut, with only the shot of Katsura's naked breasts excised. Saperstein's editors also added a 10-minute prologue that served as a brief history of Godzilla, with footage from Saperstein's English versions of Invasion of Astro-Monster and All Monsters Attack (the latter of which utilized stock footage from both Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Son of Godzilla).[9]

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. television version, Terror of Mechagodzilla, was replaced by the theatrical edit, The Terror of Godzilla, on television and home video. For some reason, the title was also changed to Terror of Mechagodzilla.[10] The 1994 Paramount release of Terror of Mechagodzilla listed a running time of 89 minutes on the slipcase, implying that this release would be the longer version first shown on American TV. The actual video cassette featured the edited theatrical version.[11] In a 1995 interview with G-Fan magazine, Saperstein was surprised to hear about this mistake.[12] In 1997 on Channel 4 in the U.K., three Godzilla movies were shown back to back late at night, starting with Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Gigan and then Terror of Mechagodzilla; all were dubbed versions. This showing was uncut, including the Katsura nudity scene, but it did not have the Western-made prologue.

In the mid-2000s, the television version showed up again on Monsters HD, and in 2007, it made its home video debut as the U.S. version on the Classic Media DVD. Although the added prologue was originally framed for fullscreen television, it was cropped and shown in widescreen on the disc. The rest of the movie featured the audio from Saperstein's television version synced to video from the Japanese version.[13]

The first article about the movie's storyline was published in Japanese Giants #4 [1] in 1977, edited and published by Bradford G. Boyle, and was written by Richard H. Campbell, creator of The Godzilla Fan News Letter (a.k.a. "The Gang").

Box office[edit]

In Japan, the film sold 980,000 tickets.[14] Despite earning positive reviews, it would be the least-attended Godzilla film in Japan and also one of only two Godzilla films to sell less than 1 million tickets. This was part of a decline in attendance for monster movies as a whole and Toho put the production of monster movies on hold.[15] Toho had no intention of permanently ending the Godzilla series. Throughout the remainder of the 1970s, several new Godzilla stories were submitted by various writers and producers. None of these films, however, were ultimately made.[16] It was not until 1984 and Godzilla's 30th anniversary that Toho would start production on a new Godzilla movie.

Home media[edit]

The film has been released several times on DVD in the United States. The first release, by Simitar Entertainment, was on May 6, 1998 in a fullscreen version under the title The Terror of Godzilla. The second release, by First Classic Media and distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, was on September 17, 2002. It was released both individually and as part of the Ultimate Godzilla DVD Collection box set, the latter being released on the same day.

It was then re-released by Second Classic Media, this time distributed by Genius Entertainment, on November 20, 2007 both individually and as part of the Godzilla Collection box set on April 29, 2008.

In 2019, both the Japanese version and the export English version were included in a Blu-ray box set released by the Criterion Collection, which included all 15 films from the franchise's Shōwa era.[17]

References[edit]

Notes

1. ^ a b Edelson, Edward (1980). Great animals of the movies. Doubleday. p. 85. ISBN 9780385147286. By the late 1970s, Godzilla films settled down to a comfortable formula. Toho was making two films a year. Each cost in the neighborhood of $1.2 million and could be counted on to earn about $20 million.

2. ^ メカゴジラの逆襲

3. ^ 歴代ゴジラ映画作品一覧

4. ^ a b c Ryfle 1998, p. 361.

5. ^ 1974's 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla' is One of the Best of the Series

6. ^ Son of Godzilla (1967) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

7. ^ Digital Monster Island - Terror of MechaGodzilla (Power Multimedia / Tailent Video & Multimedia) DVD Review

8. ^ Ryfle 1998, pp. 205–206.

9. ^ Ryfle 1998, pp. 204.

10. ^ Ryfle 1998, pp. 205.

11. ^ Kalat 1997, p. 146.

12. ^ "An Interview with Henry G. Saperstein | the History Vortex". 28 March 2008.

13. ^ DVD: Terror of Mechagodzilla (Classic Media)

14. ^ Kalat 1997, p. 147.

15. ^ Berra 2010, p. 109.

16. ^ Ryfle 1998, pp. 215–216.

17. ^ Patches, Matt (July 25, 2019). "Criterion reveals the collection's 1000th disc: the ultimate Godzilla set". Polygon. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

Bibliography

Berra, John (2010). The Directory of World Films: Japan. Intellect Books. ISBN 9781841503356.

Kalat, David (1997). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786403004.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819570871.

External links[edit]

Godzilla on the web (Japan)

Terror of Mechagodzilla at IMDb

Terror of Mechagodzilla at AllMovie

Terror of Mechagodzilla at Rotten Tomatoes

"メカゴジラの逆襲 (MekaGojira no Gyakushū)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-18.

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The Return of Godzilla is a 1984 Japanese kaiju film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 16th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the first film in the Heisei series. In Japan, the film was followed by Godzilla vs. Biollante in 1989.

The Return of Godzilla stars Ken Tanaka, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Yosuke Natsuki, and Keiju Kobayashi, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla. The film serves as both a sequel to the original 1954 film and a reboot of the franchise that ignores the events of every Shōwa era film aside from the original Godzilla, placing itself in line with the darker tone and themes of the original film and returning Godzilla to his destructive, antagonistic roots. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 15, 1984. The following year, in the United States, New World Pictures released Godzilla 1985, a heavily re-edited American adaptation of the film which includes additional footage, and features Raymond Burr reprising his role from the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!.

The Japanese fishing vessel Yahata-Maru is caught in strong currents off the shores of Daikoku Island. As the boat drifts into shore, the island begins to erupt, and a giant monster lifts itself out of the volcano. A few days later, reporter Goro Maki is sailing in the area and finds the vessel intact but deserted. As he explores the vessel, he finds all the crew dead except for Hiroshi Okumura, who has been badly wounded. Suddenly a giant Shockirus sea louse attacks him but he is saved by Okumura.

In Tokyo, Okumura realizes by looking at pictures that the monster he saw was a new Godzilla. Maki writes an article about the account, but the news of Godzilla's return is kept secret and his article is withheld. Maki visits Professor Hayashida, whose parents were lost in the 1954 Godzilla attack. Hayashida describes Godzilla as a living, invincible nuclear weapon able to cause mass destruction. At Hayashida's laboratory, Maki meets Okumura's sister, Naoko, and informs her that her brother is alive and at the police hospital.

A Soviet submarine is destroyed in the Pacific. The Soviets believe the attack was perpetrated by the Americans, and a diplomatic crisis ensues, which threatens to escalate into nuclear war. The Japanese intervene and reveal that Godzilla was behind the attacks. The Japanese cabinet meets to discuss Japan's defense. A new weapon is revealed, the Super X, a specially-armored flying fortress that will defend the capital. The Japanese military is put on alert.

Godzilla attacks the Ihama nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. While feeding off the reactor, he is distracted by a flock of birds and leaves the facility. Hayashida believes that Godzilla was distracted instinctively by a homing signal from the birds. Hayashida, together with geologist Minami, propose to the Japanese Cabinet, that Godzilla could be lured back to Mount Mihara on Ōshima Island by a similar signal, and a volcanic eruption could be started, capturing Godzilla.

Prime Minister Mitamura meets with Soviet and American envoys and declares that nuclear weapons will not be used on Godzilla, even if he were to attack the Japanese mainland. Meanwhile, the Soviets have their own plans to counter the threat posed by Godzilla, and a Soviet control ship disguised as a freighter in Tokyo Harbor prepares to launch a nuclear missile from one of their orbiting satellites should Godzilla attack.

Godzilla is sighted at dawn in Tokyo Bay heading towards Tokyo, causing mass evacuations. The JASDF attacks Godzilla but fails to stop his advance on the city. Godzilla soon emerges and makes short work of the JSDF stationed there. The battle causes damage to the Soviet ship and starts a missile launch countdown. The captain dies as he attempts to stop the missile from launching. Godzilla proceeds towards Shinjuku, wreaking havoc along the way. Godzilla is confronted by four laser-armed trucks and the Super X. Because Godzilla's heart is similar to a nuclear reactor, the cadmium shells that are fired into his mouth by the Super X seal and slow down his heart, knocking Godzilla unconscious.

The countdown ends and the Soviet missile is launched, but it is destroyed by an American counter-missile. Hayashida and Okumura are extracted from Tokyo via helicopter and taken to Mt. Mihara to set up the homing device before the two missiles collide above Tokyo. The destruction of the nuclear missile produces an electrical storm and an EMP, which revives Godzilla once more and temporarily disables the Super X.

An enraged Godzilla bears down on the Super X just as it manages to get airborne again. The Super X's weapons prove ineffective against the kaiju, resulting in even more destruction in the city as Godzilla chases it through several skyscrapers. Godzilla finally destroys the Super X by dropping a skyscraper on top of it and continues his rampage, until Hayashida uses the homing device to distract him. Godzilla leaves Tokyo and swims across Tokyo Bay, following the homing device to Mount Mihara. There, Godzilla follows the device and falls into the mouth of the volcano. Okumura activates detonators at the volcano, creating a controlled eruption that traps Godzilla inside.

We went back to the theme of nuclear weapons, since that was the theme of the original film. Japan has now learned three times what a nuclear disaster is, but at that time Japan had already had two. The problem was Japanese society was gradually forgetting about these disasters. They were forgetting how painful it had been. Everyone in Japan knew how scary nuclear weapons were when the original movie was made, but it wasn't like that by the 1980s. So in those meetings, we decided to remind all those people out there who had forgotten.

After the box office failure of Terror of Mechagodzilla, Toho attempted to reinvigorate the franchise several times during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first attempt was the announcement of a color remake of the original 1954 film entitled The Rebirth of Godzilla in 1977, but the project was shelved. A year later, it was announced that Toho would develop a film jointly with UPA studios entitled Godzilla vs. the Devil, though this, along with UPA producer Henry G. Saperstein's proposed Godzilla vs. Gargantua, also never materialized.

Godzilla series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka took charge of reviving the franchise in 1979, Godzilla's 25th anniversary, intending to return the series to its dark, anti-nuclear roots in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident. Hoping to win back adult audiences alienated by the fantastical approach to Godzilla films taken during the 1970s, Tanaka was further encouraged in his vision by the contemporary success of adult-oriented horror and science fiction movies like , Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and . A draft story entitled The Resurrection of Godzilla was submitted by Akira Murao in 1980, and had Godzilla pitted against a shape-shifting monster called Bakan in the backdrop of an illegal nuclear waste disposal site, though the project was cancelled due to budgetary concerns. In 1983, American director Steve Miner proposed directing a Godzilla film at his own expense. Toho approved of the project, and Miner hired Fred Dekker to write the screenplay and paleosculptor Steve Czerkas to redesign the monster. The project was however hampered by Miner's insistence on using prohibitively costly stop-motion animation and shooting the film in 3D, and was thus rejected by major American movie studios. Under pressure from a 10,000-member group of Japanese Godzilla fans calling themselves the "Godzilla Resurrection Committee", Tanaka decided to helm a Japanese film for "strictly domestic consumption" to be released jointly alongside Miner's movie.

In an effort to disavow Godzilla's increasingly heroic and anthropomorphic depiction in previous films, Tanaka insisted on making a direct sequel to the original 1954 movie. He hired screenwriter Shuichi Nagahara, who wrote a screenplay combining elements of the previously cancelled The Resurrection of Godzilla and Miner's still unproduced film, including an intensification of hostilities during the Cold War and a flying fortress which fires missiles into Godzilla's mouth. Koji Hashimoto was hired as director after Ishirō Honda declined the offer, as he was assisting Akira Kurosawa with and , and felt that the franchise should have been discontinued after the death of Eiji Tsuburaya.

Composer Akira Ifukube was offered to score the film but respectfully declined. At the time, it was rumored that Ifukube refused to participate in the film due to the changes made to Godzilla, stating, "I do not write music for 80-meter monsters". However, this quote was later clarified, by Ifukube's biographer Erik Homenick and Japanese Giants editor Ed Godziszewski, as a joke spread by fans which was later misinterpreted as fact. Ifukube declined to score the film due to his priorities, at the time, teaching composition at the Tokyo College of Music.

The special effects were directed by Teruyoshi Nakano, who had directed the special effects of several previous Godzilla films. The decision was made by Tanaka to increase the apparent height of Godzilla from 50 metres (160 ft) to 80 metres (260 ft) so that Godzilla would not be dwarfed by the contemporary skyline of Tokyo. This meant that the miniatures had to be built to a th scale, and this contributed to an increase in the budget of the film to $6.25 million. Tanaka and Nakano supervised suit-maker Noboyuki Yasumaru in constructing a new Godzilla design, incorporating ears and four toes, features not seen since Godzilla Raids Again. Nakano insisted on infusing elements into the design that suggested sadness, such as downward-slanting eyes and sloping shoulders.

Suit construction took two months, and consisted of separately casting body-part molds with urethane on a pre-built, life-size statue of the final design. Yasumaru personally took charge of all phases of suit-building, unlike in previous productions wherein the different stages of suit-production were handled by different craftsmen. The final suit was constructed to accommodate stuntman Hiroshi Yamawaki, but he declined suddenly, and was replaced by veteran suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, who had portrayed Hedorah and Gigan in the Showa Era. Because the 110 kg (240 lb) suit wasn't built to his measurements, Satsuma had difficulty performing, being able to last only ten minutes within it, and losing 12 pounds during filming. Hoping to avoid having Godzilla move in an overly human fashion, Nakano instructed Satsuma to base his actions on Noh, a traditional Japanese dance.

Taking inspiration from the publicity surrounding the 40-foot tall King Kong model from Dino De Laurentiis's 1976 film of the same name, Toho spent a reported ¥52,146 (approximately $475.00) on a 16-foot high robotic Godzilla (dubbed "Cybot") for use in close-up shots of the creature's head. The Cybot consisted of a hydraulically-powered mechanical endoskeleton covered in urethane skin containing 3,000 computer operated parts which permitted it to tilt its head, and move its lips and arms. Unlike previous Godzilla suits, whose lower jaws consisted of wire-operated flaps, the Cybot's jaws were hinged like those of an actual animal, and slid back as they opened. A life-size, crane operated foot was also built for close-up shots of city destruction scenes. Part of the film was shot on location on Izu Ōshima, where the climax of the story takes place.

The Return of Godzilla was released on December 15, 1984 in Japan where it was distributed by Toho. The film sold 3.2 million tickets in Japan, earning ¥1.7 billion in rentals at the Japanese box office. The film grossed a total of $14,000,000 (equivalent to $37,000,000 in 2021) at the box office.

Despite its American re-edit receiving negative reviews, the original Japanese cut of the film has been much more well-received, with critics and fans praising the film's score, practical effects, and its darker tone. In 1985, the film won the Japan Academy Award for Special Effects.

In May 2016, Kraken Releasing revealed plans to release the original Japanese version of The Return of Godzilla and its international English dub on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on September 13, 2016. However, it was also revealed that the Americanized version of the film, Godzilla 1985 would not be featured in the release due to ongoing copyright issues concerning music cues that New World Pictures borrowed from for use in Godzilla 1985.

Shortly after the film's completion, Toho's foreign sales division, Toho International Co., Ltd, had the film dubbed into English by an unidentified firm in Hong Kong. No cuts were made, though credits and other titles were accordingly rendered in English. The international English dub features the voice of news anchor and radio announcer John Culkin in the role of Goro Maki, and actor Barry Haigh as Prime Minister Mitamura. The English version fully dubs all dialogue into English, including that of the Soviet and American characters. The international English dub was released on VHS in the U.K. by Carlton Home Entertainment on July 24, 1998.

In 2016, the international English dub was included on the U.S. DVD and Blu-Ray releases from Kraken, though the audio mix was not the original monaural track that was originally heard on Toho's English language prints. The English dialogue was originally mixed with an alternate music and effects track that contained different music edits and sound effects from the Japanese theatrical version, most notably a distinct "cry" produced by Godzilla during the film's ending. The U.S. home video version instead uses the conventional music and effects track used for the regular Japanese version mixed in DTS 5.1 surround sound instead of mono.

After the film's lackluster performance in the Japanese box office and the ultimate shelving of Steve Miner's Godzilla 3D project, Toho decided to distribute the film overseas in order to regain lost profits. New World Pictures acquired The Return of Godzilla for distribution in North America, and changed the title to Godzilla 1985, bringing back Raymond Burr in order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Godzilla: King of the Monsters!. Originally, New World reportedly planned to re-write the dialogue in order to turn the film into a tongue-in-cheek comedy starring Leslie Nielsen (à la What's Up, Tiger Lily?), but this plan was reportedly scrapped because Raymond Burr expressed displeasure at the idea, taking the idea of Godzilla as a nuclear metaphor seriously. The only dialogue left over from that script was "That's quite an urban renewal program they've got going on over there," said by Major McDonahue. All of Burr's scenes were filmed in one day to suit his schedule. He was paid US$50,000. The reverse shots, of the actors he was speaking to, were filmed the next day, and the American filming was completed in three days. One of the most controversial changes done on the film was having Soviet Colonel Kashirin deliberately launch the nuclear missile rather than die in attempting to prevent its launch. Director R. J. Kizer later attributed this to New World's management's conservative leanings.

The newly edited film also contained numerous product placements for Dr Pepper, which had twice used Godzilla in its commercials. Dr Pepper's marketing director at one point insisted that Raymond Burr drink Dr Pepper during a scene, and the suggestion was put to the actor by Kizer. Burr reportedly responded by "[fixing] me with one of those withering glares and just said nothing."

1. ^ Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 341. ISBN 1461673747.

2. Kageyama, Yuri (2 January 1992). "Movie monster returns to stomping grounds". Alton Telegraph - via NewspaperArchive. In 1984, Toho decided to revive the quintessential Godzilla in all its vicious glory after a decade of silence. It grossed $14 million.

3. Aiken, Keith (May 19, 2016). "Exclusive: The Return of Godzilla Blu-ray & DVD Details from Kraken Releasing". Scifi Japan. Archived from the original on 2021-02-05.

4. ^ "EXTRA: The Return of Godzilla 30th / ゴジラ('84) 30周年スペシャル〜EXTRA〜 (SciFi JAPAN TV #36)", CHO Japan (December 11, 2014)

5. Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 156-161. ISBN 978-0-7864-47-49-7.

6. ^ Galvan, Patrick (August 30, 2018). "Urban Legends: "I Do Not Write Music For 80-meter Monsters!"". Toho Kingdom.

7. ^ Gillick, Steve (December 28, 2017). "Island Hopping in Tokyo". Canadian World Traveller Winter 2017-18 issue.

8. ^ Romero, Anthony (August 22, 2016). "Blu-ray: Godzilla 1984: The Return of Godzilla (Kraken Releasing)". Toho Kingdom.

9. ^ Ebert, Roger (September 20, 1985). "Godzilla 1985 movie review & film summary (1985) | Roger Ebert". Chicago Sun-Times.

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The Return of Godzilla is a 1984 Japanese kaiju film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 16th film in the Godzilla franchise, and the first film in the Heisei series.

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Godzilla 1985 is a 1985 film directed by R. J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto. The film is a heavily re-edited American localization of the Japanese film The Return of Godzilla, which was produced and distributed by Toho Pictures in 1984. In addition to the film being re-cut, re-titled, and dubbed in English, Godzilla 1985 featured additional footage produced by New World Pictures, with Raymond Burr reprising his role as American journalist Steve Martin from the 1956 film Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, which itself was a heavily re-edited American adaptation of the 1954 Japanese film .

Both the New World Pictures and Toho versions serve as direct sequels to the original 1954 Godzilla, with Godzilla 1985 also serving as a sequel to Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The same adaptation techniques used to produce Godzilla, King of the Monsters! were implemented with Godzilla 1985, with the original Japanese footage being dubbed and edited together with the American footage. The film retains the original musical score by Reijiro Koroku, while also integrating portions of the score for the 1985 Canadian film , composed by Christopher Young.

Godzilla 1985 was met with mostly unfavorable reviews upon its release in the United States. However, it had a minor cult success on home video. Like Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, much of the nuclear and political overtones featured in the original Japanese film were removed from the American version. Godzilla 1985 was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho to be distributed theatrically in the United States until the release of Godzilla 2000.

The Japanese fishing vessel Yahata Maru is trying to find its way to shore in a horrible storm, when a giant monster emerges from an eruption on a nearby uninhabited island and attacks the boat. A day later, reporter Goro Maki finds the vessel intact, along with its sole survivor Hiroshi "Kenny" Okumura.

The Japanese Prime Minister, Mitamura, is informed of the attack and that the monster is Godzilla; he orders that this be kept secret from the public. Maki's report is not published by his newspaper because it is "national security risk" and could cause mass panic. Maki is told to interview bio-physicist Hayashida instead. Maki finds Naoko, Okamura's sister working as a lab assistant to Hayashida and informs her that her brother is safe, against the government's orders. She rushes to the hospital.

Godzilla attacks and destroys a Soviet submarine. The Russians believe the attack was orchestrated by the Americans and the situation threatens to escalate into war. Mitamura is informed of the submarine attack and shown evidence that Godzilla was responsible. The media blackout is lifted and the Americans are absolved of blame. The Japanese arrange a meeting with the Soviet and American ambassadors. Prime Minister Mitamura decides nuclear weapons will not be allowed in Japanese territory even if Godzilla were to attack the Japanese mainland. The Americans balk at this, while the Soviets are in full agreement. However, a Soviet Navy officer secretly prepares a nuclear satellite, claiming Moscow has ordered this.

Godzilla appears on an island off the coast of Japan and attacks a nuclear power plant, removing the nuclear reactor and feeding off the radiation. Godzilla suddenly drops the reactor and follows a flock of birds back out to sea. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are deployed to wait for a possible attack by Godzilla at Tokyo Bay. General Kakura of the JSDF briefs the Japanese cabinet about a top-secret weapon known as the "Super-X attack plane" that can be used against Godzilla.

Through the use of "ultrasonic images", Hayashida determines that Godzilla's brain is bird-like, only mutated. Hayashida realizes that Godzilla has a conditioned response to birds chirping and suggests they duplicate the sound electronically. Hayashida assists the Japanese emergency task force and plans to lure Godzilla into Mt. Mihara's volcano by emitting bird sound frequencies. The Prime Minister authorizes both the JSDF plan and the plan to use the volcano against Godzilla.

Steve Martin is brought into the Pentagon to assist against Godzilla. Godzilla is sighted in Tokyo Bay, which is immediately evacuated. Godzilla proceeds to attack Tokyo and the JSDF launch the Super-X. In the attack, Godzilla sinks a Soviet merchant ship which was in actuality an intelligence collection vessel. Before dying of his injuries, the captain launches the nuclear missile.

The Pentagon prepares to assist the Japanese but Martin cautions that weapons will only confuse and antagonize Godzilla further. Hayashida uses the bird signaling device on Godzilla, which works initially, but before it can be tested further, Godzilla is attacked again by the JSDF. The Super-X arrives and defeats Godzilla with cadmium missiles. At that moment, the Soviet missile is detected by the Americans as it draws closer to Japan. When Washington warns that the blast will be 50 times that of the Hiroshima bombing Mitamura permits the Americans to make an interception attempt.

Hayashida and his signaling equipment are evacuated and sent to Mt. Mihara. The Americans launch a counter-missile and successfully intercept the Soviet missile. However, the nuclear blast fallout reawakens Godzilla and it destroys the Super-X. Hayashida relaunches the signal and lures Godzilla into the mouth of Mt. Mihara. Using explosive bombs to cause the mountain to erupt, Godzilla becomes imprisoned after falling into the volcano.

In early 1985, the trade papers reported that Toho was asking for several million dollars for the North American distribution rights for The Return of Godzilla, and that discussions had taken place with MGM/ United Artists and other studios. At one point, a Toho spokesman complained that the best offer ponied up (by an unnamed Hollywood studio) was in the $2 million range. The bidding war didn't last long, and Toho wound up getting far less money. By May, the new Godzilla film had been passed over by the majors and fallen instead into the hands of indie distributor New World Pictures.[citation needed ] New World's budget breakdown for Godzilla 1985 is as follows: $500,000 to lease the film from Toho, $200,000 for filming the new scenes and other revisions, and $2,500,000 for prints and advertising, adding up to a grand total of approximately $3,200,000.

After acquiring The Return of Godzilla for distribution in North America, New World put producer Tony Randel in charge of adapting the film for U.S. audiences. Randel and New World believed that The Return of Godzilla had so much inescapably "goofy" content that Americans would never take it seriously, and the only way to make it a success was by emphasizing its campiness. Their initial plan was to dub the Japanese footage into English in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner, and add in new scenes with American actors which would add the desired comic relief. Two screenwriters were recruited: Lisa Tomei wrote the script for the dub, and Straw Weisman wrote the script for the new scenes. Randel eventually decided to retitle the film Godzilla 1985, inspired by one of his childhood favorites, Frankenstein 1970.

Around ten minutes of new footage were added for the New World adaptation, most of it at The Pentagon. New World originally planned to tap Lorne Greene as the star of these new scenes, but Randel suggested that casting Raymond Burr would be a good homage to Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, as Burr had performed the same duty of starring in new American footage for that film. According to Randel, Burr was enthusiastic about the film when offered the role, but after being signed on he made several unusual demands. The new footage was shot over three days, but Burr was only on the set for the first day, and was adamant that he would work no more than eight hours, forcing the director to focus on shooting Burr only and save reaction shots for later. Burr also refused to memorize his lines, insisting that teleprompters be strategically positioned around the set instead, despite the logistical difficulties this presented for the crew. Burr also made clear that he took the concept of Godzilla as an anti-nuclear allegory seriously and would not treat it as a joke. Warren Kemmerling also refused to do comic material, though not out of respect for Godzilla, so the script was revamped to reassign all the comedic lines to Travis Swords.

Filming of the new footage was done at the Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles and a house in Malibu. The "war room" was a large montage of the war room from The Philadelphia Experiment, another film from the same studio.

The poster image was the same as for the Japanese version, but a green tinting was added to Godzilla's charcoal gray skin and the Soviet attack satellite in the upper right corner was removed.

Dr Pepper launched a US$10 million advertising campaign for the film. The soda brand is prominently featured in the new footage, such as a vending machine at The Pentagon.

Much of the original version was deleted or altered. Here is a partial list of the changes:[citation needed ]

Godzilla roars and the crew falls, whereas the audience sees Steve Martin after Godzilla roars.

Goro's fight with the giant sea louse; the louse's voice was changed.

The scene where Naoko learns her brother is alive; Goro snaps pictures of them reunited, which angers Naoko because she realizes he only helped her in order to get the scoop.

The meeting between the Japanese prime minister and the Russian and American ambassadors. Also deleted was a scene following the meeting in which the prime minister explains to his aides how he was able to reach a consensus with both sides. Furthermore, in the Americanized version, this scene appears before Godzilla's attack on the nuclear power plant, whereas in the Japanese version, the scene appears after Godzilla's attack.

Part of Christopher Young's score from Def Con 4 in several scenes (including Godzilla's attack on the Soviet submarine, the scene where the SDF armored division arrives in Tokyo Bay, and Okumura's near-death experience during the helicopter extraction in Tokyo).

Stock footage from Godzilla, King Of The Monsters was added as the Americans are talking about Godzilla's first appearance but mention that the attack happened in 1956 rather than 1954. (Godzilla, King Of The Monsters's release year was 1956.)

After the Super-X hits Godzilla with cadmium missiles, it lets out its Showa era roar before collapsing. This was not heard in "Return".

In the scene in which the vagabond helps himself to the food in a deserted restaurant, the distant sound of Godzilla's footsteps was added to the US version.

Almost all of Godzilla's rampage through Tokyo. Scenes of a crowd fleeing Godzilla that appeared later in the Japanese version were moved to an earlier point in the movie (and corresponding footage of them gathering around Godzilla after it is knocked out by the Super X was removed), the Super X fight was re-arranged (in the Japanese version, Godzilla fires its atomic ray at the Super X after being hit with cadmium missiles, not before), and various other scenes of destruction were either placed in a different order or deleted completely.

Godzilla's first attack on the nuclear power plant. The security guard who first sees Godzilla, is heard screaming as Godzilla walks overhead, implying he is stepped on by Godzilla, whereas no such scream is heard in Return.

Okumura's first name is changed to Kenny.

Godzilla's attack on the nuclear power plant is earlier in the story, before the discussion of the Super X and the defense of Tokyo, the opposite order of Return.

In the original film, the Americans are shown to be just as helpless as the Soviets when facing up against Godzilla, whereas in this version, they are given a far more heroic role, with great emphasis being placed on their launch of a nuclear missile to destroy a 'deliberately launched' Soviet missile, which was launched by accident in the original film.

All shots which employed a life-size replica of Godzilla's foot (mostly seen near the end); only one shot of the big foot crushing parked cars during the nuclear power plant scene was kept.

A shot of an American nuclear missile satellite in space.

Hayashada and Naoko making a wave generator.

Professor Hayashida showing Okumura photographs of Godzilla's 1954 attack and later discussing the mutant sea louse with an aide at the police hospital.

Goro calling his editor from an island.

In addition, the theatrical release (and most home video versions, plus the TV version) was accompanied by Marv Newland's short cartoon, Bambi Meets Godzilla.

The North American version, with the added Raymond Burr footage, runs 87 minutes, 16 minutes shorter than the Japanese version.

The closing narration, spoken by Raymond Burr, is as follows:

Nature has a way sometimes of reminding man of just how small he is. She occasionally throws up the terrible offspring of our pride and carelessness to remind us of how puny we really are in the face of a tornado, an earthquake or a Godzilla. The reckless ambitions of man are often dwarfed by their dangerous consequences. For now, Godzilla-that strangely innocent and tragic monster-has gone to earth. Whether he returns or not or is never again seen by human eyes, the things he has taught us remain.

Opening on August 23, 1985, in 235 North American theaters, the film grossed $509,502 ($2,168 per screen) in its opening weekend, on its way to a $4,116,710 total gross.

Over time, Godzilla 1985, though not a hit, was partially profitable for New World only with the addition of home video and television syndication (the film debuted on television on May 16, 1986).

It was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho to receive any major release in North American theaters until Godzilla 2000 fifteen years later.

Godzilla 1985 was negatively received by critics. Roger Ebert, who gave the film one star in the Chicago Sun-Times, argued that a film can only succeed as a " so bad it's good" experience if the filmmakers have made a sincere effort to create a good film, and pointed out evidence that the makers of Godzilla 1985 were instead deliberately trying to create a "so bad it's good" film, such as how the dialogue is consistently rather than occasionally awful, the conspicuous lack of synchronization in the lip-synching, and the inconsistency of Godzilla's size. He also derided Raymond Burr's scenes due to his character's lack of dramatic involvement with the plot. Tom Long of the Santa Cruz Sentinel similarly derided the inconsequentiality of Burr's role. While he considered the film more successful as a "so bad it's good" experience than Ebert did, he felt the appeal got old after the first half hour: "After that you start thinking about all the other things you could be doing instead of watching the same joke repeat itself for another hour."

Vincent Canby of the New York Times also panned the film. He focused mainly on how it failed to update either its themes or special effects from those seen in the 1950s Godzilla films, elaborating that Godzilla "still looks like a wind-up toy, one that moves like an arthritic toddler with a fondness for walking through teeny-tiny skyscrapers" and "What small story there is contains a chaste romance and lots of references to the lessons to be learned from 'this strangely innocent but tragic creature.'"

The film was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture and was also nominated for two Razzie Awards, including Worst Supporting Actor for Raymond Burr and Worst New Star for the new computerized Godzilla.

Godzilla 1985 has been released in the United States several times on VHS. The first was by New World in the mid-1980s. By March 1986, it had sold 90,000 units at $79.95 each in the United States, generating $7,195,500 in gross revenue and earning $4.5 million at wholesale. It was one of New World's most successful home video releases at the time.

The second was by Starmaker (under license by R&G Video) in 1992, and the third by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 1997. All VHS home video releases include the Bambi Meets Godzilla animated short. While The Return of Godzilla has been released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kraken Releasing, with an additional dubbed version for the international market, Godzilla 1985 has not been released on either format.

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Godzilla 1985 is a 1985 film directed by R. J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto. The film is a heavily re-edited American localization of the Japanese film The Return of Godzilla , which was produced and distributed by Toho Pictures in 1984.

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Godzilla vs. Biollante is a 1989 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Koichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise and the second film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film stars Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Megumi Odaka, Toru Minegishi, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Yoshiko Kuga, Ryunosuke Kaneda and Kōji Takahashi.

In the film, corporations struggle for control over samples of Godzilla's cells, while the monster itself battles a creature born from a combination of Godzilla's cells, the cells of a plant, and the cells of a woman. The idea originated from a public story-writing contest, and set a trend common to all Heisei era movies, in which Godzilla faces off against opponents capable of metamorphosing into new, progressively more powerful forms.

Godzilla vs. Biollante was released theatrically in Japan on December 16, 1989. It received a direct-to-video release in the United States on November 25, 1992 through HBO Video. Although it received generally positive reviews, the film was a disappointment at the Japanese box office. In Japan, it was followed by Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah in 1991.

In the aftermath of Godzilla's attack on Tokyo and later imprisonment at Mount Mihara in 1985, the monster's cells are secretly delivered to the Saradia Institute of Technology and Science, where they are to be merged with genetically modified plants in the hope of transforming Saradia's deserts into fertile land and ending the country's economic dependence on oil wells. Dr. Genshiro Shiragami and his daughter, Erika, are enlisted to aid with the project, but a terrorist bombing destroys the institute's laboratory, ruining the cells and killing Erika.

Five years later, Shiragami has returned to Japan and merged some of Erika's cells with those of a rose in an attempt to preserve her soul. Meanwhile, scientist Kazuhito Kirishima and Lieutenant Goro Gondo of the JSDF are using the Godzilla cells they collected to create "Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria" (ANEB), hoping it can serve as a weapon against Godzilla should it return. They attempt to recruit Shiragami to aid them, but are rebuffed. International tensions increase over the Godzilla cells, as they are coveted by both the Saradia Institute of Technology and Science and the American Bio-Major organization. An explosion from Mount Mihara causes tremors across the area, including Shiragami's home, badly damaging the roses. Shiragami agrees to join the JSDF's effort and is given access to the Godzilla cells, which he secretly merges with one of the roses. A night later, rival Bio-Major and Saradian agents break into Shiragami's lab, but are attacked by a large plant-like creature which later escapes to Lake Ashi and is named " Biollante" by Shiragami.

Bio-Major agents plant explosives around Mount Mihara and blackmail the Diet of Japan, warning the explosives will be detonated and thus free Godzilla if the cells are not handed over. Kirishima and Gondo attempt to trade, but Saradian agent SSS9 thwarts the attempt and escapes with the cells. The explosives are detonated, and Godzilla is released. Godzilla attempts to reach the nearest power plant to replenish its supply of nuclear energy, but Biollante calls out to Godzilla. Godzilla arrives at the lake to engage Biollante in a vicious battle, and emerges as the victor. Godzilla then proceeds toward the power plant at Tsuruga, but psychic Miki Saegusa uses her powers to divert it toward Osaka instead. The city is quickly evacuated before Godzilla makes landfall. A team led by Gondo meet Godzilla at the central district and fire rockets infused with the ANEB into its body. Gondo is killed in the process, and Godzilla leaves unharmed.

Kirishima recovers the cells and returns them to the JSDF. Shiragami theorizes that if Godzilla's body temperature is increased, the ANEB should work against him. The JSDF erects microwave-emitting plates during an artificial thunderstorm, hitting Godzilla with lightning and heating up its body temperature during a battle near the shores of Wakasa Bay. Godzilla is only moderately affected, but Biollante, having obtained a more powerful form, arrives to engage Godzilla in battle once again. After a long battle, the fight ends after Godzilla fires an atomic heat ray inside Biollante's mouth, severely injuring her. An exhausted Godzilla collapses on the beach as the bacterial infection finally takes hold, and Biollante splits apart into glowing spores which rise into the sky, forming an image of Erika among the stars. Shiragami, watching the scene, is shot by SSS9. Kirishima chases the assassin and, after a brief scuffle, SSS9 is killed by a microwave-emitting plate activated by Sho Kuroki. Godzilla reawakens and leaves for the ocean.

"The original idea was to find something that could match Godzilla's power and terror if we were bringing back Godzilla. But simply letting the monsters fight each other had been done many times and, clearly, there was a limit to it. So in order to bring back Godzilla properly we had to create an opponent that can fight properly. If there was something equivalent to the terror of nuclear power it must be the bio-technology [with] which human beings would manipulate life, because it can be very dangerous if it goes the wrong way, ethically, I guess. That's where I found the connection, so the idea of a monster [that] was created by biotechnology was born."

Tomoyuki Tanaka announced a sequel to The Return of Godzilla in 1985, but was skeptical of its possibilities, as the film had been of little financial benefit to Toho, and the failure of King Kong Lives following year convinced him that audiences were not ready for a continuation of the Godzilla series. He relented after the success of Little Shop of Horrors, and proceeded to hold a public story-writing contest for a possible script. In consideration of The Return of Godzilla's marginal success in Japan, Tanaka insisted that the story focus on a classic monster vs. monster theme. Tanaka handed the five finalist entries to director Kazuki Ōmori, despite the two's initially hostile relationship; the latter had previously held Tanaka responsible for the decline in the Godzilla series' quality during the 1970s. Ōmori chose the entry of dentist Shinichiro Kobayashi, who wrote his story with the hypothetical death of his daughter in mind.

Kobayashi's submission was notable for its emphasis on dilemmas concerning biotechnology rather than nuclear energy, and revolved around a scientist grieving for his deceased daughter and attempting to keep her soul alive by merging her genes with those of a plant. The scientist's initial experiments would have resulted in the creation of a giant rat-like amphibian called Deutalios, which would have landed in Tokyo Bay and been killed by Godzilla. A female reporter investigating the scientist's activities would have suffered from psychic visions of plants with humanoid faces compelling her to infiltrate the scientist's laboratory. The scientist would have later confessed his intentions, and the finale would have had Godzilla battling a human-faced Biollante who defeats him by searing his flesh with acid.

Ōmori proceeded to modify the story into a workable script over a period of three years, using his background as a biologist to create a plausible plot involving genetic engineering and botany. In order to preserve the series' anti-nuclear message, he linked the creation of Biollante to the use of Godzilla cells, and replaced Kobayashi's journalist character with Miki Saegusa. He openly admitted that directing a Godzilla film was secondary to his desire to make a James Bond movie, and thus added elements of the spy film genre into the plot. Unlike the case with later, more committee-driven Godzilla films, Ōmori was given considerable leeway in writing and directing the film, which Toho staff later judged to have been an error resulting in a movie with a very narrow audience.

Koichi Kawakita, who had previously worked for Tsuburaya Productions, replaced Teruyoshi Nakano as head of the series' special effects unit after Toho became impressed at his work in . Kawakita made use of Gunhed's special effects team Studio OX, and initially wanted to make Godzilla more animal-like, using crocodiles as references, but was berated by Tanaka, who declared Godzilla to be "a monster" rather than an animal. Kenpachiro Satsuma returned to portray Godzilla, hoping to improve his performance by making it less anthropomorphic than in previous films. Suitmaker Noboyuki Yasamaru created a Godzilla suit made specifically with Satsuma's measurements in mind, unlike the previous one which was initially built for another performer and caused Satsuma discomfort. The resulting 242 lb suit proved more comfortable than the last, having a lower center of gravity and more mobile legs. A second 176 lb suit was built for outdoor underwater scenes. The head's size was reduced, and the whites around the eyes removed. On the advice of story finalist Shinichiro Kobayashi, a double row of teeth was incorporated in the jaws. As with the previous film, animatronic models were used for close-up shots. These models were an improvement over the last, as they were made from the same molds used for the main costume, and included an articulated tongue and intricate eye motion. The suit's dorsal plates were filled with light bulbs for scenes in which Godzilla uses his atomic ray, thus lessening reliance on optical animation, though they electrocuted Satsuma the first time they were activated. Satsuma was also obliged to wear protective goggles when in the suit during scenes in which Godzilla battles the JSDF, as real explosives were used on set. The film was mainly shot at the Toho lot, although some filming occued on location at the East Fuji Maneuver Area.

Designing and building the Biollante props proved problematic, as traditional suitmation techniques made realizing the requested design of the creature's first form difficult, and the resulting cumbersome model for Biollante's final form was met with disbelief from the special effects team. Biollante's first form was performed by Masao Takegami, who sat within the model's trunk area on a platform just above water level. While the creature's head movements were simple to operate, its vines were controlled by an intricate array of overhead wires which proved difficult for Satsuma to react to during combat scenes as they offered no tension, thus warranting Satsuma to feign receiving blows from them, despite not being able to perceive them. Biollante's final form was even more difficult to operate, as its vine network took hours to rig up on set. Visibility in both the Godzilla and final form Biollante suits was poor, thus causing difficulties for Takegami in aiming the creature's head when firing sap, which permanently stained anything it landed on.

While it was initially decided to incorporate stop motion animation into the film, the resulting sequences were scrapped, as Kawakita felt they failed to blend in with the live-action footage effectively. The film however became the first of its kind to use CGI, though its usage was limited to scenes involving computer generated schematics. The original cut of the movie had the first battle culminating in Biollante's spores falling around the hills surrounding Lake Ashino and blooming into fields of flowers, though this was removed as the flowers were out of scale.

Unlike the previous film, Godzilla vs. Biollante incorporates themes from Akira Ifukube's original Godzilla theme, though the majority of the soundtrack was composed of original themes by Koichi Sugiyama. The score was orchestrated by conductor David Howell through the Kansai Philarmonic, though Howell himself had never viewed the movie, and thus was left to interpret what the scenes would consist of when conducting the orchestra.

After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company named Omni Productions to dub the film into English.

In early 1990, Toho entered discussions with Miramax to distribute the film. When talks broke off, Toho filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Federal Court, accusing Miramax of entering an oral agreement in June to pay Toho $500,000 to distribute the film. This lawsuit delayed the film's release for two years. An out of court settlement was reached with Miramax buying the rights to the film for an unreported figure. Miramax would have entertained thoughts of releasing the film in theaters, but in the end it was decided to release the film straight to home video instead. HBO released the film on VHS in 1992 and Laserdisc in 1993. Miramax utilized the uncut English international version of the film for this release.

Godzilla vs. Biollante was released on VHS by HBO Home Video on November 25, 1992. It was later relicensed by Miramax and released on Blu-ray and DVD by Echo Bridge on December 4, 2012. It was released as a double feature and 8-disk movie pack on both Blu-ray and DVD with Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009) by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in 2013. It was last released by Lionsgate on Blu-ray and DVD on October 7, 2014.

In 2021, Toho premiered a 4K remaster of the film on the Nippon Classic Movie Channel, along with seven other Godzilla films also remastered in 4K. The film was downscaled to 2K for broadcast.

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it.

In Japan, the film sold approximately 2 million tickets,[citation needed ] grossing ¥1.04 billion.

Godzilla vs. Biollante has received positive reviews, with praise for the story, music and visuals. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said the film is "by no means a classic" but felt that "for the first time in well over 20 years, a [Godzilla] script is presented with some fresh, original ideas and themes." Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood said the film's music is "a major detraction", but added that it's "not only one of the most imaginative films in the series, but also the most enjoyable to watch." Japan Hero said, "[T]his is definitely a Godzilla movie not to be missed."

In their scholarly book Japan's Green Monsters on kaiju cinema, Rhoads and McCorkle offer an ecocritical assessment of Godzilla vs. Biollante. The scholars focus on the film's critique of genetic engineering and biotechnology years before the subject appeared in more popular Hollywood blockbusters like Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. Rhoads and McCorkle counter prior reviews of the film and argue that Godzilla vs. Biollante possesses far deeper environmental messages than the obvious ones present on the film's surface.

In July 2014, in a poll reported by the Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corporation, Godzilla vs. Biollante was selected as the best Godzilla film by a group of fans and judges.

Composer Akira Ifukube, who had refused to compose the film's score, stated on interview that he disliked the way Koichi Sugiyama had modernized his Godzilla theme, and defined the Saradia theme as "ridiculous", on account of it sounding more European than Middle Eastern.

1. ^ Ryfle, S. (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 251-58. ISBN 1550223488.

2. ^ Year given on the plaque of the Godzilla Memorial Lounge shown in the film

3. ^ "Making of Godzilla vs. Biollante", Godzilla vs Biollante [DVD] Echo Bridge (2012)

4. ^ Kalat, D. (2010), A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series, McFarland, p. 169-78, ISBN 978-0-7864-47-49-7

5. ^ Amazon.com: Godzilla Vs Biollante [VHS]: Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka, Masanobu Takashima, Kōji Takahashi, Tōru Minegishi, Megumi Odaka, Toshiyuki Nagashima, Ryūnosuke Kaneda, Kazuma Matsubara, Yoshiko Kuga, Yasunori Yuge, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Katsuhiro Kato, Kazuki Ohmori, Michiko Ikeda, Shogo To. ISBN 0783103107.

6. ^ "Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) - Kazuki Omori". Allmovie.com. AllMovie.

7. ^ "『ゴジラ』シリーズ　4Kデジタルリマスター　最恐画質　8ヶ月連続放送". Nihon-eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 26, 2022.

8. ^ Rhoads, Sean; McCorkle, Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476663906.

9. ^ Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corp. (2014). "THE BEST ゴジラ総選挙 詳細レポート!". 総力特集・ゴジラ (in Japanese). Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corp. Archived from the original on 2014-08-17.

10. ^ Milner, David (December 1992). "Akira Ifukube Interview I". Kaiju Conversations. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23.

Bibliography

Rhoads & McCorkle, Sean & Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland. ISBN 9781476663906.

Anon (2015), ゴジラvsビオランテ コンプリーション [Godzilla vs. Biollante Completion], Hobby Japan, ISBN 978-4798611372

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Godzilla vs. Biollante is a 1989 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Koichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 17th film in the Godzilla franchise and the second film in the franchise's Heisei period.

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Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a 1991 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. The film, produced and distributed by Toho Studios, is the 18th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the third film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and King Ghidorah, and stars Kōsuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi, Yoshio Tsuchiya, and Robert Scott Field. In the film, time-travelers' from the future warn Japan to prevent Godzilla's mutation, only to reveal their true motives by unleashing a three-headed dragon that terrorizes the nation.

The production crew of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah remained largely unchanged from that of the previous film in the series, Godzilla vs. Biollante. Because the previous installment was a box office disappointment, due to a lack of child viewership and alleged competition with the Back to the Future franchise, the producers of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah were compelled to create a film with more fantasy elements, along with time travel.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was the first Godzilla film since 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla to feature a newly orchestrated score by Akira Ifukube. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 14, 1991, and was followed by Godzilla vs. Mothra the following year. It was released direct-to-video in North America in 1998 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. Though Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah was more financially successful than Godzilla vs. Biollante, the film attracted controversy outside Japan due to its perceived Japanese nationalist themes.

In 1992, Godzilla is still weakened after being infected by the ANEB (Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria). Meanwhile, science fiction author Kenichiro Terasawa is writing a book about the monster and learns of a group of Japanese soldiers stationed on Lagos Island during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. In February 1944, while threatened by American forces, the Japanese soldiers were saved by a mysterious dinosaur, which Terasawa theorizes was subsequently mutated into Godzilla in 1954 after a hydrogen bomb test on the island. Yasuaki Shindo, a wealthy businessman and army veteran who commanded the Lagos Garrison, confirms that the dinosaur did indeed exist.

Meanwhile, a UFO lands on Mount Fuji. When the JSDF investigates, they are greeted by Wilson, Grenchiko, Emmy Kano, and the android M-11. The visitors, known as the "Futurians", explain that they are from the year 2303, where Godzilla has completely destroyed Japan. The Futurians plan to travel back in time to 1944 and remove the dinosaur from Lagos Island before the island is irradiated, thus preventing the mutation of the creature into Godzilla. As proof of their story, Emmy presents a copy of Terasawa's book, which has not yet been completed in the present.

The Futurians, Terasawa, Miki Saegusa, and Professor Mazaki, board a time shuttle and travel back to 1944 to Lagos Island. There, as American forces land and engage the Japanese forces commanded by Shindo, the dinosaur attacks and kills the American soldiers. The U.S. Navy then bombs the dinosaur from the sea and gravely wounds it. After Shindo and his men leave the island, M-11 teleports the dinosaur from Lagos Island to the Bering Strait. Before returning to 1992, the Futurians secretly leave three small creatures called Dorats on Lagos Island, which are exposed to radiation from the hydrogen bomb test in 1954 and merge to become King Ghidorah. After returning to 1992, the Futurians use King Ghidorah to subjugate Japan and issue an ultimatum, but Japan refuses to surrender.

Feeling sympathy for the Japanese people, Emmy reveals to Terasawa the truth behind the Futurians' mission: in the future, Japan is an economic superpower that has surpassed the United States, Russia, and China. The Futurians traveled back in time in order to change history and prevent Japan's future economic dominance by creating King Ghidorah and using it to destroy present-day Japan. At the same time, they also planned to erase Godzilla from history so that it would not pose a threat to their plans. After M-11 brings Emmy back to the UFO, she reprograms the android so it will help her.

Shindo plans to send his nuclear submarine to the Bering Strait and irradiate the dinosaur in order to recreate Godzilla. However, Terasawa discovers too late that a Russian nuclear submarine sank there in the 1970s and released enough radiation to mutate the dinosaur into Godzilla. En route to the Bering Strait, Shindo's submarine is destroyed by Godzilla, who absorbs its radiation, recovers from the ANEB and becomes larger. Godzilla arrives in Japan and is met by King Ghidorah. They fight at equal strength, each immune to the other's attacks. With M-11 and Terasawa's aid, Emmy sabotages the UFO's control over King Ghidorah, causing the three-headed monster to lose focus during the battle. Godzilla eventually ends the battle by blasting off Ghidorah's middle head. Before sending King Ghidorah crashing into the ocean, Godzilla destroys the UFO, killing Wilson and Grenchiko. It then turns its attention to Tokyo, destroying the city and killing Shindo.

Emmy travels to the future with M-11 and returns to the present day with Mecha-King Ghidorah, a cybernetic version of King Ghidorah. The cybernetic Ghidorah blasts Godzilla with beams, which proves useless. Godzilla then counters by relentlessly blasting Ghidorah with its atomic breath before Ghidorah launches clamps to restrain Godzilla. Ghidorah carries Godzilla out of Japan, but Godzilla breaks from its restraints and causes Ghidorah to send both crashing into the ocean. Emmy then returns to the future, but not before informing Terasawa that she is his descendant.

At the bottom of the ocean, Godzilla awakens and roars over Mecha-King Ghidorah's remains before swimming away.

Conception

Although the previously filmed Godzilla vs. Biollante had been the most expensive Godzilla film produced at the time, its low audience attendance and loss of revenue convinced executive producer and Godzilla series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka to revitalize the series by bringing back iconic monsters from pre-1984 Godzilla movies, specifically Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah.

Godzilla vs. Biollante director and writer Kazuki Ōmori had initially hoped to start a standalone series centered on Mothra, and was in the process of rewriting a 1990 script for the unrealized film Mothra vs. Bagan. The film was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that, unlike Godzilla, Mothra would have been a difficult character to market overseas. The planning stages for a sequel to Godzilla vs. Biollante were initially hampered by Tanaka's deteriorating health, thus prompting the takeover of Shōgo Tomiyama as producer. The new producer felt that the financial failure of Godzilla vs. Biollante was due to the plot being too sophisticated for child audiences, and thus intended to return some of the fantasy elements of the pre-1984 Godzilla films to the series. Ōmori himself blamed the lackluster performance of Godzilla vs. Biollante on competition with Back to the Future Part II, and thus concluded that audiences wanted plots involving time travel. His approach to the film also differed from Godzilla vs. Biollante in his greater emphasis on developing the personalities of the monsters rather than the human characters.

Akira Ifukube agreed to compose the film's score on the insistence of his daughter, after as he was dissatisfied with the way his compositions had been treated in Godzilla vs. Biollante.

Special effects

The Godzilla suits used in Godzilla vs. Biollante were reused in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, though with slight modifications. The original suit used for land-based and full body shots had its head replaced with a wider and flatter one, and the body cut in half. The upper half was used in scenes where Godzilla emerges from the sea and during close-ups during the character's first fight with King Ghidorah. The suit used previously for scenes set at sea was modified with rounder shoulders, a more prominent chest, and an enhanced face, and was used throughout the majority of the film's Godzilla scenes.

The redesigned King Ghidorah featured much more advanced wirework puppetry than its predecessors, and effects team leader Koichi Kawakita designed the "Godzillasaurus" as a more paleontologically accurate-looking dinosaur than Godzilla itself as a nod to American filmmakers aspiring to direct their own Godzilla films with the intention of making the monster more realistic. Ōmori's original draft specified that the dinosaur that would become Godzilla was a Tyrannosaurus, though this was rejected by creature designer Shinji Nishikawa, who stated that he "couldn't accept that a tyrannosaur could become Godzilla". The final suit combined features of Tyrannosaurus with Godzilla, and real octopus blood was used during the bombardment scene. Because the Godzillasaurus' arms were much smaller than Godzilla's, suit performer Wataru Fukuda had to operate them with levers within the costume. The creature's distress calls were recycled Gamera cries.

The Columbia/TriStar Home Video DVD version was released in 1998 as a single disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Mothra. The picture was full frame (1.33:1) [NTSC] and the audio in English (2.0). There were no subtitles. Extras included the trailer for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Mothra.

The Sony Blu-ray version was released on May 6, 2014 as a two-disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Mothra. The picture was MPEG-4 AVC (1.85:1) [1080p] and the audio was in Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0). Subtitles were added in English, English SDH and French. Extras included the theatrical trailer and three teasers in HD with English subtitles.

Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood said "This entry in the popular monster series is a disappointing and flawed effort unworthy of the "Godzilla" name." Film historian and critic David Kalat wrote "Despite its shortcomings, illogic, and overpopulated cast, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is crammed full of ideas, richly visualized innovations, a genuine spirit of fun, and some of the most complex emotional manipulation ever to grace the series."

Controversy

The film was considered controversial at the time of its release, being contemporary to a period of economic tension between America and Japan, but mainly due to its fictional World War II depictions. Gerald Glaubitz of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association appeared alongside director Kazuki Ōmori on Entertainment Tonight and condemned the film as being in "very poor taste" and detrimental to American-Japanese relations. Ishirō Honda also criticized Ōmori, stating that the scene in which Godzilla attacks and crushes American G.I.s went "too far". Conversely, Godzilla historian Steve Ryfle said American media reports of supposed anti-Americanism "weren't really thought-provoking or insightful." Ōmori has denied all such allegations, stating that the American extras in the film had been "happy about being crushed and squished by Godzilla." Commenting on the controversy in 2006, Ōmori stated:

I am not anti-American. I love American movies, and I've always watched American movies. Most American movies are, in the same sense, made the way I made my movie. I just wanted to make a movie with American army people in it, and to put the rumors to rest, I am not anti-American. I love American war movies, but looking at all the ones I've watched over the years, Americans never lose. And so I thought they should lose at least once! Why don't the Americans ever lose?!

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Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is a 1991 Japanese kaiju film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. The film, produced and distributed by Toho Studios, is the 18th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the third film in the franchise's Heisei period.

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This article is about the 1992 film. For the 1964 film, see Mothra vs. Godzilla.

Godzilla vs. Mothra

Theatrical release poster by Noriyoshi Ohrai

Directed by | Takao Okawara
Screenplay by | Kazuki Ōmori[1]
Produced by | Shogo Tomiyama[1]

Starring

Tetsuya Bessho

Satomi Kobayashi

Takehiro Murata

Megumi Odaka

Cinematography | Masahiro Kishimoto[1]
Edited by | Miho Yoneda
Music by | Akira Ifukube[1]

Production
company

Toho[1]

Distributed by | Toho

Release date

December 12, 1992 (Japan)

Running time

102 minutes[1]

Country | Japan

Languages

Japanese
English

Box office | ¥3.77 billion[2]

Godzilla vs. Mothra (ゴジラvsモスラ, Gojira tai Mosura, also known as Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth)[3] is a 1992 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Kazuki Ōmori, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 19th film in the Godzilla franchise, and is the fourth film in the franchise's Heisei era. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Mothra, and Battra, and stars Tetsuya Bessho, Satomi Kobayashi, Takehiro Murata, Megumi Odaka, Shiori Yonezawa, Makoto Otake, Akiji Kobayashi, Koichi Ueda, Shinya Owada, Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa, Saburo Shinoda and Akira Takarada, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla. The plot follows Battra and Mothra's attempts to stop Godzilla from attacking Yokohama.

Originally conceived as a standalone Mothra film entitled Mothra vs. Bagan, the film is notable for its return to a more fantasy-based, family-oriented atmosphere, evocative of older Godzilla films. Although he did not return as director, Ōmori continued his trend of incorporating Hollywood elements into his screenplay, in this case nods to the Indiana Jones franchise.[4]

Godzilla vs. Mothra was released theatrically in Japan on December 12, 1992, and was followed by Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II the following year. Godzilla vs. Mothra was released direct-to-video in the United States in 1998 by Columbia Tristar Home Video under the title Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth. The film was the second highest-grossing film in Japan in 1993, with Jurassic Park being the highest-grossing.[4]

Plot[edit]

Battra, as it appears in the film.

In mid-1992, following the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, a meteoroid crashes in the Ogasawara Trench and awakens Godzilla. Six months later, explorer Takuya Fujito is detained after stealing an ancient artifact. Later, a representative of the Japanese Prime Minister offers to have Takuya's charges dropped if he explores Infant Island with his ex-wife, Masako Tezuka and Kenji Ando, the secretary of the rapacious Marutomo company. After the trio arrives on the island, they find a cave containing a depiction of two giant insects in battle. Further exploration leads them to a giant egg and a pair of diminutive humanoids called the Cosmos, who identify the egg as belonging to Mothra.

The Cosmos tell of an ancient civilization that tried to control the Earth's climate 12,000 years ago, thus provoking the Earth into creating Battra. Battra, a male divine moth similar to Mothra, but much more fearsome in appearance, destroyed the civilisation and their weather-controlling device but then became uncontrollable, and started to harm the very planet that created him. Mothra was then sent by the Earth to fight Battra, who eventually lost. The Cosmos explain how the meteoroid uncovered Mothra's egg, and may have awoken Battra, who is still embittered over humanity's interference in the Earth's natural order.

The Marutomo company sends a freighter to Infant Island to pick up the egg, ostensibly to protect it. As they are sailing, Godzilla surfaces and heads toward the newly hatched Mothra larva. Battra, also as a larva, soon appears and joins the fight, allowing Mothra to retreat. The battle between Godzilla and Battra is eventually taken underwater, where the force of the battle causes a giant crack on the Philippine Sea Plate that swallows the two.

Masako and Takuya later discover Ando's true intentions when he kidnaps the Cosmos and takes them to Marutomo headquarters, where the CEO intends to use them for publicity purposes. Mothra enters Tokyo in an attempt to rescue the Cosmos, but is attacked by the JSDF. The wounded Mothra heads for the National Diet Building and starts constructing a cocoon around herself. Meanwhile, Godzilla surfaces from Mount Fuji, while Battra frees himself from the Earth's crust and continues towards Japan.

Both Mothra and Battra attain their imago forms and converge at Yokohama Cosmo World where they begin to fight once more. Godzilla interrupts the battle and attacks Mothra, but Battra comes to her aid and briefly incapacitates Godzilla. Regrouping, the two moths decide to join forces against Godzilla, determining him to be the greater threat to the planet. Eventually, Mothra and Battra overwhelm Godzilla and carry it over the ocean. Godzilla bites Battra's neck and fires its atomic breath into the wound, killing him. A tired Mothra drops Godzilla and the lifeless Battra into the water below, sealing Godzilla below the surface by creating a mystical glyph with scales from her wings. The next morning, the Cosmos explain that Battra had been waiting many years to destroy an even larger asteroid that would threaten the Earth in 1999. Mothra had promised she would stop the future collision if Battra were to die, and she and the Cosmos leave Earth as the humans bid farewell.

Cast[edit]

Tetsuya Bessho as Takuya Fujito (藤戸 拓也, Fujito Takuya)

Satomi Kobayashi as Masako Tezuka (手塚 雅子)

Takehiro Murata as Kenji Ando (安東 健二, Ando Kenji)

Keiko Imamura and Sayaka Osawa as the Cosmos (コスモス, Kosumosu)

Saburo Shinoda as Professor Shigeki Fukazawa (深沢 重樹, Fukazawa Shigeki)

Akiji Kobayashi as Ryuzo Dobashi (土橋 竜三, Dobashi Ryuzo)

Megumi Odaka as Miki Saegusa (三枝 未希, Saegusa Miki)

Akira Takarada as Joji Minamino (南野 丈二, Minamino Joji)

Makoto Otake as Takeshi Tomokane

Shiori Yonezawa as Midori Tezuka

Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla

Hurricane Ryu as the Battra larva

Production[edit]

The idea of shooting a movie featuring a revamped Mothra dated back to a screenplay written in 1980 by Akira Murao entitled Mothra vs. Bagan, which revolved around a vengeful dragon called Bagan who sought to destroy humanity for its abuse of the Earth's resources, only to be defeated by Mothra, the goddess of peace. The screenplay was revised by Kazuki Ōmori after the release of Godzilla vs. Biollante, though the project was ultimately scrapped by Toho, under the assumption that Mothra was a character born purely out of Japanese culture, and thus would have been difficult to market overseas unlike the more internationally recognized Godzilla.[5]

After the success of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, producer Shōgo Tomiyama and Godzilla series creator Tomoyuki Tanaka proposed resurrecting King Ghidorah in a film entitled Ghidorah's Counterattack, but relented when polls demonstrated that Mothra was more popular with women, who comprised the majority of Japan's population. Tomiyama replaced Ōmori with Takao Okawara as director, but maintained Ōmori as screenwriter. Hoping to maintain as much of Mothra vs. Bagan as possible, Ōmori reconceptualized Bagan as Badora, a dark twin to Mothra. The character was later renamed Battra (a portmanteau of "battle" and "Mothra"), as the first name was disharmonious in Japanese. Tomiyama had intended to feature Mothra star Frankie Sakai, but was unable to because of scheduling conflicts. The final battle between Godzilla, Mothra and Battra was originally meant to have a more elaborate conclusion; as in the final product, Godzilla would have been transported to sea, only to kill Battra and plunge into the ocean. However, the site of their fall would have been the submerged, Stonehenge-like ruins of the Cosmos civilization, which would have engulfed and trapped Godzilla with a forcefield activated by Mothra.[4]

Ishirō Honda, who directed the first Godzilla film and many others, visited the set shortly before dying.[4]

Special effects[edit]

Koichi Kawakita continued his theme of giving Godzilla's opponents the ability to metamorphose, and had initially intended to have Mothra killed off, only to be reborn as the cybernetic moth MechaMothra, though this was scrapped early in production, thus making Godzilla vs. Mothra the first post-1984 Godzilla movie to not feature a mecha contraption. The underwater scenes were filmed through an aquarium filled with fish set between the performers and the camera. Kawakita's team constructed a new Godzilla suit from previously used molds,[4] though it was made slimmer than previous suits, the neck given more prominent ribbing, and the arrangement of the character's dorsal plates was changed so that the largest plate was placed on the middle of the back. The arms were more flexible at the biceps, and the face was given numerous cosmetic changes; the forehead was reduced and flattened, the teeth scaled down, and the eyes given a golden tint. The head was also electronically modified to allow more vertical mobility.[6] Filming the Godzilla scenes was hampered when the suit previously used for Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which was needed for some stunt-work, was stolen from Toho studios, only to be recovered at Lake Okutama in bad condition.[4] The remains of the suit were recycled for the first battle sequence.[6] Godzilla's roar was reverted to the high-pitched shriek from pre-1984 Godzilla films, while Battra's sound effects were recycled from those of Rodan.[4] In designing Battra, which the script described as a "black Mothra", artist Shinji Nishikawa sought to distance its design from Mothra's by making its adult form more similar to its larval one than is the case with Mothra, and combining Mothra's two eyes into one.[7]

Release[edit]

Godzilla vs. Mothra was released in Japan on December 12, 1992 where it was distributed by Toho.[1] The film sold approximately 4,200,000 tickets in Japan, becoming the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in the period that included the year 1993. It earned ¥2.22 billion in distribution income,[8] and grossed ¥3.77 billion in total.[2]

The film was released in the United States as Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth on April 28, 1998 on home video by Columbia TriStar Home Video.[1]

Critical reaction[edit]

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes has a 75% approval rating from critics, based on 8 reviews with an average score of 6.3/10.[9] Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "Rushed into production but a few months after Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, this film is unable to hide its hurried nature [but] effects-wise, the film makes up for the story's shortcomings and then some."[10] Japan Hero said, "While this movie is not the best of the Heisei series, it is still a really interesting movie. The battles are cool, and Battra was an interesting idea. If you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it."[11]

Stomp Tokyo said the film is "one of the better Godzilla movies in that the scenes in which monsters do not appear actually make some sort of sense. And for once, they are acted with some gusto, so that we as viewers can actually come to like the characters on screen, or at least be entertained by them."[12] Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said the film "[does] not live up to its potential", but added that "[its] colorful and elaborate spectacle eventually won [him] over" and "the main story thread dealing with the eventual reconciliation of the divorced couple adequately holds the human plot together."[13][unreliable source?]

Home media[edit]

The film was released by Sony on Blu-ray in The Toho Godzilla Collection on May 6, 2014.[14]

Awards[edit]

Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result
1993 | Tokyo Sports Movie Awards | Best Leading Actor | Tetsuya Bessho | Won
1993 Best Grossing Films Award | Golden Award and Money-Making Star Award | Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth | Won
1993 Awards of The Japanese Academy[15][better source needed] | Newcomer of the Year | Keiko Imamura, Sayaka Osawa | Won
Best Music Score | Akira Ifukube | Nominated
Best Supporting Actor | Takehiro Murata | Nominated

References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Galbraith IV 2008, p. 381.

2. ^ a b "『ゴジラVSモスラ』の詳細情報". Eiga Ranking. Retrieved 18 February 2019.

3. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 279.

4. ^ a b c d e f g Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 184–90. ISBN 978-0-7864-47-49-7.

5. ^ Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 179–183. ISBN 978-0-7864-47-49-7.

6. ^ a b Robert Biondi, "The Evolution of Godzilla – G-Suit Variations Throughout the Monster King's Twenty One Films", G-FAN #16 (July/August 1995)

7. ^ David Milner, "Shinji Nishikawa Interview", Kaiju Conversations (December 1995) davmil.org

8. ^ "Kako haikyū shūnyū jōi sakuhin 1993-nen" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

9. ^ "Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 28, 2016.

10. ^ Ed Godziszewski, "Godzilla vs. Mothra", Monster Zero Archived June 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

11. ^ [1] Archived January 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

12. ^ "Stomp Tokyo Video Reviews - Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)". Stomptokyo.com. Retrieved 2015-07-25.

13. ^ "American Kaiju: Mike Bogue's Articles and Reviews: Godzilla vs. Mothra". Americankaiju.kaijuphile.com. 1992-12-12. Retrieved 2015-07-25.

14. ^ "Blu-ray Reviews "The Toho Godzilla Collection"". 30 April 2014.

15. ^ "Awards of the Japanese Academy (1993)".

Bibliography[edit]

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

External links[edit]

"ゴジラvsモスラ (Gojira tai Mosura)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-19.

Godzilla vs. Mothra at IMDb

Godzilla vs. Mothra at AllMovie

Godzilla vs. Mothra on Wikizilla

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This article is about the 1992 film. For the 1964 film, see Mothra vs. Godzilla.

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(ゴジラvsメカゴジラ , Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Gojira tai Mekagojira, released in Japan as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla), is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 20th film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the fifth film to be released during the franchise's Heisei era. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla, along with Baby Godzilla and the mecha character Mechagodzilla. Despite its Japanese and English titles, the film is not a sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was released theatrically in Japan on December 11, 1993. The film was a commercial success, generating a combined $194,000,000 (equivalent to $364,000,000 in 2021) from the box office, book sales and merchandise sales by 1994. It was released directly to pay-per-view satellite television in the United States in 1998 by Sony Pictures Television. The film was promoted as the last film in the franchise's Heisei series, and was also promoted by a children's television program called Adventure! Godzilland 2. Although Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was not the final entry in the Heisei series, as it was followed by Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla in 1994, Toho producers initially wished to avoid competing with TriStar's then-upcoming Godzilla reboot.

In 1992, following the events of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, the United Nations establishes the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (UNGCC) to stop Godzilla. Their military branch, G-Force, salvages Mecha-King Ghidorah's remains and reverse engineers them to build two anti-Godzilla machines: an aerial gunship called Garuda and a mecha modeled after Godzilla called Mechagodzilla.

Two years later, while on a mission to Adona Island, a Japanese team comes across what they assume is a large Pteranodon egg, which gives off a telepathic signal that attracts Godzilla and Rodan, an adult Pteranodon irradiated by nuclear waste. Godzilla critically wounds Rodan during the ensuing battle while the research team escapes with the egg. It is taken to a research center in Kyoto, where it imprints on a young female scientist. When a Baby Godzilla hatches from the egg, the research team concludes that the egg was left in the Pteranodon nest with Rodan in a manner similar to the brood parasitism displayed by European cuckoos. Godzilla appears, once again responding to the creature's psychic call. The JSDF mobilizes Mechagodzilla, which intercepts Godzilla as it is heading to Kyoto. The two battle, with Mechagodzilla initially having the upper hand until Godzilla disables the robot with an energy pulse. Godzilla continues searching for Baby, but the scientists, having discovered the telepathic link between the monsters, shield it from Godzilla. Frustrated, it destroys most of Kyoto before returning to the ocean.

Tests on the baby reveal that it has a second brain in its hips that controls the animal's movement. The UNGCC assumes that this also holds true for Godzilla, and decide to use Baby to bait Godzilla into another fight with Mechagodzilla. The "G-Crusher" is installed into Mechagodzilla, which will allow the robot to penetrate Godzilla's hide and destroy its second brain. Young psychic Miki Saegusa is ordered to become a part of Mechagodzilla's crew to locate Godzilla's second brain. While she is reluctant due to her mental connection with Godzilla, she agrees. The plan backfires when Rodan, having survived its battle with Godzilla and further mutated by radiation, responds to Baby's call and intercepts the UNGCC transport.

In response, they send Mechagodzilla and Garuda after Rodan instead, which mortally wound it. Godzilla arrives soon after and attacks Mechagodzilla. The fight is evenly matched until Mechagodzilla combines with Garuda to become Super-Mechagodzilla and use the G-Crusher to successfully paralyze Godzilla. Suddenly, the dying Rodan, revived by Baby's call, begins flying towards it, but is shot down by Super-Mechagodzilla, crashing atop Godzilla. Rodan's life force regenerates Godzilla's second brain and supercharges the monster. Now more powerful than before, Godzilla attacks and destroys Super-Mechagodzilla with a high-powered, spiral-shaped atomic ray.

Godzilla locates Baby, who is initially afraid of the giant. Miki telepathically communicates with Baby, convincing it to go with Godzilla. The two monsters head out to the sea.

The fifth film in the Heisei series of Godzilla movies was originally meant to be the last, in order to avoid competing with the upcoming TriStar American Godzilla reboot film and to honor the recent passing of Ishirō Honda. Toho had initially wanted to produce a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla, but were unable to acquire the rights to use the King Kong character from Universal Pictures. When that project was scrapped, Toho considered pitting Godzilla against Mechani-Kong, a mecha first introduced in King Kong Escapes. The plot would have involved Mechani-Kong sporting syringes containing G-Force special forces which would have been injected into Godzilla's bloodstream in a manner similar to Fantastic Voyage, though the project was abandoned, as obtaining the rights to a monster even bearing the semblance of King Kong proved too costly.

Producers Tomoyuki Tanaka and Shōgo Tomiyama felt that reviving Mechagodzilla was a logical next step for the series after the successful reintroduction of King Ghidorah and Mothra to contemporary audiences. Furthermore, effects artist Koichi Kawakita had already demonstrated his competence in designing and creating mecha contraptions like the Super XII, Mecha-King Ghidorah, and the machines featured in . The decision to reintroduce Minilla (rechristened as Baby Godzilla) was made in order to appeal to the largely female audience that made Godzilla vs. Mothra a financial success, despite objections by director Takao Okawara, who held a low opinion of the 1960s movies the character had previously been featured in. In the original ending for the film, Godzilla destroys Garuda but is killed by Mechagodzilla. Garuda's nuclear reactor explodes and resurrects the King of the Monsters. Another ending was considered in which Godzilla's escaping life energy mutates Baby Godzilla into a new adult Godzilla.

Toho promoted the film as Akira Ifukube's last performance as composer, and aired the children's program Adventure Godzilla-land, which portrayed Godzilla and Mechagodzilla as rival news anchors reporting on the events of the upcoming movie, as well as featuring the dance routine "Be like Godzilla". Shortly after the movie was released, Toho further promoted the film's merchandise by opening a Godzilla-themed simulation ride in Sanrio Puroland called "Monster Planet of Godzilla", which featured Megumi Odaka as the captain of a spacecraft which lands on a planet inhabited by Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, who are then accidentally transported to contemporary Tokyo.

Kawakita made more extensive use of CGI than in previous Godzilla movies he worked on, and made an effort for the featured monsters to be less reliant on energy beams during battle sequences, particularly Rodan, who was portrayed via handpuppets and marionettes rather than through suitmation. Baby Godzilla was performed by series veteran Hurricane Ryu, and was designed to look much more dinosaur-like than his previous incarnation. Mechagodzilla was redesigned to be much less angular in form, and was performed by Wataru Fukuda. The Mechagodzilla suit itself consisted of multiple separate elements which Fukuda wore like plate armor. Kawakita originally envisioned Mechagodzilla being able to split into aerial and terrestrial units, though this idea was scrapped in favor of the character merging with the flying battleship Garuda. The new Godzilla suit was notably bulkier in profile than its predecessor, and had smaller shoulders and slimmer legs. The tail was also placed higher up the back, thus resulting in a very top-heavy appearance. Like the previous suit, the one used in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II had an electronically operated head that could tilt its head independently of the body. The suit previously used for Godzilla vs. Mothra was recycled for the long shots during the battle with Rodan, the rampage through Tokyo, and the character's departure into the sea during the end credits.

After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company to dub the film into English. In this international version of the movie, an English title card was superimposed over the Japanese title, as had been done with the previous 1990s Godzilla films.

In past English releases, including dubbed films and video game titles, Rodan's name was pronounced "roh-dan." In Japan, however, his name has always been pronounced (and spelled in katakana) as "rah-dohn"(ラドン). In the English version of this film, the producers changed his name back to Radon, as it is in Japan.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II on home video on August 3, 1999. This was the first time the film had been officially released in the United States. Instead of using the original monaural English dub, a newer stereo version was included, with the main characters' lines and most other dialog re-recorded by a mostly different Hong Kong cast. Most of the new cast did not start dubbing until the late '90s. The purpose or origin of this revised English version is unknown. TriStar additionally cut the end credits and created new titles and opening credits.

The original version of the international dub is not known to have ever been released on video in its complete form. The only evidence of its existence is in the Hindi theatrical version. The Hindi dubbing company lacked a clean music and effects track and only had access to a copy of the original English version. Therefore, English dialog was muted and replaced with library tracks and music from other parts of the film itself, but occasionally the English source track was left intact.

An anamorphic widescreen transfer of the "new" English version was later released on DVD by TriStar in February 2005 with the option to listen to the original Japanese audio.

The film sold 3.8 million tickets in Japan, earning ¥1.87 billion (roughly $18 million) in distributor rental income and ¥3.18 billion in gross receipts. The film grossed a total box office revenue of $36,000,000 (equivalent to $68,000,000 in 2021) by 1994.

Monster Zero said that "some critical flaws exist" but felt overall that "of all the films of the [Heisei era], Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla II represents Toho's most technically and artistically successful effort," adding that "the action sequences in this film are impeccable... excitingly staged, logical, and quite dramatic." American Kaiju said the film "stumbles in the areas of both story and special effects" but concluded it to be "a good, solid entry in the Godzilla series," saying that "the battles between Godzilla and Mechagodilla entertain" and "Akira Ifukube's music score soars." Japan Hero said "the story was interesting," "the soundtrack is plain gorgeous," and "the costume designs are just as great," concluding: "While this is not my top favorite movie [of the Heisei series], it is definitely one of the best."

The film has been released twice on home media. The first release, by Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment, was released on February 8, 2005. The subtitles for the Japanese track are really "dubtitles" (the subtitles are actually the captions for the English track). The video transfer is a 1.78:1 widescreen version of TriStar's print. This means the Toho logos and end credits have been cut and all the onscreen, optical text from Toho's international version has been removed or replaced by video-generated text.

The second release was by Sony on Blu-ray as part of The Toho Godzilla Collection and was released on May 6, 2014 in a two-disc double feature with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

In addition to its box office gross, the film generated a further $158,000,000 (equivalent to $296,000,000 in 2021) from sales of books and merchandise by 1994, for a combined $194,000,000 (equivalent to $364,000,000 in 2021) generated from the box office, book sales and merchandise sales, making it the most profitable non- animated Japanese film at the time.

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Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II - Wikipedia

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(ゴジラvsメカゴジラ , Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II Gojira tai Mekagojira, released in Japan as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla ), is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 20th film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the fifth film to be released during the franchise's Heisei era.

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Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla

Directed by

Kensho Yamashita

Written by

Hiroshi Kashiwabara

Produced by
Shōgo Tomiyama

Starring

Megumi Odaka
Jun Hashizume
Zenkichi Yoneyama
Akira Emoto
Towako Yoshikawa

Cinematography

Masahiro Kishimoto

Music by
Takayuki Hattori

Distributed by

Toho

107 minutes

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Box office

¥1.65 billion (Japanrentals) [1]

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is a 1994 Japanese kaiju film directed by Kensho Yamashita, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara, and produced by Shōgo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 21st film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the sixth film in the franchise's Heisei series. The film is notable for the introduction of the monster SpaceGodzilla, as well as the re-introduction of the mecha character M.O.G.U.E.R.A.; its first appearance on-screen since the 1957 film The Mysterians.

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla stars Megumi Odaka, Jun Hashizume, Zenkichi Yoneyama, Akira Emoto, and Towako Yoshikawa, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 10, 1994, and earned ¥1.65 billion in Japanese distributor rentals. In Japan, the film was followed by Godzilla vs. Destoroyah the following year. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla was released direct-to-video in the United States in 1999 by Columbia Tristar Home Video.

Godzilla cells brought into space by Biollante, in 1990, and Mothra, in 1993, are exposed to intense radiation from a black hole, resulting in the birth of " SpaceGodzilla", which quickly makes his way to Earth, destroying a NASA space station along the way.

Meanwhile, members of the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center arrive at Birth Island in order to plant a mind control device on Godzilla. The Cosmos, Mothra's twin priestesses, appear to psychic Miki Saegusa and warn her of SpaceGodzilla's arrival. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. (Mobile Operations G-Force Universal Expert Robot: Aero-type), a mecha built by the JSDF to replace Mechagodzilla, is sent in to intercept SpaceGodzilla, but suffers damage in the process.

SpaceGodzilla lands on Birth Island and attacks Little Godzilla with his Corona Beam. Godzilla intervenes but finds himself overwhelmed by SpaceGodzilla's other abilities, and is powerless to stop his clone from trapping Little Godzilla in a crystal prison. SpaceGodzilla leaves for Japan, with Godzilla in pursuit.

Shortly thereafter, the Yakuza abduct Miki and bring her back to their base in Fukuoka in an attempt to use her psychic abilities to gain control over Godzilla. Miki is saved by a rescue team before SpaceGodzilla arrives. SpaceGodzilla lands in central Fukuoka and forms a massive fortress of celestial crystals. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. arrives to once again fight SpaceGodzilla, but is still no match for him. Godzilla arrives in Kagoshima Bay and fights SpaceGodzilla, but SpaceGodzilla easily gains the upper hand.

The JSDF discovers that SpaceGodzilla is using Fukuoka Tower as a power converter, using it to transform the Earth's core into an energy that SpaceGodzilla can absorb, slowly killing the planet through Earth's volcanos. While Godzilla wrestles with SpaceGodzilla, M.O.G.E.R.A. splits into two different mechas: the Star Falcon, a flying battleship, and the Land M.O.G.U.E.R.A., a tank with a large drill in front of it. The mechas damage the crystal fortress while Godzilla pushes over Fukuoka Tower, cutting off SpaceGodzilla's energy supply. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. quickly reforms and blasts off SpaceGodzilla's crystal-like shoulder formations, weakening him. SpaceGodzilla critically damages M.O.G.U.E.R.A., but is subsequently incinerated by Godzilla's supercharged atomic heat ray. SpaceGodzilla is destroyed, but the JSDF claims that if they keep polluting space another SpaceGodzilla may appear someday.

Godzilla makes his way back to Birth Island after Miki uses her psychic powers to remove the mind control device from his neck. Godzilla turns to her and nods in gratitude. Little Godzilla is then freed from the crystal prison and begins blowing tiny radioactive bubbles.

Although director Kensho Yamashita and screenwriter Hiroshi Kashiwabara had more experience in producing teen idol movies, they were not newcomers to the kaiju genre, having both assumed minor roles in the making of Terror of Mechagodzilla. The two decided early in production to make the film more lighthearted than its predecessors and more focused on character development, centering it on Megumi Odaka's recurring character Miki Saegusa, who had previously played marginal roles in the series. The emphasis on lightheartedness was such that a scene depicting Godzilla desperately trying to rescue his son from SpaceGodzilla's crystal prison was deleted on account of its seriousness, a move disapproved of by Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma.

The idea of a "Space Godzilla" was first conceived in 1978, and was designed as a homage to the monster's hinted progenitor Biollante by incorporating tusks and a hissing roar reminiscent of the latter monster. Creature designer Shinji Nishikawa had initially envisioned SpaceGodzilla as a much more western dragon-like creature with large fin-like wings on the back. The final design bore greater resemblance to Godzilla's final form from the video game Super Godzilla, itself also designed by Nishikawa. Effects artist Koichi Kawakita redesigned Godzilla's son as a more cartoonish-looking character, having disliked the more dinosaurian-looking version in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. It was rumoured that Kawakita intended to use the new design in a children's spinoff TV special entitled Little Godzilla's Underground Adventure. However, this was nothing more than a myth. The M.O.G.U.E.R.A. suit was worn by Mechagodzilla performer Wataru Fukuda, and consisted of three pieces applied separately. The new Godzilla suit used for the majority of the film combined aspects of the suits used in Godzilla vs. Biollante/Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, having a stocky, triangular build, wide shoulders and much less pronounced ribbing on the neck. The face bore similarities to those used in the previous two films, though the eyes were increased in size and given more prominent whites, thus making it relatively less menacing looking than its predecessors. Innovations included the head's ability to fully rotate around the body, and the incorporation of an air duct which solved the chronic ventilation problems present in previous suits. The suit from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was reused for Godzilla's entrance and exit from Birth Island and during the scene where he is telekinetically tossed by SpaceGodzilla.

The scenes taking place on Birth Island were filmed on Okinoerabu-Shima Island. The actors were unable to return to Japan to film scenes in the studio after a storm suspended air traffic, so they needed to return via ferry so that the filming schedule would not be delayed.

Composer Akira Ifukube refused to be involved in the film after reading the script, which reminded him too much of a teen idol film and included rap music.

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla is the second film to feature brief nudity (following Terror of Mechagodzilla). This occurs when the character Akira Yuki is taking a shower on Birth Island in the evening and his buttocks are briefly seen.

After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company to dub the film into English. In this international version of the movie, an English title card was superimposed over the Japanese title, as had been done with the previous 1990s Godzilla films.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah on home video on January 19, 1999. This was the first time either film had been officially released in the United States. TriStar used the Toho dubs, but cut the end credits and created new titles and opening credits for both films. Toho's complete international version of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (sans any onscreen text besides the English title) has been broadcast on several premium movie channels since the early 2000s, as well as the 2014 Blu-Ray release.

Released on December 10, 1994, the film sold 3.4 million tickets in Japan and earned ¥1,650,000,000 in Japanese distributor rentals. As the film's release coincided with the Kobe earthquake, Toho feared that the event would put off audiences due to the film's main battle sequence taking place in the same area, and thus sought to remedy this by lowering ticket prices.

Critical reaction

The film received mainly mixed to negative reviews. Monster Zero called the film "a curiously uninvolving effort" that "disappoints in nearly all aspects of the production". American Kaiju criticized the "wildly uneven pacing", "uneven special effects", and "exceedingly lumpy story", but added that "most of the special effects are pretty fair" and "the monster battles are mostly fun." DVD Cult said, "It does have some great destruction scenes and monster battles; two things that make these films worthwhile to begin with. The monster SpaceGodzilla is excellently designed, and is certainly far more menacing than anything Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich ever dreamed up." Toho Kingdom said the film is "far from terrible" and "an underrated movie" but felt it suffered from an "overly complicated story", "underdeveloped characters", and "forgettable" music.

Released: May 6, 2014

Picture: AVC-1080P

Sound: Japanese and English (5.1 DTS)

Subtitles: English (Dubtitles) and French

Extras: Teasers and Theatrical Trailers (7 minutes) [1080i 30fps]

Notes: This is a 2-Disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.

DVD

Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment

Released: February 1, 2000

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1.85:1) Anamorphic [NTSC]

Sound: English (2.0)

Region 1

Note: A double feature with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. On the U.S. DVD release, the final scene in which Godzilla is in the water while Echoes of Love (Date of Birth) plays is cut; however, it is left in the TV, on demand and Japanese DVD versions.

Universe Laser

Released: November 24, 2006

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen

Sound: (Japanese, Cantonese) Dolby Digital Stereo

Subtitles English, Chinese (Traditional/Simplified)

Region 3

A manga adaptation was produced shortly before the film's release, it was written by Kanji Kashiwabara and illustrated by Takayuki Sakai, published by Shogakukan's Ladybug Comics line.

In 1995, the film won the Best Grossing Films Award - Silver Award.

Appeared in the Magic the Gathering set Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths as an alternate card version, which had its subtitle changed from 'Space Corona' to 'Void Invader' mid-release.

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Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla Directed by Kensho Yamashita Written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara Produced by Shōgo Tomiyama Starring Megumi Odaka Jun HashizumeZenkichi Yoneyama Akira Emoto Towako Yoshikawa Cinematography Masahiro Kishimoto Music by Takayuki Hattori Distributed by Toho 107 minutes Country Japan Language Japanese Box office ¥1.65 billion (Japanrentals) [1] Godzilla vs.

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Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Takao Okawara. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 22nd installment in the Godzilla franchise, and is the seventh and final film in the franchise's Heisei period. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla, Godzilla Junior and Destoroyah, and stars Takuro Tatsumi, Yōko Ishino, Yasufumi Hayashi, Sayaka Osawa, Megumi Odaka, Masahiro Takashima, Momoko Kochi and Akira Nakao, with Kenpachiro Satsuma as Godzilla, Hurricane Ryu as Godzilla Junior, and Ryo Hariya as Destoroyah.

In the film, Godzilla's heart, which acts as a nuclear reactor, is nearing a nuclear meltdown which threatens the Earth. Meanwhile, a colony of mutated creatures known as Destoroyah emerge from the sea, changing form and terrorizing Japan, forcing the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to devise a plan to eliminate both threats.

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah received global publicity following an announcement by Toho that the film would feature the death of Godzilla. It was the final film to be scored by composer Akira Ifukube before his death in 2006, though his themes would continue to be used in subsequent films. The film was released theatrically in Japan on December 9, 1995, and received a direct-to-video release in the United States in 1999 by Columbia TriStar Home Video. It was the last Godzilla film to be produced by any studio until the 1998 film, and was the last Godzilla film produced by Toho until the 1999 film Godzilla 2000.

In 1996, following the defeat of SpaceGodzilla, Miki Saegusa of the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasures Center (UNGCC) travels to Birth Island to monitor Godzilla and Little Godzilla, only to find the entire island destroyed and both monsters missing. Godzilla, now covered in lava-like rashes, subsequently appears in Hong Kong and destroys great swathes of the city with an empowered version of his atomic breath. The JSDF hires college student Kenkichi Yamane to unravel the mystery of Godzilla's condition. Yamane, a grandson of the same Dr. Kyohei Yamane who had encountered the first Godzilla, suspects that Godzilla's heart, which acts as a nuclear reactor, is undergoing a nuclear meltdown as a result of the monster absorbing the energy released from a volcanically triggered uranium deposit on Birth Island. Yamane theorizes that when Godzilla's temperature reaches 1,200 °C, he will explode with enough energy to ignite Earth's atmosphere and reduce the planet's surface to ash.

The JSDF deploys the Super X III, an aerial combat vehicle outfitted with ultra-low temperature lasers, in an attempt to reverse Godzilla's self-destruction. While Godzilla's meltdown is not stopped, it is halted long enough to temporarily render Godzilla unconscious. Meanwhile, a colony of Precambrian organisms mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer used to defeat the original Godzilla are awoken during the construction of the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. The creatures combine into several man-sized crab-like creatures and engage the JSDF in several deadly skirmishes. The creatures, dubbed " Destoroyah", are revealed to be vulnerable to subzero temperatures, and are temporarily held at bay with low-temperature lasers. The creatures respond to the threat by merging into a larger Aggregate form which destroys the lasers and takes to the skies in its Flying form.

Godzilla awakens, his condition having worsened to the point that his meltdown could potentially destroy the planet through a China syndrome-like incident. Miki locates Little Godzilla - renamed Godzilla Junior on account of his increased size - and telepathically lures him to Tokyo, hoping that Godzilla will follow and be killed by Destoroyah. Junior arrives and battles Destoroyah's Aggregate form, who absorbs his DNA before being seemingly defeated. Godzilla arrives at Haneda Airport and reunites with Godzilla Junior, only for Destoroyah, bolstered by Junior's DNA, to reappear in its final, Perfect form. Destoroyah kills Junior by dropping him onto Ariake Coliseum and blasting it with his Micro-Oxygen beam. Godzilla manages to drive off his adversary and unsuccessfully attempts to revive Junior.

Godzilla's bereavement accelerates his meltdown, which is further worsened by a second attack by Destoroyah. In the ensuing battle, Godzilla loses control over his radioactivity and gravely wounds Destoroyah with a further empowered heat ray. Destoroyah tries to retreat, but the JSDF fires its low-temperature lasers at its wings, causing it to plummet onto the superheated ground and dissipate.

Godzilla succumbs to the meltdown, but the JSDF is able to minimize the damage with it freezer weapons. While successful in preventing Earth's destruction, the JSDF is unable to prevent the resulting nuclear fallout from rendering Tokyo uninhabitable. Suddenly, the radiation levels plummet and Godzilla Junior is revealed to have absorbed his father's radiation and grown into an adult.

After Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla failed to match the attendance figures of the highly successful Godzilla vs. Mothra, producer Shogo Tomiyama announced in the summer of 1995 that the next Godzilla movie would be the series' final installment. Screenwriter Kazuki Ōmori initially proposed a story treatment entitled Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla, in which the current Heisei Godzilla would have faced off against the ghost of the original 1954 Godzilla. While this idea was scrapped, it was decided to maintain the reference to the original film by reintroducing the Oxygen Destroyer, the weapon that killed the original Godzilla 40 years earlier. In the original script, the final battle was to have taken place in the then still under construction World City, a development project costing $2.35 billion, though Tokyo governor Yukio Aoshima scrapped the project on account of its unpopularity with taxpayers. Toho began promoting the movie via large placards featuring the text ゴジラ死す ("Godzilla dies").

Five days prior to the film's release, a large bronze sculpture of Godzilla was erected on the Hibiya cinema district. After the film's release, Toho studios was bombarded by letters of protest demanding Godzilla's resurrection, and several mourners gathered at the bronze statue to leave ¥10- 100 coins and tobacco. One Japanese travel agency commemorated Godzilla's demise by hosting tours of various locations destroyed by Godzilla throughout its 40-year tenure. Toho representatives assured the public that Godzilla's death was not permanent, though they were not planning to revive him until the 21st century. Nonetheless, Toho returned to the series in 1999 with the first film of the "Millennium Era", Godzilla 2000: Millennium.

Effects artist Koichi Kawakita originally envisioned Godzilla being luminescent, and coated a Godzilla suit with luminescent paint and reflective tape, though this was deemed to look too unnatural. The final product was the result of placing 200 small orange light bulbs on the suit previously used for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and covering them with semitransparent vinyl plates. The resulting suit proved difficult for suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma to perform in, as the cable powering the light bulbs added extra weight to the suit, and the carbonic acid gas emitted by the costume nearly suffocated him six times. For Godzilla's confrontation with the Super-X III, the now-expendable suit previously used for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II was used, as it was predicted that it would have suffered irreparable damage from the liquid nitrogen used during the scene.

Godzilla Junior and Destoroyah were also portrayed via traditional suitmation techniques, though because the Junior suit was almost the same size as the main Godzilla one, a small animatronic prop was used in scenes where Junior interacts with its father. During the scene where the JSDF bombards the immature Destoroyahs, the creatures were realized with Bandai action figures. Kawakita made greater use of CGI than in previous installments, having used it for the Super-X III's freezing of Godzilla, shots showing helicopters, computer schematics showing the outcome of Godzilla's meltdown, and Godzilla's death.

Composer Akira Ifukube, who had previously refused to compose the score of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, agreed to work on Godzilla vs. Destoroyah' s soundtrack since he "felt that since [he had] been involved in Godzilla's birth, it was fitting for [him] to be involved in his death." For Destoroyah's theme, Ifukube had initially wanted to give each of Destoroyah's forms their own motif, though he subsequently chose to give them all the same theme. He chose not to use the Oxygen Destroyer theme from the original 1954 film, as he felt that the theme expressed the tragedy of the weapon's creator, and thus was inappropriate for a monster. He also deliberately avoided using Godzilla's death theme from the original film, as he wanted to focus more on the dark side of humanity rather than on Godzilla itself. In describing his composition of Godzilla's death theme, he stated that it was one of the most difficult pieces he had ever composed, and that he approached it as if he were writing the theme to his own death.

After the film was released in Japan, Toho commissioned a Hong Kong company to dub the film into English. In this international version of the movie, an English title card was superimposed over the Japanese title, as had been done with the previous 1990s Godzilla films.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment released Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah on home video on January 19, 1999, the first time that either film had been officially released in the United States. TriStar used the Toho dubs, but cut the end credits and created new titles and opening credits for both films. The complete Toho international version of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah has been broadcast on several premium movie channels since the early 2000s.

Various video games based on the film were released, all published by Sega and released in 1995. Godzilla: Kaijuu no Daishingeki for Sega Game Gear, Godzilla: Heart-Pounding Monster Island for Sega Pico, and Godzilla: Rettoushinkan for Sega Saturn.

Rettoushinkan was well known for being a first real-time tactics video game to released on 32-Bit Consoles, by 11 month before the PlayStation port of Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat. as well as the only real-time tactics video game for the system, as the Sega Saturn version of Syndicate Wars was being cancelled in March 1997, with Bullfrog's head of conversions, Steve Metcalf, explaining that the Saturn market was not large enough to cover development costs.

The film opened at number one at the Japanese box office and went on to sell approximately 4 million tickets in Japan for a gross of total of ¥3.5 billion ($42 million). It earned ¥2 billion in distribution income (around $18 million). It was the number one domestic film at the box office in Japan by distribution income for 1996 and Fourth Place overall behind , and Mission: Impossible.

Critical and fan reaction to the film has been very positive. Toho Kingdom said, "With an elegant style, a powerful plot, brilliant effects, and believable acting, this entry is definitely a notch above favorites from all three timelines, and its impact on the series is challenged by only a handful of competitors. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is without a doubt a paradigm all its own." Michael Hubert of Monster Zero praised the "spectacular monster battles," calling Godzilla vs. Destoroyah "a great movie" and "one to add to your collection," adding: "Even for non-Godzilla fans, this movie might help dispel some of the preconceptions you have about Godzilla's 'cheese factor'."

Japan Hero called the film "a work of art" and "a must see for anyone who loves Godzilla" that features "something for everyone". Mike Bogue of American Kaiju felt the film suffered from "several visual weaknesses" and a "disappointing editing", but that "the positive aspects of the visuals outweigh the negatives" and praised the film for "treating Godzilla with the same awe, majesty, and terror as [the original 1954 ]."

Stomp Kaiju gave the film a score of 4 out of 5, saying "This is one of the biggest productions the big G ever had. The new Super-X III, looking black and stealth-bombery, is a great addition, and the return of Lt. Sho Kuroki (Masashiro Takashima) from Godzilla vs Biollante as its pilot is a nice touch." as well as saying that "There are several small ways in which this film pays homage to the Godzilla legacy, like a cameo appearance by Emiko (Momoko Kouchi) from Godzilla (1954), and they really make the movie. It's nice to see a company handle its property, beloved by millions, with a little respect and knowledge of that property's history". Tim Brayton of Alternate Ending called it "A Godzilla movie of particular grandeur and seriousness", saying "it's the best Godzilla film of the VS era: visually robust, focused on great heaving gestures and emotions that work so much better in this franchise than the attempts at human-scaled storytelling that some of the more recent sequels gestured towards. It flags its seriousness and desire to have an impact maybe a bit too eagerly, but the results are hard to argue with: it is a sufficiently epic finale for an iconic character, and our foreknowledge of how far awry things would go with the plan to bring a temporary close to the Japanese Godzilla saga shouldn't color just how bold and roiling that close succeeded in being, in its moment". One of the few mixed reviews came from DVD Talk, saying that "Although it benefits from having an honest-to-goodness storyline with some continuity from the previous Godzillas (going back to the earliest films), Destoroyah's portentous pacing, cardboard-thin characters and cheeseball effects apparently served as a primer on what not to do when Hollywood picked up the franchise".

The film has been released on DVD by Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment on February 1, 2000 along with Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

It was released on blu-ray in The Toho Godzilla Collection by Sony on May 6, 2014 along with Godzilla vs. Megaguirus.

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Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Takao Okawara. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 22nd installment in the Godzilla franchise, and is the seventh and final film in the franchise's Heisei period.

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Godzilla 2000: Millennium is a 1999 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, produced by Shogo Tomiyama and starring Takehiro Murata, Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida, Mayu Suzuki and Shiro Sano. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 24th film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the first film in the franchise's Millennium period. The film was also the 23rd Godzilla film to be produced by Toho, and was Toho's second reboot of the Godzilla franchise after the 1984 film The Return of Godzilla. The film, along with the subsequent Godzilla films in the franchise's Millennium era, ignores continuity established by any previous films with the sole exception of the original 1954 film.

Godzilla 2000 was released in Japan on December 11, 1999 and in North America on August 18, 2000, by TriStar Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and performed below TriStar's expectations, grossing just over $10 million at the North American box office. It was the last film in the franchise to receive a North American theatrical release until Shin Godzilla in 2016. In Japan, the film was followed by Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, which was released on December 16, 2000.

Godzilla is a literal force of nature to Japan. The Godzilla Prediction Network (GPN) functions independently to study the monster and predict its landfalls. Meanwhile, the scientists of Crisis Control Intelligence (CCI) find a sixty-million-year-old unidentified flying object (UFO) deep in the Japan Trench. As CCI attempts to raise the UFO to study it, it takes off into the sky on its own. Godzilla arrives in a village and then battles the Japan Self Defense Forces, now equipped with powerful Full Metal Missiles, but the UFO appears, searching for genetic information that only Godzilla possesses. It fights Godzilla, driving the monster underwater, and then lands to replenish its solar power.

Yuji Shinoda, the founder of the GPN, discovers the secret to Godzilla's regenerative properties (named Organizer G1 in the Japanese version, but Regenerator G1 in the North American release), but so has the UFO. It frees itself from the JSDF's attempts to contain it, and heads for Shinjuku. After landing atop Tokyo Opera City Tower, it begins to drain all the files about Godzilla from Tokyo's master computers. As it begins to alter the oxygen content of the surrounding atmosphere, CCI attempts to destroy the UFO using explosive charges, but Shinoda, attempting to find out more about the aliens, is nearly caught in the blast. He survives, and joins his peers on a nearby rooftop, watching the UFO. Almost in response, the UFO broadcasts its message of invasion and creating a new empire on Earth, and Shinoda reveals that the aliens are after the regenerative properties contained inside Godzilla's DNA so that they may use it to re-form their bodies.

Godzilla arrives and again battles the UFO. However, Godzilla is subdued by the UFO's assault, and the UFO absorbs some of Godzilla's DNA, which the aliens use to reform themselves outside the space ship as the gigantic Millennian. However, the Millennian is unable to control Godzilla's genetic information in the DNA and mutates into a horrible monster named Orga. Godzilla recovers and brings down the UFO before fighting Orga, but Orga, having absorbed the regenerative properties of Godzilla's DNA, is highly resistant to injury. Orga retaliates and extracts more of Godzilla's DNA in order to become a perfect clone. Godzilla breaks free and sets Orga ablaze with its atomic breath attack, but Orga re-emerges and attempts to swallow Godzilla whole. As Orga begins to transform, Godzilla charges a nuclear pulse and unleashes it, vaporizing Orga's entire upper body and killing it. Mitsuo Katagiri, head of CCI, dies when Godzilla partially destroys the roof of the building where he, Shinoda and the authorities were observing the battle. Those remaining on the roof reminisce on how Godzilla was wrought by human ambition, prompting Shinoda to suggest that "Godzilla exists in us", as Godzilla begins rampaging through Tokyo.

Tristar English dub cast

François Chau as Yuji Shinoda

Denise Iketani as Yuki Ichinose

Jack Ong as Shiro Miyasaka

Ron Yuan as Mitsuo Katagiri

Rachel Crane as Io Shinoda

Dubbing staff

Due to high demand from fans to revive the Toho Godzilla, development began on a new Toho production two months after the release of TriStar's Godzilla. Executive producer Shogo Tomiyama hired Hiroshi Kashiwabara (writer of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla) and Wataru Mimura (writer of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II) to write the script, stating, "If we wanted to make a new kind of Godzilla, we needed several different views. That's why I chose both Mr Kashiwabara and Mr Mimura. One producer, two screenwriters, three viewpoints." Kashiwabara felt that they had to go back to Godzilla's roots and reexamine what made him unique.

Regarding Godzilla's design, director Takao Okawara wanted to make "something new" and noted that Godzilla's height has changed over the years, stating, "I felt that that distance between human beings and Godzilla was too much, so we reduced its height back to something closer to the original at approximately 170 feet." The basic design of the suit was modelled heavily after the KingGoji suit from 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla.

Godzilla 2000 was produced on a budget of approximately $8,300,000.[unreliable source? ] Kenji Suzuki, who had worked as an assistant director on previous Godzilla movies, supervised the special effects. Miniature effects work was not emphasized as strongly as it had been in preceding installments. Instead, compositing techniques such as chroma key were heavily utilized to integrate the suitmation Godzilla footage into shots of real-life locations. The film also contains the first fully computer-generated shot of Godzilla realized in a Japanese production (previous films only used CGI to visualize graphical display representations of Godzilla or to blend computer effects work with a live-action shot).

There were two English dubbed versions of this film. As is standard practice for Toho, the film was originally dubbed in Hong Kong for use in Toho's international version. For Sony's theatrical release, the film was entirely re-dubbed by Asian-American voice actors (ADR director Mike Schlesinger deliberately made this choice because he did not want the characters to sound like they were "from Wisconsin."). Only one line from the international version ("As long as the beer's cold, who cares?") was used in the re-dubbed North American version. Several Indian versions use the English pictorial elements of the international version, however.[unreliable source? ]

Sony's TriStar Pictures licensed Godzilla 2000 for theatrical distribution in North America. Sony spent approximately $300,000 to acquire the film, around $1 million to re-edit and dub the movie in English, and under $10 million on prints and advertising. For doing so, Tristar hoped that the film would gross no worse than $12-15 million in North American theaters.

The English dubbed version of the film runs 99 minutes - 8 minutes shorter in comparison to the 107-minute Japanese version. Most of these were minor edits done to hasten the pacing, and the sound design of the movie was completely re-worked. J. Peter Robinson composed some new music meant to supplement Takayuki Hattori's music. The dubbing has a somewhat humorous, tongue-in-cheek tone to it, apparently in homage to Godzilla dubs of the 60s and 70s, with lines such as "Great Caesar's Ghost!", "Bite me!" and "I guarantee it'll [Full Metal Missiles] go through Godzilla like crap through a goose!". Dialogue was also reworked in places to change or jettison certain expository details. Some fans have criticized the English dubbed version of Godzilla 2000 for camping up what they perceive as a "serious" movie; however, Toho and Takao Okawara approved all the changes to the film in advance, and various amusing sequences throughout the story (such as people comically surviving Godzilla's rampage early in the film) establish a light-hearted tone and make it evident that it was not meant to be taken seriously. In an interview in Video Watchdog #71, Schlesinger noted that people in real life tend to speak humorously; he also felt that giving audiences some intentionally funny dialogue would make them less inclined to laugh at the monster scenes, which were supposed to be taken seriously. Originally, the film ended with the words "The End?" in cartoonish lettering, but Mike Schlesinger and Toho rejected that. "The End?" was removed from home video and television releases, though it was retained for the Spanish-subtitled VHS of the film.

It opened in Japan on December 11, 1999, and grossed ¥1.65 billion (roughly $15 million) during its box office run, with approximately 2 million admissions. Tristar Pictures released Godzilla 2000 in 2,111 North American theaters on August 18, 2000. Tristar hoped that the film would gross no worse than $12-15 million in North American theaters, but the film eventually only grossed $10 million in North American theaters.

The North American release of Godzilla 2000 was met with mixed critical response. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 57% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 5.68/10. The site's critics consensus reads, " Godzilla 2000 is cheesy, laughable, and good entertaining fun." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.

Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle said the film "taps into a now-rare and innocent sense of wonder," and that "its action scenes are well-conceived," summarizing it as "a lovably amusing foray into vapid plotting, bad dubbing and men in rubber suits trashing miniature sets." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" grade, saying that Godzilla 2000 "lands on an imaginative fault line somewhere between tackiness and awe." Jay Carr of The Boston Globe called Godzilla 2000 "a ton of fun, and then some." Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said "it's great to have the big guy back." James Berardinelli of ReelViews said the film "uses the Godzilla formula effectively" and "represents solid, campy, escapist entertainment." Maitland McDonagh of praised the film, saying that "fans won't want to miss this addition to the canon."

Susan Wloszczyna of USA Today said Godzilla 2000 "may be dull, but the familiarity of it all makes it feel ceremonial, a reassuring ritual." David Edelstein of Slate said that he "periodically tranced out," but added that "it's fun to see" and "it still manages to dispel some of the lingering stink of Roland Emmerich's 1998 remake." Stephen Holden of the New York Times wasn't impressed, saying that "only a die-hard fan of the long-running Japanese Godzilla series could love Godzilla 2000." Similarly, Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post remarked, "Godzilla, go home."

Among kaiju-related websites, Stomp Tokyo said "there are some pretty impressive special effects," and concluded that " Godzilla 2000 delivers fairly well, if not spectacularly." Toho Kingdom criticized the Japanese version, saying "it's not hard to see why Godzilla 2000 was poorly received in Japan," but added that "the US version ... is infinitely better than its poorly paced Japanese counterpart. In all, the US version made numerous badly needed cuts from the film to tighten it up."[unreliable source? ]

In North America, Godzilla 2000 was released on DVD on December 26, 2000, and on Blu-ray on September 9, 2014.[unreliable source? ] The North American Blu-ray includes both the Japanese and American cuts of the film.

In an interview with SciFiJapan.com, Michael Schlesinger stated that he had written a script for a direct sequel to Godzilla 2000 entitled Godzilla Reborn that was to be directed by Joe Dante. The film would have shared the same tongue-in-cheek tone as the American release of Godzilla 2000, with special effects crafted by Toho. The plot would have involved Godzilla appearing in Hawaii to battle a new foe named "Miba", which was envisioned as a flying lava monster resembling a bat. Toho approved Schlensinger's script, but he was unable to secure funding for the project and the film was never made.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (2nd ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

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Godzilla 2000: Millennium is a 1999 Japanese kaiju film directed by Takao Okawara, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, produced by Shogo Tomiyama and starring Takehiro Murata, Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida, Mayu Suzuki and Shiro Sano. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 24th film in the Godzilla franchise, as well as the first film in the franchise's Millennium period.

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(ゴジラ × メガギラス G消滅作戦 , Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jī Shōmetsu Sakusen, lit. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus: The G Extermination Strategy and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus: The G Annihilation Strategy) is a 2000 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, produced by Shogo Tomiyama, and starring Misato Tanaka, Shōsuke Tanihara, Yuriko Hoshi, Masatoh Eve, and Toshiyuki Nagashima. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 25th film in the Godzilla franchise and the second film in the franchise's Millennium series, as well as the 24th film produced by Toho. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and Megaguirus, portrayed by Tsutomu Kitagawa and Minoru Watanabe, respectively.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, despite featuring the same Godzilla suit that was used in its immediate predecessor, Godzilla 2000, ignores the events of the previous installment, as well as every other entry in the franchise aside from the original 1954 film . Godzilla vs. Megaguirus premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 3, 2000, and was released theatrically in Japan on December 16, 2000. The film was followed by Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, which was released on December 15, 2001.

The prologue of the film acknowledges the events of the first Godzilla film (using the 1954 Godzilla monster rather than a successor Godzilla), while inventing its own timeline, explaining that the Oxygen Destroyer was never used here and that the capital of Japan was moved from Tokyo to Osaka. In 1966, Godzilla attacks the first Japanese nuclear plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. After this, the G-Graspers, a section of Japan Self-Defense Forces, is dedicated to combating Godzilla. In 1996, clean plasma energy replaces nuclear energy, but this does not deter Godzilla from attacking the original plasma energy reactor. As a result, plasma energy is banned in the country.

In 2001, an experimental satellite-based weapon that fires miniature black holes, called the Dimension Tide, opens a wormhole through which a prehistoric dragonfly enters the present and deposits a single egg before exiting through the wormhole. A boy named Jun Hayasaka finds the egg and takes it with him when he moves to Tokyo. The egg starts oozing a strange liquid, so Jun throws the egg in the sewer. The egg, actually a mass of hundreds of eggs, splits up and starts growing when exposed to water, hatching into large dragonfly larvae called Meganulon that come out of the sewer to feed. They flood a portion of the city and molt on the sides of buildings, becoming adult Meganula.

Meanwhile, Godzilla appears in search of a source of nuclear energy, despite the edict shutting down all such attractants after its three previous appearances. While Godzilla is fighting the G-Graspers, who are assisted by rebellious scientist Hajime Kudo, the swarm of Meganula are attracted in turn to Godzilla's energy, and attack it. During the course of the battle, the Dimension Tide is launched, but Godzilla survives the attack. Most of the Meganula are killed by both Godzilla and the Dimension Tide, but a few manage to drain off some of Godzilla's energy and return to the sewer, with Godzilla seemingly following them. With the last of their strength, the Meganula inject Godzilla's energy into a huge, sleeping larva that is in a giant, pulsating cocoon. It molts and appears from the water as Megaguirus, the queen of the Meganula.

After destroying part of Shibuya with shock waves generated by her beating wings, Megaguirus heads to the waterfront and faces Godzilla. As they engage in a lengthy battle, she uses her speed to avoid Godzilla's attacks, but Godzilla eventually uses its own speed against her. As she flies toward Godzilla, it lunges forward with its dorsal fins in her path. She flies into the fins, and one of her arms is severed. Megaguirus, having been mutated by Godzilla's energy, generates a blast similar to Godzilla's atomic breath and knocks Godzilla down. Megaguirus speeds forward with the stinger on its long tail lowered, trying to stab Godzilla between the eyes. In a climactic moment, Godzilla catches the stinger in its mouth and crushes it in its jaws. Godzilla finally blasts Megaguirus with atomic breath, causing it to burst into flames and die.

It is revealed that Godzilla was attracted to a secret plasma energy project housed at the Science Institute, in violation of the ban. The G-Graspers continue their mission to destroy Godzilla, but with the Dimension Tide falling out of orbit they are unable to get a lock on it. The vengeful Major Kiriko Tsujimori pilots a ship towards Godzilla, ejecting only at the last second. The Dimension Tide is able to lock on to the craft and fires just before burning up on reentry; Godzilla blasts at the approaching black hole with its atomic heat ray, but vanishes. In a postlude, however, Tsujimori again enlists Kudo to investigate suspicious seismic activity; then in an after-credits scene at Jun's school, an earthquake happens and Godzilla's roar is heard again.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus was released theatrically in Japan on December 16, 2000 where it was distributed by Toho. The film was released directly to television in the United States by Columbia TriStar with an English dub. There are some inconsistencies in the translation of the dub however, including one scene where Hajime tells Kiriko that body building is a waste of time since they'll be making Godzilla disappear "up his own butthole" rather than their artificially created "black hole" as the original version states.

Godzilla vs. Megaguirus was released on December 16, 2000 to mixed reactions. Ed Godziszewski of Monster Zero said, "While not the best example of filmmaking, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus nonetheless succeeds as an entertaining film." Miles Imhoff of Toho Kingdom said, "Run-of-the-mill, mediocre, and sterile are the three words that best describe Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. It is a movie that attempts to be creative and edgy, but somehow fails, leaving one wanting with futility to really try to enjoy the film."

Stomp Tokyo said "the music is pretty good" but "this movie isn't a step forward in the ways that it really should be." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said, "Though not the best of the post- Showa Godzilla movies, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus is one of the most entertaining." Ian Jane of DVD Talk said, "While not the best entry in the Godzilla series, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus ... [is] still a really solid entry with some great special effects and a very memorable monster mash finale."

Matt Paprocki of Blog Critics called the film "a true classic in the series," adding: "It's impossible not to be entertained somewhat, whether you're looking for camp value or serious giant monster action. This one has everything that is required of the [] genre." Andrew Pragasam of The Spinning Image called the film a "flawed, but entertaining comic book extravaganza" that "only partially delivers as a slam-bang monster epic" and suffers from "a lack of likeable characters."

The film has been released at least twice on home media. The first was by Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment, on January 27, 2004.

The second release was by Sony on Blu-ray as part of the Toho Godzilla Collection, and was released on May 6, 2014 on 2-Disc double feature with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah.

Bibliography

Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series (Second ed.). McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

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(ゴジラ × メガギラス G消滅作戦 , Godzilla vs. Megaguirus Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jī Shōmetsu Sakusen, lit. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus: The G Extermination Strategy and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus: The G Annihilation Strategy) is a 2000 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Hiroshi Kashiwabara and Wataru Mimura, produced by Shogo Tomiyama, and starring Misato Tanaka, Shōsuke Tanihara, Yuriko Hoshi, Masatoh Eve, and Toshiyuki Nagashima.

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Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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(ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃 , Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki) is a 2001 Japanese kaiju film directed by Shūsuke Kaneko. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 26th film in the Godzilla franchise and the third film in the franchise's Millennium era, as well as the 25th Godzilla film produced by Toho.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack stars Chiharu Niiyama, Ryudo Uzaki, Masahiro Kobayashi, Takashi Nishina, Kaho Minami, Shinya Owada, Kunio Murai, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Shingo Katsurayama, Takeo Nakahara, Toshikazu Fukawa, and Hideyo Amamoto, alongside Mizuho Yoshida as Godzilla, Akira Ohashi as King Ghidorah, and Rie Ota as Baragon. The film places Godzilla in an antagonistic role, possessed by the souls of those that were killed during World War II, while Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Baragon team up to defeat it. Like the other films in the franchise's Millennium period, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack serves as a direct sequel to the original 1954 Godzilla film, ignoring the events of every other installment in the series.

During a briefing with the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) regarding Godzilla's first attack, Admiral Taizo Tachibana is alerted about an American nuclear submarine that went missing off Guam. Search and rescue units find the sub destroyed and capture footage of a giant creature's fins nearby. Tachibana's daughter, Yuri, films a docudrama with her production crew at Mount Myōkō, where a mysterious earthquake briefly occurs. It occurs again later that night, burying a biker gang and leaving one surviving trucker, who witnesses the monster Baragon, which he misidentifies as Godzilla. The next day, Yuri's colleague Teruaki Takeda supports her theory that a monster may have been the cause of the mysterious earthquakes and gives her a book called The Guardian Monsters.

At Lake Ikeda, a Mothra larva attacks a group of teenagers who disturbed her shrine while in Aokigahara, a suicidal man accidentally encounters a frozen Ghidorah. Yuri interviews Hirotoshi Isayama, an elderly man who explains to her the legend of the Guardian Monsters: Baragon, Mothra, and King Ghidorah, iterating that they must be awakened before Godzilla destroys Japan. Yuri and her team visit the Guardian Monsters' shrine, where she finds a strange stone before returning to interview Isayama. In the process, she discovers that the souls of those who were killed during the Pacific War are embedded within Godzilla and are lashing out due to modern Japan's denial of its past crimes.

Godzilla and Baragon surface and battle in Hakone, with the former emerging victorious. Yuri is injured during the fray and goes on her own after Takeda refuses to take her to Godzilla's location. Mothra's cocoon is discovered in Lake Ikeda. After the jets fail to stop Godzilla, Tachibana sets up a defense line in Yokohama. An imago Mothra and a juvenile Ghidorah awaken and battle Godzilla in Yokohama. Mothra sacrifices herself and imbues her spirit into Ghidorah, transforming him into the 3,000-year-old dragon King Ghidorah, who manages to injure and drag Godzilla underwater. Tachibana and his colleague board miniature submarines to launch missiles into Godzilla's wound. Yuri and Takeda report on the struggle from a bridge that later collapses from Godzilla's atomic breath.

The shrine stone falls from Takeda's pocket and revives King Ghidorah, who saves Yuri and Takeda from their fall before they swim ashore while the monsters continue to fight. Godzilla destroys King Ghidorah, unleashing the spirits of the Guardian Monsters, which drag Godzilla into the sea. After entering Godzilla's body through his mouth, Tachibana fires a missile at his wound. Godzilla attempts to kill Yuri and Takeda, but Tachibana's missile explodes, causing his atomic breath to escape through the gaping wound and build pressure within his body. Tachibana escapes as Godzilla sinks and explodes after attempting to kill Tachibana with his atomic breath. Japan rejoices at their victory, with Tachibana saluting his colleagues and the guardian monsters. On the ocean floor, Godzilla's disembodied heart continues to beat.

Director Shūsuke Kaneko cycled through various script ideas while attempting to conceive the film. In the earliest known script, Godzilla would have faced off against a revamped version of Kamacuras, but this idea was scrapped since Godzilla had fought another insectoid kaiju in the previous film, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. A second idea involved Godzilla battling a new alien monster in a futuristic setting, but the script was considered too dark for a Godzilla film. The Guardian Monsters concept came next, though Kaneko's original script originally had Anguirus, Varan and Baragon defend Japan against Godzilla. Toho approved the script, but told him to replace Anguirus and Varan with the more popular Mothra and King Ghidorah, as the former pair were not considered bankable enough to guarantee a box-office hit. Skeptical at first, Kaneko managed to work the two new monsters into the film.

The film is especially notable for the changes made to the monsters, such as King Ghidorah in a heroic role despite previously appearing an as antagonist and being shorter than Godzilla instead of taller. Additionally, Godzilla was meant to walk with his back and tail parallel to the ground. However, this idea was dropped due to the strain it put on Godzilla's suit actor, Mizuho Yoshida, and the monster retained its upright traditional posture. Like Ghidorah, Mothra is also portrayed as being smaller than previous incarnations and resembles a butterfly instead of a moth. She also displays the ability to fire stingers from her abdomen instead of her traditional poison powder. Furthermore, her Shobijin were dropped, though an homage to them appeared in the film as twins who see Mothra fly overhead. The changes were made to make Godzilla seem stronger as Kaneko wanted it to be the strongest monster in the film and originally chose monsters that are notably smaller and less powerful than Godzilla as its opponents. After being asked to work in Mothra and King Ghidorah, he compensated by making them weaker than past incarnations. Monster suit designer Fuyuki Shinada was reportedly disappointed that his favorite monster, Varan, would not be in the film, but compensated by adding its facial features to King Ghidorah's heads.

Furthermore, Godzilla's radioactive element was replaced with a mystical element, as its origins are rooted in Japan's past during World War II. While Godzilla is still a mutant dinosaur that was created by the atomic bomb, it is also described as the embodiment of those killed or left to die at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War. The extent to which his nuclear and spiritual origins balance is never specified. Kaneko, a lifelong pacifist, wanted to give the film an anti-war angle. The nuclear origin was left in because he knew that audiences wanted a realistic Godzilla, but he believed it worked better with a fantasy element.

Produced with a budget of $9,400,000, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack opened in Japan on December 15, 2001 on a double-bill with an animated film called Hamtaro: Ham Ham Big Land Adventure. In its opening weekend, it grossed approximately $1,900,000. By the end of its box office run, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack grossed a total of approximately $20,000,000, with 2,400,000 admissions. It was one of the largest-grossing Godzilla films of the Millennium series in Japan.

The film was released on DVD on January 27, 2004, and on Blu-ray, bundled with Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, on September 9, 2014.

English version

After the film was completed, Toho had their international versions of the movie dubbed in Hong Kong. This dubbed version significantly changes the meaning of several lines throughout the film.

Sony licensed GMK and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus with the hope of giving both films a theatrical release in the United States. However, after the American release of Godzilla 2000 under-performed at the box office, plans to give any newer Godzilla films a wide release were scrapped. Instead, Sony prepared edited television versions of both films. These premiered in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel on August 31, 2003, during the channel's Labor Day marathon. In February 2004, the uncut international versions of both films were released on DVD with the addition of the original Japanese soundtracks, a first for an American release of a Godzilla film.

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 63% rating from critics, based on 16 reviews with an average score of 5.29/10.

Troy Guinn of Eccentric Cinema gave the film a score of 8/10, calling it "one of only three Godzilla films I would recommend to anyone besides giant monster-movie fans or sci-fi buffs, the other two being the original and Mothra vs. Godzilla." Bryan Byun of DVD Verdict gave it a positive review, calling it "one of the most exciting entries in Godzilla's long cinematic history." Stomp Tokyo gave the film a score of 3/5, calling it "one of the better-looking entries in the series, albeit one of unfulfilled potential." John Wallis of DVD Talk felt that "the story is quite weak and somber" and that "this new take on [Godzilla] doesn't really work," while Gemma Tarlach of the Milwaukee Journal said that " GMK is best when it embraces its unabashed cheesiness. But when it tries to make Statements with Meaning, whether on Japan's past aggressions or ersatz samurai ruminations on the duty of a warrior, the movie flounders like a giant lizard hogtied by power lines." Film critic Leonard Maltin gave it three out of four stars, one of only two Godzilla films to receive more than two and a half stars, with the other being Godzilla 2000.

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Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack - Wikipedia

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(ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃 , Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaijū Sōkōgeki) is a 2001 Japanese kaiju film directed by Shūsuke Kaneko. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 26th film in the Godzilla franchise and the third film in the franchise's Millennium era, as well as the 25th Godzilla film produced by Toho.

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Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Directed by
Masaaki Tezuka

Written by
Wataru Mimura

Produced by
Shogo Tomiyama

Starring

Yumiko Shaku

Shin Takuma

Kou Takasugi

Yuusuke Tomoi

Kumi Mizuno

Akira Nakao

Cinematography

Masahiro Kishimoto

Edited by

Shinichi Fushima

Shinichi Natori

Music by
Michiru Ōshima

Distributed by

Toho

December 14, 2002 (Japan)

88 minutes

Country

Japan

Language

Japanese

Box office

¥1.9 billion[2]

(, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla Gojira tai Mekagojira, released in Japan as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) is a 2002 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 27th film in the Godzilla franchise and the fourth film in the franchise's Millennium period, and is also the 26th Godzilla film produced by Toho. The film features the fictional giant monster character Godzilla, along with an updated version of the mecha character Mechagodzilla, who is referred to in the film as Kiryu. The film stars Yumiko Shaku, Shin Takuma, Kou Takasugi, Yuusuke Tomoi, Kumi Mizuno, and Akira Nakao, with Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla and Hirofumi Ishigaki as Kiryu.

Like the previous films in the franchise's Millennium era, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is a reboot that ignores the events of every installment in the Godzilla film series aside from the original 1954 Godzilla. The film was followed by a direct sequel, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., the following year.

In 1999, 45 years after the original Godzilla's attack, maser-cannon technician Lieutenant Akane Yashiro is unable to kill a new member of Godzilla's species during her first fight and accidentally knocks a vehicle down the mountain, where it and its occupants are crushed by Godzilla. As a result, Akane is demoted while scientists, including single father Tokumitsu Yuhara, are gathered to build a bio-mechanical robot from the original Godzilla's skeleton. The cyborg Mechagodzilla, nicknamed Kiryu, is finished and inducted into the Japan Self-Defense Forces along with its human pilots, the Kiryu Squadron, with Akane becoming the primary pilot. However, memories of Akane's actions during the original fight still linger, and one of her squadron mates, Second Lieutenant Susumu Hayama, holds her responsible for the death of his brother.

Four years later, Kiryu is unveiled in a global presentation where its remote systems, use of command aircraft, and Absolute Zero Cannon are shown. Simultaneously, Godzilla returns, and Kiryu is launched into battle. In the midst of this however, Godzilla's roar causes Kiryu to experience memories of the original Godzilla's death and destroy the city while Godzilla retreats. The horrified Kiryu Squadron are powerless to stop the rampaging cyborg until it runs out of energy and is brought back to headquarters for repairs.

Meanwhile, Akane deals with Hayama's attempts to make her leave and Tokumitsu's attempts to get to know her despite her desiring solitude. Later, Godzilla attacks again. Once the repairs are completed, Kiryu is deployed and confronts Godzilla once more. Kiryu gains the upper hand, but as it prepares the Absolute Zero Cannon, Godzilla fires its atomic breath, knocking the cyborg away and diverting the blast. With Kiryu disabled and the remote piloting system taken off-line, Akane orders Hayama to land his command craft so that she can use Kiryu's internal backup cockpit. Before she leaves, Hayama wishes her luck, forgiving her. Piloting Kiryu directly, Akane closes in on Godzilla, hoping to use the Absolute Zero Cannon at point-blank range. The two monsters collide, and Akane uses Kiryu's thrusters to propel them out to sea before firing. In the aftermath, a wounded Godzilla retreats once more while Kiryu is heavily damaged. With the Kiryu Squadron successful in repelling Godzilla, Kiryu is taken back to base for repairs. In a post-credits scene, Akane agrees to have dinner with Tokumitsu and his daughter Sara and salutes Kiryu.

Following the successful revival of the monsters Mothra and King Ghidorah the previous year, Toho elected to bring back Mechagodzilla for the next installment in the Godzilla franchise. Unlike previous iterations of Mechagodzilla, this version is mostly referred to by the name Kiryu (derived from Kikai-ryu, the Japanese word for "machine dragon") throughout the film. This was done to differentiate the character from previous versions. It was, however, referred to as "Mecha-G" and "Mechagodzilla" in the English dubbing of the next film, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S..

Japanese baseball star Hideki Matsui has a cameo as himself in the film, due to his nickname "Godzilla".

As has been done since the early 1970s, Toho had the international version of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla dubbed in Hong Kong. This dubbed version was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2004.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla the first film of the series with a soundtrack recorded outside of Japan. Director Masaaki Tezuka once again turned to composer Michiru Oshima following their successful collaboration on Godzilla X Megagurius, with the score itself being recorded by Moscow International Symphonic Orchestra, under conductor Konstantin D. Krimets. Tezuka and Oshima would both return for the film's sequel, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.[citation needed ]

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was released in Japan on 14 December 2002.

Budgeted at roughly $8.5 million, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla opened in Japan on December 13, 2002, and earned $2,253,231 in its opening weekend. It went on to gross approximately $16 million in Japan, making it the second biggest hit of the Millennium Godzilla films at the box office. It sold approximately 1.7 million admissions.[citation needed ]

Reviews of Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla have been positive. Mike Pinsky of DVD Talk gave the film three stars out of five, saying: "While I did have some minor complaints, [this is] a fine entry in the series." Pinsky said "the plot is more interesting than most giant monster movies," and "the battle scenes, which are the main reason anyone watches these films to begin with, were great." Giving the film a "B+" score, Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed said that it's "a good deal of fun and one of the better entries in the series." Digital Monster Island gave the film a "B" score, calling it "a fun and exciting film that should please most kaiju fans."

The film was released by Sony Pictures/Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment on DVD on March 23, 2004. It was released under the American title, Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla - International Version, which has new English opening and closing credits but is otherwise the same as the original Japanese version.

Its second release was on Blu-ray by Sony as part of the Toho Godzilla Collection. and was released on September 9, 2014 as part of a 2-disc double feature with Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

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Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla - Wikipedia

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Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla Directed by Masaaki Tezuka Written by Wataru Mimura Produced by Shogo Tomiyama Starring Yumiko Shaku Shin Takuma Kou Takasugi Yuusuke Tomoi Kumi Mizuno Akira Nakao Cinematography Masahiro Kishimoto Edited by Shinichi Fushima Shinichi Natori Music by Michiru Ōshima Distributed by Toho December 14, 2002 (Japan) 88 minutes Country Japan Language Japanese Box office ¥1.9 billion[2] (, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla Gojira tai Mekagojira, released in Japan as Godzilla vs.

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(ゴジラ×モスラ×メカゴジラ 東京SOS , Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Gojira x Mosura x Mekagojira Tōkyō Esu Ō Esu, lit. 'Godzilla × Mothra × Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS') is a 2003 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Tezuka and Masahiro Yokotani, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. Produced and distributed by Toho Studios, it is the 28th film in the Godzilla franchise, the fifth film in the franchise's Millennium series, the 27th Godzilla film produced by Toho, and a direct sequel to the 2002 film Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. The film features the fictional monster characters Godzilla and Mothra, along with the mecha character Mechagodzilla, who is referred to in the film by the name Kiryu.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. stars Noboru Kaneko, Miho Yoshioka, Mitsuki Koga, Masami Nagasawa, Chihiro Otsuka, Kou Takasugi, Hiroshi Koizumi, and Akira Nakao, with Tsutomu Kitagawa as Godzilla and Motokuni Nakagawa as Kiryu. It is the only installment in the franchise's Millennium period to share continuity with a previous Godzilla film (aside from the original 1954 film), namely Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla. In Japan, it was followed by Godzilla: Final Wars, which was released on December 4th, 2004.

In 2004, Kiryu undergoes repair and modifications after its battle with Godzilla one year earlier. However, the Shobijin warn the Japanese government that Godzilla continues returning to the country because they used the original Godzilla's skeleton in Kiryu's construction. If they return the bones to the sea, Mothra will take Kiryu's place in defending Japan. Due to Mothra attacking Japan in 1961, Prime Minister Hayato Igarashi refuses, but agrees to discontinue Kiryu once it kills Godzilla. Godzilla and Mothra fight, but the former has the upper hand. With the repairs finished, Kiryu joins the fray, but Godzilla knocks both it and Mothra out.

Meanwhile, on Infant Island, twin Mothra larvae hatch from Mothra's egg and rush to help their mother. As lead scientist Yoshito Chujo heads in to repair Kiryu from its internal backup cockpit, the Japan Xenomorph Self-Defense Forces (JXSDF) and larvae try to hold Godzilla off, but Mothra sacrifices herself to protect the latter from Godzilla's atomic breath. Concurrently, Yoshito finishes repairing Kiryu, allowing it to weaken Godzilla. As the larvae bind Godzilla in silk and Kiryu's remote pilot, Kyosuke Akiba, receives the order to destroy Godzilla, Kiryu's spirit is reawakened by Godzilla's roar. The cyborg lifts Godzilla, uses its boosters to carry them both out to sea, and turns over to let Chujo escape before it plunges into the ocean.

In a post-credits scene, an undisclosed laboratory is shown with canisters containing the DNA of numerous kaiju. In the Japanese version, an unidentified voice announces that a "bio-formation" experiment involving an "extinct subject" is about to take place.

Toho had commissioned four story outlines for director Tezuka to choose from. Tezuka found them all boring, so instead he wrote a new story outline overnight and submitted it to the studio, which they eventually approved.

Box office

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. opened on 14 December 2003 on a double bill with the animated feature Hamtaro: Ham Ham Grand Prix. In its opening weekend, it was third place at the box office with $1,686,009 (U.S).

Critical response

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. has received generally positive reviews from journalistic reviewers upon its release on DVD. John Sinnott of DVD Talk gave Tokyo S.O.S. four stars out of five, saying:

There are some problems with this movie, but when all is said and done, I really enjoyed it...While this movie seems to be aimed at a younger audience without a lot of plot or characterization, it was still a lot of fun. The fight scenes were exciting and though they took up most of the movie, they never dragged on or got boring.

Giving the film a score of three out of five, Stomp Tokyo said "the plot is fairly simplistic and the character relationships are painted in broad strokes," but added that the movie "[features] the best monster action Toho has produced." Joseph Savitski of Beyond Hollywood criticized the film's "uninspired script," which he wrote had "ideas [that] are never fully developed," but added that the film is "well-made" and "mak[es] for an entertaining 91 minutes." Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed gave Tokyo S.O.S. a "B" score, calling it "a fun enough action film with enough explosions and destruction of Tokyo to satisfy die-hards and casual fans alike."

The film was released on DVD by Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment on 14 December 2004. It included a "Making Of - Featurette for Special Effects." It is also available in a 3-Disc "50th Anniversary Godzilla DVD Collection" box set; along with Son of Godzilla [1967] and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla [1974].

The film was released on blu-ray on the Toho Godzilla Collection on 6 May 2014 in a 2-Disc double feature with Godzilla: Final Wars. It included a "Making of" documentary.

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(ゴジラ×モスラ×メカゴジラ 東京SOS , Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Gojira x Mosura x Mekagojira Tōkyō Esu Ō Esu, lit. 'Godzilla × Mothra × Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS') is a 2003 Japanese kaiju film directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Tezuka and Masahiro Yokotani, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama.

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(ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ, Godzilla: Final Wars Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is a 2004 kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Isao Kiriyama and Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama. An international co-production between Japan, Australia, the United States, and China, the film was produced by Toho Studios, CP International, Zazou Productions, and Napalm Films. It is the 29th film in the Godzilla franchise, the sixth and final film in the franchise's Millennium series and the 28th Godzilla film produced by Toho. The film stars Masahiro Matsuoka, Rei Kikukawa, Don Frye, Maki Mizuno, Kazuki Kitamura, Kane Kosugi, Kumi Mizuno, Kenji Sahara, Masami Nagasawa, Chihiro Otsuka, Shigeru Izumiya, Masakatsu Funaki, Masato Ibu, Jun Kunimura, and Akira Takarada.

The film coincided with the 50th anniversary of the franchise, and as such, the film features a variety of actors and kaiju from previous films. Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, and was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004. Before the world premiere, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

During a battle in Antarctica with the original , the monster Godzilla is entrapped under ice by a cave-in caused by a series of missiles fired off from the submarine. In later years, environmental disasters cause the appearance of giant monsters and superhumans, dubbed "mutants", who are then recruited into the Earth Defense Force (EDF) to battle the monsters. An upgraded Gotengo, commanded by Captain Douglas Gordon, battles and destroys Manda, but the ship is wrecked in the process and its captain is suspended from the EDF.

Mutant soldier Shinichi Ozaki is tasked with guarding a U.N. biologist, Dr. Miyuki Otonashi, who is sent to study a mummified monster. They are teleported to Infant Island where they encounter the Shobijin, fairies of Mothra, who reveal the mummified monster as Gigan, an alien cyborg sent to destroy the Earth who was ultimately defeated by Mothra. They warn that a battle between good and evil will happen soon and that Ozaki must choose a side. Giant monsters begin attacking several major cities. Rodan attacks New York City, Anguirus attacks Shanghai, Zilla attacks Sydney, King Caesar attacks Okinawa, Kamacuras attacks Paris, Kumonga attacks Phoenix, Ebirah attacks Tokai, and Hedorah attacks an unknown location. The EDF engage the creatures, the kid is playing with kaiju toys. in Vancouver who mysteriously vanish at the same moment when an alien mothership appears over Tokyo. The aliens, named Xiliens, warn that an incoming planet called " Gorath" will soon impact the Earth. A peace pact is signed between Earth and the Xiliens. Meanwhile, Minilla, Godzilla's son, is found in the forest by a Kenta Taguchi and his grandfather Samon Taguchi.

Distrusting the Xiliens, Ozaki, Miyuki, and her sister, Anna discovers that the Gorath they saw is actually a hologram and that the aliens have replaced several members of the EDF with duplicates. After their kind is exposed, the Xiliens' Controller, who called himself X during an interview on a radio show, kills his superior to assume command, revealing the plan to use humans as a food source while taking control of all the mutants except for Ozaki through a property in their DNA known as "M-base". X also has the monsters placed under his control through M-base in their DNA and awakens Gigan to have them to wipe out the EDF. The group escapes although Gigan pursues them. Gordon convinces them to travel to Antarctica to release Godzilla, which is immune to Xilien control through its lack of M-base and easily destroys Gigan. The Gotengo then guides Godzilla into battle with the other monsters and returns to Tokyo to engage the Xiliens. After penetrating the mothership, the group is captured and brought before X as he summons Gorath to Earth. Though Godzilla destroys Gorath just before it crashes, it unleashes Monster X, and the two monsters battle.

An upgraded Gigan aids Monster X but is intercepted by Mothra, who is gravely wounded while managing to destroy the cyborg. In the Xilien ship, X reveals that both he and Ozaki are superior beings known as "Keizers", powerful beings distinct from regular mutants born on rare occasions when human DNA and M-base are combined, before directly taking control of Ozaki to turn him against the group. A fight breaks out, and X loses control of Ozaki due to the Shobijins' blessing. X is fatally wounded, but he triggers the ship's self-destruct as the group falls back to the Gotengo moments before the mothership explodes. Godzilla and Monster X continue their battle as the latter transforms into its true form, Keizer Ghidorah. Keizer Ghidorah initially gets the upper-hand but Godzilla emerges victorious in the end. Minilla shows up at the scene and convinces Godzilla not to destroy the Gotengo. The survivors watch Godzilla and Minilla return to the ocean.

Ryuhei Kitamura accepted the offer to direct the film due to being unsatisfied with the Godzilla films of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, stating, "I loved the Godzilla movies back in the '70s, but not so much the ones released in the 1980s and '90s. Godzilla movies back in the '70s were never just monster movies, there were always messages and themes that reflected the time and world within which they were made, and they combined this so well with straight-out entertainment. They lost that touch in the '80s".

Kitamura has compared Godzilla: Final Wars to that of a musician's "Best of" album, stating "We picked lots and lots of the best elements from the past and combined it in a new way. It's what I love about Godzilla and what I don't love about recent Godzilla movies".

Like previous Godzilla films, Godzilla: Final Wars makes extensive use of practical effects rather than CGI. The special effects were directed and supervised by Eiichi Asada, who also directed the special effects for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Commenting on the special effects, Kitamura stated at the film's world premiere in Hollywood, "We stick to the special effects. That's what we've been doing for 50 years. And that's why Hollywood doesn't do it. So on the first meeting, I told everybody that we stick to the special effects, and the live action instead of CGI. So it's a CGI-monster-Hollywood Godzilla versus our man-made live-action monsters."

Filming included on-location shooting in New York City and Sydney, Australia. Scenes were also filmed in various locations across Japan, including Fukushima, Kobe, and Toho Studios in Tokyo.

The film's score was composed by Keith Emerson, Nobuhiko Morino, and Daisuke Yano. Emerson was offered the job by Kitamura, who was attending Emerson's Japanese concerts at the time. Emerson's main concern was the potential lack of time before going on tour. Emerson was only given two weeks to write the score and ended up writing more music than what was used in the film. The film featured the track We're All to Blame by Sum 41 during the battle between Godzilla and Zilla. The band received top billing in the opening credits.

Godzilla: Final Wars was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on November 29, 2004. It was released theatrically in the United States on November 4, 2004 and then released to video on December 13, 2005.

The film received fairly positive reviews, especially in Japan, but more divided reactions abroad. Film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 50% rating, based on 12 reviews with a total score of 5.75/10.

Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique called the film "utterly fantastic" and "a rush of explosive excitement." Jim Agnew of Film Threat gave the film four and a half stars out of five, saying "the good news for kaiju fans is that Godzilla: Final Wars is a kick-ass giant monster flick." Drew McWeeny of Ain't It Cool News remarked, " Godzilla: Final Wars earns a special place in my heart. It's fun. Pure lunatic fun, every frame." Sean Axmaker of Static Multimedia said, "Directed by a true fan of the old school, it's lusciously, knowingly, lovingly cheesy." Craig Blamer of the Chico News & Review called the film "a giddy and fast-paced celebration of the big guy."

Conversely, David Nusair of Reel Film gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying that "the battles are admittedly quite entertaining" but felt that director Ryuhei Kitamura "is absolutely the wrong choice for the material." David Cornelius of eFilmCritic gave the film two stars out of five, calling it "the dullest, weakest Godzilla movie I've seen in a long, long time." Ty Burr of the Boston Globe gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying it focused too much on action and not enough on story, and calling it "35 minutes longer than is necessary."

Among kaiju-related websites, J.L. Carrozza of Toho Kingdom "absolutely love[d]" Final Wars, saying "[it's] no masterpiece, but it is such insane fun that quite frankly it's hard not to adore it." Mike Bogue of American Kaiju said "the film is flawed, but nonetheless entertaining," saying there are "too many [-style] battles" but that the film "makes excellent use of its monsters" and "Kitamura keeps things moving at a brisk pace." Japan Hero criticized the "[lack of] character development" but concluded that Final Wars is "a very entertaining movie," saying that "Kitamura did a wonderful job making it an interesting and great looking film worthy of being the final [Godzilla] movie."

Stomp Tokyo said "the monster scenes are generally well done" but criticized the film's "incoherence," saying: "It's a shame that Kitamaura couldn't choose a tone for the film, instead shifting the movie's mood wildly from scene to scene." Lenny Taguchi of Monster Zero criticized Keith Emerson's soundtrack but gave Final Wars an overall favorable review, calling it a "fun and good" movie that "tries many things, and generally succeeds at almost all of them."

Director Kitamura commented at the film's world premiere that the reason why he agreed to direct the film was because he wanted to update Godzilla and recapture the same spirit seen in the later Godzilla films from the Showa era. He wanted to incorporate the same speed and power seen in films like Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, which he believed was lost somewhere within the series, stating, "The Godzilla series had lost that kind of taste. I think that back in the '70s Godzilla movies had more power and speed. He was very fast and he was very strong. So in my Godzilla, you know, less dialogue and more action. That's more fun than watching people discuss what we should do about Godzilla. As a Godzilla fan I want to see Godzilla punching and kicking, beating up all the other monsters instead of somebody talking again, you know, discussing the operation. That's what I wanted to do is to revive that, but not in the same way, I have to update. This is the updated version of '60 & 70s, crazy, monster movies. I hope that the Americans will not modify the Japanese version too much."

2005

Neuchâtel International Fantasy Film Festival

Best Feature Film

Godzilla: Final Wars

Nominated

2006

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

Most Disturbing Import (Scariest Foreign Film)

Godzilla: Final Wars

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Released: December 13, 2005

Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (2.40:1) Anamorphic

Sound: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1) English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles: English and French

Supplements: Behind-the-Scenes Featurette (comparison of B-roll footage to finished film)(17:53 min); Trailers for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, , Dust to Glory, MirrorMask, and

Region 1

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Violence.

Released: May 6, 2014

Picture: 2.40:1 (MPEG-4 AVC) [1080P]

Sound: Japanese and English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)

Subtitles: English, English SDH, and French

Extras:

Godzilla: B-Roll to Film (SD, Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 17:54)

Theatrical Trailer (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 2:11, HD)

Teaser 1 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:41, HD)

Teaser 2 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:41, HD)

Teaser 3 (Japanese DD 2.0, English subtitles, 0:42, HD)

Notes: This is a 2-Disc double feature with Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.

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(ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ, Godzilla: Final Wars Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is a 2004 kaiju film directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, written by Isao Kiriyama and Wataru Mimura, and produced by Shogo Tomiyama.

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Godzilla is a 2014 American monster film directed by Gareth Edwards. It is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise and is the 30th film in the Godzilla franchise, the first film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the second Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston. In the film, a soldier attempts to return to his family while caught in the crossfire of an ancient rivalry between Godzilla and two parasitic monsters known as MUTOs.

The project began as an IMAX short film in 2004 but was transferred to Legendary in 2009 to be redeveloped as a feature film. The film was officially announced in March 2010 and Edwards was announced as the director in January 2011. Principal photography began in March 2013 in the United States and Canada and ended in July 2013.

Godzilla was theatrically released on May 16, 2014, to generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the direction, visual effects, music, cinematography, respect to the source material, and Cranston's performance, but the characters and Godzilla's screen-time were criticized. The film was a box office success, grossing $529 million worldwide against a production budget of $160 million, print and advertisement costs of $100 million, and a break-even point of $380 million. The film's success prompted Toho to produce a reboot of their own and Legendary to proceed with sequels, with Godzilla: King of the Monsters released on May 31, 2019, and Godzilla vs. Kong released on March 24, 2021.

In 1954, Godzilla, a prehistoric alpha predator, is lured to Bikini Atoll in an attempt to kill him with a nuclear bomb. In 1999, Monarch scientists Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham investigate the skeleton of a monster similar to Godzilla in a cavern unearthed by a collapsed uranium mine in the Philippines. They also find two giant spores, one dormant and one hatched, along with a trail leading to the sea. In Japan, the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant experiences unusual seismic activity as supervisor Joe Brody sends his wife Sandra to lead a team of technicians into the reactor. A tremor breaches the reactor, forcing Joe to close the reactor door before Sandra and her team can escape while the plant collapses.

Fifteen years later, Joe and Sandra's son Ford, a U.S. Navy EOD officer, returns from a tour of duty to his wife Elle and son Sam in San Francisco, but must immediately depart for Japan after Joe is detained for trespassing in Janjira's quarantine zone. Joe is determined to find out the cause of the meltdown, and persuades Ford to accompany him to retrieve vital data from their old home. They discover the zone is uncontaminated and retrieve the data, but are discovered and taken to a facility in the plant's ruins. The facility harbors a massive chrysalis that had been feeding off of the plant's reactors for 15 years and emitting strong electro-magnetic pulses over time. A giant winged insect-like creature emerges from the chrysalis and escapes, destroying the facility. Joe is severely injured and later dies. The incident is reported publicly as an earthquake.

Serizawa and Graham join a U.S. Navy task force led by Admiral William Stenz to search for the creature, dubbed a " MUTO" (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). Serizawa and Graham reveal to Ford that a 1954 deep sea expedition awakened Godzilla, and nuclear tests in the 1950s were actually attempts to kill him; when this did not work, Project Monarch was established to secretly study Godzilla and similar monsters. They also explain that the MUTO caused the Janjira meltdown. Ford reveals Joe had monitored echolocation signals indicating the MUTO was communicating with something, presumably Godzilla.

The MUTO attacks a Russian submarine and drops it in O'ahu to eat its nuclear material. Godzilla arrives, causing a tsunami in Honolulu, and briefly engages the MUTO in battle until it flees. Serizawa deduces Godzilla was only listening as the MUTO was communicating with something else, prompting the military to investigate the other spore stored in the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. However, a second, bigger, wingless MUTO has already emerged, and attacks Las Vegas. The scientists deduce that it is female and was what the male was communicating with, their signals being a mating call.

Over the scientists' objections, Stenz approves a plan of using nuclear warheads to lure all three monsters out into the open ocean and destroy them. Returning to the U.S., Ford joins the team delivering the warheads by train, but the female MUTO intercepts them and devours most of the warheads. The remaining warhead is airlifted with Ford to San Francisco, where the monsters are converging, and activated after Godzilla appears at the Golden Gate Bridge, only for the male MUTO to snatch it and take it to the female, who forms a nest around it in the Chinatown area.

While Godzilla and the MUTOs battle, Ford and a strike team enter the city via HALO jump to find and disarm the warhead before it detonates. Unable to access the timer, the team gets the warhead onto a boat for disposal at sea, while Ford destroys the nest. Godzilla defeats the MUTOs and collapses on the shore from exhaustion. Ford gets the boat out to open sea, is rescued before the warhead explodes, and reunites with his family at an emergency shelter the following morning. Godzilla reawakens and returns to the sea, while the media dubs him the "King of the Monsters" and speculate whether he might be a savior.

The son of Joe and Sandra Brody. After the nuclear plant's collapse, he grows up in the United States and becomes a lieutenant in the United States Navy as an explosive ordnance disposal officer. When Taylor-Johnson first met with Edwards, they talked for six hours about the archetype of the character. Taylor-Johnson stated that Edwards brought a level of "intimacy" to the film and praised him for treating it like a "big budget art film". He stated, "I think he went for the right balance of sensitivity and testosterone. I've probably been more emotionally challenged in this film than in any independent drama or thriller". Taylor-Johnson went through training to achieve military etiquette, and said he performed "quite a lot of the stunts". The role of Ford was reportedly offered to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 2012, but he declined. By 2013, Henry Cavill, Scoot McNairy, and Caleb Landry Jones comprised the shortlist for the role before Legendary took interest in Taylor-Johnson. CJ Adams portrays Brody as a young boy.

A scientist for Project Monarch. Watanabe was initially skeptical about a new Hollywood Godzilla film but changed his mind after a meeting with Edwards, stating, "If you are telling the Godzilla story, you cannot separate it from the nuclear element, and the first thing I asked was whether there was going to be the nuclear element, as that now, in Japan, is a really sensitive problem. I was worried about how I could use that and how I could make that okay, but Gareth understood those feelings." Watanabe's character is named after the director of various Godzilla films, Ishirō Honda, and after the scientist who killed Godzilla in the original 1954 film, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa.

Ford's wife and a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital. Olsen agreed to join the film after being impressed with Edwards' previous film, Monsters and Edwards' enthusiasm for the film and Godzilla's history.

A nuclear regulations consultant at the Janjira nuclear plant. She is married to Joe Brody and is the mother of Ford Brody. Binoche agreed to join the film after reading a "beautiful" letter from Edwards and because she wanted to "please" her son, who is also a fan of Godzilla, however, Edwards has stated that her character's death scene is what convinced her (and Cranston) to join the film. Binoche later revealed that Quentin Tarantino admitted to crying during her character's death scene, Tarantino stating it was "the first time I've ever cried during a 3D blockbuster."

A scientist with Project Monarch. She has been Serizawa's "right hand" for many years. Hawkins was the last actress to be cast while the film was undergoing principal photography.

An Admiral in the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy. He is the commander of the United States Navy task force in charge of tracking down the escaped MUTO.

Ford's father and former lead engineer at the Janjira nuclear plant until its destruction in 1999. Cranston has said that Edwards' approach to the film and to its characterization is what drew him to the project. He stated, "The most important thing about this version of Godzilla is the characterization. The characters in this are real, well drawn. [Edwards] takes the time to really establish who these people are, that you root for them, that you invest in these characters, and that you care for them. That's the best part of it." Cranston additionally added, "I wouldn't be here if it was just, 'Look out, this monster is crushing everything!' Instead of trying to humanize the beast what this film does - and, I think, rightfully so - is humanize the people. You root for them and sympathize with their plight". Cranston also joined the film because he has been a fan of Godzilla since childhood, stating, "Godzilla was always my favorite monster when I was young. He was unapologetic." Cranston had to wear a wig for his scenes due to finishing Breaking Bad days before filming Godzilla. Cranston was initially ready to decline the offer after being approached, assuming the film was going to be "silly"; however, director Edwards' passion for the film and his previous film impressed Cranston enough to read the script and join the film. Despite his positive opinion on the film, Cranston would later opine that killing off Joe Brody early was a "narrative mistake".

An ancient alpha predator whose existence was kept secret by Monarch since 1954. Storm received a call from Garrett Warren, the film's action choreographer, asking for mo-cap performers who can do "beast performances". Warren instead invited Storm and two other performers to a studio, where he revealed to Storm and the others their roles for the film. Storm had to wear a suit with dots, a camera in front of his face, and a tail made out of foam. Principal photography was already completed at that point and Storm and the other performers did not interact with director Edwards or any of the actors.

Additional roles include: Carson Bolde as Sam Brody; Richard T. Jones as Captain Russell Hampton; Victor Rasuk as Sergeant Tre Morales; Patrick Sabongui as Master Sergeant Marcus Waltz, USAF; Jared Keeso as Jump Master; Al Sapienza as Huddleston, the head of security at the Janjira MUTO facility; Brian Markinson as Whalen, a scientist at the Janjira MUTO facility; Catherine Lough Haggquist as PO #1 Martinez; Jake Cunanan as Akio; Warren Takeuchi as Akio's father; Yuki Morita as Akio's mother; Ken Yamamura as Takashi, Joe's associate at the Janjira facility; Hiro Kanagawa as Hayato, a technician at the Janjira facility; Garry Chalk as Stan Walsh; and Christian Tessier as a technician.

Godzilla franchise actor Akira Takarada was cast as an immigration officer, but his scene was cut from the final film. Edwards stated cutting the scene was his "biggest regret". Despite cutting the cameo, Takarada is still listed in the closing credits of the film.

Edwards had cited (1954) as an inspiration on the film. Edwards stated, "Godzilla is a metaphor for Hiroshima in the original movie. We tried to keep that, and there are a lot of themes from the '54 movie that we've kept." Edwards decided on a restrained approach similar to when films were fueled by a "sense of anticipation" and relied on "high suspense", citing , , and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as influences. On why Edwards chose a restrained direction, he stated, "I felt that in modern cinema it's so easy to just throw everything at the screen constantly." Edwards also wanted Godzilla to feel "universal" in a way that it could appeal to a general audience like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Edwards additionally stated, "I grew up watching Spielberg movies, what they did so well - as well as having epic, fantastic spectacle - they made the characters feel real and human. We were trying to do the same thing here." Critics and journalists have also noted the film's nods to Steven Spielberg's style of filmmaking and influence from films such as Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Katsuhiro Otomo's had also influenced the visual design of the film, Edwards stated, "One of our designers on the film - a friend called Matt - when we were designing things, and got stuck, we'd always go, 'What would Akira do?'" For the film's cinematography, Edwards wanted "...to do this beautifully real documentary vibe, but also that classic Spielberg style". Real life events such as the 2004 Indian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the Fukushima nuclear disaster served as heavy influences on the realism behind the film's destruction scenes and man vs. nature themes. Edwards had also cited action films from the late 70's and early 80's having influenced the film as well, stating, "We tried to make a blockbuster that harks back to the pace and style of the early '80s and late '70s action movies."

The film is a co-production of Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, with the participation of Toho in creature design, sound design and plot. It has an estimated $160 million production budget, financed 75% by Legendary and 25% by Warner Bros. The movie has an estimated $65 million promotion and advertising budget, for a total estimated budget of $225 million. The film is Warner Bros. Pictures' first new Godzilla property since 1959's Gigantis, the Fire Monster.

After the release of 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, marking the 50th anniversary of the Godzilla film franchise, Toho announced that it would not produce any films featuring the Godzilla character for ten years. Toho demolished the water stage on its lot used in numerous Godzilla films to stage water scenes. TriStar Pictures, which had made the 1998 Godzilla film and held the rights to make a trilogy of films, let its rights expire in 2003.

In August 2004, Yoshimitsu Banno, who had directed 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah, announced that he had secured the rights from Toho to make a Godzilla IMAX 3D short film at his Advanced Audiovisual Productions (AAP) production company. The film was tentatively titled Godzilla 3D to the Max, and was to be a remake of the Godzilla vs. Hedorah story. In 2005, American Peter Anderson, ASC was added to the project as cinematographer, visual effects supervisor and co-producer by an independent producer Kenji Okuhira who represented Banno. In the same year, American producer Brian Rogers signed on to the project after the meeting with Banno arranged by Okuhira and Anderson.

In 2007, also through Anderson, Kerner Optical then came on board to develop the technology and to produce the 3-D film and with Kerner's backing, in the fall of 2007, the team met with Toho in Tokyo where they re-negotiated their license to allow the release of a feature-length 3-D theatrical production. In 2008, Kerner was facing financial troubles that threatened to cancel the production. In 2009, Rogers, Anderson and the then-proposed director Keith Melton met with Legendary Pictures to get their backing on a 3-D theatrical film.

In 2010, it was green-lit by Legendary to go to production. From the Godzilla 3D production team, Banno and Okuhira would remain on the project as executive producers and Rogers as a producer. In November 2013, Banno stated that he still planned to make a sequel to Godzilla vs. Hedorah; however, Banno died on May 7, 2017.

Legendary production

In August 2009, rumors surfaced that Legendary was in talks with Toho to produce a new American Godzilla film to be released in 2012, and on March 29, 2010, Legendary officially announced its acquisition of the Godzilla license. According to Hideyuki Takai, president of Toho Co.: "We are delighted in rebooting the character together to realize its much-anticipated return by fans from all over the world. We are anxious to find out where Godzilla's new stomping will take us." Legendary announced it would reboot the franchise with Warner Bros. co-producing and co-financing. Legendary announced it would make the new film closer in style to the original 1954 film rather than the 1998 film and its " iguana-like creature". According to Thomas Tull, chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, "Our plans are to produce the Godzilla that we, as fans, would want to see. We intend to do justice to those essential elements that have allowed this character to remain as pop culturally relevant for as long as it has." Film producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Legendary's Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni were added to the project to work with Rogers, Banno and Okuhira.

At the 3D Summit conference held in September 2010 at Universal Studios, producer Brian Rogers confirmed a targeted release date for 2012, the reboot will be a live-action project featuring a fully computer-generated Godzilla battling two other monsters rather than simply the military as seen in Emmerich's 1998 film. Rogers also confirmed that the two Godzilla head designs online rumored to have been designed by Legendary and sent to Toho for approval were fake. Rogers also stressed his and Legendary's wish to revive Godzilla in the same fashion Legendary had revived Batman.

In October 2010, it was rumoured that Guillermo del Toro was approached to direct the film, which del Toro later denied. In January 2011, Gareth Edwards was announced as the director for the film. In an interview publicizing the DVD release of Monsters, Edwards discussed the new film: "this will definitely have a very different feel than the 1998 film and our biggest concern is making sure we get it right for the fans because we know their concerns. It must be brilliant in every category because I'm a fan as well." Edwards further stated, "Without addressing anything specific, everyone knows how important it is to get it right."

The film remained in development into 2012, missing the planned release date. Edwards worked on his vision for the film at a stage at the Warner Bros. lot. The production team developed Godzilla models, artwork and pre-visualizations of the action scenes of the movie. From the lot, Edward directed a short teaser video, shown to Legendary executives and later shown at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2012.

In 2010, David Callaham pitched his take on Godzilla to Legendary and Warner Bros. and was hired to write the first draft. Speaking of his draft, Callaham stated, "Godzilla is a pretty cut and dry, giant monster that smashes stuff. But the reason I got excited about it is because I saw themes and relationships to the modern world that I could tell in this story that was important." Callaham did research on Godzilla's history, animal documentaries, as well as natural disasters and local government disaster plannings in order to depict the events as close as possible to real-life disasters.

When Edwards' signing was announced, it was also announced that Callaham's first draft would be rewritten by another writer. In July 2011, David S. Goyer was attached to rewrite the script. Goyer only worked a few weeks on the script and did not get any credit, stating, "[I was involved with Godzilla] a little bit. I mean I did three or four weeks of work on Godzilla, it wasn't a page-one rewrite or anything like that. The term is 'script doctoring,' is what I did on it." In November 2011, Max Borenstein was hired to continue work on the script. In October 2012, Legendary announced that writer Drew Pearce would polish the script, making the principal characters older to suit the actors that Legendary had intended to cast.

In January 2013, Frank Darabont was hired for a final rewrite. In interviews, Darabont described his plans for Godzilla as returning it to a "terrifying force of nature". The film would add a "very compelling human drama" and that Godzilla would be tied to a "different contemporary issue" rather than the original atomic bomb testing. In addition to contributing to the script, Darabont mainly focused on the emotional aspect and further development of the characters. Commenting on Darabont's work, Edwards stated, "We blocked out the whole story and Frank did a pass at helping the characters and emotions. He delivered on that. Frank brought a lot of heart to it and soul." Edwards additionally confirmed that one particular scene from Darabont's rewrite convinced Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche to join the film. Edwards felt it was not believable that a creature as giant as Godzilla could go undetected by humanity, so the writers conceived of the idea that the monster's existence had been covered up by the United States government, and as such their nuclear tests in the Pacific during the 1950s were actually an attempt to kill the creature.

In July 2013, Edwards confirmed an origin story for the film. He also confirmed that Godzilla would be an antihero rather than a villain or a hero. He also discussed the themes incorporated into the film, stating "Godzilla is definitely a representation of the wrath of nature. We've taken it very seriously and the theme is man versus nature and Godzilla is certainly the nature side of it. You can't win that fight. Nature's always going to win and that's what the subtext of our movie is about. He's the punishment we deserve". Actress Elizabeth Olsen discussed how the film returns to the roots of the original Godzilla film and its themes as well, stating, "There's a strong theme about the importance of family in it as well as the theme of trying to control nature and how that backfires in the end."

Actor Bryan Cranston praised Edwards' vision, tone, and pitch for the film and titular character. In an interview with Canada's Entertainment Tonight, he compared Edwards' approach similar to Steven Spielberg's style in where the film does not immediately show the beast but rather build up to its appearance while still delivering an eerie and terrifying off-screen presence.

In licensing Godzilla to Legendary, Toho set down some specific conditions: that Godzilla is born of a nuclear incident and it be set in Japan. The film has a title montage set in 1954, and then moves forward to 1999 and deals with a mysterious disaster at a fictional Japanese nuclear power plant named Janjira. Legendary rejected an origin story where a Godzilla carcass would be found entombed in Siberia. The idea was rejected after the production learned that Man of Steel had a potentially similar scene. The US Army reviewed the script, suggesting corrections for accuracy. Tony Gilroy contributed some additional uncredited rewrites to the script.

Producer Thomas Tull was adamant about keeping Godzilla's design consistent with the Toho version, stating, "We had to make triply sure we got it right. Godzilla had to look like Godzilla. Period." Tull was also puzzled at the design direction of Emmerich's Godzilla, stating, "I'm always puzzled as a fan when you take things so far it's unrecognizable."

Edwards and the design group reviewed all previous incarnations of Godzilla's design for inspiration. Edwards stated, "The way I tried to view it was to imagine Godzilla was a real creature and someone from Toho saw him in the 1950s and ran back to the studio to make a movie about the creature and was trying their best to remember it and draw it. And in our film you get to see him for real." He went on to say that his Godzilla remains true to the original in all aspects. Edwards also stressed that, "It was important to me that this felt like a Toho Godzilla" and concluded by wishing, "I'd love ours (Godzilla) to be considered as part of the Toho group."

In October 2013, toy and collectible web sites offering pre-orders of merchandise for the film revealed aspects of the other creatures to appear in the movie. The other creatures are, as a group, known as "MUTOs", with some having the ability to fly and being multi-limbed. The filmmakers specified that Godzilla would be 350 feet (106.7 meters) tall, the tallest incarnation of Godzilla to date at the time. According to special effect chief Jim Rygiel, the mechanics of Godzilla's fighting style is based on the study of animals, primarily bears and Komodo dragons. The height of the creature finally turned out to be 355 feet (108.2 meters).

For Empire magazine's April 2014 issue, the magazine cover featured a picture of Godzilla, revealing the monster's design. According to Edwards, elements of the faces of bears, dogs and eagles were incorporated into the design of Godzilla's face. Motion capture by the special effects firm The Imaginarium was also utilized in the movement of the movie's monsters in film sequences. Andy Serkis provided consultation on the film's motion capture sequences in order to "control the souls" of the creatures. Serkis stated that the film's performance capture had already been filmed before he was approached.

The Godzilla roar was revamped for the movie. According to Edwards, sound designer Erik Aadahl improved on the original sound effect provided by Toho. Aadahl and fellow sound designer Ethan Van Der Ryn spent six months over the three-year production getting the roar right. Using microphones that could record sound inaudible to humans, the team found sounds to match the initial shriek and the finishing bellow. The new roar retains the musical key and cadence of the roar, going from a C to a D. The final version was the 50th the team produced. The pair tested the roar on a back lot at Warner Bros., using a tour speaker array for The Rolling Stones, and estimated that it could be heard 3 miles (4.83 km) away. In IMAX theatres, the roar was integrated into the sound of the "Welcome to IMAX" sequence shown before Godzilla showings.

In an interview with The Verge, Edwards commented that it took over a year to design the MUTO creatures because the crew wanted to create something new and different for contemporary audiences. Edwards and the design team looked to creatures from such films as Jurassic Park, , Starship Troopers and for inspiration, reflecting on what made their designs so iconic. From this, the design for the MUTOs kept evolving and "mutating," according to Edwards, into a cohesive design.

T.J. Storm provided the performance capture for Godzilla while Matt Cross and Lee Ross provided additional motion capture performances.

In late 2012, the plans for the film's filming, release and distribution were revealed. In September 2012, Legendary announced a theatrical release date of May 16, 2014, in 3-D. IMAX announced that the film would also be released in IMAX 3D on May 16, 2014. Warner Brothers distributed the film worldwide, except in Japan, where it was distributed by Toho. At that time, Legendary Pictures added Alex Garcia and Patricia Whitcher as executive producers. In December, Dan Lin revealed that the film would likely start filming in Vancouver in March 2013.

Legendary turned its attention to casting parts for the movie. On January 7, 2013, it was reported that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had turned down being cast in the film in the fall of 2012. It was reported that Henry Cavill, Scoot McNairy, and Caleb Landry Jones comprised the shortlist for lead of the film. On January 10, it was first reported that Legendary Pictures was interested in Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the lead role. It was reported that Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen were also in talks to co-star. Olsen confirmed her involvement at the 2013 BAFTA awards. Juliette Binoche and David Strathairn were then signed on to join Taylor-Johnson, Cranston and Olsen in the film.

In January 2013, Mary Parent joined the project as a producer for Disruption Entertainment. and producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison were dismissed from the project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the producers left over creative and financial differences with Legendary Pictures, and Legendary was buying out their producer contracts, a move which led to court. On January 9, Legendary Pictures filed a 'Complaint for Declaratory Relief' lawsuit against Lin, Lee and Davison in California State Court to spell out any fees owed to the individuals, who had signed an agreement with Legendary and were working with Legendary on the film's development. According to the complaint, Legendary had decided in the fall of 2012 to not employ the three as producers on the film and the three were not eligible for any producer fees. The three filed a counter-claim, that the agreement cited by Legendary was not in force and that the original working agreement was breached by Legendary. The three argued that the suit should be decided in open court, not in arbitration, and that Legendary should be responsible for damages for breach of contract. At court, the judge dismissed the arbitration and ordered mediation followed by jury trial if necessary. Legendary appealed the decision and lost the appeal in March 2014, leaving the case in California Superior Court for trial. In June 2015, on the eve of the trial, the parties came to a settlement, terms of which were not disclosed.

At the start of principal photography in March 2013, Legendary formally announced the cast and producers. Yoshimitsu Banno, Alex Garcia, Kenji Okuhira and Patricia Whitcher were formally named as executive producers and Legendary announced the addition of Ken Watanabe to the cast. After filming started, Richard T. Jones and Sally Hawkins were added. From the film set, a photograph of actor Akira Takarada (star of the original Godzilla, including five sequels) with Edwards was released. Takarada had publicly appealed to be part of the production and the photo indicates some sort of role for the Japanese actor in the reboot. In April 2014, Takarada said in an interview that his role was cut from the final version of the film. He had the role of an immigration officer. Edwards later admitted regretting cutting out Takarada's cameo.

Principal photography began on March 18, 2013, in Vancouver, under the working title of "Nautilus," with scenes shot at the Vancouver Convention Centre, inside BC Place, and at Hi-View Lookout in Cypress Provincial Park, West Vancouver (as San Francisco's Bay Area Park). This was followed by filming in the Richmond neighborhood of Steveston. A large battle scene was shot on Moncton St, involving approximately 200 soldiers and many military vehicles. Another scene was filmed at the fisherman's wharf along Finn Slough. Additional shooting took place on Vancouver Island, around Nanaimo and Victoria in British Columbia. Additional filming involving extras took place around industrial areas of Coquitlam, British Columbia.

The scenes at the Convention Centre stood in for the Honolulu and Tokyo airports, while other locations in Vancouver were used to simulate scenes in San Francisco, Tokyo and the Philippines. Filming also used the stages of Burnaby's Canadian Motion Picture Park, (CMPP) where crews built a San Francisco Chinatown street, a giant sinkhole set used for the Philippine mine and the MUTO nest and a 400 feet (120 m) section of the Golden Gate Bridge. The Chinatown street was built on the site of the New York City set built for the film.

Further on-location filming was done in June and July 2013 in Honolulu, Hawaii. On June 2, 2013, over 2,000 people applied at an open casting call in Hawaii to be cast as extras. Over 200 extras were hired for the expected three weeks of shooting in Hawaii, which included dressing up Waikiki Beach as the site of disaster. Eastern Oahu was used as a double for the Marshall Islands. According to The Hollywood Reporter, principal photography on Godzilla wrapped on the weekend of July 13-14.

In an interview, Aaron Taylor-Johnson described the filming as mostly on-location, with very little use of green screens. He described the film crew as fairly small compared to other films he has worked on, "almost an independent production." CGI was used to add elements later.

Seamus McGarvey served as the film's cinematographer, shooting the film digitally using Arri Alexa cameras with Panavision C-Series anamorphic lenses. Sequences of the film set in the year 1954 were shot using vintage lenses from the early 1960s in order to give the film a "distant period feel." This effect was enhanced though the digital intermediate's colour grading, as McGarvey noted that the "look I wanted was a peeled look with muted colors and diffusion on the highlights, a sense of period distance. I found a lot of photographs and magazines, and I knew that I wanted the blacks to be imbued with a tint of magenta." Though the film was made to be released in 3D, it received a predominantly 2D release. McGarvey himself decided to shoot the film as if it were only 2D, because he dislikes working with 3D filming equipment and the experience of watching 3D films in theatres.

The U.S. Navy cooperated in the making of the movie and filming took place on three U.S. Navy aircraft carriers: the USS Carl Vinson, the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan. Part of the opening sequence was filmed on the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. The U.S. Army also participated in the movie with the support of three technical advisors. The U.S. Marine Corps, which had participated in the 1998 film, declined to participate after reviewing the script, which featured Navy personnel. Taylor-Johnson was put through a "mini-bootcamp" by retired Marine Sgt. Maj. James D. Dever, one of the film's military technical advisers, to "ensure he had good military bearing". Dever also helped stuntmen train for high-altitude, low-opening jumps.

Director Gareth Edwards has said that he "intentionally placed humans in shots to give the scene a sense of scale, as everyone knows the size of a human, so we know the size of a creature or a building." He has also asserted that "we wouldn't place a camera anywhere it would be impossible to get one. We would say 'Imagine it was a news story, or a sports event, cameramen would put cameras where they could in a hurry, and get any shot they could.' This is what we wanted [Godzilla] to feel like, as if people were filming glimpses at any chance they could." He also found himself "Doing things [I] think are cliche; panning up just as a roar happens, or getting the perfect shot, things I shake my head at when watching other people's films. Especially when [Godzilla] is first seen, we wanted a build up, and then pan up, we see him, and then we don't see him. I love that."

Visual effects on the film were supervised by visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, best known for his work on The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Rygiel has stated that the effects are in the spirit of the original series, with the blessing of Toho, although the monster would be "more dynamic than a guy in a big rubber suit." Visual and special effects companies working on the picture include the Moving Picture Company (MPC), Double Negative, Weta Digital, Amalgamated Dynamics, ComputerCafe/CafeFX, Lidar VFX, Scanline VFX, Stereo D and The Third Floor. Production of the movie was completed in the last week of March 2014.

To create a CG version of Godzilla, MPC studied various animals such as bears, Komodo dragons, lizards, lions and wolves which helped the visual effects artists visualize Godzilla's body structure like that of its underlying bone, fat and muscle structure as well as the thickness and texture of its scale.

The production used high-quality panorama photos of the San Francisco skyline, and built a three-dimensional map of the city. The map was used in the background of sequences shot on the bridge set in Vancouver. According to Jim Rygiel, "this technique gives you a real city that is accurate down to every piece of mortar in a brick building, so, using that, we were able to composite the live action shots with the key frame-animated monsters destroying digital buildings into a seamless whole." Army vehicles, including tanks were provided by CGI and are not real vehicles. The studio digitized actual military equipment from the 7th Infantry Division of the Army. The film's title sequence was designed by Kyle Cooper, who had done the title sequence for Godzilla: Final Wars. The film's sound was mixed at Warner Bros.' studio in Burbank, California. The tracks were mixed by Gregg Landaker in the Dolby Atmos surround-sound format for exhibition in theaters with Atmos-equipped sound systems.

Film composer Alexandre Desplat was hired to compose an original soundtrack for Godzilla. Desplat had not composed previously for a monster film, having worked on movies such as The King's Speech, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the final two Harry Potter films. Desplat accepted the contract after being impressed with Edwards' film Monsters. Desplat describes the soundtrack for Godzilla as "non-stop fortissimo, with lots of brass, Japanese drums, and electric violin." The score is also conducted by Desplat. The film score was released by WaterTower Music on May 12 and 13, 2014.

The film features György Ligeti's Requiem (also used in 2001: A Space Odyssey), Dusty Springfield's 1969 recording of " Breakfast in Bed," and Elvis Presley's "(You're the) Devil in Disguise."

All music is composed by Alexandre Desplat.

The film had a print and advertisement budget of $100 million. In promotion of the project, visitors to the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) received a T-shirt with an image of the new Godzilla design, an image credited to comics and manga publisher UDON Entertainment. Artist Gonzalo Ordóñez Arias worked with Legendary and Toho to create the painting. Further, visitors to the Legendary Pictures booth at the convention could view an animation of the new Godzilla breathing radioactive fire superimposed over their image captured via a webcam. The augmented reality promotion was designed by Talking Dog Studios of Saskatchewan, Canada.

At a session during the July 2012 SDCC, Legendary presented both a poster for the film and a teaser trailer. The teaser trailer included a depiction of Godzilla faithful to the Toho monster, including its roar, and a "gigantic centipede-like monster." The centipede-like monster was not used in the final film. Screenwriter Max Borenstein later confirmed that the centipede monster was conceived only for the teaser and only to indicate that Godzilla would fight another creature. It was included in the teaser before Borenstein completed writing the script.

During filming in Vancouver, Legendary released several videos and still pictures of filming in Vancouver on its Facebook site. Pictures included a destroyed subway car with a green screen backdrop, soldiers inspecting a radioactive vault and wreckage on a shoreline. In July 2013, Legendary launched a "viral" website godzillaencounter.com in conjunction with the film. The company was promoting the film at the 2013 SDCC, and converted a warehouse in San Diego to the "Godzilla Encounter" exhibit in conjunction with the convention. According to , the exhibit was "part museum, part theme park" with displays to simulate an experience of a Godzilla attack. The exhibit also had artifacts from the franchise series, including the "Oxygen Destroyer" of the original film, and a Godzilla costume from Godzilla 2000. An audio sample was released on Godzillaencounter.com of an announcement suggesting Godzilla or a "gigantic atomic creature" attacking San Diego.

At a session at the 2013 Comic-Con, Legendary showed footage from the film. As reported by various media, the footage is of a large monster, reminiscent of the Cloverfield monster, attacking an airport, when Godzilla's foot appears next to the monster. Godzilla's height is revealed to be several times the size of the other monster and a battle ensues, but Godzilla's face is not revealed. Various clips of scenes with Cranston, Taylor-Johnson and Olsen were also shown.

In October 2013, the proof of concept footage shown at SDCC 2012 was leaked online and was available on several video sharing websites for several days before Warner Bros. and Legendary managed to have it fully removed. The first official trailer was released online on December 10, 2013, and was attached to theatrical showings of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in select theaters. Also on December 10, Toho released a slightly different version of the trailer with Japanese subtitles, and a TV spot.[citation needed ] Within two days, the trailer surpassed nine million views on YouTube. Legendary launched a viral web site www.mutoresearch.net just prior to the trailer release, with video from the trailer and the trailer itself. Toho launched a web site of its own, godzilla.jp, with a simple arcade game of Godzilla stomping on Tokyo and using his radioactive breath, as well as appearances from King Ghidorah and Mothra.

The second trailer was released on February 25, 2014. It revealed more scenes of destruction by Godzilla on San Francisco and Las Vegas, brief glimpses of other creatures, as well as a conspiracy plot intertwined with the atomic blast tests in the Pacific Ocean in 1954. Within three days, the video had recorded 13 million views on YouTube. Several more trailers were released, with variations for North America, Japan, Asia outside Japan and internationally. Several of the marketing materials won awards: the trailer ("Ravaged/Event"), the TV spot ("Fight"), and the Godzilla poster won Golden Trailer Awards.

In cross promotion, Godzilla appeared in a light-hearted commercial for the Snickers chocolate bar, playing ping pong and water skiing. The angry Godzilla is calmed by eating a Snickers bar. Godzilla is portrayed as both human-sized and much larger. Another cross-promotion commercial was made, featuring Godzilla in a Fiat 500L car commercial. In it, Godzilla is rampaging through a city, devouring Fiat cars as he goes, with a soldier claiming that he was "craving Italian." He then approaches to devour a Fiat 500L, but because of the car's size being larger than a 500 model, Godzilla cannot swallow it. Nearly choking on it, he spits out the car as it drives away.

Legendary Pictures had set up a new Applied Analytics Group to direct its marketing efforts, and Godzilla was the first film that used analytics, similar to the use of sports analytics, to direct its marketing. According to Legendary CEO Thomas Tull, it developed a news software program named "Eddington", which, based on a massive database, was able to determine demographic trends among sub-groups of core filmgoers. It extended the standard Hollywood four-quadrant analysis of male/female and under/over 25 years of age to smaller target markets. Godzilla beat predictions of an opening-weekend gross of $60 million by over $30 million, a difference Tull attributed to Eddington. According to Tull, Legendary spent less in marketing than it had in the past.

In July 2014, Japan completed a 6.6 meters (22 ft) statue in Tokyo Midtown area in Tokyo.

In June 2013, reported that Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Legendary Entertainment had assembled a large team of partners to make licensed merchandise to be released in conjunction with the film. Bandai America produced a line of toys, and other products were produced by NECA, Jakks Pacific, Bioworld, Trevco, Rubie's and Sideshow Collectibles. Bandai and NECA produced toys inspired by the film; JAKKS Pacific produced large-scale figures and other toy products; Rubie's produced Godzilla costumes; and Sideshow Collectibles produced collectible statues.

A novelization, written by science-fiction writer Greg Cox, was published by Titan Books in May 2014, to coincide with the film's release. Cox has previously written novelizations for movies, including Legendary's own The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel. Two other books were scheduled for release including Godzilla: With Light and Sound! for children, and Godzilla: The Art of Destruction, a collection of artwork, plus interviews with the director and cast members.

Legendary announced in January 2014, along with a video message by Edwards, a tie-in graphic novel to be released on May 7, 2014, one week before the movie. Entitled Godzilla: Awakening, the novel's events take place decades before the events seen in the film. It is co-written by Greg Borenstein and the film's screenwriter Max Borenstein, with cover art by Arthur Adams and interior art by Eric Battle, Yvel Guichet, Alan Quah and Lee Loughridge. The tagline is "Delve into an incredible mystery, generations in the making. At the dawn of the atomic age, humanity awakens lifeforms beyond imagination, unleashing monumental forces of nature."

Pictures of the line of toys, including a Godzilla "Atomic Roar" model by Bandai, were leaked to the internet in March 2014. The Godzilla model has "atomic fire breath". The toys shipped in March 2014. A S.H.Monsterarts version of the 2014 Godzilla is also announced by Bandai, which is released in September 2014. A tie-in game for mobile devices was announced in March 2014. The game, titled Godzilla Smash 3, allows moves by matching three items of a similar type in a row. It is being made by Rogue Play and features puzzle-based gameplay similar to Candy Crush Saga. Above the game board, a view of Godzilla destroying various military vehicles is featured and the different attacks correspond to the combinations the player scores. The game was released in May 2014. Legendary's Godzilla was featured as a playable character in Bandai Namco's 2014 video game as "Hollywood Godzilla".

Godzilla had its red carpet premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on May 8, 2014. An "Aftermath Afterparty" was held after the premiere, which featured a 22-foot statue of Godzilla made out of rubble erected before the El Capitan Theatre. Godzilla received wide release worldwide in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D beginning May 16, 2014. In the United States, the film was given a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for "intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence." The film was released in China on June 13 and in Japan on July 25, 2014. In April 2014, Toho had an early screening of Godzilla and gave a positive review. Edwards said, "They saw it yesterday and I got an e-mail saying they thought it was fantastic! So that was a relief." Legendary also held screenings for the military.

Godzilla was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD formats on September 16, 2014, in North America. It was released for digital HD download on August 26, 2014. Target released their own exclusive edition of the Blu-ray which included an exclusive 30-minute featurette titled Godzilla: Rebirth of an Icon while Walmart released their own exclusive edition which only featured an alternative cover for the DVD. Producer Thomas Tull confirmed plans for an extended cut of the film to be released in the future. Domestically, the DVD release grossed $17.8 million and the Blu-ray release grossed $25 million, totaling $42.8 million in domestic video sales.

Toho released the film on Blu-ray and DVD formats in Japan on February 25, 2015, as well as a five-disc limited edition Blu-ray set including the 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-ray, DVD, a disc of bonus features (includes the North American special features, as well as additional Japan-exclusive features), a full color booklet with Japanese promotional art, and an exclusive S.H. MonsterArts figure. Warner Bros. released a re-issue of the Blu-ray on February 7, 2017 to commemorate the release of Kong: Skull Island. Warner Bros. released a second re-issue of the Blu-ray on April 9, 2019 to commemorate the release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The film was released on 4K Blu-ray on March 23, 2021, to commemorate the release of Godzilla vs. Kong.

Legendary estimated that the film would need to gross $380 million worldwide to break-even. Godzilla grossed $9.3 million in North America at early Thursday screenings, one of the best late-night openings for a non-sequel, and $93.2 million for the entire weekend, making it the fifth highest opening weekend in 2014. Its opening weekend gross broke the records for the highest weekend debuts for a disaster film and a creature feature. It was estimated that approximately half of the gross was in 3D screenings. In its second weekend, which saw competition from X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla had a 66% drop. At the end of its domestic run, Godzilla grossed $200.7 million in North America, the lowest total ever for a movie that opened above $90 million. Godzilla finished as the 13th highest-grossing film of 2014 in North America.

Also on May 15, Godzilla opened in every major market internationally, with the exception of China and Japan, grossing $103.4 million, giving it a worldwide opening weekend of nearly $200 million. On June 13, the film opened in China and grossed $10.9 million for the largest opening day in that country for 2014, and would open with $37 million for the weekend. The film finished with $77.6 million as the 18th highest-grossing film in that country for the year. On July 25, Godzilla finally opened in Japan, where it opened at number one and grossed $6.95 million for the weekend, the second-highest opening weekend in Japan of any foreign film in 2014. Considered a "robust debut", this helped push the film's global box office to over $500 million. It eventually finished with just shy of $30 million in Japan, making it the 12th highest-grossing film in that country for the year. Godzilla finished its theatrical global run between $324-328 million from international markets, giving it a worldwide total of $529 million and making it the 14th highest-grossing film of 2014 worldwide. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $52.477 million.

Godzilla received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 327 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's critical consensus states, "With just enough human drama to anchor the sweeping spectacle of giant monsters smashing everything in sight, Gareth Edwards' Godzilla satisfyingly restores the franchise's fire-breathing glory." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average based on selected reviews, the film has a score of 62 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Alex Pappademas of Grantland called the film "the first truly joyous popcorn action movie of the season" and praised Edwards' directing, stating, "I admired Edwards's restraint, a quality I'm not accustomed to admiring in $160 million summer action movies." Richard Roeper stated, "Edwards and his team produce consistently stunning visuals", but admitted that he "would have liked to see more of Godzilla" but stated that the film is "leaps and bounds ahead of the 1998 bomb" and awarded the film a B+ rating. Keith Uhlich of named Godzilla the second-best film of 2014. Stephanie Zacharek of the Village Voice stated " Godzilla is one of those generic, omnipresent blockbusters that's undone by the very spectacle it strives to dazzle us with: Everything is so gargantuan, so momentous, that nothing has any weight." A. O. Scott of the New York Times stated the film "is at once bloated and efficient, executed with tremendous discipline and intelligence" and found that "it surpasses Roland Emmerich's 1998 Hollywood version" but felt the characterization was "thin" and the performances were "squandered" but felt that the "soul" of the film "dwells with the monsters". Tom Russo of the Boston Globe felt the film "is an uneven spectacle that can't sustain its solid first-half character moments" but did state the film "can also flash a surprising, often clever sense of legacy, and is intermittently capable of thrilling us."

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune awarded the film three and a half stars, finding that the film "makes up" for the 1998 version and praised Edwards' directing and build-up, and defended Godzilla's screen-time, stating, "Is there enough Godzilla in Godzilla? Folks, there is. There is just enough." David Blaustein of ABC News Radio awarded the film three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "very good, but not great", criticizing the film's insufficient screen-time for Godzilla, but stated that the film's finale, "more or less, makes it all worth the wait." Matt Zoller Seitz awarded the film three and a half stars out of four and observed how "it's less interested in a giant monster's rampage than in what it might feel like to be a tiny human watching it close up, or far away, or on TV. It is not about Godzilla or the beasts he fights, it's a combination epic horror film and parable of nature in revolt, filled with odd ellipses and surprising but appropriate storytelling choices, such as an early monster duel that plays out mainly on CNN."

Japanese critics and journalists have praised the film for putting "more of an effort to honor the spirit and visual style of the Japanese series" but criticized the film for "complicating the anti-war, anti-nuclear sensibility" and "lack of nerve on the part of the filmmakers to say anything substantial about nuclear weapons or nuclear energy". However, Godzilla illustrator Yuji Kaida called the film "a real kaijū eiga (monster movie) that honored the original in that Godzilla was presented as a force beyond human understanding that maintained the Earth's natural balance".

William Tsutsui, author of Godzilla on My Mind, discussed the new film in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine. "This latest reboot brings to the screen a Godzilla that remains true to the spirit of the Japanese series while creating a very American, very twenty-first-century monster." He noted that the film "depicts gluttony for food and sex in ways that were never a feature of Japanese productions. There are far more overt displays of affection in the first 15 minutes of the 2014 Godzilla than in the entire Japanese franchise, which totaled one very chaste kiss over 50 years." He also noted that the film is more violent than the Japanese series, showing more carnage. The Godzilla character, in its heroism, is reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s Japanese Godzilla, but not anthropomorphized like those. Also, the identity of the character as Japanese is lost: "In the 28 films made by Toho, Godzilla is unmistakably identified as one of wareware Nihonjin (we Japanese). After liberating San Francisco from the spawning MUTOs, Godzilla is thus crowned as a defender of the United States."

Ed Godziszewski (author of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Godzilla) felt that the film did not provide much social commentary like previous Godzilla films, stating, "The 2014 film paid superficial lip service at best to the nuclear issue, but really there's almost nothing of substance there. Rather than offering caution about nuclear energy, the new film almost gives you the idea that nuclear weapons are actually the answer to everything". Godziszewski did iterate that he did enjoy the film and praised the monster battles for being choreographed closer to the original Toho films than how Pacific Rim was choreographed.

David Kalat (author of A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series) felt that Edwards figured out a successful "modern American context" for the film in supporting American troops, stating, "Edwards' Godzilla (2014) takes that concept and weaponizes it: we're used to seeing Godzilla movies where the military fails because they're stupid, but seeing them fail but be heroic while failing is new. It's also something the culture needs-and it's the kind of heretical idea that's otherwise hard to dramatize in pop culture, just like the original Godzilla's anti-American stance was so potent in 1954." However, Kalat criticized the film for giving Godzilla "almost no screen-time".

Steve Ryfle (author of Japan's Favorite Mon-Star) felt that "America is incapable of making an honest Godzilla." Ryfle criticized how the film "contorts and distorts history in order to avoid confronting the uncomfortable facts of American culpability in the monster's origin." He accused the film of "whitewashing" the source material to "negate the monster's politics for American consumption" and concluded by stating, "Edwards has claimed that his film's disaster pornography-digitally realistic images resembling Fukushima, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Katrina, 9/11-contextualizes the story for our dangerous modern world. But his film does not comment on those images or what they might mean, and so they unspool as hollow exercises in technical prowess. Godzilla is said to be a force of nature reawakened, but by what? Without that answer, the latest Godzilla reboot is about nothing."

In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to create a shared cinematic franchise between Godzilla and King Kong that would lead to Godzilla vs. Kong.

Prior to announcing a shared cinematic series, Legendary intended to produce a Godzilla trilogy with Gareth Edwards attached to direct. In May 2016, Edwards left the sequel to work on smaller scale projects. In October 2016, Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields became attached to write the script for Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Dougherty was announced as the director in January 2017. Principal photography began in June 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia and ended in September 2017. The film was released on May 31, 2019.

Godzilla vs. Kong was announced in October 2015. The film's writers room was assembled in March 2017 and Adam Wingard was announced as the director in May 2017. Principal photography began in November 2018 in Hawaii and Australia and concluded in April 2019. The film was theatrically released internationally on March 24, 2021 and in the United States on March 31, where it was released in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously.

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Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series - Second Edition. McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Mustachio, Camille D.G.; Barr, Jason (2017). Giant Creatures in Our World: Essays on Kaiju and American Popular Culture. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476668369.

Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1550223488.

Solomon, Brian (2017). Godzilla FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the King of the Monsters. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 9781495045684.

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Godzilla is a 2014 American monster film directed by Gareth Edwards. It is a reboot of Toho's Godzilla franchise and is the 30th film in the Godzilla franchise, the first film in Legendary's MonsterVerse , and the second Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio.

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Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese kaiju film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and special effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho, it is the 31st installment in the Godzilla franchise, the 29th Godzilla film produced by Toho, Toho's third reboot of the franchise, and the first film in the franchise's Reiwa period. The film stars Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara. In the film, politicians struggle with bureaucratic red tape in order to deal with the sudden appearance of a giant monster that evolves whenever it is attacked.

In December 2014, Toho announced plans for a new domestic Godzilla film. Anno and Higuchi were announced as the directors in March 2015. Principal photography began in September 2015 and ended in October 2015. Inspiration for the film was drawn from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Shin Godzilla was theatrically released on July 29, 2016 to critical acclaim from Japanese critics and mixed reviews from Western critics. The film grossed US$78 million worldwide and was the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film of 2016 and became the highest-grossing Japanese-produced Godzilla film in the franchise. It received 11 Japan Academy Prize nominations and won seven, including Picture of the Year and Director of the Year.

When the Japan Coast Guard investigates an abandoned yacht in Tokyo Bay, their boat is destroyed and the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line is flooded. After seeing a viral video of the incident, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Rando Yaguchi theorizes that it was caused by a living creature. His theory is confirmed when news reports show a massive tail emerging from the ocean. Shortly thereafter, the creature moves inland and crawls through the Kamata district of Tokyo in the midst of inadequate evacuation. The creature leaves a path of destruction and numerous casualties, and evolves into a bipedal red-skinned form before it begins to overheat and returns to the sea. The government officials focus on military strategy and civilian safety, while Yaguchi is put in charge of a task force to research the creature. Due to high radiation readings, the group theorizes that it is energized by nuclear fission. The U.S. sends a special envoy, Kayoco Anne Patterson, who reveals that a disgraced, vehemently anti-nuclear zoology professor, Goro Maki, had been studying mutations caused by radioactive contamination and theorized the appearance of the creature, but he is disbelieved by both American and Japanese scientific circles. The U.S. then prevented him from making his conclusions public. The abandoned yacht discovered in Tokyo Bay was Maki's, and he left his research notes, jumbled into a code, in it before disappearing.

The creature, named Godzilla after Maki's research, reappears, now twice its original size, and makes landfall near Kamakura en route for Tokyo. The Japan Self-Defense Forces mobilize, but their attacks have no effect and they are forced to withdraw when Godzilla breaks through their defenses into the city. The U.S. intervenes with a massively-destructive air strike plan, prompting the evacuation of civilians and government personnel. U.S. B-2 bombers wound Godzilla with MOP " bunker-buster" bombs. Godzilla recovers quickly and responds with highly destructive atomic rays fired from its mouth and dorsal plates, which hit and destroy the helicopter carrying the top government officials, and all of the B-2s, as well as incinerating and irradiating large swaths of Tokyo. Depleting its energy, Godzilla enters a dormant state and becomes immobile. Yaguchi's team discovers that Godzilla's plates and blood work as a cooling system and theorize that they could use a coagulating agent to freeze it. After analyzing tissue samples, they find that Godzilla is an ever-evolving creature, able to reproduce asexually. The United Nations, aware of this, informs Japan that thermonuclear weapons will be used against Godzilla should the Japanese fail to subdue it on their own in a few days. Evacuations are ordered in multiple prefectures in preparation for the nuclear attack. Unwilling to see nuclear weapons detonated in Japan again, Patterson uses her political connections to buy time for Yaguchi's team, who the interim government has little faith in.

Yaguchi's team has a breakthrough when they decipher Goro Maki's encoded research. They adjust their plan and procure the means to conduct their deep freeze plan with international support. Mere hours before the planned nuclear attack, Japan enacts the deep freeze plan. Godzilla is provoked into expending its atomic breath and energy against American drones. The team then detonates explosives in nearby buildings and in trains sent towards Godzilla's feet, knocking the monster down and giving tankers full of coagulant an opportunity to inject it into Godzilla's mouth. Though many are killed in the process, Godzilla is frozen solid. In the aftermath, it is discovered that the Godzilla fallout has a very short half-life and that Tokyo can soon be reconstructed. The international community agrees to cancel the nuclear attack but has the new Japanese government agree that, in the event of Godzilla's reawakening, an immediate thermonuclear strike will be executed. On Godzilla's tail, humanoid creatures appear frozen in the process of emerging.

Hiroki Hasegawa as Rando Yaguchi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary. After Toho offered him the role, Hasegawa immediately accepted, stating, "Who wouldn't want to be involved in a Godzilla production?".

Yutaka Takenouchi as Hideki Akasaka, Aide to Prime Minister. Takenouchi stated that the film would contain a "deeper message".

Satomi Ishihara as Kayoco Anne Patterson, Special Envoy for the President of the United States. She became excited after accepting the role but stressed that her character features "English-heavy dialogue", stating, "Sometimes it's so frustrating, I just want to cry".

The film features several cameos and supporting appearances, including Kengo Kora, Ren Osugi, Akira Emoto, Kimiko Yo, Jun Kunimura, Mikako Ichikawa, Pierre Taki, Takumi Saito, Keisuke Koide, Arata Furuta, Sei Hiraizumi, Kenichi Yajima, Tetsu Watanabe, Ken Mitsuishi, Kyūsaku Shimada, Kanji Tsuda, Issei Takahashi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Kazuo Hara, Isshin Inudo, Akira Ogata, Shingo Tsurumi, Suzuki Matsuo, Kreva, Katsuhiko Yokomitsu, and Atsuko Maeda. Mansai Nomura portrayed Godzilla through motion capture. Jun Kunimura previously appeared in Godzilla: Final Wars. Akira Emoto appeared in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.

Whereas the original Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Shin Godzilla drew inspiration from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Many critics noted similarities to those events. Mark Schilling of The Japan Times wrote that the Godzilla creature serves "as an ambulatory tsunami, earthquake and nuclear reactor, leaving radioactive contamination in his wake". Roland Kelts, the author of Japanamerica, felt that the "mobilizing blue-suited civil servants and piles of broken planks and debris quite nakedly echo scenes of the aftermath of the great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster." Matt Alt of The New Yorker drew similar parallels with "the sight of blue-jumpsuited government spokesmen convening emergency press conferences ... [and] a stunned man quietly regarding mountains of debris, something that could have been lifted straight out of television footage of the hardest-hit regions up north. Even the sight of the radioactive monster's massive tail swishing over residential streets evokes memories of the fallout sent wafting over towns and cities in the course of Fukushima Daiichi's meltdown."

Robert Rath from Zam argued that Shin Godzilla is a satire of Japanese politics, and likened the protagonist Rando Yaguchi to the Fukushima plant manager Masao Yoshida. William Tsutsui, author of Godzilla on My Mind, wrote in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that " Shin Godzilla leaves no doubt that the greatest threat to Japan comes not from without but from within, from a geriatric, fossilized government bureaucracy unable to act decisively or to stand up resolutely to foreign pressure." In his review for , Ollie Barder wrote that the film depicted the Japanese government's "complex and corpulent bureaucratic ways ... unable to deal with a crisis in any kind of efficient or fluid way", noting that the government members use the hierarchical system to protect their positions at the expense of citizens' lives. According to Schilling, the government officials, Self-Defense Forces officers and others working to defeat Godzilla are portrayed as hardworking and intelligent, despite "some initial bumbling".

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe had spoken positively of the film's pro-nationalist themes, stating, "I think that [Godzilla's] popularity is rooted in the unwavering support that the public has for the Self-Defense Forces."

Hideaki Anno - director, writer, editor

Shinji Higuchi - co-director, VFX director

Katsuro Onoe - associate director, VFX creative director

Kimiyoshi Adachi - assistant director

Akihiro Yamauchi - executive producer

Takeshi Sato - production manager

Masato Inatsuki - production manager

Kensei Mori - line producer

Atsuki Sato - editor, VFX supervisor

Tetsuo Ohya - VFX producer

In December 2014, Toho announced plans for a new Godzilla film targeted for a 2016 release, stating, "This is very good timing after the success of the American version this year: if not now, then when? The licensing contract we have with Legendary places no restrictions on us making domestic versions." The new film would have no ties to Legendary's MonsterVerse and instead would serve as a reboot to the Toho series. Minami Ichikawa would serve as the film's production manager and Taiji Ueda as the film's project leader. Ueda confirmed that the screenplay was in development and filming had been planned for a summer 2015 shoot. Toho would additionally put together a project team, known as "Godzilla Conference" or "Godzi-con", to formulate future projects.

In March 2015, Toho announced that the film would be co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi (who both collaborated on the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion), in addition to Anno writing the screenplay and Higuchi directing the film's special effects. In addition, Toho announced that the film will begin filming in the fall of 2015 set for a summer 2016 release. Promotional artwork of the new Godzilla's footprint was also released, with Toho confirming that their new Godzilla will surpass Legendary Pictures' Godzilla as the tallest incarnation to date.

Toho had approached Anno in January 2013 to direct the reboot but Anno initially declined due to falling into another depression after completing Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, stating, "A representative from Toho contacted me directly, saying, 'We'd like to direct a new Godzilla film.' At the time, I was still recovering from EVA 3.0, and right on the spot, flatly refused the offer, 'It's impossible. Even to begin work on the next Eva is impossible.'" However, Toho's sincerity and his longtime friend and co-director, Shinji Higuchi, eventually convinced him to accept the offer in March 2013. Anno had also refused the offer due to a lack of confidence, stating, "I refused [the offer] since I didn't have confidence that I could exceed the first film or come close to equaling it. But I thought that if I were to come close even a little, I would have to do the same thing [as the first film]." Mahiro Maeda provided the new design for Godzilla while Takayuki Takeya provided the maquette. Director Higuchi stated that he intended to provide the "most terrifying Godzilla that Japan's cutting-edge special-effects movie-making can muster." A variety of techniques such as puppets, animatronics, and digital effects were initially considered and an upper-body animatronic was produced but went unused after Toho decided to create a completely CG Godzilla. VFX Supervisor Atsuki Sato stated, "CG production had already been determined when I began participating. In the end, it was the best option to allow quick edits as creative visions changed and produced a high quality film." A colorless maquette was built for CG animators to use as a reference when rendering the CG Godzilla model. Mansai Nomura provided the motion capture performance for Godzilla.

Principal photography began on September 1, 2015, with a large on-location film shoot at Kamata station in Tokyo under the working title "Shin Gojira". On September 23, 2015, Toho revealed the film's official title as Shin Gojira and that the film will star Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, and Satomi Ishihara. Producer Akihiro Yamauchi stated that the title Shin Gojira was chosen for the film due to the variety of meanings it conveys, such as either "new" ( 新), "true" ( 真), or "God" ( 神). Yamauchi also confirmed that the film has been planned for quite some time, stating, "It's been in the works a long time. It's not like it was produced just because of the Hollywood Godzilla". Principal photography wrapped at the end of October 2015, with special effects work scheduled for November 2015.

Shiro Sagisu scored the film. The score features various remixes of "Decisive Battle" from Sagisu's Neon Genesis Evangelion score and recycles several Akira Ifukube tracks. Anno had decided to use Ifukube's music while writing the screenplay and attempted to adapt the old Ifukube tracks to modern stereo settings but the task proved too daunting and eventually settled on using the mono mixes instead. The soundtrack was released on July 30, 2016, and sold 8,427 copies in 2 weeks. Entitled Shin Godzilla Ongakushuu, the soundtrack album sold 43,951 copies in Japan.

In November 2015, without any prior announcement, Toho screened a promo reel at the American Film Market for a potential sale for overseas markets, marketing the film (for a while) as Godzilla: Resurgence. In December 2015, Toho unveiled the film's first teaser trailer and teaser poster revealing Toho's new Godzilla design and the film's July 29, 2016, release date. Chunichi Sports reported the size of the new Godzilla to be 118.5 metres (389 ft) tall, over 10 metres (33 ft) taller than Godzilla (2014), but not taller than Godzilla from King of the Monsters. Shin is the second tallest live action Godzilla in history.

In January 2016, images of the Godzilla suit were leaked online. In late March 2016, it was announced that Toho's Godzilla and Anno's Evangelion intellectual properties will form a "maximum collaboration" for merchandise in April 2016. In mid-April 2016, Toho revealed the complete design of the new Godzilla and that it is a completely CG-generated character, as well as a new trailer, details regarding the principal and supporting characters, and that the film will be released in IMAX, 4DX, and MX4D formats for its domestic release.

For summer 2016, the Namja Town amusement park held special Godzilla cross-promotion activities. The park unveiled a new virtual reality game, the food court produced kaiju-inspired food dishes, and a Godzilla foot on display as though it had crashed through the roof of the attached Sunshine City Alpa shopping center. Sports equipment manufacturer Reebok released limited-edition Godzilla sneakers featuring a black reptilian skin pattern and either red or glow-in-the-dark green coloring in Japan. In early 2017, Universal Studios Japan featured a temporary 4D Shin Godzilla attraction as part of its Universal Cool Japan 2017 program as well as the addition of music from the film to the tracklist of the Hollywood Dream - The Ride roller coaster.

Shin Godzilla was theatrically released on July 29, 2016 in Japan in IMAX, 4DX, and MX4D in over 350 theaters and 446 screens. It had its red carpet premiere on July 25, 2016. The premiere took place in Tokyo along Kabuki-cho Central Road, with a red carpet from the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, the hotel which has the large Godzilla head peering over, 118.5 metres in length, the same distance as the height of Godzilla. In April 2016, New World Cinemas was named one of the distributors to release the film in the United States, later confirming via their official Facebook that they were "working hard to bring Godzilla to every state." However, in June 2016, New World Cinemas clarified on their official Facebook that "New World Cinemas are not the distributers [] for the new Godzilla Film. The mistake was make [] because we said Godzilla coming soon. This was merely a post to promote Godzilla as we too are big fans. We apologise for any confusion regarding this film."

In July 2016, Toho announced that the film had been sold to 100 territories (including Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America) in 19 days after opening to foreign sales and will be released in Taiwan on August 12, the Philippines on August 24, Hong Kong and Macao on August 25, and Thailand on September 8. At the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Funimation would distribute the film for North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean for a late 2016 release as Shin Godzilla, instead of Godzilla: Resurgence, at the insistence of Toho.

In early September, Funimation officially announced that the film was to be given a one-week limited release in the United States and Canada from October 11-18 on 440 screens, in Japanese with English subtitles, making it the first Japanese Godzilla film to receive a theatrical North American release since Godzilla 2000. Funimation hosted two North American premieres for the film, one premiere on October 3 in Los Angeles and the other on October 5 in New York. Due to popular demand, Funimation extended the film's North American theatrical run with encore screenings for October 22 and select theaters offering daily screenings through October 27. In the same month, Indonesian Film Censorship Board listed and registered both Shin Godzilla and Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016.

In the UK, Altitude Films screened the film at FrightFest in Glasgow on February 24, 2017. Altitude Films later dropped the film, with The Electric confirming in a Tweet: "the UK distributor Altitude have dropped it, and Toho aren't allowing any UK screenings at the mo." The UK theatrical rights were later acquired by Manga Entertainment for an August 10, 2017 release.

In Japan, Shin Godzilla was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Toho on March 22, 2017. The film's Japan home video release sold 520,000 units for the DVD version, 100,000 units for the Blu-ray Special Edition, and 55,402 units for the Blu-ray Standard Edition, totaling 675,402 DVD and Blu-ray sales in Japan. In North America, the film was released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on August 1, 2017 by Funimation, which featured an English dub produced by Funimation. In the United States, the Blu-ray and DVD grossed $4.5 million in video sales. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Manga Entertainment on December 4, 2017. This release also included the Funimation dub. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK on December 4. The Blu-Ray edition of the film ranked at no.32 on the UK Blu-Ray chart for the week ending December 16.

In Japan Shin Godzilla earned ￥625 million (US$6.1 million) on its opening weekend and was number one at the box office for that weekend, placing Finding Dory at second place and One Piece Film: Gold at third place, and earned 23% more than 2014's Godzilla when it opened in Japan. It was more than triple the first weekend's gross of 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, the previous Toho film in the series, which in the end grossed US$12.3 million. The film remained at number one during its second weekend and was projected to finish at US$40 million domestically. The film dropped to second place during its third weekend, topped by The Secret Life of Pets, earning US$33.5 million after 17 days, topping the estimates for both 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars and 2014's Godzilla. The film reached ￥5.3 billion (US$51.63 million) a month after its release, topping the earnings for Anno's previous film Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which earned ￥5,267,373,350.

On its sixth weekend, the film climbed back to number two, topped by , with an earning of US$3.2 million, bringing the film's total domestic gross to US$60 million from 4.1 million admissions. On September 4, 2016, the film has grossed US$58.18 million. After exiting the top ten in late September, the film has grossed nearly US$78 million from 5.6 million admissions. Shin Godzilla became the highest grossing live-action Japanese film for 2016, and the second highest grossing film in Japan for the year. In the United States and Canada, the film grossed US$1.9 million during its limited 31 day run. Outside of Japan and North America, the film was released in a handful of International markets. In Taiwan, it grossed US$264,235; in Australia it grossed US$84,090; in New Zealand it grossed US$13,892; in Thailand it grossed US$322,061; in South Korea it grossed US$36,915; and in Spain it grossed US$8,031. The film grossed US$75.4 million in Japan and US$78 million worldwide.

Shin Godzilla received critical acclaim from Japanese critics, while Western critics gave it a more mixed response. The special effects and new depiction of Godzilla were praised but the film was criticized for its long scenes, confusing dialogue, over-crowded characters and subplots. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 86% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's consensus reads: " Godzilla: Resurgence offers a refreshingly low-fi - and altogether entertaining - return to the monster's classic creature-feature roots." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 67 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Japanese pop culture site RO65 called the film a "masterpiece of unprecedented filmmaking", and felt that the film retains a "strong respect for the fundamental message within Godzilla". Oricon Style praised directors Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi for their realistic approach and the film's reality vs. idealism themes, calling it a "world class" Godzilla film. Cinema Today called the film a "thrilling experience" and a "masterpiece", feeling that the film was a return to form similar to 2004's Dawn of the Dead. Kazuo Ozaki from Eiga.com praised the film as well, stating, "Hollywood, even with all its money, can't approach this kind of perfection" while Koichi Irikura of Cinema Today called it a "birth of a masterpiece that boldly announces the revival of a Japanese Godzilla". Brian Ashcraft from felt the film was a "letdown", though he praised the film's special effects and social reflection of Japan, he criticized the film's depiction of the human characters, stating, "I wish the movie explored the relationships between the politicians and the researchers more instead of glossing over it" and concluded that "This isn't one of the best Godzilla films ever made, but it's certainly not one of the worst by any stretch, either. Godzilla: Resurgence is a series of compelling ideas in a so-so Godzilla movie".

Ollie Barder from was surprised at "how good" the film was, praising Anno's classic Gainax motifs, though he was not completely fond of Godzilla's new design; he felt that the "googly" eyes made Godzilla look silly but that the design was more "organic and menacing" than previous incarnations and praised the film's depiction of Godzilla, stating, "I really liked the way Godzilla is handled in this new movie, as it feels a lot more like the God Soldier short that both Anno and Higuchi worked on" and concluded by stating that he "really enjoyed" the film and that it had a "far more coherent plot" than 2014's Godzilla. Marcus Goh from Yahoo felt that the film was a better reimagining than 2014's Godzilla, though he criticized parts of Godzilla's design and the protagonists' plan to stop Godzilla. Goh gave the film a 3.1 score out of 5 and concluded that it "preserves the feel of Godzilla movies while updating it with modern responses". Jay Hawkinson from Bloody Disgusting called the film a "very good Godzilla movie that teeters on greatness". However, he felt the film's drama "didn't always work" and that some of the English delivery felt "canned and often corny", particularly from Ishihara's character. Hawkinson praised the film's battle-scenes, Shiro Sagisu's score, and the film's homages to the franchise, and concluded that " Shin Godzilla may be a reboot sans the rubber suit we've grown to love but it's unquestionably Godzilla". chief film critic Peter Bradshaw found Ishihara "slightly absurd" as an American "who bafflingly speaks English only with a strong and borderline unintelligible accent and comports herself with torpid model languor at all times".

Elizabeth Kerr from The Hollywood Reporter felt that Anno and Higuchi had done "the big guy justice" and "created a Godzilla for this era". While she felt that "all the telling (or reading) rather than showing reduces the story's overall impact" Kerr concluded that "there's an intangible quality to this Godzilla that Edwards (Emmerich doesn't count) never quite captured, and which is always welcome". Matt Schley from called the film "A match made in kaiju-heaven", and praised Anno's directing: "It's also a reminder, after years in the Evangelion reboot woods, that Anno is one of Japan's most unique directorial voices in either animation or live-action filmmaking." Though he felt the special effects weren't as impressive as 2014's Godzilla, Schley stated that the film's CG "gets the job done, though there are a couple questionable shots" and concluded by stating that "Hideaki Anno has achieved a successful resurgence for both the Big G and himself".

Post-release

In July 2017, Higuchi attended G-Fest XXIV and said that Toho could not make another Godzilla film until after 2020. This was due to Toho's contract with Legendary Entertainment, which restricts Toho from releasing a live-action Godzilla film in the same year as Legendary's Godzilla films; Legendary released Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019, originally intended to be released in 2018, and Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021, originally intended to be released in 2020. At the time, Higuchi noted that Legendary's contract was effective until 2020.

After Shin Godzilla, Toho produced a trilogy of anime Godzilla films: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018), and Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018). In May 2018, Toho announced that it would not make a sequel to Shin Godzilla, but would instead establish a shared universe model similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In 2018, a statue of the film's version of Godzilla was erected in central Tokyo. The area was dubbed Hibiya Godzilla Square and is considered to be largest Godzilla statue in Japan, according to Toho. On May 31, 2019, Universal Studios Japan opened the Godzilla vs. Evangelion: The Real 4D attraction, a crossover between Shin Godzilla and Neon Genesis Evangelion. It ran until August 25, 2019. In October 2020, Nijigen no Mori opened a Shin Godzilla zip line attraction in Kobe, Japan.

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Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese kaiju film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and special effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho, it is the 31st installment in the Godzilla franchise, the 29th Godzilla film produced by Toho, Toho's third reboot of the franchise, and the first film in the franchise's Reiwa period.

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Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is a 2017 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix. It is the 32nd film in the Godzilla franchise, the 30th Godzilla film produced by Toho, the first animated film in the franchise, and the second film in the franchise's Reiwa period.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters follows a group of human refugees who attempt to recolonize Earth 20,000 years after the planet was taken over by Godzilla. The film was released theatrically in Japan on November 17, 2017, and was released worldwide on Netflix on January 17, 2018. It was followed by two sequels, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, both of which were released in 2018.

In the last summer of the 20th century, giant monsters began plaguing Earth and humanity is driven to near extinction by one monster which eliminated the others: Godzilla. Two alien races with ulterior motives, the religious Exif and the technologically advanced Bilusaludo, came to Earth and offered their assistance against Godzilla. After the Bilusaludo's gambit with Mechagodzilla failed before it could be activated, both the aliens and humanity were forced to abandon Earth and emigrate to Tau-e via the spaceship Aratrum. The time is now 20 years after the exodus from Earth and 11.9 light years away, and the Aratrum contains the remaining humans accompanied by Exif and Bilusaludo refugees.

Captain Haruo Sakaki bears a seething hatred towards Godzilla, which killed his parents during the exodus from Earth. He believes the planet selected for colonization, Tau-e, is uninhabitable and tries to force the ship's committee to rescind the order to send the elderly, including his grandfather, to scout the planet. Haruo is arrested and then witnesses the exploratory shuttle explode while entering the planet's atmosphere. He then anonymously publishes a classified essay on Godzilla's weak points provided by the Exif priest named Metphies. This sways public opinion among the population forcing the central committee into returning to Earth after deciding that they are unlikely to find another habitable world.

The Aratrum arrives in Earth orbit and sends reconnaissance drones to scout the surface which reveal that Godzilla is still alive. Metphies arranges Haruo's bail and he explains to the committee that Godzilla has a vulnerability. It is an electromagnetic pulse-producing organ in its body which generates an asymmetrical permeable shield making it impervious to all damage except for a short period when the organ recycles. Haruo proposes using that window to crack the shield organ and quickly implant an EMP probe into Godzilla to cause an implosion from the resulting energy buildup. He stresses that close quarters combat would be needed for accurately coordinated attacks in order to find the organ and requests a force of 600 people to implement the plan.

When Haruo and the two battalions reach Earth's surface, they learn that almost 20,000 years have elapsed due to relativistic effects. Also, Godzilla's presence on the planet has radically altered Earth's biosphere. They suffer losses and damage to their landing ships by flying creatures called Servums. The remaining troops mobilize and soon encounter Godzilla. Haruo proceeds with the original plan on his own and attacks Godzilla before Leland intervenes and provoke Godzilla, his death allowing the others to learn Godzilla's weak point is its dorsal fins. Command falls to Metphies, who promotes Haruo to commander as the human convinces the remaining survivors to continue with the plan and defeat Godzilla.

The group manage to trap Godzilla within a collapsed mountain pass, where they succeed in killing the monster. However, it appears to only be an offspring and the original Godzilla, which has grown exponentially to 300m in height, emerges from beneath a nearby mountain and destroys most of the remaining crew. Trapped beneath rubble, Haruo watches Godzilla leave while vowing to kill it before losing consciousness.

In a post-credits scene, Haruo wakes up in a secluded area and sees an indigenous girl standing next to him.

In August 2016, Toho announced that an animated Godzilla film was being developed, targeted for a 2017 release. Gen Urobuchi was announced as the writer, Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita as the directors, and Polygon Pictures was announced as the studio that would animate the film. In January 2017, Urobuchi announced the main cast on his Twitter account. In March 2017, Toho announced that the film would be the first film in a new trilogy.

About the production, co-director Shizuno stated, "From the start, we had the blessing of Toho to not be constrained by previous entries in the franchise, and with the freedom of imagination offered by animation I feel we have come up with a cool new form for Godzilla." On Godzilla's new design, co-director Seshita stated, "With his masses of muscle fibers and unique body tissue to support his enormous bulk, this is an extraordinarily rugged-looking physique. It was an overwhelming presence that reverberated through the whole project, like a fearsome deity that even we who created it must prostrate ourselves before. That is our Godzilla." The English dub was produced by Post Haste Digital.

Takayuki Hattori composed the film's soundtrack, marking it his third Godzilla film score. XAI performed the film's theme White Out.

A stage event for the film was held at AnimeJapan 2017 on March 26, 2017. That same month, a teaser poster revealed that the film will be released theatrically in Japan on November 17, 2017. The film's directors attended the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to reveal more details regarding the film. In June 2017, a new poster detailing Godzilla's design was revealed with the tagline "Despair Evolves". In August 2017, a new trailer and poster were released with the tagline "Who will go extinct - humans, or Godzilla?"

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters was given a theatrical release in Japan on November 17, 2017. In March 2017, it was announced that the film will be streamed in 190 countries via Netflix following the film's Japanese theatrical release. Greg Peters, President of Netflix Japan stated, "Working with the best creators such as Toho in bringing Godzilla to Netflix users in over 190 countries marks a major milestone for us". In January 2018, Netflix announced that the film will be released worldwide on their platform on January 17, 2018.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters reached #3 at the Japanese box office on its opening weekend, earning ¥103 million from 71,200 admissions within two days. By its third weekend, it had grossed ¥342,349,800 ($3,052,062). Upon its Chinese release in 2018, the film grossed CN¥1.62 million ($234,497) at the Chinese box office, bringing the film's total box office gross to $3.3 million in East Asia.

Brian Ashcraft of the website felt that the characters "aren't all that interesting" but did state that the "anime version of Godzilla is surprisingly effective and frightening" and that despite his complaints, the "overall experience was good" and "It's not a perfect picture, but it was a powerful proof of concept: Godzilla works as an anime." Matt Schley from The Japan Times praised the film's CG animation, stating, "even skeptics will admit the 3-D version of the king of the monsters looks pretty darn cool" but felt the film wasn't "nearly as thematically ambitious as its predecessor" and concluded by stating, "But still, with its impressive 3-D animation and action sequences, 'Planet of the Monsters' has the makings of something interesting." Callum May from Anime News Network gave the film an overall B+ rating, calling the film "not for the uninitiated". May criticized the character of Haruo as being "grating", as the film didn't allow audiences to connect with other characters but praised the animation, call it Polygon's "best-looking CG title yet" and concluded that the film "is a thrilling film that lives up to the reputation of the franchise and delivers on its science fiction premise".

Mike Cecchini from Den of Geek felt the film was "beautifully animated" but criticized the characters, feeling they weren't sympathetic or well-developed. He also felt the technological dialogue felt more like it came from a video game but concluded by stating, "But Planet of the Monsters is just so damn gorgeous to look at, and such a complete departure from what you usually expect from this world, that you should just take it all in and enjoy the surprises." Patrick Galvan from Syfy Wired called the film "dull", criticizing the lack of human drama, the poorly developed world-building, and the writing, stating, "the writing is sadly not strong enough to even work on its own terms." He concluded by stating, "With a more polished script, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters might've been something of a modern classic. As is, it's a largely dull, impersonal product with only a few bursts of genuine interest to its name."

Jonathan Barkan from Dread Central gave the film 2 stars out of 5, feeling that the film has "great potential" but is "bland". He criticized the characters as being "forgettable", the film's was lack of exploring its "imaginative opportunities", called the animation's color scheme "flat and uninteresting" and felt some of the action scenes were too shaky. He concluded by stating, "Suffice it to say that it definitely has me interested in the second and third films but I really hope that this new world will be explored further in those entries. Otherwise, we've got a fascinating foundation that will be squandered." Paul Thomas Chapman from Otaku USA called the film a "train wreck". He criticized the film for dedicating various scenes to "nonstop barrage of technobabble and exposition" and criticized the character development for not exploring the inner lives of other characters. He concluded by stating the film "is not an easy film to recommend to either casual fans or to battle-hardened kaiju otaku. But despite its (many, glaring) flaws". Despite his criticism, Chapman "enjoyed" the film regardless.

In Japan, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Toho Video on May 16, 2018. It sold 5,813 Blu-ray units within its first week, and 1,784 DVD units within two weeks.

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is the first film in the anime trilogy. The second film in the trilogy, titled Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle was released on May 18, 2018. The third and final film in the trilogy, titled Godzilla: The Planet Eater, was released on November 9, 2018.

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Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters - Wikipedia

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Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is a 2017 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix.

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(GODZILLA 決戦機動増殖都市 , Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle Gojira: Kessen Kidō Zōshoku Toshi) is a 2018 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix. It is the 33rd film in the Godzilla franchise, the 31st Godzilla film produced by Toho, the second entry in the franchise's anime trilogy, and the third film in the franchise's Reiwa period.

A sequel to the 2017 film Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, the film continues the story of humans fighting to reclaim the Earth from Godzilla, this time with the help of a weapon known as Mechagodzilla. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle was released theatrically in Japan on May 18, 2018, and was released worldwide on Netflix on July 18, 2018. A sequel, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, was released in Japan on November 9, 2018.

Following the events of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, the Aratrum is unable to contact Haruo and the rest after their encounter with the original Godzilla. The Captain orders the Aratrum's withdrawal if drones fail to find survivors within 48 hours. Haruo Sakaki is revealed to have been rescued by a native girl named Miana, who treated his wound with a strange powder. Haruo reunites with some of his teammates while they were confronted by who they later learned to be Miana's twin sister Maina before being captured by the latter's hunting party. The group are reunited with Martin Lazzari whose platoon have been healed by the twins' people who are known as the "Houtua", surviving descendants of humans who remained on Earth and safeguard the egg of their fallen deity.

The group are telepathically questioned by the twins and the Houtua leaders over why they burned their lands, letting them go once Haruo explains they were only attacking Godzilla. Accompanied by Miana and Maina as their protective guides and observers, the twins revealing they can also speak verbally, Haruo's group reunites with Metphies and the other survivors during an encounter with the Servum. During the fight, Galu-Gu realizes that the twins' arrowheads are laced with "nanometal", the nanotechnology used to create Mechagodzilla. Galu-Gu explains that the nanometal somehow survived and expanded itself over the past 20 millennia. Haruo is convinced by Galu-Gu to remain on Earth and resume the plan to kill Godzilla, sending a few crew members back to the Aratrum. The group trace the energy signature to the rebuilt facility that held Mechagodzilla, which Galu-Gu christens "Mechagodzilla City". The twins part ways with the group while warning Haruo that the nanometal is poisonous; the Bilusaludo assuring the group that the technology is only harmful to Godzilla.

The team soon finds that the surviving half of Mechagodzilla's head is the source of the nanometal as Galu-Gu accesses Mechagodzilla's brain to construct all necessary materials to trap Godzilla within the city and cover it with nanometal to finish it off with EMP harpoons. While overseeing the construction, her mech suit modified into one of three Vulture exo-armors, Yuko confesses her feelings for Haruo and kisses him. Feeling slightly ill since entering the city like some of the others, Haruo finds Metphies working in a cave to repair an item with some of Galu-Gu's technology. Metphies cryptically hints the Bilusaludo's motives of becoming monsters themselves due to their obsession with logic, confiding to Haruo the name of a greater terror than Godzilla that destroyed his homeworld: " Ghidorah".

As Godzilla awakens, most of the human members are horrified to learn that most of the Bilusaludo had willingly allowed themselves to be assimilated into Mechagodzilla City to further fortify it. Godzilla's quick advance on the city forces Galu-Gu to sacrifice the city's defenses in order to divert power to finish the harpoon while Haruo, Yuko and Belu-be use the Vultures to slow Godzilla down. Though the trio managed to hold Godzilla for the plan to go underway, Godzilla survives the trap and proceeds to overheat the facility. This forces a defiant Galu-Gu to fuse with the nanometal as the humans escape the city. Galu-Gu then has the Vultures absorb their pilots to use as sacrificial spears to kill Godzilla.

Haruo is unaffected while Yuko is being slowly converted against her will. Metphies warns a conflicted Haruo that Mechagodzilla City will consume Earth if not stopped and that its destruction could save Yuko, Galu-Gu arguing that transcending their humanity is the only way to kill Godzilla. Haruo ultimately decides to fight Godzilla with his humanity intact, the destruction of Galu-Gu and the command center rendering the nanometal inert as Godzilla frees itself and destroys the city. Haruo tends to Yuko, who is unable to wake from her comatose state, while the surviving humans hide in a cave with Metphies as everything burns around them.

The second installment in the anime trilogy was announced in a second post-credits scene in the theatrical release of the film revealing the film's Japanese title, poster featuring Mechagodzilla and the film's 2018 release date. The film's Japanese title was revealed as Gojira: Kessen Kidō Zōshoku Toshi (translations varied from Godzilla: Battle Mobile Breeding City to Godzilla: The City Mechanized for the Final Battle), while the English title was later revealed as Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle. In March 2018, the film's official website revealed a new poster, plot details, and that singer XAI would return to perform the film's theme song The Sky Falls. The English dub was produced by Post Haste Digital.

Takayuki Hattori returned to compose the soundtrack, marking it his fourth Godzilla film score. XAI also returned to perform the film's theme song The Sky Falls. On his work on the film, Hattori stated:

"18 years after Godzilla 2000, I am glad to be back in the world of the new Godzilla which was opened by Shin Godzilla. This is the first animated film in the history of Godzilla, and I am excited to be able to take on the challenge while at the same time I feel it is a very big mission. I think this will be a Godzilla movie that you can't possibly imagine. I expressed in music my own feelings about the characters and the overwhelming presence of Godzilla created by the two directors, Mr. Shizuno and Mr. Seshita." - Takayuki Hattori, Toho Press Notes

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle was given a theatrical release in Japan on May 18, 2018, and released worldwide on Netflix on July 18, 2018.

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle was released in 158 theaters in Japan and reached eighth place at the box office. The film earned ¥100 million on its first week, from 73,000 ticket sales.

Naoya Fujita from gave the film a 4.5 rating, indicating a "bad" rating, stating, " Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle takes some promising ingredients, but cooks them into an unpalatable meal. We never really understand what the protagonists are fighting for, and there's not even a satisfying scene of urban destruction (a Godzilla staple). It fails both emotionally and viscerally." James Grebey from called the film "bleakly pointless", stating the film is "extremely self-serious, depressing and fairly light on fun" and called the film "the biggest bummer in Godzilla's filmography." James Perkins from HeyUGuys gave the film 3 stars out of 5, stating the film is "neither the best or worst iteration of the Godzilla franchise but is most definitely made with the intention of trying something new but adding a heavy sci-fi and futuristic element to the famous monster."

Jeff Pawlak from Geekiverse awarded the film 5.5 out of 10, feeling that the film had "great ideas" with an "interesting setting" but felt the CG animation was "ugly as ever", felt the film lacked complex characters and action, stating "City on the Edge of Battle completely mishandles the pass from Planet of the Monsters, failing to adequately explore the worthwhile worldbuilding it introduces, or that its predecessor introduced." Callum May from Anime News Network gave the film an overall A− rating, praising Haruo for growing as a character but criticized the lack of development for the other characters. May also criticized the second act for dragging by having the characters simply wander in the city. May concluded by stating, "While it doesn't fix many of the issues from the first film, Haruo's development manages to sell a more character-driven narrative and makes his relationships more empathetic. It's perhaps not the film that fans were expecting, but it's the film this trilogy needed to lead into an epic conclusion in Godzilla: The Planet Eater."

Mitch Nissen from ComiConverse gave the film 3 stars out of 5, criticizing the slow pace but praising the film for improving on Part 1 by expanding its ideas. Nissen also noted how the anime films do not feel like anime or kaiju films but rather, legitimate sci-fi reinventions, stating, "they are pure science fiction. Fans of in-depth cerebral science fiction should find much to enjoy about the films. References to Godzilla lore abound, much visible only to the hyper analytical Godzilla fan." Taylor Bauldwin from Geeks of Color called the film "disappointing". He criticized the slow pace, the lack of compelling motivations for the characters, and the climax battle for not carrying any weight. He concluded by stating, "I did enjoy the style and sounds of the movie but that alone is not nearly enough for redemption here. This movie begins, things happen, and then the movie ends exactly the same way it started."

The third and final film in the anime trilogy, titled Godzilla: The Planet Eater was released on November 9, 2018.

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Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle - Wikipedia

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(GODZILLA 決戦機動増殖都市 , Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle Gojira: Kessen Kidō Zōshoku Toshi) is a 2018 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix.

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Godzilla: The Planet Eater is a 2018 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced and animated by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix. It is the 34th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 32nd Godzilla film produced by Toho, the final film in the franchise's anime trilogy, and the fourth film in the franchise's Reiwa period.

Godzilla: The Planet Eater concludes the narrative of the anime trilogy, taking place after the events of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters and Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle. The film follows the struggles of humanity, their extraterrestrial allies, and Godzilla as they battle to survive against King Ghidorah. Godzilla: The Planet Eater was released theatrically in Japan on November 9, 2018, and was released worldwide on Netflix on January 9, 2019.

Following the destruction of Mechagodzilla City, the remaining Bilusaludo on the Aratrum demand justice for Haruo destroying what they saw as necessary to defeat Godzilla. The humans disagree, believing Haruo exposed the Bilusaludo's true intentions of assimilating Earth. The Bilusaludo revolt and shut down the ship's engine room, forcing the ship to run on secondary batteries for the next two days. On Earth, Haruo learns from Dr. Martin that Yuko is rendered brain-dead with the nanometal in her body keeping her alive. He also learns that those treated by the Houtua survived the nanometal's attempt to absorb them, with Methphies deceiving the survivors into believing their survival was divine intervention. When confronted by Haruo about converting the remaining humans, Methphies reveals his plan to bring the Exifs' god to Earth and needs Haruo's help to make it possible. Dr. Martin advises Haruo to hide until tensions ease.

Haruo is escorted to a remote camp by the Houtua twins, Maina and Miana. Miana explains privately to Haruo that her people have no concept of hatred and that their concept of life revolves around "winning" (surviving and making life) or "losing" (dying and disappearing). She tells Haruo that he is "losing" and offers to "connect life" with him, but he turns her down. When Maina later extends the same offer, he realizes it was she who had rescued him, not her sister Miana, and accepts. Miana discovers Metphies telepathically communicating with Endurph, the Exif reveals his plans before capturing her, as she telepathically contacts Haruo and Maina.

Metphies later conducts a ritual with his followers in conjunction with Endurph to summon their god, Ghidorah, to defeat Godzilla. Ghidorah manifests as a shadow on Earth and partially through singularities, devouring Metphies's followers and destroying the Aratrum. Ghidorah then proceeds to attack Godzilla, who is helpless against the intangible monster as its heads bite Godzilla and drain his energy. Dr. Martin concludes that Ghidorah's true form exists in another plane of existence and is being guided by someone in their universe, Haruo finding it to be Metphies who had replaced his right eye with the amulet he repaired with the nanometal. Metphies proceeds to reveal that his people devoted themselves to Ghidorah since learning that their universe is finite and fated to destruction, having offered planets for the monster to feed on. Proceeding to telepathically assault Haruo, Metphies explains that the human's hatred towards Godzilla made him an ideal offering and tells Haruo that he must submit himself to Ghidorah as its witness to enable its full manifestation.

Maina and Dr. Martin use the Houtuan god's egg to psychically reach Haruo and reveal how to stop Ghidorah, Haruo learning that Metphies orchestrated the deaths of the Tau Ceti e exploration party so they could be "saved". At the same time, Haruo recalls the charm he lost the day he fled from Earth as a boy. Its image of flowers reminds him of the meaning of his name, "Spring", and the power of hope to overcome despair. Haruo then breaks free and cracks Metphies' amulet, causing Ghidorah to become affected by Earth's physics, and as such being ultimately defeated by Godzilla. Metphies dies telling Haruo that Ghidorah will always be watching him as long as he lives.

Time passes as survivors bury their weapons and integrate into Houtua society, with Maina pregnant with Haruo's child. Dr. Martin tells Haruo that he got the last remaining Vulture mech working, having discovered how to use Mechagodzilla's nanometal in Yuko's body as a tool to rebuild civilization as it was. Haruo's right eye stings, hearing Metphies's voice that this turn of events would ensure Ghidorah's eventual return to their reality. Taking Yuko with him, Haruo provokes Godzilla into destroying him and all traces of the living nanometal for the good of the Houtua.

In a post-credits scene, Maina, showing signs of advancing age, watches a group of children conduct a ritual honoring Haruo, placing knotted strings representing their fears into a fire under a wooden effigy of a Vulture mech.

The English dubbed version was produced by Post Haste Digital.

Takayuki Hattori returned to compose the soundtrack, marking it his fifth Godzilla film score. XAI also returned to perform the film's theme song Live and Die.

In May 2018, a teaser poster revealed the film's title, release date, and potential appearance of King Ghidorah. In July 2018, the film's first teaser trailer was released. In September 2018, the film's theatrical poster was released. In October 2018, the full trailer was released.

Godzilla: The Planet Eater premiered as the closing film at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 3, 2018, and was given a theatrical release in Japan on November 9, 2018. It grossed $1.5 million. The film was released worldwide on Netflix on January 9, 2019.

Critical reception

Joshua Meyer from stated "Rather than revert to a big dumb monster movie, The Planet Eater is able to balance its kaiju action with life-and-death concerns while wrapping up threads of character drama woven through the trilogy as a whole. The movie plays with rich themes that might leave you thinking (or scratching your head) as you wait for the post-credits scene." Naoya Fujita from gave the film a rating of 8.0. Fujita felt that getting through Part 1 and Part 2 was a "chore" but felt that Part 3 gave a "strong, more emotional payoff", stating, "While it took awhile to get there, the animated Godzilla trilogy ends with a fascinating chapter that - while unexpected - is worthy of the franchise." Patrick Galvan from called the film the "best of the three movies", praising the film's expansion on its ideas rather than abandoning them like the previous two films but felt that it still didn't redeem the trilogy, stating the film "has a few things going for it that its two predecessors lacked, but it nonetheless fails - just as they did - to rise above the wall of mediocrity which has rendered this three-film saga the single dullest stretch in the history of the Godzilla franchise to date."

Daniel Kurland from awarded the film 3 stars out of 5, feeling the animation was "lackluster" with "Regrettable" CG effects and Hattori's score was "questionable." He felt the battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah was "drab" and could have been choreographed better but praised the film's themes and concluded by stating, "Godzilla can clearly hold his own within the world of anime." Richard Eisenbeis from Anime News Network awarded the film an overall B-rating, praising the anime's version of Ghidorah is "an incredible take on an iconic character" but criticized the battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah, calling it "the most boring part of the film". He also praised the film's themes of nihilism, hope, and harmony with nature but also calling them "polarizing", stating, "It's a rather extreme message, but this is far from the first pro-environmental Godzilla film. If nothing else, you will be left mulling it over as the credits roll, which is probably exactly what the filmmakers intended."

Kai Hellberg from The Daily Free Press criticized the English dub, calling it "embellished" and particularly criticized the melodramatic delivery of Haruo. He also felt the music was "out of place" and concluded by stating, "was not an outright failure. There are certainly captivating scenes and gorgeous animation. But its primary fault is trying to be babied by the legacy of Godzilla, while under the guise of being a modern take on the franchise." Anthony Wendel from Popaxiom stated that the film "doesn't save the film series. Instead it finds a way to make everything worse and leave a completely bitter taste after the movie comes to an end." He felt Metphies role as the "mouthpiece of Ghidorah" dragged on and felt the battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah was "dull". He concluded by stating the film "wastes any potential for saving the series and is an incredibly disappointing film overall. The sensation of watching this film is reminiscent of watching the disappointment from the Godzilla film Sony made in 1998."

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Godzilla: The Planet Eater is a 2018 Japanese computer- animated kaiju film directed by Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, written by Gen Urobuchi, and produced and animated by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures, in association with Netflix.

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Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a 2019 monster film directed by Michael Dougherty and co-written by Dougherty with Zach Shields. A sequel to (2014), it is the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. It is dedicated to executive producer Yoshimitsu Banno and original Godzilla suit performer Haruo Nakajima, who both died in 2017.

The film stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi. In the film, humans must rely on Godzilla and Mothra to defeat King Ghidorah, who has awakened other Titans to destroy the world.

The sequel was green-lit during the opening weekend of Godzilla, with original director Gareth Edwards expected to return to direct a trilogy. In May 2016, Edwards left the project. In October 2016, Dougherty and Shields were hired to rewrite the script. In January 2017, Dougherty was announced as the director. Principal photography began in June 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, and wrapped in September 2017.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters was theatrically released on May 31, 2019, to mixed reviews, with praise for the visual effects, action sequences, cinematography, and musical score but criticism aimed at the pacing, tone, plot, and characters. The film was a box office disappointment, grossing $386 million worldwide against a production budget between $170-200 million and marketing costs between $100-150 million. A sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong, is scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021.

Five years after the existence of giant monsters, now called "Titans," was revealed to the world, Dr. Emma Russell, a paleobiologist working for the Titan-studying organization Monarch, and her daughter Madison witness the birth of a larva called Mothra. Emma calms Mothra using the "Orca," a device that can emit frequencies to attract or alter Titan behavior. A group of eco-terrorists, led by Alan Jonah, attacks the base and kidnaps Emma and Madison, while Mothra flees and pupates under a nearby waterfall.

Monarch scientists Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham approach former employee Dr. Mark Russell, Emma's ex-husband and Madison's father, to help track them down. Mark is reluctant at first due to his hatred toward Godzilla, whom he blames for the death of his son Andrew, but eventually agrees. The Monarch team follows Godzilla to Antarctica, where Jonah intends to free a three-headed Titan codenamed "Monster Zero." Emma frees and awakens Monster Zero, who battles Godzilla, devours Graham and escapes. The team then learns that Emma is working with the terrorists. From a Monarch bunker in Boston, Emma contacts Monarch and argues that the Titans must be awakened in order to heal the Earth from the damages that humans have caused.

Emma awakens Rodan in Mexico. Monarch lures Rodan into fighting the approaching Monster Zero, but Monster Zero swiftly defeats Rodan before being ambushed by Godzilla, who severs his left head. During the fight, the Navy launches a prototype missile called the "Oxygen Destroyer," seemingly killing Godzilla. Unaffected, Monster Zero regrows his lost head and awakens all the other dormant Titans around the world, with Rodan submitting to his rule. Madison disowns Emma for her role in the destruction and loss of life caused by the awakened Titans.

Through mythological texts, Dr. Ilene Chen discovers that Monster Zero is King Ghidorah, a prehistoric alien seeking to terraform the Earth to his liking. Mothra emerges from her cocoon and flies to "Castle Bravo," Monarch's Bermuda base, to communicate with Godzilla, who is recuperating from the detonation in an ancient underwater city. Via submarine, the team locates Godzilla's lair, which is highly radioactive. They deduce it will take far too long for Godzilla to heal on his own and decide to detonate a nuclear warhead to speed up the process. Serizawa sacrifices himself by manually detonating the warhead, reviving Godzilla and increasing his power.

Emma realizes the destruction Ghidorah and the other Titans will bring to the world is much worse than anything that humans could inflict, but Jonah ignores her pleas to stop. Madison overhears this and steals the Orca. Arriving at Fenway Park, Madison broadcasts a frequency that calms the Titans but unwittingly attracts all of them to her location. Ghidorah lands in Boston to destroy the Orca. Godzilla arrives with Monarch's assistance to engage him in battle. Mark leads a team to rescue Madison and escape the city after learning Godzilla's radiation levels are increasing and will lead to a thermonuclear explosion. Mothra arrives to help Godzilla but is intercepted by Rodan; she defeats him but is badly injured in the process.

Ghidorah overpowers Godzilla and prepares to kill him, but Mothra sacrifices herself and transfers her energy to Godzilla, rapidly healing him. Mark, Emma, and Madison are reunited and reactivate the Orca to lure Ghidorah away from Godzilla. Emma sacrifices herself to lead Ghidorah away, giving Mark, Madison, and Monarch time to escape. Godzilla enters a newly-empowered state and defeats Ghidorah with nuclear pulses. Rodan and the other Titans converge on Godzilla and bow to him.

During the end credits, news clippings and Monarch files show that the Titans are helping to heal the planet, a suspected second Mothra egg has been discovered, and some of the Titans are converging on Skull Island. Ancient cave paintings of Godzilla and Kong in battle are shown. In a post-credits scene, Jonah and his forces purchase Ghidorah's severed left head in Mexico.

Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell:
Emma's ex-husband, Madison's father, an animal behavior and communication specialist who formerly worked for Monarch, and co-inventor of the "Orca", a device that enables communication with the Titans, but can also "potentially control them using their bioacoustics on a sonar level". After suffering the loss of his son, Mark has an unfavorable opinion of the Titans, Godzilla in particular. Despite this, he joins a rescue mission along with Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham to save Emma and Madison from Alan Jonah and his terrorist group. Chandler spoke of the film's themes being about "healing the planet".

Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell:
Mark's ex-wife, Madison's mother and a renegade Monarch paleobiologist with a history of environmental activism in league with eco-terrorist Alan Jonah. She is the co-inventor of the Orca. Unlike Mark, Emma believes that humans and Titans can co-exist peacefully. She does not see Godzilla as evil, but as a potential savior in an age of catastrophic climate change. Farmiga stated that Emma views Godzilla in the same manner one views Mother Nature, specifying, "when these devastating natural occurrences come, it's because the environment has been mistreated and is showing righteous anger." Emma and Madison conspire with a mysterious organization interested in her technology, with their own plans for the creatures. Farmiga described her character as being a "DJ for the monsters", stating, "she has figured out a way to communicate with the creatures", she also described the film being about "saving the environment". Farmiga noted that while the previous film focused on a father/son relationship, King of the Monsters focuses on a mother/daughter relationship. Due to this, Farmiga believes the film may pass the Bechdel test.

Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell:
Emma and Mark's 12-year-old daughter.
Alexandra Rachael Rabe as Young Madison Russell

Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton:
A crypto-sonographer working for Monarch. Dougherty confirmed that Dr. Stanton is loosely modeled after Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty. Dougherty had the character "drink a lot" to keep the character in line with the spirit of Sanchez.

Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham:
A paleozoologist working for Monarch as Serizawa's right-hand woman. Hawkins reprises her role from (2014).

Charles Dance as Alan Jonah:
A former British Army SAS Colonel and MI-6 agent who defected after becoming disillusioned by humanity during his time in the service. Obsessed with "leveling the global playing field" and restoring the natural order, he became the mercenary leader of an anarchist eco-terrorist group funded through the trafficking of Titan DNA. He conspires with Emma and Madison to help them use the Orca to further their shared agenda. Dougherty described Jonah as a mysterious character with conflicting ideas about the Titans' role in the world, believing that mankind has damaged the planet and that bringing back the Titans will potentially set things right.

Thomas Middleditch as Sam Coleman:
Monarch's Director of Technology, leader on the development of the Monarch Sciences network, and communications liaison with the U.S. government.

Aisha Hinds as Colonel Diane Foster:
A decorated Green Beret and the leader of the G-Team, the special military forces group run by Monarch specializing in battles involving Titans.

O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Jackson Barnes:
A Green Beret chief warrant officer who is a member of the G-Team.

David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz:
An Admiral in the 7th Fleet of the United States Navy. He is the commander of the U.S. Navy task force and was previously in charge of tracking down the MUTOs. Strathairn reprises his role from Godzilla (2014).

Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishirō Serizawa:
A high-ranking scientist working for Monarch. His father Eiji Serizawa was one of Monarch's founding members, so he is seen by many as the agency's de facto leader. Watanabe reprises his role from Godzilla (2014). Watanabe noted the film's themes, stating, "In the 21st century we need to do think about natural disasters. This creature is symbolic of that natural disaster. We cannot control them, but we must live on this planet."

Zhang Ziyi as Dr. Ilene Chen and Dr. Ling:
Dr. Ilene Chen is a mythologist working for Monarch, specializing in deciphering the mythological backgrounds of the Titans in connection with tales and legends throughout history. With her twin sister Dr. Ling, Ilene is a third generation Monarch operative in her family, having joined the agency like their grandmother and mother before them. The Chens come from several generations of twins in their family, with an early pair visiting Infant Island, depicted in (1961) as Mothra's home. Dougherty intended the Chen sisters and their connection to Mothra to be a modernized version of the Shobijin, Mothra's twin fairies, explaining, "It was important to me to find ways to modernize the ideas that she has followers. Modernize the priestesses. There are still certain realms of believability to keep in take. You have to ease people into the more fantastical aspects." He noted that the twins were a "perfect example" showing humans and monsters cooperating and forming a "symbiotic relationship with each other". Dougherty also felt that the twins should be portrayed by Asian actresses, same as in the Toho films.

Joe Morton appears as an older Dr. Houston Brooks, a character that originally appeared in Kong: Skull Island, where he was portrayed by Corey Hawkins. Additionally, CCH Pounder portrays Senator Williams, Anthony Ramos portrays Staff Sergeant Anthony Martinez, Elizabeth Ludlow plays First Lieutenant Lauren Griffin, and Jonathan Howard portrays Asher Jonah, while Randy Havens portrays Dr. Tim Mancini. Tyler Crumley plays Mark and Emma's son and Madison's brother Andrew. Kevin Shinick cameos as a weatherman. Through performance capture, T.J. Storm reprises his role as Godzilla, while Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton portray the heads of King Ghidorah. Liles also portrays Rodan via performance capture.

Michael Dougherty - director, co-writer

Zach Shields - co-writer, executive producer

Barry H. Waldman - executive producer

Dan Lin - executive producer

Roy Lee - executive producer

Yoshimitsu Banno - executive producer (posthumous)

Kenji Okuhira - executive producer

Alexandra Mendes - co-producer

Scott Chambliss - production designer

Louise Mingenbach - costume designer

Guillaume Rocheron - visual effects supervisor

Tom Woodruff Jr. - effects and creature designer

Gareth Edwards, the director of 2014's Godzilla, stated that he wanted Godzilla to work as a standalone film with a definitive ending, and he opposed suggestions that the ending should leave the film open for a sequel. He said that he had no problem coming back for a sequel if the film did well, but his main concern was delivering a satisfying experience with the current film, "I want a story that begins and ends, and you leave on a high note. That's all we cared about when we were making this; just this film. If this film is good, the others can come, but let's just pay attention to this and not get sidetracked by other things."

After a successful opening of $103 million internationally, Legendary green-lit the Godzilla sequel, with plans to produce a trilogy and Edwards attached to direct. At the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2014, Legendary confirmed that they had acquired the rights to Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah from Toho. A short teaser clip showing concept art of all three with the ending tagline "Let them fight" was shown. Other details of their appearances in the sequels were not announced. In August 2014, Legendary announced that the sequel would be released on June 8, 2018, and that Godzilla writer Max Borenstein would return to write the screenplay.

In April 2015, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stated that he was unsure if he would reprise his role for the sequel and that his return depended on Edwards' decision. In October 2015, Legendary announced plans to unite Godzilla and Kong in a film titled Godzilla vs. Kong, then-set for a 2020 release date. Legendary is creating a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and ... King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new." While Legendary will maintain its home at Universal Pictures, it will continue to collaborate with Warner Bros. for the franchise.

In May 2016, Warner Bros. announced that Godzilla 2 had been pushed back from its original June 8 2018 release date to March 22, 2019, and shortly afterward, that Edwards had left the sequel to work on smaller scale projects. Edwards also felt that Legendary "needed to get on with things" instead of waiting for him to finish work on , but expressed his hope to work on Godzilla again one day.

In October 2016, it was announced that Michael Dougherty and Zach Shields (both of whom had worked on ) would write the screenplay for Godzilla 2. A day later, it was reported that Dougherty was also in negotiations to direct Godzilla 2. That same month, Legendary announced that production would also take place at parent company Wanda's Qingdao Movie Metropolis facility in Qingdao, China, along with Pacific Rim: Uprising.

In December 2016, Legendary announced that the official title for Godzilla 2 would be Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In January 2017, Dougherty was officially confirmed as the director. Dougherty stated that he was offered to direct first before being offered to re-write the script. When asked about his reaction to being asked to direct, Dougherty stated, "'Yes.' That was my reaction very, very quickly. I felt flattered, honored...and that continues to this day. It was a dream come true. And lots of pressure. Immense, immense pressure." Dougherty described the film as:

"The world is reacting to Godzilla in the same way we would react to any other terrifying incident, in that we are overreacting, but there's paranoia and endless speculation about whether he is the only one out there or whether we're threatened by others like his kind."

While Dougherty loved the 2014 film's slow-build, he said that he would "take the gloves off for this film. No holding back." While comparing King of the Monsters to the 2014 film, Dougherty said "I would call (my movie) the to Gareth's ." Dougherty elaborated by noting the balance between serious and "fun, tongue-in-cheek moments" from Aliens and that King of the Monsters would take a similar approach.

In September 2014, it was reported that Max Borenstein would return to write the script. While promoting Kong: Skull Island, Borenstein mentioned that one thing he aimed to do in the Godzilla sequel is make Godzilla more empathetic for the audience:

"When [Godzilla] blows his blue flame down the throat of the other creature-a creature we never empathized with in any way-we're empathizing with Godzilla. That's the thing about the movie that I'm most proud of, and I think Gareth did an amazing job pulling that off. I think that's what sets up our Godzilla franchise in a way that the second Godzilla movie can pick up on to begin to make Godzilla a more relatable, emphatic figure. But it needed that groundwork because you don't immediately invest emotionally in something that looks like a giant dragon or lizard."

Legendary's only mandate was to include Monarch, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah. For Dougherty's script, he and his team "started over from scratch". Dougherty began with a rough two-page treatment that contained basic beats and rough sketches of the characters. Subsequently, a writer's room was assembled that was ran by Dougherty and co-writer/executive producer Zach Shields, with Borenstein participating. Ten writers contributed to building on the treatment. The script took a year to come together. Dougherty also changed, revised, and improved lines during filming and post-production. He felt the struggles of writing the script were balancing the monster spectacle "while still creating a story with human characters that we care about." While the previous film focused on Ford with Monarch in the background, Dougherty wanted the film to be focused on Monarch, feeling there was an opportunity to craft the organization as a group of heroes. Due to this, the film became an ensemble piece.

Dougherty and Shields chose a human story line where the science fiction elements could be replaced with themes such as climate change or eco-terrorism and stand out on its own without the monsters. Dougherty felt that the third act proved the most challenging in terms of writing as many of the human and monster story arcs converged and needed to be resolved. Shields confirmed that Emma's speech to Monarch went through several rewrites. Shields and Dougherty wanted the speech to present a moral question to audiences whether they would put their faith in humanity or Mother Nature.

In the original script, Mark and Sam were originally written as old friends. This was changed in later drafts from Sam to Serizawa to have him be the guiding force for Mark. Dougherty added the Oxygen Destroyer as a representation of "humanity's inability to not interfere." Dougherty and Shields chose to have Godzilla killed during the film's mid-point due to this being an idea that has not been done in previous Godzilla films. Shields noted that this was also to parallel Godzilla and Mark's characters, stating, "Kyle's loss of faith in the beginning, and finding it in this moment when he realizes, you know, God is dead."

In Dougherty and Shields's treatment and early drafts, full sequences of the non-Toho Titans rising after Ghidorah's call were written but later trimmed due to budgetary concerns.

-Dougherty on his approach for the monsters

The film reclassifies the monsters' designation from "MUTOs" to "Titans". For the monsters, Dougherty wanted their designs to emit a godly presence and evoke a sense of worship, stating, "Primitive man saw these creatures, and you want to give them a presence that would make him drop to his knees and bow to this god...It can't just look like big dinosaurs. Jurassic Park has that covered. These have to be distinct. They have to be their own thing. They're Titans."

The director instructed the designers to look at the original designs from every era and "distill those silhouettes and those key traits into something more modern." It was important for the director that the Titans were not just treated as monsters but "very large animals with a distinct thought process."

For Godzilla, Dougherty wished to put back the "God in Godzilla". He liked the design that Gareth Edwards and Matt Allsopp conceived but wanted to tweak it by adding the dorsal plates of the 1954 iteration, as well as making the claws and feet bigger to make Godzilla look like a more powerful predator. The director had the sound design team expand on Godzilla's roar by making it sound closer to the roars of the 1954 incarnation, stating, "I think they did a great job with Godzilla's roar in the first movie. I pushed them a little bit further to bring it even closer to the (1954) original even more."

For Rodan, elements of volcanic rock were added to the scales and skin color to make Rodan look capable of living inside of a volcano. Dougherty wanted Rodan's design to resemble something that "Mother Nature could have created." The designers were instructed to not just look at Pteranodons but at various birds such as vultures, eagles, and hawks due to birds being related to dinosaurs. Dougherty described Rodan as a "bit of a rogue...you never quite know where his loyalties lie". The director further described Rodan as a "massive A-bomb" that brings "speed and ferocity." Tom Woodruff Jr. and Amalgamated Dynamics provided the design for Rodan. The Rodan chase scene was the first pre-viz sequence produced to be used as a pitch to Legendary.

For Mothra, Dougherty wanted to create something that was "beautiful, and feminine, and elegant, and looked like a true goddess, but also dangerous if she had to be." He attempted to remain faithful to the color palette of the original 1961 incarnation and retain the eye-spots on her wings. The eye-spots were designed to resemble Godzilla's eyes in order to create a connection between Mothra and Godzilla. Mothra was designed to resemble real moths and given longer legs in order to defend herself against other monsters, another attribute inspired by moths.

Dougherty researched various moth species and discovered that some looked "scary" and "predatory". He wished to maintain a sense of realism for Mothra, stating, "...the approach for Mothra is to create an insectoid, huge creature that looks believable from every angle, and especially in motion." The director found Mothra the most difficult Titan to design because he wished to avoid making Mothra look like a blown-up moth. Legacy Effects provided the design for Mothra.

For King Ghidorah, Dougherty wanted to create a "unique" design that still resembled King Ghidorah, and worked closely with Toho to make sure the new design respected past incarnations. Each head was given its own personality, with the center being the alpha and the others its lackeys. He studied various animals, specifically king cobras, in order to add a sense of realism to the design. The designers were instructed to look at different scales from various reptiles to avoid having Ghidorah's scales looking similar to Godzilla or the original King Ghidorah.

The director told the design team to maintain an Eastern dragon influence for Ghidorah and to avoid any Western dragon influence, stating, "They're not traditional western dragons. So those were marching orders from the beginning...We don't want it to look like Game of Thrones' dragons." Legacy Effects also provided the design for Ghidorah. While noting that the film is not a comedy, Dougherty likened Ghidorah to Rip Van Winkle, having a sense of curiosity and cruelty. Producer Alex Garcia described Ghidorah as "not part of the natural order."

Dougherty confirmed that the film would feature original, non-Toho monsters. The names of the non-Toho Titans were revealed as Baphomet, Typhon, Abaddon, Bunyip, Methuselah, Behemoth, Scylla, Tiamat, Leviathan, Sargon, and Mokele-Mbembe. Dougherty created new monsters because he felt it was part of the "Toho tradition" to add new monsters to the Godzilla pantheon. For the roars, the director felt it was important "getting the noises right." He gave the sound designers a "super cut" of the monster roars from the Shōwa Godzilla films, and had them start from there. He stated that the monsters would have new roars that would resemble the original incarnations. Dougherty had the Shōwa roars on a massive speaker system to use on-set for scenes where actors had to run from or react to the monsters.

In late January 2017, Millie Bobby Brown was the first to be cast for the film, in her feature film debut. In February 2017, Kyle Chandler and Vera Farmiga were cast as the parents to Brown's character. In March 2017, it was reported that O'Shea Jackson Jr. was in talks for a role in the film. In April 2017, Aisha Hinds was confirmed to join the cast of the film. In May 2017, Anthony Ramos, Randy Havens, Thomas Middleditch, and Charles Dance were added to the cast, and Sally Hawkins was confirmed to return. A press release confirmed Watanabe's return for the sequel. In June 2017, Bradley Whitford and Zhang Ziyi were added to the cast, with the latter playing a "major role" in the MonsterVerse. In July 2017, Elizabeth Ludlow was added to the cast. In April 2018, Jason Liles, Alan Maxson, and Richard Dorton were cast to provide the performance capture for the heads of King Ghidorah, with Dorton performing the left head, Liles performing the middle head, and Maxson performing the right head. Other actors perform the body. Liles also provided the performance capture for Rodan.

Matthew E. Cunningham was hired as a Senior Illustrator during the research and development stage. Cunningham designed most of the vehicles after the storyboard artist worked with Dougherty. Senior conceptual designer George Hull provided a series of concept paintings of vehicles and monster imagery. Production designer Scott Chambliss managed all the art directors. Artists would sometimes show concept art to the writers, producers, and director however, Chambliss had final say on what would be shown to Dougherty and the producers. After the illustrations were approved, they were delivered for pre-vis. The visual effects used concept art and pre-viz as a reference. Legacy Effects, who had worked on Edwards' Godzilla, were brought back to provide additional concept art.

Principal photography began on June 19, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia under the working title Fathom. Dougherty confirmed that the film would feature practical effects and creature designs by Tom Woodruff, Jr. Lawrence Sher had been confirmed as director of photography. Parts of the film were shot in the Historic Center of Mexico City between August 19-22, 2017. Dougherty announced the film had wrapped production on September 27, 2017.

Visual effects for the film were provided by Moving Picture Company, DNEG, Method Studios, Raynault VFX, Rodeo FX and Ollin VFX. Guillaume Rocheron was the main visual effects supervisor. In November 2018, post-production on the film officially ended. The brief shots of the non-Toho Titans were "late additions" during post-production. Dougherty said that an earlier cut of the film was nearly three hours long. Dougherty affectionately referred to the three-hour cut as Godzilla: The Miniseries. He considered splitting the film into two parts but decided against it, feeling that the final cut is faithful to the core of his original vision.

On July 21, 2018, Dougherty revealed that Bear McCreary would compose the film's score, incorporating themes from Akira Ifukube's previous Godzilla scores. Regarding his involvement, McCreary stated, "I am thrilled to be the composer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and honored beyond words to have the opportunity to contribute to one of cinema's longest-running musical legacies." McCreary further expanded on his plans and involvement, stating;

"I've known Michael Dougherty for a long time, as we both run in the same film-nerd circles. I have always appreciated his love of film music, chatting with him for hours on end over the years about the scores we both love. I was thrilled for him when he landed the gig to direct Godzilla, because I knew what it meant to him. When he later asked me to join the project, I was overwhelmed with excitement, and awe, grateful for the chance to join him in contributing to the legacy of our favorite monster. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to incorporate classic [Akira] Ifukube themes, and yet I think fans will be excited to hear how they have evolved. There are some fun surprises in store. Fitting the material and Michael's visionary film, this score is the most massive I have ever written, and I can't wait for fans to experience it!"

The first trailer featured a rearrangement of Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune by Michael Afanasyev for Imagine Music. The Beautiful TV spot and final trailer featured two different renditions of " Over the Rainbow". An alternate mix of Nessun dorma was featured in the extended IMAX preview. LL Cool J's " Mama Said Knock You Out" was featured in the Exclusive Final Look trailer. In November 2018, a sample of McCreary's Godzilla theme was leaked online after it was used during a panel at Tokyo Comic Con. In April 2019, WaterTower Music released two tracks from the soundtrack, "Old Rivals", composed by McCreary, and a cover of Blue Öyster Cult's " Godzilla" by Serj Tankian. Brendon Small, Gene Hoglan, and other members of Dethklok contributed to the Tankian cover.

McCreary called the cover "the most audacious piece of music" he had produced in his career, citing the orchestra, choir, taiko chanting, taiko drumming, heavy metal rhythm section, Hoglan's double-kick drums, and Tankian's vocals used to produce the track. McCreary stated "For [the character] Godzilla, I chose to incorporate and adapt the legendary Akira Ifukube's iconic theme, and for Mothra, Yūji Koseki's immortal ' Mothra's Song'." The Japanese band Alexandros contributed the single "Pray" for the film's Japanese release. On this decision, Dougherty commented, "we feel incredibly fortunate to have had [Alexandros] contribute such an anthemic song that captures not only the gravitas of the film, but also perfectly complements its dramatic conclusion." The single was released on May 13, 2019. The soundtrack was released by Waxwork Records in 2019 on a triple LP.

All tracks are written by Bear McCreary, except where noted. The score is also conducted by McCreary.

The marketing costs was reported to be $100-150 million. In June 2017, Legendary's official Twitter account for Kong: Skull Island began posting videos revealing a timeline and background information of Monarch's discoveries, which teased elements for Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong. During the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Legendary revealed an image of a stone sculpture featuring Mothra, two larvae, and an egg. On July 12, 2018, two first-look images featuring Godzilla unleashing his atomic breath skyward, and Millie Bobby Brown and Vera Farmiga, were released, along with a few plot details.

On July 18, 2018, a teaser clip was released featuring Brown, and the viral Monarch website went live with documents providing information on the monsters. On July 21, 2018, the first trailer was shown at San Diego Comic-Con and later released online that same day. In October 2018, Legendary Comics held a panel titled Godzilla: Secrets of the MonsterVerse at the L.A. Comic Con, which presented a sneak peek at the prequel comic Godzilla: Aftershock. In November 2018, a panel for the film was held at the Tokyo Comic-Con where Dougherty revealed concept art, a teaser for an upcoming trailer, and the S.H.MonsterArts figures with designs of the Titans. That same month, Dougherty posted a new image of Godzilla from the film on Twitter with a caption from the Book of Job originally concerning the Leviathan.

In early December 2018, teaser clips of Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah from a then-upcoming trailer were released online. On December 9, 2018, a new trailer premiered at Comic Con Experience. On December 10, 2018, the film's first teaser poster and CCXP trailer were released. On December 13, 2018, character posters for Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah were released. In January 2019, Dougherty released a new image of King Ghidorah via Twitter, and in February 2019, four new character posters of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah were released to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

In March 2019, the film was featured on the cover of Total Film which revealed exclusive photos and information. An extended preview was exclusively presented at WonderCon and CinemaCon, later in the month. Warner Bros. attached the extended preview to all IMAX screenings of and The Curse of La Llorona, while US theater chain AMC Theatres (of which the parent company of Legendary, Wanda Group, are a majority stakeholder in) attached the preview to their IMAX screenings of Avengers: Endgame. In April 2019, the main theatrical poster was released online. On April 21, 2019, the extended preview was released on HBO's streaming services, and then on April 23, 2019, the final trailer was released online.

The Chinese investor and film marketer Huahua Media invested an undisclosed sum to market the film in China. The deal also grants the company participation in the film's box office. In May 2019, a Godzilla head was built on top of the Cinerama Dome to promote the film. That same month, the IMAX and RealD 3D posters were released. Robin Lopez created several TV Spots, titled Robzilla: King of the Mascots, promoting the film and the NBA Playoffs. The website Joe created a mock-trailer, titled Pugzilla: King of the Dogsters, by replacing the Titans with cats and dogs. The video received approval from Dougherty, who shared it on his Twitter. On May 22, 2019, a clip featuring Brown and Ghidorah premiered on The Tonight Show. On May 23, 2019, a new Chinese poster was released.

A prequel graphic novel, Godzilla: Aftershock, was released in May 2019. Aftershock was written by Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Drew Edward Johnson. S.H. MonsterArts figures of kaiju in the movie were released for sale in June 2019. The film's novelization was released on May 31, 2019; the art book The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released on June 4, 2019. NECA, Jakks Pacific, and Bandai all produced toy lines for the film featuring its monsters.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released on May 31, 2019, in IMAX, 3D, Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, IMAX 3D, 4DX, and ScreenX Formats. by Warner Bros. Pictures, except in Japan where it was distributed by Toho. The film was originally scheduled to be released on June 8, 2018. However, in May 2016, it was pushed back to March 22, 2019, and later again to its current release date. The film was released in ScreenX formats in some markets. In the United States, the film was given a PG-13 rating for "sequences of monster action, violence, and destruction, and for some language." In April 2019, a private screening was held for the press at Toho Studios in Tokyo, which was followed by a 30-minute Q&A with Dougherty and Ken Watanabe. In early May 2019, advanced screenings were held for audiences ahead of the film's release, and on May 17, 2019, a VIP press screening was held in Los Angeles at the AMC Century City theater.

The film had its red carpet premiere in Beijing on May 13, 2019. It then had its second red carpet premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 18, 2019. A group of Taiko drummers delivered a performance signaling the opening of the ceremony prior to the actors' arrival. Prior to the Hollywood premiere, Warner Bros. hosted a block party. A green-screen photo booth was made available that allowed attendees to be placed in scenes from the film. Regal Cinemas offered collectible tickets to IMAX attendees, along with a mini-poster of the ticket image. The collectible tickets were offered in two sizes: Standard (measuring 4" x 7.5") and Godzilla-sized (5.125" x 9.5″). In June 2019, the film received a one-month theatrical extension in China.

The film was released on Digital HD on August 13, 2019 and released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on August 27, 2019. The 4K release includes HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision high dynamic range, and a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Best Buy released a retail exclusive of its own as a 4K UHD Combo steelbook release. The film's home media release debuted at number one on the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart. Together, the Blu-ray and DVD grossed $28 million in domestic video sales.

Toho released multiple editions of the film on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD in Japan on December 18, 2019, which included retail exclusives from Amazon, the Godzilla Store, and Tsutaya. Toho also released a four-disc limited edition set which included the 4K Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, DVD, bonus features Blu-ray, and an S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla figure. The Godzilla Store exclusive of the four-disc set featured a limited edition Movie Monster Series figure of the film's version of Burning Godzilla. The retail exclusives included limited special clear files. In January 2020, the film made its pay cable debut on HBO.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters grossed $110.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $276.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $386.6 million. Reports on the film's break even point varies; Erik Childress from Rotten Tomatoes estimated the film would have needed to gross $550-600 million to break even. Chris Agar from Screen Rant estimated the film would have needed to gross $400 million worldwide "just to make its money back," based on the general rule of thumb. John Nguyen from Nerd Reactor estimated the film would have needed to gross $340 million worldwide to break even.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside and , and was projected to gross $55-65 million from 4,108 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $19.6 million on its first day, including $6.3 million from Thursday night previews, which was lower than the $9.3 million made by the 2014 film but more than Kong: Skull Island's $3.7 million. It went on to debut to $47.8 million, finishing first at the weekend box office but below expectations. Deadline Hollywood said the film "lacked urgency," having debuted its first trailer over a year before the film's release, and not separating its appearance from previous Godzilla films. The film fell 67% in its second weekend to $15.5 million, finishing in fourth, and then to $8.1 million the following weekend, finishing seventh.

Worldwide, the film was initially projected to earn around $180 million from 75 other territories in its opening weekend, for a global total of $230-235 million. It was speculated that the amount could go higher if the film over-performed in China, where it was projected to debut to $75-90 million. The film held early previews in China on May 25, 2019, where it grossed $2.5 million. King of the Monsters made $12.7 million from 51 countries on Thursday and $31.4 million from 75 countries on Friday, for a cume of $48.2 million through Friday. In China, the film grossed $54.15 million through Friday and Saturday. The film ended up grossing a total of $130 million internationally and $177.8 million including North American tallies, far below projections. Its largest markets were China ($70 million), the United Kingdom ($4.4 million), France ($2.6 million) and South Korea ($2.2 million). The film dropped 64% to $47.1 million in its second weekend of international play, for a 10-day running total of $213.7 million.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 42% based on 332 reviews, with an average rating of 5.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, " Godzilla: King of the Monsters delivers spectacular kaiju action -- and reaffirms that cutting-edge effects are still no substitute for a good story." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 48 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same grade earned by the first two MonsterVerse installments, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 85% (with an average 4.5 out of 5 stars) and a 75% "definite recommend."

Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing that it "has rare moments of visual splendour but they can't disguise a laughable script with a ramshackle narrative." Chris Evangelista of /Film gave the film a score of 6.5 out of 10, criticizing the human characters and writing that "The ultimate kaiju smack-down shouldn't be this boring." Kate Erbland of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "C-", calling it "dark, wet, and inept," while Mike Ryan of Uproxx also gave the film a negative review, writing that "When a movie is just nonstop monster action, guess what happens? It all becomes the new 'normal' and it becomes boring." Ben Travis, writing for Empire Online, gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, stating, "Globe-trotting but not adventurous, action-packed but not remotely exciting, utterly overstuffed and completely paper-thin."

Owen Gleiberman of wrote that the film "makes for a spectacular clash of the titans, but this one has a less commanding balance of schlock and awe," compared to its predecessor. Conversely, Alonso Duralde of the praised the film for taking an "all-thriller-no-filler approach both to monsters and the human drama." Scott Collura of IGN.com gave the film a score of 7.8 out of 10, calling it "a fun exercise in giant monster madness that indulges in all the kaiju fights fans and even casual viewers could hope for."

For Bloody Disgusting, William Bibbiani wrote " Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a big, kinda silly, but otherwise exciting blockbuster. It's gorgeous, it's epic in the extreme, and it features some of the most impressive monster fights you've ever seen. Maybe someday Americans will make a Godzilla movie that isn't just 'badass,' but which also works on another level and resonates in a meaningful way." James Whitbrook of said the film "is little more than beautifully stunning sound and fury, sadly signifying nothing for its human stars-beyond them being a vector in which the movie can thickly spread on some b-movie cheese that lends the whole endeavor a sort of 'classic monster movie with a modern budget' vibe."

In September 2015, Legendary's Kong: Skull Island was moved from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong. They planned to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary's King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new."

Godzilla vs. Kong is scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021. Dougherty had expressed interest in directing a Ray Harryhausen-esque prequel set during prehistoric times exploring how primitive humans survived against the Titans, humanity's first encounter with Godzilla, and how their relationship with Godzilla was christened.

Bernstein, Abbie (2019). The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Titan Books. ISBN 1789090687.

Dougherty, Michael; Shields, Zach; Jackson Jr., O'Shea (2019). Godzilla: King of the Monsters Audio Commentary (Blu-ray). Warner Bros Home Entertainment.

Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series - Second Edition. McFarland. ISBN 9780786447497.

Yount, Kyle (2019). TJ Storm, Godzilla Motion Capture Actor (Podcast). Kaijucast.

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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019 film)

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Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a 2019 monster film directed by Michael Dougherty and co-written by Dougherty with Zach Shields. A sequel to (2014), it is the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio.

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Godzilla vs. Kong is a 2021 American monster film directed by Adam Wingard. Produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is a sequel to Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and is the fourth film in the MonsterVerse. It is also the 36th film in the Godzilla franchise, the 12th film in the King Kong franchise, and the fourth Godzilla film to be completely produced by an American film studio. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Lance Reddick, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir. Brown and Chandler reprise their roles from the previous Godzilla film. In the film, Kong clashes with Godzilla after humans move the ape from Skull Island to the Hollow Earth, homeworld of the monsters known as "Titans", to retrieve a power source for a secret weapon intended to stop Godzilla's mysterious attacks.

The project was announced in October 2015 when Legendary Pictures declared plans for a shared cinematic universe between Godzilla and King Kong. The film's writers' room was assembled in March 2017, and Wingard was announced as the director in May 2017. Principal photography began in November 2018 in Hawaii, Australia, and Hong Kong, and wrapped in April 2019.

After being delayed from a November 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Godzilla vs. Kong was theatrically released internationally on March 24, 2021, and in the United States on March 31, where it was released on HBO Max simultaneously. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the visual effects and action sequences, but criticism towards the human characters. It broke several pandemic box office records, and grossed $470 million worldwide, against a production budget between $155-200 million and a break-even point of $330 million, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2021. The film was a streaming hit, becoming the most successful launch title in HBO Max's history until it was overtaken by Mortal Kombat. A sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, was released on March 29, 2024.

Five years after the dragon-like extraterrestrial King Ghidorah awakened the monstrous "Titans" around the world and was defeated by Godzilla, Kong is monitored by Monarch within a giant dome on Skull Island, which has been taken over by the storm that previously kept it hidden from the world. Kong is visited by Jia, the last Iwi native and young adopted daughter of Kong expert Ilene Andrews. Jia is deaf and communicates with Kong via sign language.

Apex Cybernetics employee and Titan conspiracy podcast host Bernie Hayes extracts data suggesting sinister activities at Apex's Pensacola facility. Godzilla attacks the facility and Bernie stumbles on a massive device during the rampage. Madison Russell, a listener to Bernie's podcast, enlists Josh Valentine to investigate Godzilla's attacks.

Apex CEO Walter Simmons recruits former Monarch scientist and Hollow Earth theorist Nathan Lind to guide a search for a power source into the Hollow Earth, the Titans' homeworld. Lind is hesitant as his brother died in an expedition to the Hollow Earth due to a strong reverse-gravitational effect. He agrees when Walter reveals that Apex has developed HEAVs, specialized craft able to withstand the gravity field.

Lind convinces Andrews to let Kong guide them via an outpost in Antarctica. Lind, Andrews, and an Apex team led by Walter's daughter Maia board a barge escorted by the US Navy, carrying a sedated and restrained Kong. Godzilla attacks the convoy and defeats Kong, then retreats after the ships trick him into thinking they are destroyed. Kong is airlifted to the Hollow Earth entrance and the team follows him into the tunnel in the HEAVs.

Bernie joins Madison and Josh in their investigation. They sneak into the wrecked Apex base, discover a secret underground facility, and become locked into a hyperloop transport to Apex's Hong Kong headquarters where they find a test of Mechagodzilla. It is telepathically controlled by Ren Serizawa, the son of the late Ishirō Serizawa, via neural networks from the severed head of Ghidorah. Walter intends to harness the Hollow Earth's energy to overcome Mechagodzilla's power supply limitations.

Inside the Hollow Earth, Kong and the team find an ecosystem similar to Skull Island. In his species' ancestral throne room, they find the remains of an ancient war with Godzilla's kind and a glowing axe made from another Godzilla's dorsal plates. Identifying the power source, the Apex team sends its signature back to their Hong Kong base despite Andrews' protests. Attracted by Mechagodzilla's activation, Godzilla arrives in Hong Kong. Godzilla drills a shaft directly into the throne room with his atomic breath. After provoking him with gunfire, Maia and the Apex team's HEAV is crushed by Kong. Kong, Andrews, Jia, and Lind ascend to Hong Kong, where Kong engages Godzilla in a ferocious final battle in which Godzilla emerges victorious, leaving Kong nearly dead.

Madison, Josh, and Bernie are caught by security and taken to Walter, who orders Ren to activate Mechagodzilla, which is then possessed by Ghidorah's consciousness. It kills Walter, electrocutes Ren, and overwhelms Godzilla. Lind revives the dying Kong by detonating the HEAV on his chest, acting like a defibrillator. Jia convinces Kong to help Godzilla. As Mechagodzilla overpowers both Titans, Josh momentarily short-circuits Mechagodzilla's controls with Bernie's liquor flask on its control panel. Godzilla then charges up Kong's axe with his atomic breath, allowing Kong to destroy Mechagodzilla. Madison, Bernie, and Josh reunite with Madison's father, Mark, while Godzilla and Kong acknowledge and make peace with each other before they go their separate ways, knowing that they will definitely see each other again some day.

Sometime later, Monarch establishes an observation post in Hollow Earth, where Kong now rules.

Alexander Skarsgård as Dr. Nathan Lind:
A Monarch geologist and chief cartographer who works closely with Kong and charts the mission into the Hollow Earth. Skarsgård described his character as a reluctant hero who is "not an alpha, bad-ass" and "thrown into this very dangerous situation and is definitely not equipped for it." Skarsgård called Nathan an homage to 1980s films like Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone, Lethal Weapon, and Skarsgård prepped for the film by researching the Hollow Earth, and learning sign language to communicate with Kaylee Hottle.

Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell:
The daughter of Monarch scientists Mark and the late Emma Russell. Madison believes there is a reason for Godzilla's erratic behavior, suspecting a conspiracy formulated by the Apex Cybernetics. She proceeds to investigate with Josh Valentine and Bernie Hayes. Brown described the film as a coming of age story for Madison, noting that the character has "grown-up" and become more "independent" since the events of the previous film, stating, "Her storyline has definitely evolved greatly in the way she deals with things, her attitude towards life, how much more stronger [] of a person." Producer Alex Garcia described Madison as the "advocate for Godzilla in this film" who tries to "vindicate" Godzilla and his reasons.

Rebecca Hall as Dr. Ilene Andrews:
A Monarch anthropological linguist, and Jia's adoptive mother. Hall described her participation as "overwhelming" due to the film being her first project after her pregnancy, but found the experience "thrilling". Hall described Ilene as "the Jane Goodall of Kong".

Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes:
An Apex Cybernetics technician turned conspiracy theorist and whistleblower aiding Madison and Josh to expose Apex. Henry described Bernie as a "crackpot" with a level of "heart" and "loyalty". Henry noted that the tragic death of Bernie's wife shaped him to become a conspiracy theorist with a podcast and further elaborated, "his goal is to use the tools at his disposal to bring the truth to the people. I always refer to Bernie as . He can see the injustices, but no one really listens to him." Due to Bernie's protective nature of Madison and Josh, Henry jokingly likened Bernie to Brienne of Tarth.

Shun Oguri as Ren Serizawa:
The son of the late Monarch scientist Ishirō Serizawa, and Apex's chief technology officer, who is the telepathic pilot for Mechagodzilla. Oguri described Ren's goal as trying to "protect the Earth"; however, the means to his goal differ from "everyone else, and his father." Oguri noted that Ren "sort of" followed in his father's footsteps but stated, "he doesn't believe he was heard by his father." Wingard stated that the character was underwritten due to a lack of time to explore the character and felt it was interesting to leave him a mystery.

Julian Dennison as Josh Valentine:
A friend of Madison aiding her and Bernie to investigate the source of Godzilla's erratic behavior. Dennison described his character as a "nerd" and Madison as his "only friend". Dennison called Josh, Madison's "tech wingman", and the "realist in the duo", stating, "he kind of brings it, 'Oh, we shouldn't do that because we'll die.' And she's, 'No, it will be fine.' So, I think they play very well. And they're a very good mix of just craziness." Dennison screen-tested with Brown using scenes from Romeo and Juliet.

Demián Bichir as Walter Simmons:
Maia's father, CEO, and founder of Apex Cybernetics, a tech organization invested in trying to solve the Earth's "Titan problem", secretly creating Mechagodzilla to exterminate them. Walter is a visionary entrepreneur and billionaire who wants to help humanity and make the world a safer place, but clashes with Monarch over their differing ideals on what is best for humanity. Producer Alex Garcia said Walter "has risen to a place... in the seats of power, and is wanting to help to stem and stop the madness and the destruction." Garcia stated that Walter is not necessarily a villain or a Machiavellian character but is "a very complex character who believes he's doing the right thing. And he may be, but that's where the mystery at the core of the film comes into play."

Additionally, Hakeem Kae-Kazim portrays Admiral Wilcox; Ronny Chieng portrays Jay Wayne; John Pirruccello portrays Horace; and Chris Chalk portrays Ben. Allan Henry provided the performance capture for Kong, while animation supervisor Eric Petey provided Kong's full body performance and facial capture for the ocean battle sequence. Zhang Ziyi and Jessica Henwick were cast but did not appear in the final cut of the film, with Ziyi intended to have been reprising her role from Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Adam Wingard - director

Jay Ashenfelter - executive producer

Herbert W. Gains - executive producer

Dan Lin - executive producer

Roy Lee - executive producer

Yoshimitsu Banno - executive producer (posthumous)

Kenji Okuhira - executive producer

Jen Conroy - co-producer

Tamara Kent - co-producer

Owen Patterson - production designer

Tom Hammock - production designer

Ann Foley - costume designer

John "DJ" DesJardin - visual effects supervisor

Personnel taken from the press release.

In September 2015, Legendary moved Kong: Skull Island from Universal to Warner Bros., which sparked media speculation that Godzilla and King Kong would appear in a film together. In October 2015, Legendary confirmed that they would unite Godzilla and King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, at the time targeted for a May 29, 2020, release. Legendary plans to create a shared cinematic franchise "centered around Monarch" that "brings together Godzilla and Legendary's King Kong in an ecosystem of other giant super-species, both classic and new." Producer Alex Garcia confirmed that the film would not be a remake of King Kong vs. Godzilla, stating, "the idea is not to remake that movie." Executive producer Jay Ashenfelter found the project to be challenging due to Godzilla: King of the Monsters, stating, "it was also such a humongous monster ballet that the question became, what can we do to top that?"

In May 2017, Adam Wingard was announced as the director for Godzilla vs. Kong. Wingard had previously been considered by Peter Jackson to direct a sequel to his 2005 version of King Kong that went unproduced. Wingard was offered the project by Mary Parent, stating, "I jumped at it immediately. Doing both characters in one film, and being the filmmaker who gets to answer the age-old question of 'Who would win?' I couldn't resist." Wingard emphasized his intent for audiences to invest emotionally in the monsters as characters and his goal for the battle to have a definitive victor.

Wingard prepared by watching every Godzilla and King Kong film. Before receiving a script, Wingard had already pictured the final battle taking place in a "synthwave-style futuristic city backdrop." He chose this due to being a fan of electronic video game music and 1980s film scores, he stated, "my vision basically started there. How can we get these two monsters fighting on a synthwave album cover?" Wingard confirmed that the film would tie in with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, be set in modern times, and feature a "more rugged, a bit more aged Kong."

Wingard cited the 1976 remake of and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah as touchstones for evoking empathy in the film. Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, and Shin Godzilla served as inspiration for the monsters' scale. Legendary financed $120 million while Warner Bros. financed $40 million.

In March 2017, Legendary assembled a writers room to develop the story for Godzilla vs. Kong, with Terry Rossio (who co-wrote an early unproduced script for TriStar's Godzilla) leading a team consisting of J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay, Lindsey Beer, Cat Vasko, T.S. Nowlin, Jack Paglen, and J. Michael Straczynski. Wingard wanted to craft an outcome that had a definitive winner while allowing the loser to retain their dignity, stating, "they could earn each other's respect." Rossio stated that the intent of the writers room was to "break the story" for Rossio to write a first draft.

Rossio wrote a "detailed treatment" that was green lit by Legendary during the first draft stage. Rossio structured the story in a way that audiences would not have an implicit bias towards either monster, emphasizing that both characters are dangerous monsters misunderstood by humanity, he added, "Kong calls to mind the dangers inherent in unfettered emotion, while Godzilla can be seen to represent the fundamental power of nature. That puts them on pretty equal footing." On his experience with the writers room, Rossio stated, " Godzilla vs. Kong was my first experience running a writer's room, and it was fantastic. It was a blast reading samples, meeting different writers, and crafting a story in a group setting. It felt similar to animation, where the film is happening up on the walls, and the end result is better than any one person could accomplish on their own." According to Wingard, Rossio later likened the treatment to a proposal where the ideas were not completely defined but had potential to work. Wingard admitted to imitating Rossio's treatment-proposal method for later projects like Face/Off 2.

In July 2017, Wingard spoke about the outline created by the writers room, stating, "We're going in very great detail through all the characters, the arcs they have, how they relate to one another, and most importantly how they relate to the monsters, and how the monsters relate to them or reflect them." He stated that he and his team are going "beat by beat" on the outline, stating, "So once again, it's a discussion, and about feeling out how to make it as strong as possible, so that when Terry [Rossio] goes to write the screenplay, he has a definitive breakdown of what to include."

Michael Dougherty, who directed Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Zach Shields, who co-wrote the film with Dougherty, provided rewrites to ensure that certain themes from King of the Monsters were carried over and that some characters were properly developed. Dougherty revealed how he wrote for the title characters, and how the film would address their differing interactions with people. For Kong, Dougherty stated the film would feature "those very unique, and even warm, bonding moments" between Kong and humans since they have been a staple of the character since the original 1933 film. For Godzilla, his connection to humans would be "more implied" as his softer side is rarely shown. Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein contributed in streamlining the story. Pearson recalled an unused concept where drunks with shotguns attempt to kill a "woolly mammoth thing", only to get crushed. The sequence was intended to allude to the folly of mankind's attempts to challenge the Titans.

Wingard became "very involved" in developing the world-building behind the Hollow Earth plotline. He described the split narrative as a voyage through time and an exploration of the past and future, noting how Madison, Josh, and Bernie uncover tech that should not exist while the others uncover the origins of the Titans and humanity in the Hollow Earth. Wingard noted that similarities between Madison and Bernie and how their mission created a "Goonies-esque adventure", stating it "was a nice seasoning so we didn't get bogged down in a single tone." Rossio found Madison's arc as a "clear build" from the previous film, feeling it made sense for her to be assertive and have insight into Godzilla's actions. Pearson compared Madison to Indiana Jones due to her reckless nature, describing her as the "indisputable captain" of the team. Borenstein had originally written Mechagodzilla into Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Co-writer and director Dougherty scrapped the character during development.

In April 2022, Eiza González revealed that much of the original story, including an alternate storyline for Gonzalez' character, was changed during post-production, including completely cutting Jessica Henwick's character that affected several characters. Gonzalez iterated that the changes were made so the story would service Godzilla and Kong and expressed gratitude for her participation.

In June 2017, it was announced that Zhang Ziyi had joined Legendary's MonsterVerse, having a reportedly "pivotal" role in both Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong, though she ultimately starred only in the former. In June 2018, Julian Dennison was cast, while Millie Bobby Brown and Kyle Chandler were set to reprise their roles from Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Legendary also sent an offer to Frances McDormand for a role. In July 2018, it was revealed that Danai Gurira was in early talks to join the film.

In October 2018, Brian Tyree Henry, Demián Bichir, Alexander Skarsgård, Eiza González, and Rebecca Hall were added to the cast. In November 2018, Jessica Henwick, Shun Oguri, and Lance Reddick were cast, with Oguri making his Hollywood debut. Gurira was briefly named amongst the cast by and ScreenGeek, though neither she nor Henwick appeared in the finished film. YouTuber and filmmaker James Rolfe was offered a potential cameo by Wingard, but production pressures and the birth of his second daughter meant it was not able to be arranged.

Principal photography began on November 12, 2018, in Hawaii and Australia, and was expected to end in February 2019, under the working title Apex. Production was initially slated to begin on October 1, 2018. For the Hawaii shoot, the crew filmed on the USS Missouri, at Manoa Falls, and in Downtown Honolulu. The crew established a camp in the Kalanianaole Highway, closing Lānaʻi Lookout parking until November 21. Local crews and extras were used for the film. In January 2019, filming resumed in Gold Coast, Queensland at Village Roadshow Studios for an additional 26 weeks.

Filming locations in Australia included Miami State High School and parts of Brisbane such as the Newstead suburb, the Chinatown Mall in Fortitude Valley, and the Wickham Terrace Car Park. In April 2019, Wingard confirmed via Instagram that filming in Australia had wrapped. That same month, Wingard revealed Hong Kong as one of the final shooting locations and that principal photography had wrapped.

Wingard wanted to film in physical locations as much as possible and only filmed on sets when physical locations were not viable. Producer Eric McLeod noted that this was due to Wingard wanting to convey "scale and scope" with real locations. McLeod noted that the crew had more sets and limited space (six to seven stages) while filming at Village Roadshow Studios. The crew had to constantly rotate the set and rework their schedules in order to finish on time. Wingard revealed several setbacks that the crew faced: a viral outbreak (not COVID-19-related) that affected 40 percent of the crew and forced them out of commission for a week, the camera operator broke his foot on the third day of filming, and a spider bite forced Ben Seresin to seek hospital attention.

Co-producer Tamara Kent was in charge of guiding the post-production schedule and delivering the visual effects on time and under budget. Moving Picture Company (MPC), Scanline VFX, and Weta Digital were hired to create the visual effects. Kent stated that the effects could not be done with only two effects studios due to the short time given at the time. Kent noted that one consideration given was to have animation work divided via monsters: one company gets Godzilla, while the other gets Kong. That idea was dropped because it "didn't make sense", Kent explained, "they would need to be created by the same team in shots where they fought. So we divided things by location." MPC animated parts of the Hong Kong sequence, Weta animated all of the Hollow Earth sequences, and Scanline animated a majority of the Hong Kong sequence and all of the film's water environments. The effects were originally due in December 2019. The film's delay to a then-November 2020 release date granted the effects team more time. Wingard noted that this gave them more "flexibility" to get the effects "right" due to the film's "980 complicated effects shots".

In April 2021, Wingard verified that there was enough footage for a potential five hour version. He iterated that he had intended for the film to be two hours or under, adding, "For me, this is the version that worked the best, and I don't see any reason to do a director's cut. So yeah, could I make an extremely long director's cut? Absolutely. But I would never want to... For better or worse, this is my movie."

In June 2020, Tom Holkenborg was announced as the film's composer. Wingard met with Holkenborg in 2018, where Holkenborg admitted to recreationally writing music for Godzilla years prior due to being a fan. Holkenborg subsequently began communicating with the director, tweaked the material, and played it for the director, stating that Wingard was "totally in love." Holkenborg requested a bass drum roughly ten feet in diameter, but the builder was only able to scale it down to eight feet. As with Legendary's previous Godzilla trailers, György Ligeti's " Requiem" was used, followed by "Here We Go" by Chris Classic. The song " The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies was used in the credits scene. The soundtrack was released by WaterTower Music on March 26, 2021.

Wingard felt it was "insincere" to repurpose the themes by Akira Ifukube because he associated them with Toho's Godzilla. Instead, Wingard wished to go in a different direction to create themes that were unique to the MonsterVerse's Godzilla, while paying homage to its influences. Holkenborg wanted to create a Godzilla theme that "lived and breathed" the history behind monster themes. Lower brass and big tympanis were used to emphasize the power of Godzilla. Holkenborg wanted Godzilla's theme to be slow and sluggish to reflect Godzilla.

For the film's Japanese release, Man with a Mission contributed the track "Into the Deep". Regarding the track's inclusion, Wingard commented, "I'm thrilled that an inspiring song from a groundbreaking band like Man with a Mission will be playing alongside the battle in Godzilla vs. Kong."

In May 2019, the first promotional one-sheet poster was revealed at the Licensing Expo, and in June 2019, Warner Bros screened an early look to European exhibitors at CineEurope. In August 2019, it was announced that Disruptor Beam would develop a mobile game to tie in for the film's release. In December 2019, a brief clip was revealed during a Warner Bros. reel at Comic Con Experience, and later leaked online. In January 2020, images from the Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair displaying figures related to the film were leaked online. In February 2020, Toho and Legendary announced the Godzilla vs. Kong Publishing Program and licensees. Through the publishing program, Legendary planned to release two graphic novels, one following Godzilla and the other following Kong, an art book, novelizations, and a children's book. Amongst the licensees named were Playmates Toys, Bioworld, Rubies, Funko, 60Out, and the Virtual Reality Company.

In April 2020, images of toy figures were leaked online, revealing different forms for Godzilla and Kong, Mechagodzilla, and a new monster named Nozuki. In July 2020, images of Playmate figures and packaging with concept art were released online. In December 2020, brief clips from the film were shown during Comic Con Experience, and in January 2021, more brief footage was included in a preview for HBO Max. That same month, the first teaser poster was released online, along with confirmation of the trailer's release date. The first full trailer was released on January 24, 2021. It became Warner Bros' biggest trailer debut, earning 25.6 million views in 24 hours on YouTube; 15.8 million from Warner's channel and an additional 9.8 million views from the studio's secondary channels. The film had its first official NFT art release in collaboration with a major studio. On April 7, the professional wrestling show AEW Dynamite (airing on WarnerMedia-owned channel TNT) held a special Godzilla vs. Kong-themed match.

reported that the film cost $70 million to promote.

Godzilla vs. Kong was theatrically released internationally, beginning on March 24, 2021. It was then released in the United States on March 31, simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, where it streamed exclusively for a month. The film was scheduled to be released in Japan on May 14, 2021, by Toho; however, Toho announced on April 30, 2021, that the film's Japanese release had been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19. The film had its Japanese premiere on June 28, 2021, and was theatrically released in Japan on July 2, 2021.

Regal Cinemas began exhibiting the film with a limited release upon its reopening on April 2, 2021, following its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was delayed several times, and was previously scheduled to be released in 2020 on March 13, May 22, May 29, and November 20, and later pushed to May 21, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, Warner Bros. hosted an unannounced test screening which received a "mostly positive" response.

In November 2020, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the film was being considered for a streaming release. Netflix had offered $200-250 million but WarnerMedia blocked the deal in favor of their own offer to release the film on HBO Max. Warner Bros. iterated that their theatrical release plans would proceed as scheduled. WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar and Warner Bros. chairman Ann Sarnoff considered options that included a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release, a strategy that Warner Bros. had done for Wonder Woman 1984. In December 2020, Warner Bros. announced that the film, along with their other tentpoles scheduled for 2021, would be given same-day simultaneous releases in theaters and HBO Max, with one-month access for its streaming release.

A few days after the announcement, and Deadline Hollywood reported that Legendary Entertainment, financiers, and talent with backend deals were not pleased with WarnerMedia's multi-release plans and non-transparent intentions. Legendary was not given advanced notice of the multi-release decision nor given a say in how and Godzilla vs. Kong would be distributed. The studio planned to have discussions with Warner Bros. regarding a more "generous deal"; however, legal action was considered. A few weeks later, Deadline reported that the film could keep its HBO Max release but only if Warner Bros. matches Netflix's $250 million bid. In January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a legal battle was averted due to Legendary and WarnerMedia nearing an agreement to keep the film's simultaneous release.

The film was released on digital platforms on May 21, 2021, and on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray on June 15, 2021. The film was re-added to HBO Max on August 17, 2021. In the United States and Canada, the DVD earned $13.2 million and the Blu-ray earned $22.8 million, totaling $36 million in domestic video sales.

Following its opening weekend, Warner Bros. said the film had a "larger viewing audience than any other film or show on HBO Max since launch." Samba TV reported that 3.6 million households watched at least the first five minutes of the film in the United States between March 31-April 4, and 225,000 in the UK. It was watched in 5.1 million households in the US over the first 17 days, and in over 5.8 million US households by the end of its first 30 days. In January 2022, tech firm Akamai reported that Godzilla vs. Kong was the most pirated film of 2021.

Godzilla vs. Kong grossed $100.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $369.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $470.1 million. reported the film needed to gross at least $330 million in order to break even. Deadline Hollywood estimated it would turn a net profit of $96.4 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenue.

A week prior to its United States release, the film was released in 38 overseas countries and was projected to gross around $70 million over its first five days. In China, where it was projected to debut to around $50 million, the film made $21.5 million (RMB 140 million) on its first day. The film exceeded predictions and debuted to $123.1 million worldwide, the biggest worldwide opening of the pandemic for a Hollywood film. Its largest markets were China ($69.2 million; RMB 450.5 million), Mexico ($6.5 million), Australia ($6.3 million), Russia ($5.9 million), Taiwan ($5.3 million), India ($4.9 million), Thailand ($3.3 million), South Korea ($2.8 million), Vietnam ($2.5 million), Malaysia ($2.1 million), and Spain ($1.7 million). In Indonesia, the film earned $850,000 ( Rp. 12.3 billion).

In the United States and Canada, Godzilla vs. Kong was initially projected to gross around $23 million over its five-day opening weekend, compared to expectations of around $68 million in a pre-COVID marketplace. It made $9.6 million from 2,409 theaters in its first day, the best opening-day figure of the pandemic. After grossing $6.7 million on its second day, five-day projections were increased to $30-40 million. Playing in 3,064 theaters by Friday, the film went on to debut to $31.6 million in three days, and $48.1 million over five, the best opening weekend of the pandemic. attributed the film's box office results to "positive word-of-mouth". The film grossed $13.9 million in its second weekend, remaining in first and becoming the highest-grossing domestic release of the pandemic (passing 's $58.5 million). During the weekend ending on June 20, 2021, Godzilla vs. Kong became the second film to cross the $100 million mark at the United States and Canadian box office during the COVID-19 pandemic, following A Quiet Place Part II.

Godzilla vs. Kong received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 76% of 391 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Delivering squarely on its title, Godzilla vs. Kong swats away character development and human drama to deliver all the spectacle you'd expect from giant monsters slugging it out." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 57 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale (the highest of the MonsterVerse), while PostTrak reported 86% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 74% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing, " Godzilla vs. Kong is the kind of movie you can pretty much forget about almost instantly after you've seen it-but it's also the kind of movie that makes you forget about everything else in your life while you're watching it." Jamie Graham of gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "Watching these famous monsters share the screen for the first time since 1963's King Kong vs. Godzilla, in a series of expertly choreographed battles, packs real wallop, even if you can't help wishing that screen was 30ft high at your local cinema."

Alonso Duralde of the said that the franchise had "given up on everything but the monster fights" and wrote, "Yes, obviously, no one goes to these movies for the deep human characters or for plot machinations or even for the metaphors about the environment and industrialization. Here's the thing, though-they come in handy to fill in the gaps between the monster battles, and you miss them when they're not there. And since even those battles are somewhat perfunctory, what are we even doing here?" John Nugent of gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing, " Godzilla vs. Kong mostly delivers on its promise of a big monster fighting another big monster. It just depends whether you're willing to sit through the toe-curlingly bad set-up that surrounds it." Reviewing for , Jake Wilson gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, saying, "Overseeing the mayhem is director Adam Wingard, who started out making wittily brutal low-budget horror films before becoming a studio gun for hire. Absolutely no sign of his old personality is evident here."

The film was Honored by Seal of Authentic Representation from the Ruderman Family Foundation for Hottle's role as Jia. The seal is Honored Kaylee Hottle with disabilities who uses sign language to communicate with the latter creature.

In March 2022, it was announced that a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong was scheduled to commence filming later in the year in Gold Coast, Queensland and other locations in South East Queensland. In May 2022, it was announced that Wingard would return to direct and that Dan Stevens had been cast in the lead. Wingard and Stevens had previously worked together on . The film was theatrically released internationally on March 27, 2024 and in the United States on March 29, 2024.

1. ^ Debruge, Peter (March 29, 2021). "'Godzilla vs. Kong' Review: You'll Want to See This Titan Throwdown on the Biggest Screen Possible". Variety. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. A Warner Bros. Pictures release, presented with Legendary Pictures, of a Legendary Pictures production.

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21. ^ Roeper, Richard (March 29, 2021). "'Godzilla vs. Kong': As big screens reopen, two big beasts go mindlessly into battle". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on March 29, 2021.

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25. ^ Anderson, Erik (March 8, 2022). "'Dune' and 'The Power of the Dog' lead Minnesota Film Critics winners, Kristen Stewart wins Best Actress". Archived from the original on March 31, 2023.

26. ^ Anderson, Erik (December 1, 2021). "'Belfast,' 'The Power of the Dog' lead 26th Satellite Awards nominations". AwardsWatch.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Godzilla vs. Kong is a 2021 American monster film directed by Adam Wingard. Produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is a sequel to Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and is the fourth film in the MonsterVerse.