Rent Godzilla (1954)
3.7 of 5 from 119 ratings
1h 33min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Made in 1954, 'Godzilla' was Japan's first foray into big budget sci fi - costing ten times the budget of the average Japanese feature and twice as much as Seven Samurai - released the same year. The film created a monster that would enter the lexicon of popular culture, spawn fifty years of sequels and inspire a new genre: the kaiju eiga or Japanese monster movie. Directed by Ishiro Honda, a friend and collaborator of Akira Kurosawa, and starring Takashi Shimura as the revered paleontologist who uncovers the horrible secret at the heart of the monster (Godzilla is a long dormant Jurassic beast awoken by the atom bomb), the original Godzilla is a fierce indictment of the atomic age. Sold to an American distributor, the film was cut, dubbed into English, re-titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters! and new scenes were added starring Raymond Burr as an American reporter observing the monsters rampage from the sidelines. All trace of the anti-nuclear message was excised in the American version. Now regarded as one of the great classics of cinema and still rated amongst the top twenty Japanese movies of all time, the original Godzilla is perhaps the definitive monster movie - both a bold metaphor for the atomic age and a thrilling tour de force of pioneering special effects. - Actors:
- Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kôchi, Fuyuki Murakami, Sachio Sakai, Toranosuke Ogawa, Ren Yamamoto, Hiroshi Hayashi, Seijirô Onda, Tsuruko Mano, Takeo Oikawa, Toyoaki Suzuki, Kokuten Kôdô, Tadashi Okabe, Kin Sugai, Ren Imaizumi, Junpei Natsuki, Katsumi Tezuka, Haruo Nakajima
- Directors:
- Ishirô Honda
- Producers:
- Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Writers:
- Takeo Murata, Ishirô Honda, Shigeru Kayama, Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Aka:
- : Gojira
- Studio:
- BFI Video
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like: King Kong, A Brief History of Cinema Afloat: Part 2, Films to Watch If You Like..., Hollywood's Scariest, Hairiest, Scaliest Monsters, Horror, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Akira Kurosawa, Top 10 World Cinema Remakes, Top Films, Top Horror Franchise Films
- Countries:
- Japan
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 11/11/2024
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- Japanese LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary for both movies by film historian David Kalat
- Interviews with actors Akira Takarada and Haruo Nakajima and special effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai
- Interview with legendary Godzilla score composer Akira Ifukube
- Featurette detailing Godzilla's photographic effects, introduced by special effects director Koichi Kawakita and special effects photographer Motoyoshi Tomioka
- Interview with Japanese-film critic Tadao Sato
- The Unluckiest Dragon, an illustrated audio essay featuring historian Greg Pflugfelder describing the tragic fate of the fishing vessel Daigo Fukuryu Maru, a real-life event that inspired Godzilla
- Trailers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 11/11/2024
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- Japanese LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English, English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
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Reviews (1) of Godzilla
“Professor, you shouldn’t handle that with bare hands.” - Godzilla review by LJ
It’s difficult not to laugh at some of the special effects in this classic monster movie, partly because Godzilla has such a silly expression and partly because the set pieces don’t always match up to what the characters have described, while the main characters are never clearly set up, but perhaps a lot of that is an issue with the English subtitles; it still packs some decent horror and pathos in.
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