It's exciting, sober, plausible and never unintentionally comic.
Gojira (1954)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 56
Fresh: 52
Rotten:4
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Consensus: More than straight monster-movie fare, Gojira offers potent, sobering postwar commentary.
Theatrical Release: 14-10-2005
Synopsis: The testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean triggers the awakening of a dreadful, 400-foot-tall, fire-breathing prehistoric lizard who commences to wreak havoc on the city of Tokyo. The original Japanese version of GODZILLA,... The testing of nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean triggers the awakening of a dreadful, 400-foot-tall, fire-breathing prehistoric lizard who commences to wreak havoc on the city of Tokyo. The original Japanese version of GODZILLA, without the Americanized addition of Raymond Burr. [More]
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kouchi, Akihiko Hirata
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kouchi, Akihiko Hirata
Director: Inoshiro Honda
Director: Inoshiro Honda
Studio: Rialto Pictures
Reviews for Gojira
The special effects for this re-released 1954 film by Ishiro Honda may now look a bit creaky, but the storytelling is muscular and the post-nuclear parable it offers is passionate and fascinatingly ambiguous.
Seen afresh in this cut, with Honda’s pulp poetry restored, this ballad of destruction reveals itself as one of the most exciting, enjoyable and moving of them all.
By today's standards, this may feel rather dull and ponderous, but it's actually a remarkably astute film.
A classic monster movie and a sombre reflection of Japan's suffering in the wake of large-scale fire-bombings and atomic attack.
...surprisingly solemn and bitter. It is explicitly a post-Hiroshima nightmare writ large...
A dark, deeply disturbing film with the specter of World War II and the atomic bomb hanging over nearly every scene.
a pioneering behemoth in the history of Japanese cinema, leaving giant footprints in its trail that many have followed but few have filled so impressively.
Por trás da história absurdamente divertida, o filme revela uma sociedade às voltas com o trauma da bomba atômica e a busca desesperada pela promessa de paz entre os povos.
A treasure that should remain buried to all but the most gonzo Godzilla followers.
It wasn't until I revisited the first film in the series, which premiered in Japan on Nov. 3, 1954, that I realized how powerful a political statement it makes.
Honda may not have created the most convincing-looking monster in cinema history, but he managed to give his sci-fi/horror movie a social relevance, particularly in postwar Japan.
The rampaging reptile is back to remind us that monsters have meaning.
Maybe it's 50 years late, but we're finally getting to see Godzilla as it was meant to be seen.
Do we want a monster movie with a social conscience, or do we want to see a guy in a lizard suit smash model trains?
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Related Forums for Gojira
by: the Lizard 5/6/04
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