Devon Seltzer’s review published on Letterboxd:
***Long Live the King - G-Marathon 2014, Film 1/30***
Few films could claim to have the legacy that Godzilla has. 60 years and almost 30 sequels and remakes later, and the big guy is still going strong. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of Godzilla, even if they've never seen a single one of his movies. With all that history and pop culture penetration it would be easy to loose sight of something important, before he fought epic battles, before he saved the world from aliens, before he came to America, Godzilla was featured in one of the greatest films ever made.
It started with a simple idea, a few men wanted to make a monster movie. The plot itself is also pretty straightforward on the surface, fishing boats start disappearing off the coast of Japan, soon the culprit is revealed to be a towering monster dubbed Godzilla. However, Godzilla is so much more then just a cheap cash-in monster movie, it is a deeply written human drama, a dark warning to humanity, and an intricate romance movie, all backed by the central monster story. My first time watching the original cut I realized something amazing had happened, I got so involved in the human story that I forgot Godzilla was going to show up until he stormed ashore to remind me, and that is pretty much the highest compliment I can pay to the writing on a monster movie, that it's just as interesting when the monster isn't around as when it is.
The film features two monsters really. The first is the titular Godzilla, the undisputed King of the Monsters, standing 50 meters tall and weighing 20,000 tons, Godzilla is truly a force a nature, literally. Unlike so many movie monsters, Godzilla isn't evil, he is just an animal, lost in time and twisted by the evils of man. Though it is easy to be scared of him as he lights Tokyo ablaze, leaving nothing in his wake. Brought to life by a man in a suit, the effects for Godzilla still hold up pretty well today. Sure, the closer the camera gets, the more the wrinkles show, but from a distance Godzilla looks very much alive, and the presence of an actor within the costume lends him a powerful weight and realistic movements, backed by composer Akira Ifukube's haunting and energetic score, it is quite a sight to behold. It's all too easy to forget, but veteran actor Haruo Nakajima gave a lot in his performance as the monster, it was a very taxing and dangerous role, and Nakajima worked wonders in it.
The other monster I alluded to is man himself, the true villain of the piece. Without the hubris of man, Godzilla would never have been created, birthed from the testing of atomic bombs. There are two characters that really know just how true this is, Dr. Yamane, a brilliant paleontologist who is heartbroken by the military's attempts to kill Godzilla as he views him as a natural treasure worthy of respect. Legendary Japanese actor Takashi Shimura brings Yamane to life and infuses him with so much dignity and pathos you can't help but love him. The other character is Dr. Serizawa, a war vet turned scientist who stumbles across a terrifying invention and hides himself away in his lab lest the powers of the world turn his discovery into a weapon. Playing Serizawa is Akihiko Hirata, turning in a fine performance that will likely break your heart.
Not many movies get to boast about birthing their own sub-genre, Godzilla does. From this film Daikaiju-eiga was born, and for the next few decades a host of amazing monsters would parade across cinema screens. That was all yet to come however, in 1954 there was only Godzilla, and as director Ishirô Honda's camera panned across the ruins of Tokyo, left nothing but rubble and ash in Godzilla's wake, it is hard not to feel a chill run down your spine. This isn't the work of a monster from the dawn of time, this is the work of man in his quest to end time. Godzilla isn't just the greatest monster movie ever made, it isn't just one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, it is one of the greatest movies ever made, period. If you have never seen the original film, free from American editing and dubbing, then do yourself a favor and check it out, I promise, you won't be sorry you did.