I finally got around to watch this classic, and I concur - its status is well deserved. It helped to start a major franchise of its own, leading to well over twenty Godzilla sequels over the years.

But it's not so much a pure and simple monster movie as it is a statement on the fear of nuclear weapons in postwar Japan. Toho, the studio, released another film around the same time covering the same theme. I Live in Fear, directed by Akira Kurosawa tells of the exact same fear, but shoves it more directly in our faces. There are no metaphors here, the protagonist speaks clearly of the fear of a nuclear attack. I Live in Fear crashed at…

“I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.”
-Kyohei Yamane-hakase (Takashi Shimura)

Film 28 of October 2012 – Halloween Season of Horror!

Over the century or so that the cinema industry has existed, one sub-genre that has always seemed to flourish is that of the ‘Creature Feature’, the ‘Monster Movie’. Why did these kinds of film cause such a stir? I would wager that much of it is stemmed from the pure spectacle of the subject, particularly the technical impressiveness during the 1950’s, in which this sub-genre was at its most popular.

Although today there has…

This is pretty far from what the monster would become known for, not only is it a pretty transparent criticism of science and war, but it's actually effective in creating a threatening menace. The miniatures are so-so, often feeling weightless, but once the monster begins to reign terror, the mini-obliteration feels shockingly visceral in a way that I haven't seen done as effectively through miniatures until TERMINATOR 2.

Godzilla, the monster, is terrific, and the staging for how he emerges and attacks is surprisingly modern and effective. Surprisingly, all of the trademark characteristics are already here, including his trademark, otherworldly screech, the most distinct element of the powerful sound design that really rackets up the terror.

Of course, the weakest…

The original Japanese version, "Gojira". One of my all time favorite movies, is the most intelligent and thought provoking monster movie I've ever watched and then America and Raymond Burr made it like any other monster movie. The opening scene is a painfully obvious reference to the Lucky Drago No. 5 tuna that got dangerously lose to an H-bomb test near the Marshall Island warly 1954 which ignited internation controversy. This is the theme and purpose od Gojira to show the true terror of the Bomb and that nature would fight back should we continue to destroy the earth. All very cheery, but neither was Japan at that time as they were still rebuilding feom the bombs.

The film itself…

This is pretty far from what the monster would become known for, not only is it a pretty transparent criticism of science and war, but it's actually effective in creating a threatening menace. The miniatures are so-so, often feeling weightless, but once the monster begins to reign terror, the mini-obliteration feels shockingly visceral in a way that I haven't seen done as effectively through miniatures until TERMINATOR 2.

Godzilla, the monster, is terrific, and the staging for how he emerges and attacks is surprisingly modern and effective. Surprisingly, all of the trademark characteristics are already here, including his trademark, otherworldly screech, the most distinct element of the powerful sound design that really rackets up the terror.

Of course, the weakest…