Screenplay:
Takeo MurataComposer:
Akira IfukubeCast:
Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Kenji Sahara, James Hong, Mikel Conrad, Lee Miller, Kokuten Kôdô, Toyoaki SuzukiVOD (1)
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A group of scientists accidently nuke a lizard and unleash the radioactive monster known as Godzilla. The oversized reptile wastes Tokyo and is on his way to destroying the rest of the world unless the Japanese government can stop him. (official distributor synopsis)
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3) GODZILLA - KING OF THE MONSTERS! – ORIGINAL SHOWA SERIES 1954-1974. This is sometimes mistakenly considered the first Godzilla film. Basically, it’s Honda’s remake of his own first film, but for the American market. Honda used material from the first Godzilla (which makes up at least half of this film) and cut in newly filmed scenes with the character of an American journalist played by Raymond Burr, a start at the time, whose presence makes this film a bit different. Gone are the slightly anti-American allusions, the beginning is completely different, the original dialogue is horribly cut, and the original main characters have been almost eliminated at the expense of Burr. His presence, which fills about half of the film, really stands out like a sore thumb. His participation consists in the fact that he always looks gloomy and now and then says a word. It even went so far that in a hospital scene, where Burr is lying injured, Honda sent the two main characters from the original version after him, but since their performers couldn't be found to film those scenes, they are doubles, sitting with their backs to the camera the whole time. But the bottom line is that all the scenes without Burr are in fact footage from the first Godzilla, including the effects. ()
I have a problem in terms of how to watch Godzilla, King of the Monsters! It's a new film with new scenes, but this is a film that was great and already worked well in its original form. Yes, it's nice that the new version allowed the film to reach a broader audience and other countries as well, but in my opinion, a subtitled film or at worst a dubbed film can handle that well enough on its own. It's probably because the Americans wouldn't easily accept a film that didn't include at least one representative of their nation. The qualities of the original film remain, but the new additions haven't brought anything fundamentally new. ()
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Photo © Embassy Pictures
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