{"id":41339,"date":"2018-10-29T11:21:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T18:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41339"},"modified":"2022-09-05T16:53:36","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T23:53:36","slug":"godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41339","title":{"rendered":"Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Neither man nor his machines are able to stop this creature.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Poster-156x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"156\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Poster-156x300.jpg 156w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Poster-67x128.jpg 67w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Poster.jpg 416w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 156px) 100vw, 156px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn American journalist (Raymond Burr) recounts a story of witnessing an atomic sea monster destroying Tokyo, while a scientist (Akihiko Hirata) whose fiancee (Momoko Kochi) is in love with a captain (Akira Takarada) knows now is not the right time to reveal her shift in loyalties.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Japanese Films<\/li>\n<li>Mutant Monsters<\/li>\n<li>Nuclear Threat<\/li>\n<li>Raymond Burr Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that &#8220;Japan&#8217;s answer to <a href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43687\"><em>King Kong<\/em><\/a>&#8221; began &#8220;as a 98-minute Japanese film called <em>Gojira<\/em>, directed by Inoshiro Honda&#8221;, which &#8220;won many awards and broke box-office records all over Japan&#8221;. He adds that this version, &#8220;directed by Terry Morse, eliminates a lot of of Honda&#8217;s material and introduces an American reporter&#8230; who serves as a narrator and, in cleverly edited scenes, appears to talk to the Japanese characters from Honda&#8217;s film&#8221;. Unfortunately, as Peary notes, Burr &#8220;bungles it&#8221; but &#8220;what makes both versions interesting &#8212; even though they aren&#8217;t enjoyable or exciting&#8230; is that, unlike all those giant creatures of American SF films of the fifties, Godzilla was not simply a bad consequence of foolhardy nuclear testing.&#8221; Rather, the &#8220;mericiless monster which kills and destroys with machine-like precision is meant to be the embodiment of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki&#8221;. He adds that &#8220;this horror film gave Americans one of their first opportunities to see Japanese rage and disgust over what America did to them in August 1945&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>Peary writes about the film at length in his <em>Cult Movies 2<\/em> book, where he notes that &#8220;even with the popularity of campy (as in <em>bad<\/em>) movies, [he is] at a loss to explain the cult in American for Japanese monster movies&#8221;. He describes how beloved <em>Godzilla<\/em> &#8212; or <em>Gojira<\/em> &#8212; is in Japan, and cites Ed Godziszewski in noting it &#8220;is considered&#8230; by many to be the second greatest Japanese film ever made, next to Kurosawa&#8217;s <em>The Seven Samurai<\/em>&#8221; &#8212; and that because of its success, &#8220;Toho [Studios] produced a wave of science fiction and fantasy films until the mid-&#8217;70s&#8221;. Peary spends the bulk of his <em>Cult Movies<\/em> review comparing the two versions of the film (which have been re-released through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.criterion.com\/films\/27755-godzilla\">Criterion<\/a> with plenty of extras), noting inconsistencies and pointing out ways in which many (but not all) references to the A bomb were deleted in the Americanized version. In <em>GFTFF<\/em>, Peary concludes that &#8220;The Honda version ends gloomily, the Morse version optimistically&#8221; &#8212; but adds that &#8220;only Honda&#8217;s version makes a plea for peace and no more bomb-testing&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> As a major cult movie, <em>Godzilla<\/em> has many fans who have written volumes about it and its many sequels (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/godzilla-1954-gojira-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters.htm\">Moria&#8217;s review<\/a> for a run-down).  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Impressive special effects<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Special-Effects.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Special-Effects.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Special-Effects.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Special-Effects-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Special-Effects-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography1.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography1-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography1-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Godzilla-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for its cult status. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0197521\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2014\/10\/14\/godzilla-king-of-the-monsters-1956\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1956\/04\/28\/archives\/screen-horror-import-godzilla-a-japanese-film-is-at-state.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/2704\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/godzilla-1954-gojira-godzilla-king-of-the-monsters.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s3777godz.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Neither man nor his machines are able to stop this creature.&#8221; Synopsis: An American journalist (Raymond Burr) recounts a story of witnessing an atomic sea monster destroying Tokyo, while a scientist (Akihiko Hirata) whose fiancee (Momoko Kochi) is in love with a captain (Akira Takarada) knows now is not the right time to reveal her shift in loyalties. Genres: Flashback Films Japanese Films Mutant Monsters Nuclear Threat Raymond Burr Films Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary writes that &#8220;Japan&#8217;s answer to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41339\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41339"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86880,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41339\/revisions\/86880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}