GOJIRA

By: Brian Thomas
Date: Thursday, September 07, 2006

In 1954, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka was trying to get his latest project for Toho Studios - an historical drama off the ground. Things were not going well, and he needed a quick idea for a replacement project. Since the American film BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS was a hit at the box office (as was a recent re-release of KING KONG), Tanaka envisioned an even bigger creature that would destroy Tokyo. Tanaka's special effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya, wanted the monster to be a giant octopus, but instead screenwriter Takeo Murata chose to make the beast a kind of mutant aquatic tyrannosaurus who could exhale radioactive flames. Christening the beast Gojira (pronounced "Godzilla" to Western ears, it translates as a combination of "gorilla" and "whale"). The chosen director, Ishiro Honda (who would go on to direct nine Godzilla films and many other Toho sci-fi pictures), was a close friend and assistant director to the great Akira Kurosawa. Another important player was the distinguished classical composer Akira Ifukube, who lent his distinctive and expressive music to many of Toho's classics, as well as the Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman series.

The first act follows the plot of BEAST somewhat closely with one important shade of difference. The seas surrounding Japan are plagued by a series of steamship disasters, with the only survivors bearing strange burn marks and describing an attack by a huge creature. Japan had just been devastated at the time for an accident in which a fishing boat had become contaminated by a nearby US atomic bomb test, a prescient incident that no doubt haunted Japanese audiences. On nearby Odo Island, the natives report seeing this same creature come ashore during a storm. Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura) organizes a scientific expedition to the island, including his daughter Emiko (Momoko Kochi) and her fiancé Hideto Ogata (Akira Takarada). The scientists discover radiation everywhere, and are shocked when the gigantic reptile suddenly appears over a hillside. The Navy is called out to kill the monster with depth charges, but the explosions only seem to make the mutant dinosaur - named Godzilla after an Odo Island legend - more aggressive. He heads directly for Tokyo, wading ashore to cause massive destruction. Perhaps the only hope of killing the seemingly unstoppable monster is with a secret invention of Emiko's former fiancé, the enigmatic Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata) - a weapon that may be more terrible than Godzilla himself.

The finished film became not only a great epic of monster mayhem, but also a reflection of the humiliation bred by Japan's aggression in WWII and subsequent defeat. Godzilla himself became an embodiment of the nightmare of atomic destruction, fresh from the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If one suspends disbelief enough to gloss over flaws in the otherwise successful f/x, the monster makes an indelible impression of titanic, unyielding destructive force. Accurately reflecting the sense of helpless dread felt in Japan during the Cold War, a message pleading for nuclear disarmament remained as a subtext throughout most of the Godzilla series. Toho spent over $1 million on the production, over 10 times the budget of the average Japanese film of the time. The investment paid off immediately, as GODZILLA was a huge success.

It was such a success that producer Joseph E. Levine purchased the American distribution rights an almost unheard of event outside of art house releases of films from respected directors like Kurosawa. Feeling that a Japanese film might have trouble drawing an audience less than 10 years after WWII, Levine integrated the film with new footage shot with actor Raymond Burr, playing news service reporter Steve Martin, who serves as a narrator telling the monster's tale in flashbacks. Levine's 80-minute version was also a big success. Incidentally, the subtitled U.S. version also had a successful run in Japan, reportedly drawing howls of laughter in the scenes in which Martin's translator appears to be lying to him about what various characters are saying. If one has seen the original version, the inserted footage seems intrusive, but otherwise it blends in reasonably well. One of the first post-WWII Japanese films to break through commercially in the U.S, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS became an icon of 1950s science fiction to Westerners, just as the original became revered by the Japanese, who followed it with 28 (and counting!) sequels to date.

However, up to now only aficionados in the USA have sought out the original Japanese masterpiece. In 2004, Rialto Pictures acquired the theatrical exhibition rights, and gave it a limited release in honor of its 50th anniversary. Despite reports from other cities on the tour about how wonderful the restored prints were, I was appalled to see a badly worn print at my local theater, with barely legible burned in subtitles. Immediately, fans began drooling for a DVD release, and I hoped the print I saw was an old one that had somehow become mixed in with the restoration prints. As it turns out, my fears were unfounded. The transfer print is speckled and spliced in spots, but generally looks better than any I've seen previously, and the transfer is sharp, with reasonably clear yellow subtitles.


As is pointed out in the film's commentrak, at least some of the scratches on the negative are not the result of age, but rather unfortunate evidence of the primitive conditions in Toho's editing rooms in those days. After much speculation over what US label would release the film, Classic Media (who already held the DVD rights to the US versions of GODZILLA and several other Toho monster flicks) picked up the license, and the result is their most distinguished DVD release to date. The 2-disc set's packaging is distinctive, a slick and sturdy album-style digipack with a paper banner much reminiscent of Toho's own DVD releases. The second disc is given over to a remaster of Classic Media's previously released GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTER in a slightly improved transfer, complete with the original English end title sequence (adding a minute and a half to the running time), although it lacks subtitles. The set includes a 16-page booklet between discs which holds a fine collection of stills and an essay by Steve Ryfle, author of the recommended book JAPAN'S FAVORITE MON-STAR. Ryfle is joined by the coincidentally named Ed Godziszewski, author of the respected THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GODZILLA, for commentraks on both versions of the film (Terry Morse Jr., son of the film's credited director, and filmmaker Ted Newsom make guest appearances to comment on KING OF THE MONSTERS, as does the late film producer/distributors Paul Schreibman and Edmund Goldman via recorded interviews). Much of the material they present is obviously scripted or taken from notes, but that helps them keep their insightful comments scene specific, and they both relax and become more naturally conversational as they go along. Sometimes their timing is off, as comments about the high quality of a sequence's special effects are spoken over one of the film's most obvious miniatures but they are generally spot-on. Obsessively immersed in their subject, they offer up plenty of behind-the-scenes stories and set the record straight on many points for both films. While many lecture-type commentraks fall tend toward the dry, Ryfle and Godziszewski's obvious passion and intelligence make these tracks friendlier while remaining scholarly.

Godziszewski produced a couple of featurettes for the disc that echo while not exactly replicate ones done for the region 2 DVD edition. One has him reading an essay about the development of the film's story and script over a slideshow of production stills, storyboards and advertising materials. It's companion gives the same treatment to the design and creation of the monster suit. A source of some controversy came after plans to include archival material and a retrospective Making-Of feature prepared by premiere GODZILLA collector Robert Conte were scrapped. Classic Media representatives have not commented much on this decision, but we can speculate that the inclusion of these extras would have necessitated a third disc that would make the set more expensive and less marketable. It's hoped that this release will be successful enough to warrant a more extensive special limited edition. Whatever your opinion, there is no doubt that this release should help improve the film's stature in the USA, and Classic Media has been thoroughly respectful in their handling of it, giving it the same sort of regard afford DVDs in the Criterion Collection. Adding to the excitement surrounding this release is the announcement that Classic Media is giving much the same treatment to the other Godzilla films they have under contract, two of which will see release before the end of the year.

Copyright © 2006 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS.
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