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Gojira (1954)
Country of Origin: Japan
Year of Production: 1954
Running Times: 79m (USA)/98m
Length:
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: black and white
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono
DIRECTION
Director: Ishirô Honda
CREW
PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Embassy Pictures Corporation/Jewell Enterprises/Toho
Producer: Tomoyuki Tanaka
English Language Version Producers: Richard Kay, Joseph E. Levine
SCRIPT
Script: Ishirô Honda, Takeo Murata
English Language Version Script: Al C. Ward
Story: Shigeru Kayama
DIRECTION
English Language Version Director: Terry O. Morse
Chief Assistant Director: Koji Kajita
PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Masao Tamai
English Language Version Director of Photography: Guy Roe
Assistant Camera: Yuzuru Aizawa
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Yasunobu Taira (real name: Kazuji Taira)
English Language Version Editor: Terry O. Morse
MUSIC
Music: Akira Ifukube
SOUND
Sound Recordist: Hisashi Shimonaga
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Director: Eiji Tsuburaya
Special Effects: Kuichiro Kishida, Hiroshi Mukoyama, Akira Watanabe
Special Effects Technical Director: Fuminori Ohashi (uncredited)
Special Effects Assistant Camera: Teisho Arikawa (uncredited)
Tail Supervisors: Fumio Nakadai, Shôji Okawa
VISUAL EFFECTS
Optical Effects: Hiroshi Mukoyama
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designers: Satoshi Chuko, Takeo Kita
OTHER CREW
Assistant to Akira Ifukube: Sei Ikeno
LOCATIONS
Locations: Toba, Mie, Japan; Tokyo, Japan
STUNTS
Stunt Choreographer: Haruo Nakajima
CAST
Akira Takarada (Naval Salvage Officer Hideto Ogata)
Momoko Kochi (Emiko Yamane)
Akihiko Hirata (Dr Daisuke Serizawa)
Takashi Shimura (Dr Kyohei Yamane)
Fuyuki Murakami (Dr Tabata)
Sachio Sakai (Reporter Hagiwara)
Toranosuke Ogawa (President of Nankai Shipping Company)
Ren Yamamoto (Masaji Sieji)
Miki Hayashi (Chairman of Diet Committee)
Takeo Oikawa (Chief of Emergency Headquarters)
Seijiro Onda (Mr Oyama)
Toyoaki Suzuki (Shinkichi Sieji)
Kokuten Kodo (Gisaku)
Kin Sugai (Miss Ozawa)
Tadashi Okabe (reporter killed in tower)
Ren Imaizumi (radio operator)
Junpei Natsuki (power substation engineer)
Ishirô Honda (the hand that throws the switch)
Kenji Sahara (man aboard ship)
Ryosaku Takasugi (Gojira)
Katsumi Tezuka (Hagiwara's editor / Gojira)
Haruo Nakajima (Gojira / newspaperman)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION
CAST
Raymond Burr (Steve Martin)
James Hong (voice of Serizawa Ogata - uncredited)
PLOT SUMMARY
Following an American nuclear test, an ancient giant monster, Gojira,
is freed from its hibernation. It soon goes on the rampage, trashing
Tokyo with its radioactive breath, and only the revolutionary Oxygen
Destroyer stands in its way...
CAPSULE REVIEW
The first and one of the best of the Godzilla movies. Honda's beautiful
black and white photography and the overall darker, more serious tone
is on stark contrast to the more playful films that followed and the
film is all the better for it. Forget the truly horrible Hollywood remake
and, if possible, avoid the Americanised version of this film –
go straight for the Japanese original for one of the all time great
monster movies.
AVAILABILITY
Japan
Laserdisc Distributor: Toho Video (TLL-2182)
Korea
Theatrical Distributor: Kuk Dong
USA
DVD Distributor: Simitar (7473); Simitar (7603 - in five disc set with
Mosura tai Gojira (1964), Kaijû daisenso (1965), Gojira-Minira-Gabara:
Oru kaijû daishingeki (1969), Mekagojira no gyakushu (1975))
Video Distributor: Vestron Video
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Australia
Rating: PG
UK
Rating: X
USA
Rating: unrated
West Germany
Rating: 12 (nf)
TIMELINE
1954
November
3: Japan – theatrical release
April
27: USA – theatrical release
August
10: West Germany – theatrical release
1956
April
Day Unknown: USA – theatrical release
1960
May
17: South Korea – theatrical release
1998
May
5: USA - DVD release (Simitar (7473))
1999
March
16: USA - DVD release (Simitar (7603))
POSTER TAGS
Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!.
Mightiest monster! Mightiest melodrama of them all!.
Civilization crumbles as its death rays blast a city of 6 million from
the face of the earth!
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
Daikaijû no tai Nimon Mairu
G
Godzilla - Der sensationellste Film der Gegenwart - German
video title
Godzilla – international title
Godzilla – King of the Monsters – US title
Godzilla, monstret från havet – Swedish
title
Godzilla the Sea Beast – US version working title
Japón bajo el terror del monstruo - Spanish
title
Kaijû o Gojira
O Monstro do Oceano Pacífico - Portugese title
LINKS
REMAKE
Godzilla (1998)
SEQUELS
Gojira no gyakushu (1955)
Kingukongu tai Gojira (1962)
Mosura tai Gojira (1964)
San daikaijû: Chikyu saidai no kessen (1964)
Kaijû daisenso (1965)
Gojira-Ebira-Mosura
Nankai no daiketto (1966)
Kaijûtô no kessen: Gojira no musuko (1967)
Kaijû sôshingeki (1968)
Gojira-Minira-Gabara Oru kaijû daishingeki (1969)
Gojira tai Hedora (1971)
Chikyu kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan (1972)
Gojira tai Megaro (1973)
Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974)
Mekagojira no gyakushu (1975)
The Godzilla Power Hour (1978)
Gojira (1984)
Gojira tai Biorante (1989)
Gojira VS Kingugidora (1991)
Gojira VS Mosura (1992)
Gojira VS Mekagojira (1993)
Gojira VS Supesugojira (1994)
Gojira VS Desutoroia (1995)
Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999)
Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jii Shômetsu Sakusen (2000)
Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidora: Daikaijû soukougeki (2001)
Gojira tai Mekagojira (2002)
Gojira: Kaiju dai-rantou (2002)
FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Daikaijû Baran (1958)
Gojira Fuantajî ~SF Kôkyô Fuantajî~ (1984)
Urusei Yatsura 2: Byûtifuru dorîmâ (1984)
SEE ALSO
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
Armageddon (1998)
Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The (1953)
Beastie Boys: Video Anthology (2000)
Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Gargantua (1998)
Godzilla 2001 (2001)
Godzilla Versus Disco Lando (1998)
Gorgo (1961)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)
Inspector Gadget (1999)
King Kong (1933)
Krocodylus (2000)
Kronos (1957)
Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997)
Mouse Hunt (1997)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Nutty Professor, The (1996)
Rudora no hihou (1996)
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie - Rugrats II (2000)
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth (2000)
Stay Tuned (1992)
Street Fighter (1994)
Taekoesu Yonggary (1967)
The American Nightmare (2000)
The Making of Jurassic Park (1995)
The Mighty (1998)
The Night of the Living Duck (1988)
The Nutty Professor (1996)
The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Troll (1986)
Uchu kaijû Gamera (1980)
Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)
KEYWORDS
disaster movies, giant monsters, godzilla, japan, journalists, kaiju
eiga, laboratories, monsters, nuclear accidents, radiation, reporters,
tokyo
Last Updated:
26 January, 2010
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