The original Godzilla suit weighed 200lbs. Haruo Nakajima wore the suit and would often pass out while still in the suit and had to be pulled out. The suit would also fill with his own sweat. He would go on to play Godzilla as well as Rodan and Varan until 1972. He unfortunately passed away in 2017, but he has been immortalized forever in pop culture.
There's a cute picture of Momoko Kochi (Emiko) with her handbag standing next to the Godzilla suit - it almost looks like they are out on a walk together. Not sure if Nakajima was inside the suit at the time.
In the 80s I had 2 Godzilla movies, Vs Kong and Megalon. I could only read about the other films. Now I got half half on blu ray and the American version films are good enough, Its a great time to be a Godzilla fan.
Some trivia of the original 1954 Godzilla for you, Cassie. 1. The creation of Godzilla is owed to four events. First, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2 in 1945. Second, the Lucky Dragon No. 5 Incident, where a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the fallout zone of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test, irradiating the boat's crew. Third, the cancellation of In The Shadow Of Glory, which was slated as Toho's big film in 1954 before tensions between Toho and Indonesia (one of the areas occupied by the Imperial Japanese during WW2) resulted in production being halted, forcing producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to scramble for an idea, with a popular rumor being that he looked out at the sea from his plane ride and imagined a monster rising from the depths. Finally, the then-recent re-release of the original King Kong and the success of another atomic age monster movie called The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. 2. Director Ishiro Honda was actually a veteran of the Imperial Japanese army, and his experiences in war would shape his pacifist views as the memory and trauma of the war lingered with him. At one point during the war, a mortar shell landed near him, but failed to explode. Honda would take this shell with him back to Japan following the war's conclusion, where it remained in his office at home. A constant reminder of the closest war nearly took him. 3. When designing Godzilla, several concepts were suggested, ranging from an octopus to a big-eared sea monster. The final design came from looking at dinosaur illustrations in children's books and Life magazine. Godzilla himself is a fusion between a Tyrannosaurus Rex for its vicious appearance, Stegosaurus for its back plates, and Iguanodon for its posture. Godzilla's name in Japanese, Gojira (ゴジラ), is a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla (ゴリラ gorira) and whale (kujira クジラ). A popular rumor states that the name was the nickname of a burly member of staff at Toho, but this has never been confirmed. 4. While stop-motion was considered for Godzilla's moments similar to King Kong, it was deemed to expensive and time consuming, so special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya chose to create the monster with suit-mation. The original Godzilla suit, known to the fandom as ShodaiGoji (or First Generation Godzilla), was designed by Teizo Toshimitsu, Kanju and Yasuei Yagi, and Eizo Kaimai. The suit weighed 220 lbs, or 100 kg, and was made with ready-mix concrete, as latex was a rare commodity in post-war Japan. Two suits were made, with the original being so unusable that it had to be cut into different pieces to use properly, and puppets were used for close up shots. Haruo Nakajima dawned the suit for the majority of the film, earning the title as the first man to play Godzilla, with Katsumi Tezuka as his understudy. Both actors would have difficulty seeing and moving within the suit, with Nakajima infamously passing out on several takes due to heat exhaustion, not helped by the studio lamps above that raised the temperature inside the suit. After each take, a cup of sweat had to be removed, and Nakajima lost 20 pounds over the course of filming. 5. Godzilla's roar took some time to create, with staff using lions, tigers, bears, and herons as references, but all were deemed as sounding too natural. When the film's composer, Akira Ifukube, was asked to help come up with a sound, he was initially reluctant, feeling that, as a reptile, Godzilla wouldn't make roars like a mammal. Ishiro Honda convinced him after explaining that the roar was a result of Godzilla's mutation. The final roar was made by Ifukube when he unwound the e-string of a contrabass and recorded his assistant rubbing gloves covered in pine tar along the strings. 6. Following the original Godzilla, several follow ups and continuities sprouted in succession, each under a different label. They are as follows. . Showa Era (1954-1975) . Heisei Era (1984-1995) . TriStar Series (1998-2000) . Millennium Era (1999-2004) . Monsterverse (2014-Ongoing) . Reiwa Era (2016-Ongoing) To date, Godzilla has had 38 films and 4 series, and is one of the longest ongoing film franchises of all time.
While I like the suit Godzilla, I always wondered what they could have done if they could have gotten Ray Harryhausen (Or Japanese equivalent, if there was one) to do the effects.
Eiji Tsuburaya's legacy continued long after Godzilla as well, being the father of the Ultraman series as well as its main effects director until his death in 1970 iirc. The Return of Ultraman in 1971 would have it's effects done by his son and the rest of his effects team that had come straight from Godzilla and other work from Toho Studios in the late 1960s.
@@corryjamieson3909correction he would have died from dehydration not exhaustion. He would literally sweat almost all of his water from his body. The suit had to be drained between each take.
The reason Seven Samurai and Godzilla both came out in 1954 is not a coincidence. When the Americans occupied Japan they instituted strict censorship in the country. Japanese media was not allowed to depict anything related to nuclear issues, the war, the occupation, and were not allowed to show swords on screen or positively portray warrior culture or imperialism. The censorship ended in 1952. Shortly after there were a lot of movies made about samurai, the war, and nuclear issues.
Quite remarkable-it’s sad yet not surprising that the American occupation authorities were so quick to censor and restrict Japanese artistic and cultural expression.
"I'm telling you guys... hydrogen bomb could not take it down. Run. For. Your. Lives." "That's an argument for evil, not hungry. Just destroying but not eating. Unless he's roasting them and then...?"
It's interesting you mentioned Seven Samurai and I'm guessing you didn't notice, but the actor who played the professor in this also played the lead bald samurai in Seven Samurai, Kanbei.
@@jessediaz1293 dude, it's JAPAN, trying their hand at moviemaking ... 7 years after getting nuked into submission in WWII. get some perspective son 🤣 oh yeah, and it's nineteen-FIFTY-two. Everything was "over-dramatic"🙄
@@RobertSmith-js2kz I get that they’re making a subversive film through a monster movie it’s just too much overacting by the two main characters. Like at the end the girl overreacting to the fish tank scene and then the main guy crying for the scientist. He’s crying like if that was his brother dying. He barely knew him! 😂 also the father is in a state of grievance or something because they want to kill Godzilla instead of studying it. Laughable. It’s a landmark film but I just wasn’t vibing with it. This is probably the third time that I’ve watched it in my life.
Godzilla is very rarely evil, maybe two movies he was. Sometimes he’s even been a hero. But most of the time, he is simply a force of nature, a representation of the power of the atom bomb, and all its consequences.
not sure I go with his rarely evil. he was evil up to astro monster which was the 5 film. He was all evil in all monster attack and i say he was evil in most of the Hensia. plus even in godzilla 2000 while he destroy the alien he destroy the city afterward. you can add shin. I will say he been good most of his early career but villainous in his late career. a anti hero for most of for the majority.
@@Marveryn I think you're confusing evil with antagonistic. He was no more evil in a lot of those films you listed as the tornados in Twister. At his worst in most of them he still had sympathetic qualities, like hating the spotlights because they reminded him of the flash from the nuclear bombs. He was, as I stated, a neutral force of nature that had to be dealt with. Also, he turned good in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and helped drive him off at the end, which was before Astro Monster.
Godzilla is a cross between a metaphor for the horrors of thermal nuclear war and a metaphor for natural disasters and mother nature unleashed. He is neither good nor evil he just is.
"Nature has a way sometimes of reminding man of just how small he is. She occasionally throws up the terrible offsprings of our pride and carelessness to remind us of how puny we really are in the face of a tornado, an earthquake or a Godzilla. The reckless ambitions of man are often dwarfed by their dangerous consequences. For now Godzilla, that seemingly innocent and tragic monster, has gone to Earth. Whether he returns or not, or is never again seen by human eyes, the things he has taught us remain." --- Raymond Burr (as Mr. Martin from Godzilla 1985) I've been a Godzilla fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up either watching the dubbed versions on TV or renting them from the video store. It's tough to explain why I liked Godzilla so much, it's probably due to the fact that kids love dinosaurs and Godzilla is the coolest dinosaur ever. It wasn't until 2004 that the original unedited Japanese versions of the classic Showa Era Godzilla movies became commercially available here in the West and that's when I finally saw this movie. This isn't really a fun monster movie but rather a post-war tragedy. It reinvigorated my love for these movies but I also came to greatly admire the creative forces behind Godzilla. Tomoyuki Tanaka was the creator & executive producer of every Godzilla film from 1954 to 1995. He only got the idea to do this film because another film he was trying to get off the ground fell through and so he needed a movie for later that year. As he so often enjoyed telling the story, he was on plane going home when he looked out the window and imagined a monster rising up from the depths. This was hardly an original thought as the previous year the film 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' was released which is a similar story to this movie. However, it was actually a real life incident that occured that greatly influenced Godzilla. On March 1, 1954, the first Hydrogen bomb test was done in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific by the U.S. with the codename 'Castle Bravo'. The blast ended up being more than twice as big as expected and as a result a Japanese Tuna boat named the 'Lucky Dragon No.5' was hit with radioactive fallout. The men all had radiation sickness with one man dying 6 months later. The opening scene to Godzilla is a direct reference to this event. The man responsible for bring the monster to life was special effects legend Eiji Tsuburaya (his first name is pronounced A-Gee). His work for the film 'The War at Sea From Hawaii to Malaya' was so convincing that during U.S. occupation of Japan after WWII, the U.S. confiscated the film believing it was actual footage of the attack on Pearl Harbour. He was blacklisted from the film industry as a result, Gojira was his big comeback to film. Tsuburaya was known as the 'Father of Godzilla' and when he died in 1970, director Ishiro Honda believed that Godzilla should've been retired then. The one thing that always stood out for me throughout the Godzilla movies is the music and the man who created most of Godzilla's most recognizable music was composer Akira Ifukube. On top of that Ifukube is also responsible for creating Godzilla's iconic roar by running a leather glove over the loosened strings of a contrabass and then slowing the sound down. Ifukube was the 'Voice of Godzilla', although a huge shout out to the many others who left their mark on the franchise; Masaru Sato, Reijiro Koroku, Shiro Sagisu, and Naoki Sato (no relation to Masaru Sato). Director Ishiro Honda is probably the one I admire the most for his influence on Godzilla cannot be understated. The early drafts of the script were very typical of other science fiction movies of the time with Godzilla being more akin to wild animal as opposed to a true monster. Once Honda was chosen to direct, he jettisoned all of those tropes. Ishiro Honda was the son of a Buddhist priest and he had a great interest in science. Honda was all set to join the film industry when WWII broke out and he was instead drafted into Japan's Imperial army. The horrors of war stayed with him forever and as a result Honda became a fierce pacifist. Honda's respect for scientist is on full display in this film. Originally the Dr. Yamane character was more of a mad scientist living in a gothic castle, Honda changed him to a well respected scientist. Honda also wasn't a fan of his government which is reflected in scene with the politicians arguing over whether or not Dr. Yamane's findings should be made public or not. Ultimately, Honda believed that scientist have a responsibility to the public and to the world, hence Dr. Serizawa choosing to sacrifice himself rather than allow a doomsday weapon to be unleashed on the world. 'Gojira' is Honda's call for sanity in an increasingly insane world. Ishiro Honda loved making movies and for all the people that he ever worked with throughout his long career, not one of them had an unkind thing to say about him. A truly humble and warm natured man, Honda was truly the 'Soul of Godzilla'..................... Hmm? Kinda reminds me of someone
@shawnlopez2317 I disagree. The addition of Burr is what made it an international success. Without him, Godzilla as a character and a franchise would likely have died a quiet death of irrelevance. Godzilla raids again was not a critical or commercial success. It was King Kong vs Godzilla, the amalgam of east and west that really set G off into successful territory. Colorization and collaboration made it into what it has become really. But lest we forget, no Raymond Burr, no international audience. I agree that the U.S version is a little too stripped down, but he's not a problem in it.
♪ History shows, again and again, How Nature points out the folly of Man ♪ Also, totally agreeing with Gorgonsdeathstare. There's something primal and inspiring in the sheer natural majesty of Dinosaurs, a primordial symbolism that defies our staunchest wisdoms. Godzilla is all of that majesty, wedded to the existential terror of what Mankind, the most terribly powerful of all animals, could do to amplify such a concept. Ultimately, Godzilla is Humanity's Trial personified. Our mistakes risen to unfathomable rage against us, or mustered in our grim defense. Be Godzilla Hero or Villain, he's a living disaster born with Humanity's purest tenacity pulsing inside him. He is the Atomic Bomb made flesh. He is the agony of a world scarred over by Man Kind. He is the King of Monsters.
Honestly, as much of a classic as it is, I would never in a 100 years think this would be here. I'm glad you gave it a chance. At the time of the original release, pain was still raw, and they needed a way to embody and communicate the horrors of what they were still dealing with. The films get progressively sillier and he kind of becomes more of a hero, but the movies don't really follow much of a through-line after a certain point, where they're mostly stand-alones. There are a lot of re-imaginings of this movie though. Shin-Godzilla is another one I'd recommend along with Godzilla Minus One. Also, thank you for recognizing the accomplishments of the effects of the time. They originally wanted to do stop-motion but at the time did not have the time or expertise to fully utilize it.
In 1996, on the MTV Movie Awards, Jean Luc Picard presented that year's lifetime achievement award to.... Godzilla. It was one of the greatest moments in award show history.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was a fantastic running gag. Then one year they gave it to Clint Howard, a guy who actually deserved one, and it was like "Well... guess it can't be a joke anymore, huh?"
There was a time in the late 90’s where you couldn’t walk five feet without seeing Godzilla merchandise, or one of the movies being played on TV. Then the Matthew Broderick movie happened, and put an end to all that.
More movies than any other actor well not even close I'm sure there's More but I no for a fact that John Wayne has Starred in 150 movies which is way more than Godzilla's 30 plus movies
@@ralphroshia9247 Um... John Wayne movies are not about John Wayne. They're about characters that John Wayne played. Now, if Godzilla's movies were about him playing McBeth, King Lear, Moses, Jesus, Dracula or even 007, then you would be correct.
The same year,1954, another movie came out about the effects of radiation, THEM. This movie takes place in New Mexico near the site of the first Atomic tests. There followed a string of movies about the effects of radiation on animals but I think these two, GODZILLA and THEM are the best.
@@johnmcintosh8673 He sure does, with all his little 'bits' when he's not talking in scenes. But even without all of that, the scene of him in cop uniform, standing in the wind-blown desert with a tommy gun, shooting at a (spoiler)? F-ing *legendary*
@@AndrewGivens A story I read about James Whitmore was that he was worried about James Arness's height over shadowing him, so he wore lifts to increase his height and included little bits to divide attention. It worked. As to his uniform, the man wore a bow tie in the desert, take that Doctor.
THEM is really great. Considering the effects and budget they had available, they did a great job of making something crazy seem plausible and make a decent movie out of it. They are two of the only movies that made interesting and fleshed out characters to be affected by the monsters. That is the key to the film becoming iconic.
Welcome to our world, embracing Gojira. 70 years goin' strong. Also, he doesn't "breathe fire", he has Atomic Breath. Very well done in Godzilla 2014 versus the MUTO and also in Minus One out across the city to form the atomic cloud;, each different, but each amazing displays of power.
In subsequent Godzilla movie of this period, Godzilla actually protects humans from other monsters from the sea. He is very revered in that culture. The special effects are tiny dollhouse sized models. Pretty cool for that time!
Even though one of my favourite movies is Godzilla vs the Thing (the last Showa movie where Godzilla is straight up evil, the series really improved for me when Godzilla became the good guy
@@SJHFoto Did I mix them up? Sorry. I mean whichever one involves Godzilla's kid being bullied by other junior kaiju while some human schoolboy is also being bullied by other children, and kaiju and human become friends.
This movie shows how Japan feared the destruction and deaths after the Atomic Bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWll in1945, and does so with its phenomenal world building, grounded characters and a plot that makes it a borderline horror movie. The special effects still holds up today despite it releasing in 1954. Even the song "Prayer for Peace" just makes this movie even more haunting and depressing. I would also highly recommend the original King Kong ( 1933 ).
Irony is, it's the fukishima nuclear plant in Japan that is still leaking contaminated water into the pacific, that's the biggest cause of radition currently. Who could have guessed building a nuclear power plant next to the ocean of a place known for earthquakes and tidal waves, was a bad idea?
@@GUNNER67akaKelt Shin Godzilla carries the torch by heavily referencing that disaster in the same way this film references the WWII bombings, if you haven't seen it
Godzilla is right up there with Night of the Living Dead and The Incredible Shrinking Man on my list of movies I did not expect to be remotely as good as they were.
One major sad part of this movie was that all the scenes of death and destruction of entire cities and the wounded were within the memory of many of the people that appeared in this movie. That's why those scenes look so authentic. They were no different than the results of the fire raids that hit almost every major city in Japan during WWII. You should watch one of the other movies of Takashi Shimura, who portrayed Dr. Kyohei Yamane in Godzilla. Ikiru from 1952 It's one of the most highly rated and emotional Japanese films of all time and a favorite of Martin Scorsese among others.
Very glad you opted to watch the original Japanese movie as opposed to the American version, which I grew up on. While there's nothing actually wrong with the U.S. version, its focus is just on the monster and the havoc it wreaks. Seeing the movie in its original incarnation, the way it was meant to be seen, I can appreciate the deeper meanings and textures of the story as opposed to it just being another "monster movie." Also, this movie actually serves as a cautionary tale about atomic bombs bring dropped on major cities and what the terrible effects of radiation can do to a person. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima it signaled the end of WWII, but began the use of nuclear weapons.
@@flerbus I must disagree, the 'knowledge' of how to make that infernal devise was paid for by the termination of billions of children by their parents as child sacrifices to those 'teachers' of the forbidden knowledge for decades now. The resulting fear of mutual destruction which fell upon each Nation afterwards is also a cause of many deaths, so I can't see how "the existence of nuclear weapons has probably saved millions of lives" can ring true. If anything, it has exponentially increased the number of lives lost in the intervening years.
I appreciate the subversive story and what it is actually about but I wanted to see Godzilla do his thing. The two main leads in this movie got on my nerves, especially at the end.
I truly enjoyed it for the postwar period of Japan and the film’s means of processing the horrors of war and, ostensibly, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent nuclear tests occurring by that time. All the actors and actresses were phenomenal as well as the special effects used. Practical effects are far more interesting than CGI nowadays since it has a creative edge to the presentation. I certainly would want to watch the subsequent films of Godzilla to see the progression of the series and its additions through the 60s, 70s onwards
@@redshirtacademymortuary4848 I met him on a few occasions and he even came by the studio where I was developing a kaiju game for mobile/social media. This was back in 2011-2012. He sat beside me as I designed a kaiju based on his own preferences. I also had the pleasure of sitting in on his interview for the indie-documentary, “Men In Suits”.
I was the actor in the 'Joseph' costume in Littlemoor Primary School's 1985 production of 'Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'. Coincidentally, I also worked in a supermarket for five years.
I remember when I was a kid, every Sunday afternoon, my mom would make a big, homemade lunch, and all of these old monster movies would be on TV, a few of them each week. Every time I watch one of these movies, they always take me back to being a little kid, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, sitting on the floor in our living room, watching these films with my family, and since most of them have unexpectedly died in the last few years, it’s definitely a bittersweet experience.
I have a similar story: for me growing up in Marathon Ontario, the owner of our local theatre would show these on the big screen on Saturday afternoons, (along with such classics from the States like War of the Worlds (1953), Forbidden Planet, and other favourites. My group of childhood friends and I would watch them together. There was one girl among us, and I realised how much of a crush I had on her when she cried on my shoulder when Mothra died in Godzilla vs the Thing. That was 40 years ago or so, but that 7-8 year old me crush still is remembered!
Can you just imagine this was made in 1954 just 9 years after the 2 nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan. I think it is important to remember that while watching this movie.
The movie is inspired by a true story. In 1954, when the Americans tested the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, they had assumed a yield of 6 megatons. In fact the yield was 15 megatons, and the safe zone was far farther out than they had stated. A Japanese fishing boat called the Lucky Dragon fell within the radiation zone and all of its crew were poisoned, one of whom died within the year. The script for Godzilla was written two months after the event, and the film came out at the end of the year.
The Lucky Dragon No 5 is preserved in a museum in Koto, along with lots of information on the bomb tests etc. It's an interesting little side trip if you're visiting Tokyo.
@@Tyrconnell well, I wished I had known about this 40 years ago when I was serving in the Navy and did visit Japan! I could have gone to the museum in Tokyo! rats!
King Kong (1933) is one of the greatest movies ever made with fantastic creature effects from Willis O'Brien. Imagine being a cinema goer in the early 30s what an experience King Kong would change cinema forever much the same as Star Wars would over 40 years later.
You know what? I recently rewatched King Kong and it really isn't as good as I thought it would be. As iconic and impressive as the special effects were, the depth and artistic complexity of the 1954 Godzilla set a standard that was kind of too high.
Cassie, even though this was your first Godzilla movie, this is NOT the first time you have seen some of these actors, namely Takashi Shimura who played the paleontologist, Dr. Yamane. You already saw him in "Seven Samurai" as the bald-headed leader of the samurai, Kambei. He was a favorite of both Godzilla director, Ishiro Honda & Akira Kurosawa.
I'm impressed you watched the true original version and not the "Raymond Burr" edited version that was released in America 2 years later. This is where my love of sci-fi and horror started when I was a little kid. I'm now 52 and I still remember crying at the end of the movie because Godzilla died, lol!
This movie is a certified classic, Godzilla is an excellent metaphor for the atomic bomb that destroyed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Akira Ifukube's score has stayed consistent with the franchise for over 70 years, and Haruo Nakajima put in his all to play Godzilla Masterpiece
I just rewatched the Perry Mason version for the first time 20 years, I don't like the stupid comedy ones, But really like the ones where Godzilla is Kind of the good guy.
@@glenmassey3746 I would love for her to watch that next and then Rodan. She'd probably enjoy the less goofy entries in the Showa Era vs the weird movies.
@@Dontuween Honda co-directed everything Kurosawa made from "Kagemusha" (1980) until he died. Kurosawa tried to give Honda credit, but he wouldn't take it. "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams" (1990) is like half-directed by Honda.
had the privilege of visiting a museum exhibit with props from the godzilla movies. the craftsmanship on all of it is incredible. they still have the oxygen destroyer prop from this film.
this godzilla film sparked my love for those giant monster movies of the 50s, when i was a kid. my father told me the one story when he was a kid in 1954, he saw the movie called THEM! and that movie scared him. my father was born in 1951
The best way to describe Godzilla (Gojira) is as a force of nature. Many, many, many kudos for watching the original and not the made-for-America remake. I really like Raymond Burr, don't get me wrong. The original is how is was meant to be seen.
Great reaction as always. I look at Godzilla film origins in 2 ways. The nuclear testing origin and the Gaia theory, protector of the earth origin. Both are cool and both have their serious messages underneath all the awesomeness that is Godzilla.
Godzilla was the first monster to be made out of a suit because stop motion didn't look good and that's why many monster movies were made with puppets or suits.
Great movie. This was the begining of the Atomic Horror genre of the 60's and 70's. Thoe Godzilla movies that followed were more fun than horror. Godzilla became a hero, even settled down and had a child. some of them are worth watching
Actually, Godzilla was the Japanese Film Industries response to the success of the American Monster Film "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", now a classic, with FXs by the great Ray Harryhausen, the standard setter for movies FX in his day. But the American Film made a lot of money and the Japanese had a unique twist on the tale considering their personal experience with Atomic Power and long cultural ties to Dragons... and so Godzilla was spawned. Now the most recent version, "Godzilla: Minus One", is the Godzilla movie that the Concept has really been waiting for. It's a whole new kind of Godzilla, but still classic Godzilla.
The original 1954 Godzilla film is a serious allegory, but future films got sillier and more juvenile as time went on, giving the franchise a "kids-only" reputation. IMO, only a few films have successfully returned to the more mature narrative style of the first film: Godzilla (2014, Legendary Films), Shin Godzilla (2016, Toho Co.), and Godzilla Minus One (2023, Toho Co.). All of them are worth watching, with Legendary's 2014 movie being a particular favorite of mine. The Legendary Films "Monster-verse" does start to turn a bit campy as the films go on, but not nearly to the degree that the (Japanese) Godzilla movies of the 1960s-1990s did, and they are all a rousing good time.
Cassie's photos before each movie viewing looks so young and amazing that it makes you smile or sad. She has a knack of her photos on each movie. Way to go Mrs. Cassie!!! 😊😊😊😊
1954 Godzilla is anti nuclear film, which the US military dropped A-bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to end WWII with Japan. There is an American version of this film which is dubbed in English, and American actor Raymond Burr was added into the film. He played the role of an American reporter. This version was to attract American audiences into the theaters. But the original Japanese version is the best one. And of course this is the best Godzilla film compared to the ones that were made in the 1960s, and many more were filmed with other different prehistoric monsters during the 1960s as well in Japan. I enjoyed your reaction to the original Japanese 1954 film of Godzilla.
This movie came out only 9 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by American atomic bombs. This original Japanese version of Godzilla was a trope against nuclear weapons. The Americanized version had segments spliced in featuring Raymond Burr as an American journalist reporting on the destruction caused by Godzilla.
I feel like she would enjoy heisei era (Godzilla 84-Godzilla vs destroyah) it’s one continuous storyline with great characters and stories with a great mix of realism and fantasy
I truly do hope that she enjoys this film, and doesn't just stop with this one, because there are so many good Godzilla films... I'm a big fan of the Heisei series: Godzilla 1984, Godzilla vs Biollante, Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla, and Godzilla vs Destoroyah
@@Hendrikvandd Godzilla 1985 was the first Godzilla film I saw as a child. My dad had come home from Blockbuster Video, he held the VHS tape in his hand, he made a big bowl of popcorn, We both sat on the couch, and watched the movie together. From that moment on, I was hooked.
Thank you for doing this. Iv always wanted to see the OG asian Godzilla. I can now respect the cannon elements that have stood the test of time, this a good movie
If you have a chance, dive into the history and significance of this film. This was released not even ten years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the consequences were still being revealed. There were also the H- bomb tests from 1946 thru 1958 and a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the nuclear fallout and the men suffered horribly. A cathartic film for the Japanese people and one of the first expressions of the horrors of the nuclear age from the only nation to have experienced it.
I want to hear Cassie speak of herself in the third person. That would be hilarious! "Cassie's gonna watch herself some Godzilla." "Ohh, Cassie doesn't like that." "CASSIE'S GETTIN' UPSET!!"
So glad you started at the 1954 Godzilla! Very nostalgic, it makes me feel like a young kid again! And that Godzilla roar is movie magic music to my ears! I have always loved Godzilla movies! Can't wait for you to watch Godzilla Minus One! Thanks for sharing Cassie PiB 🍿
Most younger people today can’t appreciate these classics since they’re so used to goofy super hero movies filled with CGI. Now you should do King Kong, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy.
As a gen Z I really love this stuff I have educated myself on these old monster films cause I love the big attraction approach to movies it’s so fun this is a movie I definitely want to see down the line it’s incredible how they did it and Hauro Nakajima was a trooper for staying in that suit for more films.
It is not a coincidence that Godzilla an Seven Samurai both came out in 1954. It was due to the fact that the US Military stopped censoring Japanese media at in 1953. 1954 was the first chance Japanese movie makers where free to make the movies the wanted too. It is why two of the greatest movies ever made came out in the same year in Japan
HI, Cassie, this may seem like a fun, silly monster movie, but originally there was a serious undertone underneath it. Godzilla the character was intended to be a metaphor for the horrors of nuclear war. The Japanese of course, knew better than anyone else how horrible nuclear war could be, having experienced the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla's atomic breath was meant to represent a nuclear detonation. Wait until you see Godzilla Minus one, which is really excellent, and makes Godzilla truly terrifying again, not a lovable monster like he eventually became in the later films in this series. His atomic breath in that film is truly terrifying, I look forward to your reaction to the film.
As soon as she mentioned “When did ‘Seven Samurai’ come out?” I am now even more waiting to see if she will recognize the mutual actors (especially Kambei (Takeshi Shimura))! 🤞🏼
As a Gojira fan of almost 40 years, I remember when one's introduction Stateside (and presumably elsewhere outside Japan) was very likely catching him on a featured weekend movie on a local station, edited with English dubbing (as in the case of videotapes as well). If memory serves, the unedited original only appeared in the US for the 50th anniversary in 2004. For many years, again in a "Western" context, "Japanese monster movies" were laughed at for being "cheesy." And for Godzilla, one could see why, certainly for the movies that appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Toho slashed budgets for movies featuring the big guy. But if you decide to see more of the Toho films, the movies typically have a fun element that balances with more serious elements to varying degrees... kind of like the James Bond movies, really. And the special effects are pretty good for the time (certainly compared with many American movies), with some miniatures looking almost lifelike through both attention to detail and thoughtful camerawork. But this one... the original... for anyone who has in mind whatever "cheesy" Godzilla movies they happened to catch, and then dismissed them as such, it's quite a jolt to see the difference in tone of the original Gojira. Not even a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it has the nuclear bomb allegory, as well as the ethical dilemmas faced by the main characters and the human-scale consequences of Gojira's destruction. (The shot of the mother with her children as he approaches is particularly poignant, along with the TV broadcast of the chorus of girls that gives Serizawa a change of heart.) It's pretty somber in relation to the more "fun" conceptualizations held by the broader public. So I'm glad that this was your first watch, which would have been rare (if not impossible) in this part of the world years ago. Godzilla Minus One is certainly a worthy tribute to the almost 70 years of this series's existence, and a return to form informed by more contemporary sensibilities and technology, on a much smaller budget than many American blockbusters. As time allows, I do hope you end up watching some of his other movies, just to see how he has changed over the years! And the same for his friends and / or enemies, some of whom started out in their own standalone movies...
Yea, GZ is radioactive here. THAT's why he's got that black color and weird crusty scabrous texture - because he's supposed to have been BURNT. And it could also account for his enormous size.
The original Godzilla 1954 is basically a warning against atomic warfare, in the form of a monster. It is truly a masterpiece. When it came over tinthe states they edited and put in Raymond Burr for American audiences. Godzilla wasnt evil here. They do have him as sort of a villian in later movies as well as a hero. He battles other Kaiju(monsters). Mothra has been both ally and enemy to Godzilla. She is considered Queen of the monsters and basically good. Rodan starts off with his own movie then appears in Godzilla movies as both ally and enemy. Godzillas main foe is Ghidorah the 3-headed space monster also called Monster Zero. I hope you consider these movies in the future. They really are fun 😊
This first Godzilla was a direct metaphor for nuclear war, and so was definitely a villain. Later movies switch back and forth, but he started as a true monster.
The only thing we haven't seen, aside from non-extensive exposition flashbacks in the Netflix animated movies, is a truly malevolent Godzilla, actively trying to destroy humanity. I just want at least one movie like that.
@@alexkaen1701 malevolent means actively wishing to do evil on others, which neither SG nor G-1 were. They were neither malevolent nor benevolent, they were merely animals reacting to their environment. G-1 came a little closer to seeming malevolence, but it really was more like a territorial animal clearing out its turf of perceived enemies. As for here, he was really no more malevolent than a hurricane or an earthquake. He could have unexisted FAR more people if that was truly his intention.
It wouldn't hurt to also watch Shin Godzilla, as well as the American made Godzilla from 2014, which imo is the only MonsterVerse movie that kept closer to real gravitas, while later ones become more and more like video games. They're not necessary, I'm just saying they wouldn't hurt, and you'd get to see 4 distinct incarnations of Godzilla.
Ishiro Honda directed many other films aside from his Godzilla/Kaiju entries for Toho. He was a very passive individual before participating in WW2, and that experience only cemented his beliefs. Thus, he always tried to focus on the characters' emotions in his films. Minus One truly captures this element, something 90% of *all* other Godzilla movies lack.
I honestly find all the movies made by japanese directors in this period to be more mature and thoughtful than the ones made by american directors. After all, what americans seem to learn is that war is good, because they won them. The japanese have a decidedly different outlook.
They weren't setting up a sequel with the professor's closing lines. Those lines are advocating against nuclear weapons testing. Post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Godzilla is an anti-nuclear weapons testing movie.
I cannot appreciate you watching this more. This film is a real tearjerker towards the end, and it has a somber coldness to it that makes it more than just a monster movie. A classic to behold.
The ORIGINAL and the BEST! I'll always take it over any of the subsequent GZ flicks - either those silly kiddie-oriented "Vrs" flicks or some overblown post-2000 Hollywood cgi orgy.
When I was a little kid, 4-5 years old, I watched these movies in complete AWE because of what I was seeing! 2 giant monsters fighting each other! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Godzilla is one of the top films of all time for its subject matter. Its an anti war film that personifies the insanity of man as a monster that has reached an uncontrollable level. It's an ancient creature (our phych) rising from the depths (our soul) and just destroys. His steps sound like approaching bombs, his skin mimics radiation burns, his very head a mushroom cloud. Hes only destroyed by a repented man, responding to a prayer for peace, who has gone into the depths and faces our demon face to face. Its a masterpiece of symbolism and an anti war film that pins the problem of war on all of us as a race, rather than an evil that happens to us.
It took me years later, after watching as a child of nuclear propaganda, to realize this. I’m sure the Japanese children of the bomb needed no hindsight. While being a part of the series of movies it also stands out separately among them. Others may have societal messages contained within them but none as powerful as the original. Maybe Godzilla vs. Hedorah with its screed against pollution. But it was not as well made and added comical scenes brought down the seriousness of the subject matter.
@darryndifrancesco8346 the original Rodan is another quality film with a symbolic weight. The film is about the threat of Soviet supersonic bombers and infiltration. Being an issue of the time only and not a deep human introspective, its not as impact full (but I also find it the creepiest toho monster film....) The nuke bomb aspect of the original is solidly there in the original Gorjia but the message of war itself being THE human flaw is the message. Godzillas attack on Tokyo is reminiscent of the fire bombing and looks nothing like a nuke bombing. His footsteps sounding like approaching conventional bombs is so haunting. Just a masterpiece
To talk about some things, No, Godzilla isn't evil, not in THIS film anyway. He's an animal in pain after being burned, mutated and displaced by Nuclear weapons, he's confused and reacting badly to being in a world he doesn't belong in anymore. This is even shown in two parts of this film too, where the 'rampage' stops as Godzilla looks in on an aviary (Probably curious and confused, big guy has probably never seen birds up close like this before!) and when he 'barks' back at a clock tower, like he's confusing it for another creature like himself and confusing the chiming for it communicating before he knocks it over. It's something I think helped to add to Godzilla's longevity as Godzilla wasn't just a mindless rampaging 'thing' he was a victim too. There's sympathy for the monster, his skin was even designed to look like keloid scars, this film hit on a buried raw nerve about Hiroshima and Nagisaki, but also heavily (which the very first scene of the movie referenced) what happened to the "Daigo Fukuryū Maru" fishing boat. Everyone is a victim, including Godzilla, in this film because quite frankly there are no 'winners' when nukes are involved, I have the novelisation of this film which runs closer to an older script of the film (and imo is a bit 'eh' in comparison) but quite accurately in the front pages of that book it states to effect of "Godzilla and the destruction he causes can't exist, but nukes do and through their use we may well find our end as a species". Godzilla *often* isn't evil. Look up the full quote "Monsters are tragic beings" by Ishirō Honda, who directed and co-wrote this film and went on to do many a kaiju film with Toho as well, as it explains a bit more of the 'vibe'. About the Emiko, Ogata and Serizawa deal. Emiko loves Ogata, but she was planned to be married to Serizawa but she views him as a brother figure rather than a more 'romantic' figure. She did love him, but platonically. Serizawa knew this and probably viewed Emiko the same way as he is more than happy to see her be with someone who truly makes her happy. Fun fact about the eyes of the Godzilla suit! They were permanently angled downwards to give the impression Godzilla was always looking down at things. This was done to add to the 'scale' to make it seem he was so huge he had to be looking down to see anything! Though with modern buildings and how tall we build now, this Godzilla would be tiiiiiiny in comparison!.
As a Godzilla fanatic. I could give you every fact and info you need if any questions. I grew up with this film and all the eras along with it. Toho Godzilla will always surprise any thing the USA will come up with. I love this film. Much love to you and your family.
Now, THAT would have really amped up the drama in this and every Godzilla movie!--continuing the island tradition of sacrificing a virgin to make Godzilla go away. And when Mothra appears, the opposite gender could be sacrified. But especially this original movie, where so much is hinted at but not shown forever. Some human sacrifices would have kept the story moving.
Most audiences in English-speaking countries didn’t see the original film. A re-edit was made with Raymond Burr added in as a new character-a North American journalist covering the crisis for a new agency. It changed the messaging and the storyline of the film significantly. Like it or not, that was the version that launched the Godzilla phenomenon in the West. (Though the original was huge in Japan and hugely influential there too). For watching minus one, I recommend tissues and Carly’s company.
@@SJHFoto You keep giving it love! I know lots of people who prefer it. I personally love the Raymond Burr edit, and think it is underrated and unfairly dismissed. But I do think the all-Japanese original is a better-and much more profound-film.
Prepare to be emotionally wrecked. After this, I highly suggest you watch the original King Kong (1933) at some point. Edit: Well, you started at exactly the right place, Cassie. You will find that most of the franchise afterwards portrays Godzilla as a hero or just another monster fighting other monsters. But this is what Godzilla represented in the first place. Only a few other films in the franchise attempted to be like the original. The important point is that most Godzilla films are entertainment (some are still quite good). This original film is pure horror. If you only cover a handful, here's what I'd recommend: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) Terror of Mechagodzilla (1974) The Return of Godzilla (1984) Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) Shin Godzilla (2016)
The brought this back to the movie theaters for the 65 year anniversary, and I took a boy of 11 to see this movie, explaining how I loved "Godzilla" as a child on T.V. seeing this movie, but that I'd never seen it in the theater and I wanted to see it with him. When he was 5 years old I gave him my two foot tall Godzilla with a fist you could shoot by pushing a button and bring fake fire out of his mouth with a lever on the back of his neck. I also gave the kid all my Star Wars toys to play with, though his older brother with autism and 14 years old picked up my Millenium Falcon and threw it across the room and it shattered into pieces on the very first day. I'm sure it was worth hundreds of dollars in good condition. Yet this boy truly was my favorite boy in the world. He deserved all those toys to play with. When he got to be a teenager he gave me a card once for my birthday and I opened it and read it with bewilderment. It was a card a mother gives to her daughter saying how much she loves her daughter. I read it and suddenly it hit me that this card had the words that he felt described how he felt having me at his house from the time he was 3 years old till he was a teenager during the summer 5 or 6 days a week and during the school year 3 or 4 days a week to help the family out with autism problems and it hit me hard. Nearly cried. I still remember taking him out to every fast food restaurant in town only to unload all of it at a table in Taco Bell to eat it all and we bragged to his two older brothers and sister and parents about it. The craziest was I got his mother to put a swim cap on her head and whip cream all over where he hair would be and this little guy at 4 years old was throwing cheetoes at his mom's head like the war depended on him geting as many cheetoes on her head as fast as possible like she was a Nazi and he had the cheese flavored grenades to end the war. Good times. I took the autistic kid to see "Godzilla vs. King Kong" and the first time Josh cried for King Kong and the second time he caught me looking at him getting sad, but by the third time we watched that movie the older brother with autism knew I liked Godzilla and he was smiling as I watched Godzilla kick King Kong's ass as if finally for the first time in his life he was watching me and happy that I was happy even if his buddy King Kong was gonna lose.
The original Godzilla suit weighed 200lbs. Haruo Nakajima wore the suit and would often pass out while still in the suit and had to be pulled out. The suit would also fill with his own sweat. He would go on to play Godzilla as well as Rodan and Varan until 1972. He unfortunately passed away in 2017, but he has been immortalized forever in pop culture.
There's a cute picture of Momoko Kochi (Emiko) with her handbag standing next to the Godzilla suit - it almost looks like they are out on a walk together. Not sure if Nakajima was inside the suit at the time.
i'm a cosplayer and always wanted to be a suit actor, haruo nakajima and doug jones are my role model
@@tuxedotservo Essentially Godzilla and Emiko going on a picnic
And today's snowflakes would get all upset over this and protest the bad conditions
He also appears out of the suit in the movie, as a reporter in the background of the newsroom; he's the one with a pencil behind his ear
As a lifelong fan of Godzilla, It’s so good to see more & more people watch his movies for the first time and give him the respect he deserves!
In the 80s I had 2 Godzilla movies, Vs Kong and Megalon. I could only read about the other films. Now I got half half on blu ray and the American version films are good enough, Its a great time to be a Godzilla fan.
Some trivia of the original 1954 Godzilla for you, Cassie.
1. The creation of Godzilla is owed to four events. First, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2 in 1945. Second, the Lucky Dragon No. 5 Incident, where a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the fallout zone of the Castle Bravo hydrogen bomb test, irradiating the boat's crew. Third, the cancellation of In The Shadow Of Glory, which was slated as Toho's big film in 1954 before tensions between Toho and Indonesia (one of the areas occupied by the Imperial Japanese during WW2) resulted in production being halted, forcing producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to scramble for an idea, with a popular rumor being that he looked out at the sea from his plane ride and imagined a monster rising from the depths. Finally, the then-recent re-release of the original King Kong and the success of another atomic age monster movie called The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.
2. Director Ishiro Honda was actually a veteran of the Imperial Japanese army, and his experiences in war would shape his pacifist views as the memory and trauma of the war lingered with him. At one point during the war, a mortar shell landed near him, but failed to explode. Honda would take this shell with him back to Japan following the war's conclusion, where it remained in his office at home. A constant reminder of the closest war nearly took him.
3. When designing Godzilla, several concepts were suggested, ranging from an octopus to a big-eared sea monster. The final design came from looking at dinosaur illustrations in children's books and Life magazine. Godzilla himself is a fusion between a Tyrannosaurus Rex for its vicious appearance, Stegosaurus for its back plates, and Iguanodon for its posture. Godzilla's name in Japanese, Gojira (ゴジラ), is a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla (ゴリラ gorira) and whale (kujira クジラ). A popular rumor states that the name was the nickname of a burly member of staff at Toho, but this has never been confirmed.
4. While stop-motion was considered for Godzilla's moments similar to King Kong, it was deemed to expensive and time consuming, so special effects artist Eiji Tsuburaya chose to create the monster with suit-mation. The original Godzilla suit, known to the fandom as ShodaiGoji (or First Generation Godzilla), was designed by Teizo Toshimitsu, Kanju and Yasuei Yagi, and Eizo Kaimai. The suit weighed 220 lbs, or 100 kg, and was made with ready-mix concrete, as latex was a rare commodity in post-war Japan. Two suits were made, with the original being so unusable that it had to be cut into different pieces to use properly, and puppets were used for close up shots. Haruo Nakajima dawned the suit for the majority of the film, earning the title as the first man to play Godzilla, with Katsumi Tezuka as his understudy. Both actors would have difficulty seeing and moving within the suit, with Nakajima infamously passing out on several takes due to heat exhaustion, not helped by the studio lamps above that raised the temperature inside the suit. After each take, a cup of sweat had to be removed, and Nakajima lost 20 pounds over the course of filming.
5. Godzilla's roar took some time to create, with staff using lions, tigers, bears, and herons as references, but all were deemed as sounding too natural. When the film's composer, Akira Ifukube, was asked to help come up with a sound, he was initially reluctant, feeling that, as a reptile, Godzilla wouldn't make roars like a mammal. Ishiro Honda convinced him after explaining that the roar was a result of Godzilla's mutation. The final roar was made by Ifukube when he unwound the e-string of a contrabass and recorded his assistant rubbing gloves covered in pine tar along the strings.
6. Following the original Godzilla, several follow ups and continuities sprouted in succession, each under a different label. They are as follows.
. Showa Era (1954-1975)
. Heisei Era (1984-1995)
. TriStar Series (1998-2000)
. Millennium Era (1999-2004)
. Monsterverse (2014-Ongoing)
. Reiwa Era (2016-Ongoing)
To date, Godzilla has had 38 films and 4 series, and is one of the longest ongoing film franchises of all time.
Thank you for the great trivia. I can tell you know your Godzilla’s…
While I like the suit Godzilla, I always wondered what they could have done if they could have gotten Ray Harryhausen (Or Japanese equivalent, if there was one) to do the effects.
Long live godzilla
Eiji Tsuburaya's legacy continued long after Godzilla as well, being the father of the Ultraman series as well as its main effects director until his death in 1970 iirc. The Return of Ultraman in 1971 would have it's effects done by his son and the rest of his effects team that had come straight from Godzilla and other work from Toho Studios in the late 1960s.
Super informative, thanks
"Toy Helicopter" 🤣 That's 1954 state of the art special effects.
When she said, “I thought that was a toy helicopter, not a real one”, that was very meta.
@@mmattson8947That’s what i said to myself. It’s a real helicopter , toy. 😄
Whatever it is, I'll take it over another stupid computer simulation like you see in every other flick made nowadays.
Gojira's footprints that they were studying on Odo Island were painted on a pane of glass and attached to the camera lens.
"How did they do this before CGI?" A man in a rubber suit.
Not even rubber, it was flexible concrete and shit, Big G's actor has to remove the suit every 30 minutes or else he'll die of exhaustion.
@@corryjamieson3909correction he would have died from dehydration not exhaustion. He would literally sweat almost all of his water from his body. The suit had to be drained between each take.
Also hand puppets in some scenes, and a few other tricks.
Man in a suit??They clearly cast an actual King of the Monster.
Yep and they kept doing that for the following 50 years.
The reason Seven Samurai and Godzilla both came out in 1954 is not a coincidence. When the Americans occupied Japan they instituted strict censorship in the country. Japanese media was not allowed to depict anything related to nuclear issues, the war, the occupation, and were not allowed to show swords on screen or positively portray warrior culture or imperialism. The censorship ended in 1952. Shortly after there were a lot of movies made about samurai, the war, and nuclear issues.
Quite remarkable-it’s sad yet not surprising that the American occupation authorities were so quick to censor and restrict Japanese artistic and cultural expression.
Hopefully Cassie will someday realize that Godzilla’s roar is the greatest sound effect in the history of film
Along with Tarzan's Yell and the Wilhelm Scream.
Made by a greasy glove and a cello
Made by a greasy glove and a cello
The conclusion I came to after watching most of the Godzilla movies is that Godzilla is omnipotent, which is the reason fo the God part.
@@duanekelly-fe5btaka gorilla whale lol
"He looks well fed."
"That is not a solid piece of architecture."
Cassie killing me with these one-liners. 😂
"I'm telling you guys... hydrogen bomb could not take it down. Run. For. Your. Lives."
"That's an argument for evil, not hungry. Just destroying but not eating. Unless he's roasting them and then...?"
"I don´t think he likes to be studied" was my favourite one
@@adnreasrost9135 Really, who does?
"Please don't say sacrifice a virgin."
Godzilla’s roar hits me right in the nostalgia nerve
Like music to my ears. Most versions of the roar, except for "raids again," that one was a little annoying.
One of the best and most memorable effects of the film. When I was a kid, I thought it was terrifying.
It's interesting you mentioned Seven Samurai and I'm guessing you didn't notice, but the actor who played the professor in this also played the lead bald samurai in Seven Samurai, Kanbei.
Takashi Shimura
Hope she reacts to Ikiru.
Also the old village men were the same actor.
@@worf7271 Ohhhh I would be so here for an Ikiru reaction. What a tear-jerker.
Cassie is watching old school godzilla....AWESOME. Love this channel.
I know eh. The PROPER Godzilla. So good!
@@RobertSmith-js2kz it was a little boring. The main couple were annoying and over dramatic.
@@jessediaz1293 dude, it's JAPAN, trying their hand at moviemaking ... 7 years after getting nuked into submission in WWII. get some perspective son 🤣 oh yeah, and it's nineteen-FIFTY-two. Everything was "over-dramatic"🙄
@@RobertSmith-js2kz I get that they’re making a subversive film through a monster movie it’s just too much overacting by the two main characters. Like at the end the girl overreacting to the fish tank scene and then the main guy crying for the scientist. He’s crying like if that was his brother dying. He barely knew him! 😂 also the father is in a state of grievance or something because they want to kill Godzilla instead of studying it. Laughable.
It’s a landmark film but I just wasn’t vibing with it. This is probably the third time that I’ve watched it in my life.
Godzilla is very rarely evil, maybe two movies he was. Sometimes he’s even been a hero. But most of the time, he is simply a force of nature, a representation of the power of the atom bomb, and all its consequences.
not sure I go with his rarely evil. he was evil up to astro monster which was the 5 film. He was all evil in all monster attack and i say he was evil in most of the Hensia. plus even in godzilla 2000 while he destroy the alien he destroy the city afterward. you can add shin. I will say he been good most of his early career but villainous in his late career. a anti hero for most of for the majority.
@@Marveryn I think you're confusing evil with antagonistic. He was no more evil in a lot of those films you listed as the tornados in Twister. At his worst in most of them he still had sympathetic qualities, like hating the spotlights because they reminded him of the flash from the nuclear bombs. He was, as I stated, a neutral force of nature that had to be dealt with. Also, he turned good in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster and helped drive him off at the end, which was before Astro Monster.
In GMK he certainly was evil, a straight up manifestation of the souls of WW2
For a time Big G became Japan's protector. Stopping other monsters from attacking Tokyo.
@@kaijudude_ And the first time he faced Mothra too.
People here have recommended the 1933 KING KONG, and I can only say, Yes, Utterly, Absolutely.
Worth watching just to hear Fay Wray's famous scream.
Once they get to the island, it never lets up.
Godzilla is a cross between a metaphor for the horrors of thermal nuclear war and a metaphor for natural disasters and mother nature unleashed. He is neither good nor evil he just is.
Force of Nature
"Nature has a way sometimes of reminding man of just how small he is. She occasionally throws up the terrible offsprings of our pride and carelessness to remind us of how puny we really are in the face of a tornado, an earthquake or a Godzilla. The reckless ambitions of man are often dwarfed by their dangerous consequences. For now Godzilla, that seemingly innocent and tragic monster, has gone to Earth. Whether he returns or not, or is never again seen by human eyes, the things he has taught us remain." --- Raymond Burr (as Mr. Martin from Godzilla 1985)
I've been a Godzilla fan for as long as I can remember. I grew up either watching the dubbed versions on TV or renting them from the video store. It's tough to explain why I liked Godzilla so much, it's probably due to the fact that kids love dinosaurs and Godzilla is the coolest dinosaur ever. It wasn't until 2004 that the original unedited Japanese versions of the classic Showa Era Godzilla movies became commercially available here in the West and that's when I finally saw this movie. This isn't really a fun monster movie but rather a post-war tragedy. It reinvigorated my love for these movies but I also came to greatly admire the creative forces behind Godzilla.
Tomoyuki Tanaka was the creator & executive producer of every Godzilla film from 1954 to 1995. He only got the idea to do this film because another film he was trying to get off the ground fell through and so he needed a movie for later that year. As he so often enjoyed telling the story, he was on plane going home when he looked out the window and imagined a monster rising up from the depths. This was hardly an original thought as the previous year the film 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms' was released which is a similar story to this movie. However, it was actually a real life incident that occured that greatly influenced Godzilla. On March 1, 1954, the first Hydrogen bomb test was done in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific by the U.S. with the codename 'Castle Bravo'. The blast ended up being more than twice as big as expected and as a result a Japanese Tuna boat named the 'Lucky Dragon No.5' was hit with radioactive fallout. The men all had radiation sickness with one man dying 6 months later. The opening scene to Godzilla is a direct reference to this event.
The man responsible for bring the monster to life was special effects legend Eiji Tsuburaya (his first name is pronounced A-Gee). His work for the film 'The War at Sea From Hawaii to Malaya' was so convincing that during U.S. occupation of Japan after WWII, the U.S. confiscated the film believing it was actual footage of the attack on Pearl Harbour. He was blacklisted from the film industry as a result, Gojira was his big comeback to film. Tsuburaya was known as the 'Father of Godzilla' and when he died in 1970, director Ishiro Honda believed that Godzilla should've been retired then.
The one thing that always stood out for me throughout the Godzilla movies is the music and the man who created most of Godzilla's most recognizable music was composer Akira Ifukube. On top of that Ifukube is also responsible for creating Godzilla's iconic roar by running a leather glove over the loosened strings of a contrabass and then slowing the sound down. Ifukube was the 'Voice of Godzilla', although a huge shout out to the many others who left their mark on the franchise; Masaru Sato, Reijiro Koroku, Shiro Sagisu, and Naoki Sato (no relation to Masaru Sato).
Director Ishiro Honda is probably the one I admire the most for his influence on Godzilla cannot be understated. The early drafts of the script were very typical of other science fiction movies of the time with Godzilla being more akin to wild animal as opposed to a true monster. Once Honda was chosen to direct, he jettisoned all of those tropes. Ishiro Honda was the son of a Buddhist priest and he had a great interest in science. Honda was all set to join the film industry when WWII broke out and he was instead drafted into Japan's Imperial army. The horrors of war stayed with him forever and as a result Honda became a fierce pacifist. Honda's respect for scientist is on full display in this film. Originally the Dr. Yamane character was more of a mad scientist living in a gothic castle, Honda changed him to a well respected scientist. Honda also wasn't a fan of his government which is reflected in scene with the politicians arguing over whether or not Dr. Yamane's findings should be made public or not. Ultimately, Honda believed that scientist have a responsibility to the public and to the world, hence Dr. Serizawa choosing to sacrifice himself rather than allow a doomsday weapon to be unleashed on the world. 'Gojira' is Honda's call for sanity in an increasingly insane world.
Ishiro Honda loved making movies and for all the people that he ever worked with throughout his long career, not one of them had an unkind thing to say about him. A truly humble and warm natured man, Honda was truly the 'Soul of Godzilla'..................... Hmm? Kinda reminds me of someone
I hate they added Raymond Burr to those two films, but I love that speech!
Damned fine line from a damned fine film
@shawnlopez2317 I disagree. The addition of Burr is what made it an international success. Without him, Godzilla as a character and a franchise would likely have died a quiet death of irrelevance. Godzilla raids again was not a critical or commercial success. It was King Kong vs Godzilla, the amalgam of east and west that really set G off into successful territory. Colorization and collaboration made it into what it has become really. But lest we forget, no Raymond Burr, no international audience. I agree that the U.S version is a little too stripped down, but he's not a problem in it.
♪ History shows, again and again,
How Nature points out the folly of Man ♪
Also, totally agreeing with Gorgonsdeathstare. There's something primal and inspiring in the sheer natural majesty of Dinosaurs, a primordial symbolism that defies our staunchest wisdoms. Godzilla is all of that majesty, wedded to the existential terror of what Mankind, the most terribly powerful of all animals, could do to amplify such a concept. Ultimately, Godzilla is Humanity's Trial personified. Our mistakes risen to unfathomable rage against us, or mustered in our grim defense. Be Godzilla Hero or Villain, he's a living disaster born with Humanity's purest tenacity pulsing inside him.
He is the Atomic Bomb made flesh.
He is the agony of a world scarred over by Man Kind.
He is the King of Monsters.
@choalithikanthe2422 go go Godzilla!
Honestly, as much of a classic as it is, I would never in a 100 years think this would be here. I'm glad you gave it a chance. At the time of the original release, pain was still raw, and they needed a way to embody and communicate the horrors of what they were still dealing with. The films get progressively sillier and he kind of becomes more of a hero, but the movies don't really follow much of a through-line after a certain point, where they're mostly stand-alones. There are a lot of re-imaginings of this movie though. Shin-Godzilla is another one I'd recommend along with Godzilla Minus One.
Also, thank you for recognizing the accomplishments of the effects of the time. They originally wanted to do stop-motion but at the time did not have the time or expertise to fully utilize it.
If this is sending her on an exploration of the genre, I can't wait for Godzilla Minus One.
Oh, yeah!
GREATEST REMAKE EVER!
@@barreloffun10 it's a part of her schedule
it's fantastic!!!!!!
In 1996, on the MTV Movie Awards, Jean Luc Picard presented that year's lifetime achievement award to.... Godzilla. It was one of the greatest moments in award show history.
Whoa I remember that so much!
The Lifetime Achievement Award was a fantastic running gag. Then one year they gave it to Clint Howard, a guy who actually deserved one, and it was like "Well... guess it can't be a joke anymore, huh?"
There was a time in the late 90’s where you couldn’t walk five feet without seeing Godzilla merchandise, or one of the movies being played on TV. Then the Matthew Broderick movie happened, and put an end to all that.
@@bjchit The Mathew Broderick film is not a bad movie its just not a Godzilla movie.
@@shanekirkley9674 It’s worse than bad, it’s terrible.
Godzilla's roar was a gloved hand covered in pine tar running down the strings of a contrabass.
TOHO studios front squeaky gate. Mixed with a bass guitar strummed with a leather glove coated in rasin.
It's so iconic
SKREEEEEEOOOOOOONNNNG
incorrect it was an old iron gate opening
I thought it was Yoko Ono singing 😂😂😂😂
@@Heymisterareyougonnadie Resin.
Once you experience Godzilla's truly gifted acting style, you'll quickly realize why he has more movies made with him than any other actor! 😁
More movies than any other actor well not even close I'm sure there's More but I no for a fact that John Wayne has Starred in 150 movies which is way more than Godzilla's 30 plus movies
@@ralphroshia9247 Um... John Wayne movies are not about John Wayne. They're about characters that John Wayne played. Now, if Godzilla's movies were about him playing McBeth, King Lear, Moses, Jesus, Dracula or even 007, then you would be correct.
@@renaissancepoet Good points. That being said, wasn't he originally cast to play Charlton Heston in the cancelled biopic?
The same year,1954, another movie came out about the effects of radiation, THEM. This movie takes place in New Mexico near the site of the first Atomic tests. There followed a string of movies about the effects of radiation on animals but I think these two, GODZILLA and THEM are the best.
THEM! A fantastic film, I rewatch it frequently, the little girl is amazing and James Whitmore steals the show.
@@johnmcintosh8673 He sure does, with all his little 'bits' when he's not talking in scenes. But even without all of that, the scene of him in cop uniform, standing in the wind-blown desert with a tommy gun, shooting at a (spoiler)? F-ing *legendary*
@@AndrewGivens A story I read about James Whitmore was that he was worried about James Arness's height over shadowing him, so he wore lifts to increase his height and included little bits to divide attention. It worked. As to his uniform, the man wore a bow tie in the desert, take that Doctor.
THEM is really great. Considering the effects and budget they had available, they did a great job of making something crazy seem plausible and make a decent movie out of it. They are two of the only movies that made interesting and fleshed out characters to be affected by the monsters. That is the key to the film becoming iconic.
Welcome to our world, embracing Gojira. 70 years goin' strong. Also, he doesn't "breathe fire", he has Atomic Breath. Very well done in Godzilla 2014 versus the MUTO and also in Minus One out across the city to form the atomic cloud;, each different, but each amazing displays of power.
In subsequent Godzilla movie of this period, Godzilla actually protects humans from other monsters from the sea. He is very revered in that culture. The special effects are tiny dollhouse sized models. Pretty cool for that time!
Even though one of my favourite movies is Godzilla vs the Thing (the last Showa movie where Godzilla is straight up evil, the series really improved for me when Godzilla became the good guy
@@SJHFoto Me too. I think Mothra is my favorite. It’s like cheering for T-Rex at the end of the first Jurassic World movie.
But they also include some really bad ones like "Son of Godzilla," which is about school bullying.
@@hanng1242 You mean "Godzilla's Revenge" not "Son of Godzilla"
@@SJHFoto Did I mix them up? Sorry. I mean whichever one involves Godzilla's kid being bullied by other junior kaiju while some human schoolboy is also being bullied by other children, and kaiju and human become friends.
Thanks!
This movie shows how Japan feared the destruction and deaths after the Atomic Bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWll in1945, and does so with its phenomenal world building, grounded characters and a plot that makes it a borderline horror movie. The special effects still holds up today despite it releasing in 1954. Even the song "Prayer for Peace" just makes this movie even more haunting and depressing.
I would also highly recommend the original King Kong ( 1933 ).
True, and Godzilla himself was meant to be a metaphor for the horrors of nuclear war.
@@cvonbarron , and Oppenheimer said he was "the destroyer of worlds". I'd say he gave birth to it.
@@osmanyousif7849 Right, Oppenheimer was referring to himself, the quote comes from the Baghavad Ghita
Irony is, it's the fukishima nuclear plant in Japan that is still leaking contaminated water into the pacific, that's the biggest cause of radition currently. Who could have guessed building a nuclear power plant next to the ocean of a place known for earthquakes and tidal waves, was a bad idea?
@@GUNNER67akaKelt Shin Godzilla carries the torch by heavily referencing that disaster in the same way this film references the WWII bombings, if you haven't seen it
Godzilla is right up there with Night of the Living Dead and The Incredible Shrinking Man on my list of movies I did not expect to be remotely as good as they were.
I d add THEM! to that list
@@John-je8pg The 1922 version of Nosferatu as well.
Yes I would highly recommend the original King Kong from 1933 with Canadian fay Wray.
Seconded
A far better film than Gojira.
@@lyndoncmp5751 We have to disagree on that
One major sad part of this movie was that all the scenes of death and destruction of entire cities and the wounded were within the memory of many of the people that appeared in this movie. That's why those scenes look so authentic. They were no different than the results of the fire raids that hit almost every major city in Japan during WWII.
You should watch one of the other movies of Takashi Shimura, who portrayed Dr. Kyohei Yamane in Godzilla. Ikiru from 1952 It's one of the most highly rated and emotional Japanese films of all time and a favorite of Martin Scorsese among others.
Very glad you opted to watch the original Japanese movie as opposed to the American version, which I grew up on. While there's nothing actually wrong with the U.S. version, its focus is just on the monster and the havoc it wreaks. Seeing the movie in its original incarnation, the way it was meant to be seen, I can appreciate the deeper meanings and textures of the story as opposed to it just being another "monster movie."
Also, this movie actually serves as a cautionary tale about atomic bombs bring dropped on major cities and what the terrible effects of radiation can do to a person. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima it signaled the end of WWII, but began the use of nuclear weapons.
and it is ironic how the existence of nuclear weapons has probably saved millions of lives (so far anyway)
@@flerbus I must disagree, the 'knowledge' of how to make that infernal devise was paid for by the termination of billions of children by their parents as child sacrifices to those 'teachers' of the forbidden knowledge for decades now. The resulting fear of mutual destruction which fell upon each Nation afterwards is also a cause of many deaths, so I can't see how "the existence of nuclear weapons has probably saved millions of lives" can ring true. If anything, it has exponentially increased the number of lives lost in the intervening years.
I appreciate the subversive story and what it is actually about but I wanted to see Godzilla do his thing. The two main leads in this movie got on my nerves, especially at the end.
"I thought that was a toy Helicopter..It was real?"......Welcome to 1950's special effects Cassie.
Such an amazing movie. I wish more people would look past the age and special effects to see what a great movie it is
I truly enjoyed it for the postwar period of Japan and the film’s means of processing the horrors of war and, ostensibly, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent nuclear tests occurring by that time. All the actors and actresses were phenomenal as well as the special effects used. Practical effects are far more interesting than CGI nowadays since it has a creative edge to the presentation. I certainly would want to watch the subsequent films of Godzilla to see the progression of the series and its additions through the 60s, 70s onwards
I love that for your first taste of Godzilla, you went right to the beginning. I hope you keep this running and go through the whole progression.
It’s usually the best place to go
Now it’s time for the original King Kong! 🦍
Haruo Nakajima was the suit actor inside the Godzilla costume for the first 11 G films. Coincidentally, he also played a bandit in The Seven Samurai.
Had the great pleasure of meeting Nakajima-san in Boston, 2015. Got him to sign an 8x10 and my Criterion Collection Blu-ray.
@@redshirtacademymortuary4848 I met him on a few occasions and he even came by the studio where I was developing a kaiju game for mobile/social media. This was back in 2011-2012. He sat beside me as I designed a kaiju based on his own preferences. I also had the pleasure of sitting in on his interview for the indie-documentary, “Men In Suits”.
I was the actor in the 'Joseph' costume in Littlemoor Primary School's 1985 production of 'Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat'.
Coincidentally, I also worked in a supermarket for five years.
I remember when I was a kid, every Sunday afternoon, my mom would make a big, homemade lunch, and all of these old monster movies would be on TV, a few of them each week. Every time I watch one of these movies, they always take me back to being a little kid, back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, sitting on the floor in our living room, watching these films with my family, and since most of them have unexpectedly died in the last few years, it’s definitely a bittersweet experience.
I have a similar story: for me growing up in Marathon Ontario, the owner of our local theatre would show these on the big screen on Saturday afternoons, (along with such classics from the States like War of the Worlds (1953), Forbidden Planet, and other favourites. My group of childhood friends and I would watch them together. There was one girl among us, and I realised how much of a crush I had on her when she cried on my shoulder when Mothra died in Godzilla vs the Thing. That was 40 years ago or so, but that 7-8 year old me crush still is remembered!
Can you just imagine this was made in 1954 just 9 years after the 2 nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan. I think it is important to remember that while watching this movie.
The movie is inspired by a true story. In 1954, when the Americans tested the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, they had assumed a yield of 6 megatons. In fact the yield was 15 megatons, and the safe zone was far farther out than they had stated. A Japanese fishing boat called the Lucky Dragon fell within the radiation zone and all of its crew were poisoned, one of whom died within the year. The script for Godzilla was written two months after the event, and the film came out at the end of the year.
that is something I never heard about, and thank you for sharing it. raise a glass to the memory of the Lucky Dragon and her crew!
The Lucky Dragon No 5 is preserved in a museum in Koto, along with lots of information on the bomb tests etc. It's an interesting little side trip if you're visiting Tokyo.
@@Tyrconnell well, I wished I had known about this 40 years ago when I was serving in the Navy and did visit Japan! I could have gone to the museum in Tokyo! rats!
@@kingscorpion7346 yep, if Edward Teller has no haters then I'm dead. Absolute dipshit.
The Mike bomb test was in 1952. It also almost killed all the scientists that worked on it because of the higher than expected yield.
I would like to recommend the original King Kong from the year. 1933 is probably one of the best classics ever.
King Kong (1933) is one of the greatest movies ever made with fantastic creature effects from Willis O'Brien. Imagine being a cinema goer in the early 30s what an experience King Kong would change cinema forever much the same as Star Wars would over 40 years later.
You know what? I recently rewatched King Kong and it really isn't as good as I thought it would be. As iconic and impressive as the special effects were, the depth and artistic complexity of the 1954 Godzilla set a standard that was kind of too high.
Godzilla was an actor in a rubber suit. Which is amazing, that they had an actor who was 165 feet tall.
Cassie, even though this was your first Godzilla movie, this is NOT the first time you have seen some of these actors, namely Takashi Shimura who played the paleontologist, Dr. Yamane. You already saw him in "Seven Samurai" as the bald-headed leader of the samurai, Kambei. He was a favorite of both Godzilla director, Ishiro Honda & Akira Kurosawa.
I think maybe King Kong would be more Cassie's style. A bit of romance and humor mixed in with the giant monster stomping around.
I'm impressed you watched the true original version and not the "Raymond Burr" edited version that was released in America 2 years later. This is where my love of sci-fi and horror started when I was a little kid. I'm now 52 and I still remember crying at the end of the movie because Godzilla died, lol!
This movie is a certified classic, Godzilla is an excellent metaphor for the atomic bomb that destroyed both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Akira Ifukube's score has stayed consistent with the franchise for over 70 years, and Haruo Nakajima put in his all to play Godzilla
Masterpiece
Can always tell I'm a fan of the reactor and not just the films when I watch an edited reaction to a movie I haven't seen.
Welcome to the Godzilla franchise. This is where it all began.
I just rewatched the Perry Mason version for the first time 20 years, I don't like the stupid comedy ones, But really like the ones where Godzilla is Kind of the good guy.
*series
She's not doing the Godzilla franchise. She's just doing this and Godzilla Minus One and that's it.
Godzilla Raids Again a direct sequel to this movie. After that the movies start getting geared to children until Godzilla 1985.
@@glenmassey3746
I would love for her to watch that next and then Rodan. She'd probably enjoy the less goofy entries in the Showa Era vs the weird movies.
Director of Godzilla, Ishiro Honda and the director of Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa, were good friends throughout their lives.
Indeed, they even collaborated on several projects, namely "Stray Dog" (1949), and "Ran" (1985).
@@Dontuween Honda co-directed everything Kurosawa made from "Kagemusha" (1980) until he died. Kurosawa tried to give Honda credit, but he wouldn't take it. "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams" (1990) is like half-directed by Honda.
Cassie: u picked an all time classic and still my favorite in the series: I hope it’s super popular ❤🎉😊
had the privilege of visiting a museum exhibit with props from the godzilla movies. the craftsmanship on all of it is incredible. they still have the oxygen destroyer prop from this film.
Here we go! This going be awesome 1954 Godzilla movie.
You will never get Godzilla's scream out of you head. It even makes a great ring tone. 😂
this godzilla film sparked my love for those giant monster movies of the 50s, when i was a kid. my father told me the one story when he was a kid in 1954, he saw the movie called THEM! and that movie scared him. my father was born in 1951
"THEM!" is a very fun movie. And another one where the sound effect of the ants is iconic.
The best version! Amazing how well done it was.
I hope this opens the door for Cassie to eventually reacting to the MonsterVerse films. I think she’ll really like those.
Same but I hope she goes through the whole series normally before then tbh. Then once she does the MV, she reacts to Minus One to come full circle.
The best way to describe Godzilla (Gojira) is as a force of nature.
Many, many, many kudos for watching the original and not the made-for-America remake. I really like Raymond Burr, don't get me wrong. The original is how is was meant to be seen.
I must have watched the Americanized version of this 100 times as a kid, at that time I had no idea it wasn't the original.
Great reaction as always. I look at Godzilla film origins in 2 ways. The nuclear testing origin and the Gaia theory, protector of the earth origin. Both are cool and both have their serious messages underneath all the awesomeness that is Godzilla.
Godzilla was the first monster to be made out of a suit because stop motion didn't look good and that's why many monster movies were made with puppets or suits.
Creature From the Black Lagoon was made the same year (54) and THAT had a SUIT monster too.
Great movie. This was the begining of the Atomic Horror genre of the 60's and 70's. Thoe Godzilla movies that followed were more fun than horror. Godzilla became a hero, even settled down and had a child. some of them are worth watching
Actually, Godzilla was the Japanese Film Industries response to the success of the American Monster Film "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms", now a classic, with FXs by the great Ray Harryhausen, the standard setter for movies FX in his day. But the American Film made a lot of money and the Japanese had a unique twist on the tale considering their personal experience with Atomic Power and long cultural ties to Dragons... and so Godzilla was spawned. Now the most recent version, "Godzilla: Minus One", is the Godzilla movie that the Concept has really been waiting for. It's a whole new kind of Godzilla, but still classic Godzilla.
The original 1954 Godzilla film is a serious allegory, but future films got sillier and more juvenile as time went on, giving the franchise a "kids-only" reputation. IMO, only a few films have successfully returned to the more mature narrative style of the first film: Godzilla (2014, Legendary Films), Shin Godzilla (2016, Toho Co.), and Godzilla Minus One (2023, Toho Co.). All of them are worth watching, with Legendary's 2014 movie being a particular favorite of mine. The Legendary Films "Monster-verse" does start to turn a bit campy as the films go on, but not nearly to the degree that the (Japanese) Godzilla movies of the 1960s-1990s did, and they are all a rousing good time.
It’s amazing what they did with practical effects from 70 years ago. Welcome to the Godzilla franchise. 🦖
Cassie's photos before each movie viewing looks so young and amazing that it makes you smile or sad. She has a knack of her photos on each movie. Way to go Mrs. Cassie!!! 😊😊😊😊
YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!!! I NEVER THOUGHT YOU WOULD! LET'S GOOOOOO!!!!
1954 Godzilla is anti nuclear film, which the US military dropped A-bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to end WWII with Japan. There is an American version of this film which is dubbed in English, and American actor Raymond Burr was added into the film. He played the role of an American reporter. This version was to attract American audiences into the theaters. But the original Japanese version is the best one. And of course this is the best Godzilla film compared to the ones that were made in the 1960s, and many more were filmed with other different prehistoric monsters during the 1960s as well in Japan. I enjoyed your reaction to the original Japanese 1954 film of Godzilla.
This movie came out only 9 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by American atomic bombs.
This original Japanese version of Godzilla was a trope against nuclear weapons.
The Americanized version had segments spliced in featuring Raymond Burr as an American journalist reporting on the destruction caused by Godzilla.
I feel like she would enjoy heisei era (Godzilla 84-Godzilla vs destroyah) it’s one continuous storyline with great characters and stories with a great mix of realism and fantasy
I truly do hope that she enjoys this film, and doesn't just stop with this one, because there are so many good Godzilla films... I'm a big fan of the Heisei series: Godzilla 1984, Godzilla vs Biollante, Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla, and Godzilla vs Destoroyah
The nineteen eighty four soft reboot is the second best in the series.It's better than minus one, and it's better than shin.
@@Hendrikvandd Godzilla 1985 was the first Godzilla film I saw as a child. My dad had come home from Blockbuster Video, he held the VHS tape in his hand, he made a big bowl of popcorn, We both sat on the couch, and watched the movie together. From that moment on, I was hooked.
I love all eras, but Heisei and Millennium are my two favorite eras.
@@Hendrikvandd eh idk about that
As long as she skips the one with Matthew Broderick.
Thank you for doing this. Iv always wanted to see the OG asian Godzilla. I can now respect the cannon elements that have stood the test of time, this a good movie
If you have a chance, dive into the history and significance of this film. This was released not even ten years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the consequences were still being revealed. There were also the H- bomb tests from 1946 thru 1958 and a Japanese fishing vessel was caught in the nuclear fallout and the men suffered horribly.
A cathartic film for the Japanese people and one of the first expressions of the horrors of the nuclear age from the only nation to have experienced it.
I want to hear Cassie speak of herself in the third person. That would be hilarious! "Cassie's gonna watch herself some Godzilla." "Ohh, Cassie doesn't like that." "CASSIE'S GETTIN' UPSET!!"
Cassie is watching the original Godzilla?!!!! You go girl!
So glad you started at the 1954 Godzilla! Very nostalgic, it makes me feel like a young kid again! And that Godzilla roar is movie magic music to my ears! I have always loved Godzilla movies! Can't wait for you to watch Godzilla Minus One! Thanks for sharing Cassie PiB 🍿
Most younger people today can’t appreciate these classics since they’re so used to goofy super hero movies filled with CGI. Now you should do King Kong, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy.
As a gen Z I really love this stuff I have educated myself on these old monster films cause I love the big attraction approach to movies it’s so fun this is a movie I definitely want to see down the line it’s incredible how they did it and Hauro Nakajima was a trooper for staying in that suit for more films.
It is not a coincidence that Godzilla an Seven Samurai both came out in 1954. It was due to the fact that the US Military stopped censoring Japanese media at in 1953. 1954 was the first chance Japanese movie makers where free to make the movies the wanted too. It is why two of the greatest movies ever made came out in the same year in Japan
HI, Cassie, this may seem like a fun, silly monster movie, but originally there was a serious undertone underneath it. Godzilla the character was intended to be a metaphor for the horrors of nuclear war. The Japanese of course, knew better than anyone else how horrible nuclear war could be, having experienced the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla's atomic breath was meant to represent a nuclear detonation. Wait until you see Godzilla Minus one, which is really excellent, and makes Godzilla truly terrifying again, not a lovable monster like he eventually became in the later films in this series. His atomic breath in that film is truly terrifying, I look forward to your reaction to the film.
Before this showed in America which was like 2 or 3 years later. Raymond Burr was added as an American reporter.
As soon as she mentioned “When did ‘Seven Samurai’ come out?” I am now even more waiting to see if she will recognize the mutual actors (especially Kambei (Takeshi Shimura))! 🤞🏼
As a Gojira fan of almost 40 years, I remember when one's introduction Stateside (and presumably elsewhere outside Japan) was very likely catching him on a featured weekend movie on a local station, edited with English dubbing (as in the case of videotapes as well). If memory serves, the unedited original only appeared in the US for the 50th anniversary in 2004.
For many years, again in a "Western" context, "Japanese monster movies" were laughed at for being "cheesy." And for Godzilla, one could see why, certainly for the movies that appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Toho slashed budgets for movies featuring the big guy. But if you decide to see more of the Toho films, the movies typically have a fun element that balances with more serious elements to varying degrees... kind of like the James Bond movies, really. And the special effects are pretty good for the time (certainly compared with many American movies), with some miniatures looking almost lifelike through both attention to detail and thoughtful camerawork.
But this one... the original... for anyone who has in mind whatever "cheesy" Godzilla movies they happened to catch, and then dismissed them as such, it's quite a jolt to see the difference in tone of the original Gojira. Not even a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it has the nuclear bomb allegory, as well as the ethical dilemmas faced by the main characters and the human-scale consequences of Gojira's destruction. (The shot of the mother with her children as he approaches is particularly poignant, along with the TV broadcast of the chorus of girls that gives Serizawa a change of heart.) It's pretty somber in relation to the more "fun" conceptualizations held by the broader public.
So I'm glad that this was your first watch, which would have been rare (if not impossible) in this part of the world years ago. Godzilla Minus One is certainly a worthy tribute to the almost 70 years of this series's existence, and a return to form informed by more contemporary sensibilities and technology, on a much smaller budget than many American blockbusters.
As time allows, I do hope you end up watching some of his other movies, just to see how he has changed over the years! And the same for his friends and / or enemies, some of whom started out in their own standalone movies...
Yea, GZ is radioactive here. THAT's why he's got that black color and weird crusty scabrous texture - because he's supposed to have been BURNT. And it could also account for his enormous size.
The original Godzilla 1954 is basically a warning against atomic warfare, in the form of a monster. It is truly a masterpiece. When it came over tinthe states they edited and put in Raymond Burr for American audiences. Godzilla wasnt evil here. They do have him as sort of a villian in later movies as well as a hero. He battles other Kaiju(monsters). Mothra has been both ally and enemy to Godzilla. She is considered Queen of the monsters and basically good. Rodan starts off with his own movie then appears in Godzilla movies as both ally and enemy. Godzillas main foe is Ghidorah the 3-headed space monster also called Monster Zero. I hope you consider these movies in the future. They really are fun 😊
This first Godzilla was a direct metaphor for nuclear war, and so was definitely a villain. Later movies switch back and forth, but he started as a true monster.
The only thing we haven't seen, aside from non-extensive exposition flashbacks in the Netflix animated movies, is a truly malevolent Godzilla, actively trying to destroy humanity. I just want at least one movie like that.
@@JakkFrost1 that'd be Shin Godzilla
@@blackfox4138 nah, he was highly destructive in self-defense, but not truly malevolent.
@@JakkFrost1 He looked pretty malevolent here, and in Minus One
@@alexkaen1701 malevolent means actively wishing to do evil on others, which neither SG nor G-1 were. They were neither malevolent nor benevolent, they were merely animals reacting to their environment.
G-1 came a little closer to seeming malevolence, but it really was more like a territorial animal clearing out its turf of perceived enemies.
As for here, he was really no more malevolent than a hurricane or an earthquake. He could have unexisted FAR more people if that was truly his intention.
It wouldn't hurt to also watch Shin Godzilla, as well as the American made Godzilla from 2014, which imo is the only MonsterVerse movie that kept closer to real gravitas, while later ones become more and more like video games. They're not necessary, I'm just saying they wouldn't hurt, and you'd get to see 4 distinct incarnations of Godzilla.
Ishiro Honda directed many other films aside from his Godzilla/Kaiju entries for Toho. He was a very passive individual before participating in WW2, and that experience only cemented his beliefs. Thus, he always tried to focus on the characters' emotions in his films. Minus One truly captures this element, something 90% of *all* other Godzilla movies lack.
I honestly find all the movies made by japanese directors in this period to be more mature and thoughtful than the ones made by american directors. After all, what americans seem to learn is that war is good, because they won them. The japanese have a decidedly different outlook.
They weren't setting up a sequel with the professor's closing lines. Those lines are advocating against nuclear weapons testing. Post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Godzilla is an anti-nuclear weapons testing movie.
I cannot appreciate you watching this more. This film is a real tearjerker towards the end, and it has a somber coldness to it that makes it more than just a monster movie. A classic to behold.
The ORIGINAL and the BEST! I'll always take it over any of the subsequent GZ flicks - either those silly kiddie-oriented "Vrs" flicks or some overblown post-2000 Hollywood cgi orgy.
When I was a little kid, 4-5 years old, I watched these movies in complete AWE because of what I was seeing! 2 giant monsters fighting each other! AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Godzilla is one of the top films of all time for its subject matter. Its an anti war film that personifies the insanity of man as a monster that has reached an uncontrollable level.
It's an ancient creature (our phych) rising from the depths (our soul) and just destroys. His steps sound like approaching bombs, his skin mimics radiation burns, his very head a mushroom cloud.
Hes only destroyed by a repented man, responding to a prayer for peace, who has gone into the depths and faces our demon face to face.
Its a masterpiece of symbolism and an anti war film that pins the problem of war on all of us as a race, rather than an evil that happens to us.
It took me years later, after watching as a child of nuclear propaganda, to realize this. I’m sure the Japanese children of the bomb needed no hindsight. While being a part of the series of movies it also stands out separately among them. Others may have societal messages contained within them but none as powerful as the original. Maybe Godzilla vs. Hedorah with its screed against pollution. But it was not as well made and added comical scenes brought down the seriousness of the subject matter.
@darryndifrancesco8346 the original Rodan is another quality film with a symbolic weight. The film is about the threat of Soviet supersonic bombers and infiltration. Being an issue of the time only and not a deep human introspective, its not as impact full (but I also find it the creepiest toho monster film....)
The nuke bomb aspect of the original is solidly there in the original Gorjia but the message of war itself being THE human flaw is the message. Godzillas attack on Tokyo is reminiscent of the fire bombing and looks nothing like a nuke bombing. His footsteps sounding like approaching conventional bombs is so haunting. Just a masterpiece
To talk about some things, No, Godzilla isn't evil, not in THIS film anyway.
He's an animal in pain after being burned, mutated and displaced by Nuclear weapons, he's confused and reacting badly to being in a world he doesn't belong in anymore. This is even shown in two parts of this film too, where the 'rampage' stops as Godzilla looks in on an aviary (Probably curious and confused, big guy has probably never seen birds up close like this before!) and when he 'barks' back at a clock tower, like he's confusing it for another creature like himself and confusing the chiming for it communicating before he knocks it over.
It's something I think helped to add to Godzilla's longevity as Godzilla wasn't just a mindless rampaging 'thing' he was a victim too. There's sympathy for the monster, his skin was even designed to look like keloid scars, this film hit on a buried raw nerve about Hiroshima and Nagisaki, but also heavily (which the very first scene of the movie referenced) what happened to the "Daigo Fukuryū Maru" fishing boat. Everyone is a victim, including Godzilla, in this film because quite frankly there are no 'winners' when nukes are involved, I have the novelisation of this film which runs closer to an older script of the film (and imo is a bit 'eh' in comparison) but quite accurately in the front pages of that book it states to effect of "Godzilla and the destruction he causes can't exist, but nukes do and through their use we may well find our end as a species".
Godzilla *often* isn't evil.
Look up the full quote "Monsters are tragic beings" by Ishirō Honda, who directed and co-wrote this film and went on to do many a kaiju film with Toho as well, as it explains a bit more of the 'vibe'.
About the Emiko, Ogata and Serizawa deal. Emiko loves Ogata, but she was planned to be married to Serizawa but she views him as a brother figure rather than a more 'romantic' figure. She did love him, but platonically. Serizawa knew this and probably viewed Emiko the same way as he is more than happy to see her be with someone who truly makes her happy.
Fun fact about the eyes of the Godzilla suit! They were permanently angled downwards to give the impression Godzilla was always looking down at things. This was done to add to the 'scale' to make it seem he was so huge he had to be looking down to see anything! Though with modern buildings and how tall we build now, this Godzilla would be tiiiiiiny in comparison!.
As a Godzilla fanatic. I could give you every fact and info you need if any questions. I grew up with this film and all the eras along with it. Toho Godzilla will always surprise any thing the USA will come up with. I love this film.
Much love to you and your family.
Such a iconic movie and a fantastic start to the toho kaiju franchise.
Now, THAT would have really amped up the drama in this and every Godzilla movie!--continuing the island tradition of sacrificing a virgin to make Godzilla go away. And when Mothra appears, the opposite gender could be sacrified. But especially this original movie, where so much is hinted at but not shown forever. Some human sacrifices would have kept the story moving.
Most audiences in English-speaking countries didn’t see the original film. A re-edit was made with Raymond Burr added in as a new character-a North American journalist covering the crisis for a new agency. It changed the messaging and the storyline of the film significantly. Like it or not, that was the version that launched the Godzilla phenomenon in the West. (Though the original was huge in Japan and hugely influential there too).
For watching minus one, I recommend tissues and Carly’s company.
Maybe because I grew up with it, but I must be the only one that likes the Raymond Burr version better than the original
@@SJHFoto You keep giving it love! I know lots of people who prefer it. I personally love the Raymond Burr edit, and think it is underrated and unfairly dismissed. But I do think the all-Japanese original is a better-and much more profound-film.
I started watching Godzilla in the early seventies when I was just a little kid.
And I've never stopped watching Gojira.
Me too!
This is a good one but they get better!!!
One of my favorite episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster.
First time watching Gojira I see :) love this movie
Prepare to be emotionally wrecked. After this, I highly suggest you watch the original King Kong (1933) at some point.
Edit: Well, you started at exactly the right place, Cassie. You will find that most of the franchise afterwards portrays Godzilla as a hero or just another monster fighting other monsters. But this is what Godzilla represented in the first place. Only a few other films in the franchise attempted to be like the original.
The important point is that most Godzilla films are entertainment (some are still quite good). This original film is pure horror.
If you only cover a handful, here's what I'd recommend:
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Terror of Mechagodzilla (1974)
The Return of Godzilla (1984)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Shin Godzilla (2016)
That will wreck her even more ;)
Everyone has their opinion, of course, but I think the 1970s King Kong is better.
And let's not forget about "Godzilla Minus One"
Overwhelming for sure
GMK baby!
The brought this back to the movie theaters for the 65 year anniversary, and I took a boy of 11 to see this movie, explaining how I loved "Godzilla" as a child on T.V. seeing this movie, but that I'd never seen it in the theater and I wanted to see it with him. When he was 5 years old I gave him my two foot tall Godzilla with a fist you could shoot by pushing a button and bring fake fire out of his mouth with a lever on the back of his neck. I also gave the kid all my Star Wars toys to play with, though his older brother with autism and 14 years old picked up my Millenium Falcon and threw it across the room and it shattered into pieces on the very first day. I'm sure it was worth hundreds of dollars in good condition. Yet this boy truly was my favorite boy in the world. He deserved all those toys to play with.
When he got to be a teenager he gave me a card once for my birthday and I opened it and read it with bewilderment. It was a card a mother gives to her daughter saying how much she loves her daughter. I read it and suddenly it hit me that this card had the words that he felt described how he felt having me at his house from the time he was 3 years old till he was a teenager during the summer 5 or 6 days a week and during the school year 3 or 4 days a week to help the family out with autism problems and it hit me hard. Nearly cried.
I still remember taking him out to every fast food restaurant in town only to unload all of it at a table in Taco Bell to eat it all and we bragged to his two older brothers and sister and parents about it. The craziest was I got his mother to put a swim cap on her head and whip cream all over where he hair would be and this little guy at 4 years old was throwing cheetoes at his mom's head like the war depended on him geting as many cheetoes on her head as fast as possible like she was a Nazi and he had the cheese flavored grenades to end the war.
Good times. I took the autistic kid to see "Godzilla vs. King Kong" and the first time Josh cried for King Kong and the second time he caught me looking at him getting sad, but by the third time we watched that movie the older brother with autism knew I liked Godzilla and he was smiling as I watched Godzilla kick King Kong's ass as if finally for the first time in his life he was watching me and happy that I was happy even if his buddy King Kong was gonna lose.
Awesome reaction of my favorite Godzilla movie!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊