The Wonderful World of Godzilla

My first exposure to Godzilla is directly linked to the family’s first VCR; in 1985 my dad finally broke down, drove the family to Sears, and bought a VCR for the THEN low price of $400. It served its function rather usefully and lasted well into the 90s.  Well, owning a VCR is pointless if you don’t have anything to watch on it, so the next day the old man drove to K-Mart (this was before the coming of Wal-Mart) and picked up a few video cassettes, one of which was Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.  He bought if for two reasons:

1)      He was a fan of old monster films, especially 50s sci-fi like Them and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

2)      It was a relatively cheap video. This provides some context; it was relative cheap for 1985.  When most videos by major labels (MGM, Fox, etc.) ran anywhere from $14.99 to $39.99, my dad got these for the reasonably low price of $9.99. Of course, there was a reason for that: these videos were of extremely poor quality. The print of Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (which I still have) was especially poor, as the pan and scanning was inept, while the picture and audio were subpar.

However, at the age of six I was not aware of such things and the video’s cover (a drawing of a Giant Dinosaur and Giant Lobster duking it out in the ocean) drew my interest and I anxiously inserted the video in the VCR, not knowing what to expect. I was completely enamored! It was like nothing I had ever seen before; not only was a giant dinosaur and lobster in it, but a giant Moth as well. On top of that, none of the characters voices matched their lips! It was a truly, life changing moment. I have been hooked ever since.  As the months progressed (and to my utter joy) my dad picked up even more Godzilla titles:  Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster(the video title is spelled Ghidrah, but was later corrected for DVD) , Godzilla vs. Megalon, King Kong vs. Godzilla, as well as Mothra and Rodan. My favorite film out of the bunch was (and still is) Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, mainly because it had four very cool monsters in it, especially three headed space monster Ghidorah.  As soon I was given an allowance, I would save up my money and spend it on whatever Godzilla film was available. This was during the time when owning the money was enough; nowadays people tend to be disappointed if the DVD isn’t loaded with special features.  How many times are you going to watch a making of featurette anyways?

Coincidentally, the local station channel 18 (or Super 18) would often air Godzilla movies on Saturday afternoon (as opposed to infomercials). I would often to check the local listings to see if a Godzilla movie was playing and if there was I would drop anything I was doing, fire up the VCR, and watch with utter amazement at the latest Godzilla masterpiece that was unfolding in front of my eyes. I recorded not one, but two Godzilla films on the very same VHS tape: Godzilla vs. The Monster Zero (aka: Invasion of the Astro Monster) and The Terror of MechaGodzilla.  I watched these films over and over again that I finally wore out the VHS cassette. That’s how much I loved these films!

The Lincoln Elementary School library actually had a book about Godzilla (as well as other famous screen monsters) that I would check out on a repeated basis. It may have been my favorite book at the age of six.  There’s a photo in the book that stills stands out in my mind, it’s of Eiji Tsuburaya on the set, directing the actor (Haruo Nakajima) in the Godzilla costume. The book itself was more or less about this history of Godzilla (up until 1985) and was filled with black and white photos.

The most surprising thing about Godzilla is just how well the whole “actor in the suit” works. The experience I have with Godzilla films is that at first glance the suit elicits a few laughs, but as the film progresses, the audience starts to think of Godzilla as less as “an actor in the suit” and more as an actual character in the movie. The same applies to the original King Kong, the special effect is crude, but you eventually learn to accept Kong as a character.  There have been many CGI spectacles of the last decades, but most them have been forgotten, whereas Godzilla is just as popular now, if not more so, than he was nearly sixty years ago when he made his screen debut. What make Godzilla so unique is the way he has evolved throughout the course of the decade; in the 50s he was a physical manifestation of the atomic bomb, in the 60s he went from being a unintentional villain to a defender of the planet Earth, and by the 70s he had mellowed to the point that he became a beloved figure amongst the people of earth. Godzilla went through many face lifts and personality changes, but the one consistent was that he was an unstoppable force of nature and was not something to trifle with. It didn’t matter what obstacles were thrown his way, be they giant cockroaches, MechaGodzillas, or literally a giant, walking pile of shit, because at the end of the day Godzilla would be the triumphant one. These villains would give him their best shot, but it was never good enough.  Godzilla is on par with Doctor Who in that he has been given many face lifts and personality changes, yet there are enough consistencies in the character to believe that one is the continuation of the other.

Many Godzilla fans tend to look down at the “kid friendly” Godzilla films of the late 60s and 70s, because they view it as a complete bastardization of the character. However, the “serious” Godzilla and the “kid friendly” Godzilla are not at odds as most fans would have you believe. In the original Godzilla was not only a physical manifestation of the nuclear bomb, but a victim of mankind’s reckless ambition as well. He wasn’t so much a villain as he was a lost soul doomed to wander the Earth. Unfortunately, he is extremely big and tends to level cities while doing his wandering. This point is apparent in Mothra vs. Godzilla where Godzilla’s destruction is depicted as being more incidental than willful; at one point in the film he stumbles on a cityscape and knocks over a tower in the process. In the later films of the 60s, Godzilla is not as big of a threat to mankind, but he’s not necessarily its ally either. He’s not so much as protecting mankind as he is defending his own territory from intruders. Often, like in Son of Godzilla, he is completely indifferent to the plight of the human protagonists and if he does save them, it usually in an indirect manner.  In Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, he proves as much a threat to the heroes as he does a savior; he destroys the giant lobster Ebirah and the villain’s base, but he nearly endangers the heroes escape from the island when he tries to engage Mothra in a battle. Luckily for the heroes (who are being carried by Mothra in a basket) Mothra flies by Godzilla unscathed and deliver them to safety.  If Godzilla chooses to team up with mankind, then it’s usually because it’s in his best interest to do so, not because he’s a benevolent savior.

The other complaint is how the later films became infected with camp humor, for instance in Invasion of the Astro Monster, Godzilla does a little jig after defeating Ghidorah on Planet X. Or most famously, he uses his radioactive breath as a rocket and takes off flying so he can catch the fleeing Hedorah in Godzilla vs. Hedorah. They claim these kinds of actions are out of character for Godzilla.  This certainly applies to the Godzilla of the 50s. If there was a scene in the original Godzilla in which he stopped his rampaging and proceeded to do a jig, it would definitely lead to a lot of head scratching from the audience. 

However, these silly moments are definitely within the spirit of the Toho films produced in the 60s and 70s. The original Godzilla is grounded in reality, its set in the real world…OUR WORLD…where the threat of nuclear war is very much a reality. It has a very stark, often documentary look to it, especially the scenes that show the aftermath of Godzilla’s attack on Tokyo, these are scenes that could have easily been lifted out of newsreel footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla’s rampage is depicted in a very realistic, uncompromising manner; we see countless civilians killed onscreen. In one memorable moment, we are shown a shot of a young mother cradling her two children and comforting them by saying, “Soon we’ll be reunited with dad,” implying that their father was a victim of World War II. The original Godzilla was made just nine years after the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so it’s given that the citizens of Japan both in real life and the movies were still haunted by the bombings and the war in general. There’s a brief scene in a subway where a computer groans about having to take refuge in a shelter again, referencing America’s firebombing of Japan towards the end of the war.

The original Godzilla is ingrained in reality, whereas the countless sequels are fantasies set in a world where the appearance of a giant monster is an everyday occurrence, rather than a world shattering event.  The original Godzilla had no clear cut villain, while in the sequels the antagonists wear their villainy on their sleeves. In Invasion of the Astro Monster, we know the inhabitants of Planet X are evil, thanks to a not so subtle shot of them laughing as astronauts Glenn and Fuji take off. In the original Godzilla we are shown countless civilian casualties as Godzilla rampages through the city; in the sequels no innocent civilian ever seems to get harmed.  The only onscreen deaths we are shown are the villains getting their come up pence.  In Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, Ghidorah starts an avalanche by shooting bolt of lightning from his mouth, which in turn crushes the car that happens to be carrying the film’s villains. In Mothra vs. Godzilla, the greedy Torahata is crushed to death by falling debris, caused by the smash of Godzilla’s tail against the hotel he happens to be staying in. The protagonists are either out of harm’s way, or they survive the ordeal with only a few scratches.

It is often claim that Godzilla’s foray into camp is what killed the original series; however, I think this can be more attributed to changing tides in cinema.  The 1970s saw the rise of the blockbuster and the multiplex, while many drive ins (Godzilla primary audience) were being closed down. Secondly, with the release of Jaws and then Star Wars, Americans (and world audiences) expected much more sophistication out of their special effects that the Godzilla films could never hope to offer.  The fact is that even if the Godzilla films of the 70s were played in a straight manner, they still didn’t stand a chance against the big budget juggernauts that were dominating the cinemas.  After the 70s, only two Godzilla film would be released in American theatrically, Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla 2000, the rest would be released direct to video. 

I think the best way to come to grips with the Godzilla series is by thinking of the first film as a standalone film and the other films, not as sequels, but as spin offs. This isn’t entirely off base, considering that Godzilla was killed off at the end of the original film. The second film, Godzilla Raids Again, was made to cash in on the success of the first film.  It introduced a new Godzilla, as well as Anguirus, who despite having a back covered in spikes was rather inefficient in battle.
It’s the Godzilla in this film that would continue to wreak havoc on Japan (and New York in Destroy All Monsters) for the next forty years.

The five things this film have in common (other than Godzilla) is that they were directed by Ishiro Honda, who was easily the best director in the series.  Honda’s films are interesting, because they usually have an emotional center to them. As a kid, I often fast forwarded through the human scenes and went straight to the great monster brawls that were scattered throughout the film, but as an adult, I tend to find the human scenes more interesting than any of Godzilla’s antics.  A theme that emerges in Honda’s Godzilla films is mankind duty to one another; that mankind must overcome their petty squabbles and work towards building a more peaceful world. There is scene in Mothra vs. Godzilla, in which the three protagonists (reporter Ichiro, photographer Junko, and Professor Miura) are sent to Infant Island to persuade the habitants to let Mothra fight Godzilla. They are met with great hostility by the natives, who view Godzilla’s destruction of Japan as the will of God. The protagonists are about ready to call it quits, when Junko stops forward and pleads for the natives to change their mind:

Please listen, we all understand. But do not blame every one of us of what has happened. The monster is killing everyone. The good are being killed, as well as the evil. Are you going to let innocent men die alongside guilty men? You have no right to decide that, that right is sacred. My friends and I appeal to you with the utmost humility. Our people are unable to stop Godzilla. We truly like to help you, but we need your help first. Refuse us then, and everyone will die!

Then Ichiro chides in with:

Just as you distrust as, then we distrust others we well. What's wrong? We're all human. As humans we are responsible for each other, we're related. Refuse us then you'll abandon your brothers. We must learn to help each other. 

Despite its preaching, it’s a surprisingly effective scene, especially in the Japanese version where the acting is far more restrained, as opposed to the over-the-top dubbing in the American version. In Ghidorah, the Three Head Monster this theme gets extended to the monster as well, when Mothra tries to persuade Rodan and Godzilla to stop their petty fighting and join forces, so they can stop Ghidorah from destroying the Earth.  Godzilla and Rodan are reluctant at first, but eventually put aside their differences and fight Ghidorah.

Ishiro Honda’s films are always worth a look, because not only are they interesting thematically, but absolutely beautiful to look at. His Godzilla films of the 60s are filled with colorful sets, beautiful cinematography, and wonderfully detailed models, but most importantly you often cared about the characters that populated his films.  He’s probably the only Godzilla director that gave his characters little moments that endured them to the audience (e.g. Shindo and Naoka teasing each other at the dinner table). They don’t necessarily advance the storyline, but it helps make the characters more relatable to the audience.

The most surprising (and most overlooked) aspect of Godzilla films is the role women play in them; they are often the driving force in the story or played a pivotal role in the saving the world. My favorite “Godzilla” actress is Yuriko Hoshi, who played Junko in Mothra vs. Godzilla and the journalist Naoko in Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster. The thing I like about her characters in both films is that despite getting involved in extraordinary circumstances, they always remain calm, even in the face of danger.  Junko is given a nice character arc from being a slightly inept assistant to being the voice of reason at the film’s most pivotal moment, and Hoshi sells this nicely by never overselling her role. It’s nice restrained performance that is at odds with the goofy voice assigned to her character in the dubbed American version. In Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, Naoko proves to be a most competent journalist, who’s able to locate Princess Salno before her brother Shindo, who’s a detective. 

In Terror of MechaGodzilla, the story is driven by the cyborg Katsura, who is torn between her loyalty to her mad scientist dad (Dr. Mafune) and her love for marine biologist Ichinose, who offers her a world of love and hope. In the end, Katsura sacrifices herself for the greater good of humanity. Earlier, in the film it is revealed she died in a lab accident but was brought back to the life by the advanced technology of an alien race. Later in the film, she is killed again and is once again given life by the alien’s technology, but with a catch, they have placed MechaGodzilla’s controls inside Katsura’s body. In the end, while Ichinose is cradling her in his arms, assuring her that everything will be alright, she takes shoots herself with an alien gun, which severs the power to MechaGodzilla. Oddly, enough this pivotal scene was actually cut from the video release of Terror of MechaGodzilla. In this version, we see Ichinose comforting Katsura and then it abruptly cuts to Godzilla taking out MechaGodzilla.  This is a pivotal part of the film and Katsura’s character arc, yet the America distributors felt the film could do without it; hence it ends in a jarring, nonsensical manner.

My favorite female in the series is Tomoko in Godzilla vs. Gigan; it’s easily one of the worst films in the Godzilla series, but it’s worth seeing just for the interaction between Tomoko and the film’s protagonist Gengo, a comic book artist. Essentially, their relationship boils down to this: he’s the brains of the operation and she is the muscle. It is established early on that she has a black belt in karate and we get to see her use these skills throughout the course of the film, in one scene she beats the crap out of two guards who are about to kill a scientist they have taken prisoners. My favorite bit in the film is when Gengo and Tomoko are running up a flight of stairs; Gengo runs out of breath and collapses, saying, “I can’t go on.” Tomoko grabs him and then shames him by asking, “Are you a man?”  It’s certainly one of the more enjoyable aspects in this otherwise dreadful film.

Godzilla films are ridiculous, WONDERFULLY RIDICULOUS, pieces of cinema. They entertain on many different levels:  some people might laugh at the bad dubbing and the guy in the rubber suit, while others might enjoy the story that is being told and genuinely like the characters onscreen.  However, this most often misunderstood aspect of special effects is that, “they are supposed to be realistic.” The function of special effects is to advance the storyline and people may laugh at the “man in the subber suit” gimmick, but it has been effective enough to spawn a pop culture phenomenon that has lasted nearly sixty years.  The America remake of  Godzilla had superior effects, but is essentially just another mediocre summer blockbuster, indistinguishable from the rest, whereas the old Godzilla films are hard to forget.