Godzilla is a famous monster motion picture. The original Godzilla film, Gojira, was made in Japan and released in 1954. An American version of the film, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, was released in 1956. The film’s giant, dinosaurlike monster is one of the most recognizable characters in popular culture.
The prehistoric creature, called Godzilla (Gojira in the Japanese film), is awakened from undersea hibernation off the coast of Japan during atomic-bomb testing. The radiation from the tests causes the creature to mutate into a deadly fire-breathing monster. Godzilla goes on a destructive rampage through Tokyo. Conventional weapons are useless against the monster. A scientist named Dr. Serizawa develops a secret weapon, as powerful as the atomic bomb, that could destroy Godzilla. But he hesitates to use it, fearing the weapon will fall into the wrong hands. Eventually, Serizawa dives into Tokyo Bay to meet the monster. He releases the weapon and destroys himself and Godzilla.
The original Japanese film is noted for its antiwar, antinuclear message. The Japanese film was released less than a decade after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II (1939-1945). Many critics believed that the monster represented the horrors of the atomic bomb.
Gojira was directed by Ishiro Honda. The American version was directed by Terry O. Morse. It is dubbed in English and stars the American actor Raymond Burr as Steve Martin, an American reporter who is an old friend of Serizawa. Martin tells the story of the creature in flashbacks. The American sequences were intercut with the Japanese film, and some parts of the Japanese film were dropped from the American film.
Although Godzilla’s special effects were unsophisticated for its time, the film created a sensation. There have been many Godzilla sequel films, during which the monster’s appearance, powers, and personality changed and developed. In some films, Godzilla is represented as a heroic character who tries to save Earth. In other films, the monster is presented in a playful or humorous way. Many of the sequels feature unusual creatures that battle Godzilla or join forces with the monster. Some of the most famous sequels include King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), in which Godzilla battles the famous giant ape; Godzilla vs. Mothra or Godzilla vs. the Thing (1964), in which Godzilla fights a giant moth; and Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1965), in which Godzilla joins forces with Mothra and Rodan, a radioactive pterosaurlike creature, to battle Ghidrah, a three-headed dragon.
Later movies about the popular monster include Godzilla 1985 (1985), Godzilla (1998), Godzilla 2000 (1999), Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). In the 2014 film, Godzilla fights against giant, parasitic monsters called M.U.T.O.’s _(M_assive _U_nidentified _T_errestrial _O_rganisms) that feed on radiation.
