Godzilla (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

One of my all-time favorite monster movies. Most people know this classic story, especially since the basic plot is very similar to several other 50's-era monster movies. Atomic testing in the south pacific resurrects a hibernating prehistoric dinosaur, mutating it into a horrific nuclear-powered engine of destruction who then rises from the depths to unleash his terrible vengeance on the nearest land mass: Japan. An eccentric scientist has created a device that might be capable of destroying the beast, but he fears his invention might be more deadly than the monster itself. Will he build the device and use it to stop Godzilla or will he destroy the blueprints? What would YOU do? And even if he builds the device... will it work?There's a reason why GOJIRA is listed by Japanese film critics as one of the top five greatest motion pictures ever made in Japan. It's unashamed anti-nuclear message is laid bare to see if you're paying attention and resonates so much more powerfully when you consider that the country which made the film had just become the first peoples on earth to survive a direct nuclear attack less than a decode before. With that said it also manages to be a gripping, rousingly intense horror-adventure film as well. This film is POWERFUL and its raw, semi-documentary style really helps underscore the seriousness of its subject matter. The U.S. version is a little more watered down, but the visuals are still strong stuff. You rarely, if ever, saw the aftermath of creature attacks in US-made monster flicks. In those movies the Hero vanquishes the monster, wins The Girl, saves the day and then stands basking in glow of triumphant victory as the final credits roll. Here in stark contrast, the nation's capitol city has been burned to the ground. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, are either dead or dying, with untold more buried beneath the scorched rubble. Even for the survivors there is no clear-cut cause for celebration, since they themselves may soon succumb to a slow, torturous death from radiation poisoning due to being too close to Godzilla during his rampage. At this film's end, only the self-sacrifice of a tortured anti-hero has narrowly wrestled victory from the jaws of defeat, while the remaining members of the cast are left to mourn the noble scientist, some saluting, some crying their eyes out. Whew! That's pretty potent stuff for a "kiddie monster movie."Somber-voiced Raymond Burr stars as determined United World News reporter Steve Martin, in one of his first heroic film roles. The infamously 'Americanized' version of the film removes 20 minutes of original footage, substituting newly-shot scenes which turn Burr into the de facto lead of the picture. It's quite cleverly done and holds up pretty well considering the rushed schedule and miniscule budget. American footage director Terry Morse cranked out a lot of product in his career and turned in another solid effort here, quickly getting all the needed shots, (allegedly filmed in anywhere from one day to a week, depending on who you ask), to blend Burr into the Japanese footage fairly seamlessly. Burr was the PERFECT choice for the part. His voice-over narration contains some of the most iconic lines ever put on film and is one of the reasons this version has gone on to become a bona fide classic of the genre. Prior to this Burr had predominantly played heavies in film, and it was his portrayal of the doggedly determined reporter that helped him transition into 'good guy' roles and, according to Burr himself, helped him land the role with which he is most famously associated: championing TV lawyer Perry Mason.Those movie viewers accustomed to rapid-fire editing styles and hyper-realistic CGI effects may have a tough time sticking with the film's slow pacing and the long stretches where the title monster isn't stomping across the screen. They may also laugh at the primitive visual effects, but more's the pity for them. Personally I love this film. It's powerful, gripping, emotionally draining at times, and great (if extremely somber) entertainment, and of course it launched one of the longest-running franchises in movie history. Godzilla himself has gone on to become one of the most widely-recognized pop culture icons on Earth. That's a pretty impressive feat for a handful of guys, (producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, director Ishiro Honda, special effects creator Eiji Tsuburaya, and composer Akira Ifukube), who took on the task of creating a movie that was based on another movie (The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms), which was based on a short story (Ray Bradbury's "The Foghorn")! Film composer Akira Ifukube wrote the entire powerfully iconic score for the film in less than a week, without ever having seen a single frame of the film... just the shooting script and a few pieces of concept art(!). He also cleverly created Godzilla's one-of-a-kind, instantly-recognizable signature roar, rubbing a resin-coated leather glove across the loosened stings of a contra bass, with a microphone placed inside. The combined efforts of these gentlemen has gone on to become one of the cornerstone films in the history of science fiction / monster movies.The special effects techniques utilized in this film were more or less made up as they went along. Tsuburaya wanted to create them using stop-motion animation, the same way the effects in his favorite film, KING KONG, had been achieved. But he knew that no one (including himself) was well-versed enough in the technique to do it in a convincing, esthetically pleasing manner, and certainly not in the allotted time they had to get the effect shots in the can in order to meet the film's targeted release date. Instead they constructed intricately-detail miniature landscape & cityscape sets, a technique Tsuburaya had honed in his movie-making years prior to World War II. Then he & his team fabricated a huge suit out of bamboo, wire mesh and layers of rubber. The thing reportedly weighed around 200lbs and only had a handful of pea-sized holes cut into the neck area for Haruo Nakajima, (the stuntman/actor who portrayed big G in his first dozen screen adventures), to see & breath out of. He reportedly lost 10lbs a day inside the stifling costume and had to have it opened every few minutes to allow fresh air in or he risked suffocation. He was cut by the raw edges of bamboo strips used to reinforce the suit and stabbed by internally-exposed sections of wire mesh used to give the rubber shape & mass, but toughed it out to give the world a truly monstrous performance. This man-in-a-suit style helped launch an entire sub-industry and F/X style (suitmation) all their own that is still used to this day.As expected, Criterion treats this classic atomic age monster with the respect it so richly deserves. They report that their master was made from the best possible film elements but, to be brutally honest, it's still not much better-looking than the Sony double-disc release of Gojira/Godzilla from a few years ago. It's a shame that someone hasn't ponied up the dough needed to do a total frame-by-frame restoration, complete with elimination of all print defects/damage. It would be terrific to have the original Japanese version AND the equally iconic American adaption looking like they'd just been filmed yesterday. Perhaps when the next generation of home video media is created (4k?) this can be done. There are some excellent supplements included iwth the film, which features the original full length, unedited Japanese version, w/ subtitles and the Americanized 1956 adaption with Burr. GODZILLA is a 5 STAR film in either version and, all-in-all, this Criterion release is also a 5 STAR recommendation.

The original, 1954 Japanese version of GODZILLA is surely my favorite monster movie ever. Maybe even my favorite movie ever. While most westerners equate Godzilla movies with hokey monsters, model cities, and bad dubbing, the original Japanese film transcends the genre that birthed it, and in its day, transformed that genre into something altogether new and different. Countless words have been written about Godzilla being a metaphor for the nuclear horror Japan experienced at the close of World War II, so I'll not belabor that point. While the U.S. version, with its added footage of Raymond Burr, retained at least a portion of the original's power, the Japanese version may be viewed through the same "serious" lens one would view Japanese classics such as SEVEN SAMURAI, RASHOMON, and IKIRU, and find it in no way wanting. Despite some crudities in its special effects, the film's grimness and documentary-style narrative imbues it with a sense of real-world horror that no other monster film, Japanese or otherwise, has ever achieved. Its limited U.S. theatrical release in the early 2000s received almost unanimous accolades from critics, and in a sense, opened a lot of eyes to a product that most American viewers only thought they knew.The intersecting stories of Emiko Yamane (Momoko Kochi), Ogata (Akira Takarada), and Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata) propel the drama, but Godzilla is the fourth character in this relationship, affecting and influencing the human characters' every decision. Emiko and Serizawa are engaged, their marriage having been arranged when they were young; however, Emiko and Ogata are in love and wish to marry, but both have deep feelings for Serizawa and have no desire to hurt him. Serizawa, in his scientific research, has discovered an unusual energy force with the power to destroy oxygen molecules, and his dilemma is whether to use it against the monster and risk it falling into the hands of politicians -- the one thing he fears more than Godzilla -- or allow Godzilla to trample Japan unimpeded. It's his sense of honor as well as his compassion for Ogata and Emiko that motivate him to make the decision he does.Tangential to the "love triangle" is the character of Dr. Yamane, Emiko's father and Japan's preeminent paleontologist, who fervently opposes the government's position that Godzilla must be destroyed, preferring that the monster be studied for its unique in its ability to survive both untold millions of years as well as massive doses of radiation from hydrogen bomb tests. Yamane is less susceptible than Serizawa to Ogata and Emiko's efforts to convince him that Godzilla must be destroyed, despite his recognition of the fact that Godzilla might inflict upon Japan a nuclear holocaust far worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only toward the end, after Tokyo has been reduced to ashes, does he appear to be reconciled to the destruction of the greatest laboratory sample the world has ever produced.The American version retains the better part of the original plot, but too much of the character development has been edited out to make room for Raymond Burr for the story to come across as more than melodrama. That's not to say the scenes with Raymond Burr, directed by Terry Morse, are totally superfluous; certainly, for American audiences of the day, relatively soon after World War II, having a recognizable American star to participate in the drama, in effect becoming the audience's eyes and ears, served to make the original Japanese story more palatable. While the added scenes are occasionally too obvious -- especially when stand-ins are used for the original Japanese actors -- they are played very straight, and oftentimes blend in surprisingly well. For all its flaws, the Americanization did allow much of the original to remain undubbed, and Burr's scenes occasionally add an additional touch of suspense, such as during the storm when Godzilla first appears on Odo Island.While most American audiences would probably never know the difference, Godzilla's rampage in the original Japanese version is far superior, in that Tokyo has been wonderfully reproduced in miniature, with Godzilla making a logical and accurate progression through the city. To Japanese audiences, the reshuffled scenes must appear quite confusing. Having Godzilla attack at night was a wise move, since the darkness adds immeasurably to the sense of menace and also offers the practical advantage of concealing flaws in the effects. Regardless, Eiji Tsuburaya's work in this film is masterful, particularly when one considers the limited budget, the time constraints, and the fact that it was all new and largely experimental at the time.Akira Ifukube scored the film and also created the ominous sound effects for Godzilla's roar and footsteps. Many of the themes that fans explicitly identify with Godzilla originated in this film, and it's all the more remarkable that Ifukube composed the score without having seen a frame of film. He was instructed to write music for "something big." I believe he succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations.The Criterion Collection DVD release is a true masterpiece. The Japanese and U.S. versions come on two separate discs (single Blu-Ray disc), and each film features a commentary track by noted author/film historian David Kalat. Extra features include interviews with actor Akira Takarada, Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, effects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai, soundtrack composer Akira Ifukube, and film critic Tado Sato. The prints of both versions have been painstakingly restored to near-mint condition, and the soundtracks have never been more impressive. I couldn't give a higher recommendation to the presentation of these films. Some have complained about the art on the packaging, but I find it quite effective, if not spectacular. While the Criterion release is no doubt the definitive release of Godzilla, the earlier Classic Media edition at least offers several noteworthy extra features. It pays to own both.

The Criterion bluray for Godzilla has now been presented in a 4k edition.Everything is there....the '54 Gojira and '56 Godzilla King of the Monsters....and the extras.Only Gojira is 4k. Owning both the bluray from several years ago, and this new 4k disc, I can, in my opinion, see an upgrade in visual quality. I am viewing via a 4k projector and 110" screen. For those viewing on big screen or smaller tvs, the difference may be minimal and not worth the purchase. Only your eyes can answer this question.