This week sees the 55th birthday of one of the most feared movie monsters ever… Godzilla!
For a 55 year old monster, Godzilla is looking pretty good, his first movie outing was in 1954 and since then the monster described as either a revived sea-monster or an irradiated Godzillasaurus has appeared in 28 films as well as numerous comic books, video games, and novels.
The monster we all know as Godzilla, is called Gojira in his home country, Japan. Gojira is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira, which means “gorilla” and kujira which means “whale”. This could be because in one planning stage, Godzilla was going to be a cross between a gorilla and a whale to explain his size, power and watery origins.
Godzilla has appeared in almost 30 films, and his appearance has changed over the years, but certain things, like his roar and the fact that he is some form of mutated dinosaur. Godzilla has been made more and less feral in appearance depending on whether he was villain or hero. In general, Godzilla is the combination of three different species of dinosaur; he has the head and lower body of a Tyrannosaurus, a triple row of dorsal plates similar to those of a Stegosaurus, the neck and forearms of Iguanodon. Godzilla also has the tail and skin texture of a crocodile.
In the 1954 film, Godzilla was described as 164 feet tall with radioactive breath. He was a villainous monster revived from under the sea by nuclear testing. Godzilla sank ships and went on a rampage, destroying Tokyo. Godzilla was portrayed as a villain in this and the following four films. After that, Godzilla’s role in the films changed to that of defending hero who saw off threats to Japan such as Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, aliens and other monsters.
Nuclear testing is given as a reason for Godzilla’s size, strength and atomic breath; he is also depicted as being resistant to damage due to his tough hide and almost magical healing powers.
Although all of the Godzilla films were produced by the Toho Company, the first 15 films in the Godzilla series were Showa films in that they tied in with the Showa era of Japanese history. Showa is the period of Japanese history consistent with the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). These films played on the fears of audiences especially with regard to nuclear weapons and pollution.
With the death of Emperor Hirohito in 1989, the Heisei era of Japanese history began. The start of the new era also meant changes to the Godzilla franchise. Godzilla was returned to the role of villain in the films. Occasionally he was portrayed as an anti-hero but still as a danger to society. As with the Showa era films, the Heisei era films played on the fears of audiences with topics such as the dangers of genetic engineering.
After the Heisei period, Godzilla returned slightly to his roots in the Millennium Series. The overarching storyline put in place in the Heisei series was removed, but Godzilla remained a villain or anti hero during these six films.
In 1998, Godzilla finally made the journey across the Pacific Ocean to the US, and Tri Star released a remake, simply titled Godzilla. The film starred Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno. The film was almost universally panned by both critics and fans, who nicknamed it GINO – Godzilla in Name Only. In fact, apart from the name and Godzilla’s distinctive roar, the film contains no references to the original series, and Godzilla himself was not supposed to have a breath weapon until a fan poll demanded it.
Godzilla’s last on screen appearance was in 2004 in Godzilla: Final Wars. Final Wars was the 50th anniversary film and was supposed to end the Godzilla series. However, there are reports that Godzilla will reappear on our screens for his 60th birthday. Legendary Pictures are rumoured to be in early talks to produce a Star Trek-esque reboot of the series.
Even if the reboot doesn’t happen, and Final Wars really is the end of Godzilla, he had a fantastic 55 year run and has left a lasting impact on popular culture across the globe. Godzilla, movies.ie salutes you!
Words - Brogen Hayes