Rate It
|
||||||||||||||||
Rating Averages
My Friends |
Not rated. () |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
All Flixster |
(1696) |
469 |
4391 |
Female |
(415) |
115 |
1074 |
Male |
(1281) |
354 |
3317 |
More Like This
If you liked this, then you'll also probably like...
Got another recommendation for someone who liked this movie? Add it to the list!
Got an opinion? Use the buttons to vote on all the suggestions people have added.
If lots of people vote, the best suggestions will rise to the top.
| Godzilla Vs. Biollante (100%) |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Gojira (Godzilla 1985: The Legend Is Reborn) (100%) |
|
|
| Gojira (100%) |
|
|
| Godzilla vs. Mothra (Mosura tai Gojira) (100%) |
|
|
| Behemoth, the Sea Monster (100%) |
|
|
Plot:
The first of the Godzilla movies, and the most somber and serious in tone, Godzilla, King of the Monsters was originally a 98-minute Japanese horror film, until a U.S. company bought the rights...( read more 
)
Meet Other Fans
ONLINE NOW
Recent Reviews
-
MCT:June 16, 2008Ah, the Americanization of the classic. Not terrible by any means, but once you watch the original it loses its luster...
-
MCT:June 14, 2008Great movie! The special effects aren't as dazzling as more recent versions but there is still a chilling realism to these. Raymond Burr does seem out of place among the Japanese citizens, but I'm sure he was just checking out all the Asian hunks. The writing is indicative of this era, but the acting was almost non-existent in places with stilted dialogue and stiff movement by the actors. Still this is the one that started it all, and it's a great movie and lots of fun!
-
MCT:April 9, 2008
So, I thought this was a better film until I saw the original Japanese version with subtitles. Then I realized how much it had been butchered in the transition to an American release. Still, for it's cultural impact, it rates fairly high.
-
MCT:January 17, 2008
The one I grew up with. I haven't seen this in a long while, but after finally seeing the Japanese version I'm very curious to revisit it. As a side note, before I saw the Japanese version, this was a five star film.
-
MCT:December 29, 2007
Great movie. Godzilla still stands head and shoulders above every subsequent version. The original Godzilla is really a quite serious film with a well-developed plot.
-
MCT:November 7, 2007Most monster movies don't age particuarly well for many reasons. Ironically however, the original Godzilla still stands head and shoulders above every subsequent version. The reason is simple, Godzilla isn't just a monster but a representation of all of Japan (and most of the world)'s fears in 1956. Post-Hiroshima Godzilla represents the bomb.
Aside from that very real fear, Godzilla still stands up, It has a great story, and a wonderfully teasing reveal. Okay so the monster special effects are not incredible now, but they must have been absolutely mind blowing at the time. When Godzilla appears on screen you can sense the fear that now just a few boatmen are feeling but an entire nation.
Godzilla is also very intellegent. Debates as to whether we should just kill it or whether we have to research it could be transposed to any space or time. Godzilla is a classic, rightly so and if you can forgive it occasionally looking a bit shaky you'll reap the reward. -
MCT:August 29, 2007
Absolutly loved it. When I was a child I didn't really get into this one. But I watched it last year and thought it was brillant.
-
MCT:August 24, 2007
Despite the cheese and cliche that followed wih all the sequels, the original Godzilla is really a quite serious film with a well-developed plot. A Classic.
-
MCT:August 22, 2007After watching the original Japanese version 'Gojira' I was interested to know just how much the Americans butchered the film when they made their own version. The answer is, a hell of a lot. The scenes with Raymond Burr are spliced into footage from the original in the most stupid and contrived ways, and it's often completely obvious that the footage comes from two different films. What's more, the American commentary is patronising toward the Japanese people and the overdubs are terrible. It's such a messy, heavy handed attempt at changing the film for an American audience. Chances are I may have been kinder if I'd seen this version first, but as a contrast to the original it is possibly the best example of the Western world getting hold of something and completely fucking it up.
-
MCT:August 20, 2007
At the end of the Second World War, Japan became the first and only nation to suffer a nuclear attack with the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nine years later, war veteran Ishiro Honda (a collaborator with the famed Akira Kurosawa) called upon his memories of the destruction to create the truly memorable first entry in Toho's famed Godzilla series.
In contrast to the increasingly child-oriented films that followed, the first film is a brooding, stark expression of apocalyptic fear, as serious as any war film or other early post-war Japanese works. Though dated today, the special effects were groundbreaking for their time and still remain highly effective, with the moody black-and-white photography giving the film an almost documentary look, and the scenes of destruction and its aftermath uncomfortably echoing the atomic holocaust of only a few years before.
The film was a smash hit in Japan, and originally played in the USA subtitled at Asian theaters on the West Coast. The enthusiastic response resulted in a general American release in 1956; unfortunately, about 40 minutes of the film was chopped out to make way for new expository scenes with actor Raymond Burr ("Perry Mason," "Rear Window") as an American reporter covering the story ala Edward R. Murrow's coverage of the Nazi air raids over London. This truncated version was released as "Godzilla, King of the Monsters," and is the version we know to this day. -
MCT:July 10, 2007
A vastly different film than the original from which it was cut, but for the time and the resources they had to work with, they did a damn fine job of re-cutting the film for an American audience.
-
MCT:July 5, 2007
I like this one because the crappy effects, but the cherry on the cake for me is how both of his eyes face different directions.
-
MCT:July 4, 2007
The American edit of the original Godzilla film is not exactly an awful film, but it really screws around with the original film. In this version our hero is Steve Martin, an American reporter played by Raymond Burr who happens to be in Tokyo to witness the carnage wrought by Godzilla. Unfortunately, the filmmakers attempted to integrate the character into the story by filming Raymond Burr talking to the back of people's heads and standing in the background. Occasionally it actually works, but more often that not it fails. It's an interesting film to watch, but you'd be better off seeing the original Japanese version.
-
MCT:June 25, 2007
No, really, this is actually good. It was weird how they spliced the American into the film, but it was not ineffective. All in all a reasonably good sci-fi film.
-
MCT:June 15, 2007Titled "Gojira" in Japan, this film shows why the Godzilla so many love is the second. Raymond Burr ("Perry Mason", "Ironside" on TV) was spliced into the American Version of this film; decades later, he would reprise the role of "Steve Martin" in "Godzilla 1985", which I believe was his last role.
-
MCT:June 12, 2007i've only seen the americanised verison of this film, but even from that you can see that this was a truely awesome film for its time.
-
MCT:May 17, 2007
I think I've seen most of the Gozilla movies. They're all the same. 1. A cheaply-done model city is threatened by some strange creature. 2. The Japanese people go bat$hit. 3. Godzilla appears and destroys everything. 4. Japanese people celebrate.
-
MCT:March 4, 2007
Without this movie, Godzilla would not exist. Though it's sometimes difficult to go back and give this film it's proper respect, it was amazing for it's time, and it really paved the way for a legacy of the giant green lizard we all love.
-
MCT:February 17, 2007
Now..I know that it's somewhat of a turkey (is it called this way in english?), with a paper-thin story and crude animation..but it is simply a must see-classic to me :)
-
MCT:December 1, 2006
Made in 1954 the first godzilla movie ever made this inspired the alien quadrilogy it predator and many more monster movies
a classsic you cant miss it. -
MCT:December 1, 2006
Skip this butchered (but still fun) American re-cut and check out "Gojira," the original Japanese version, instead.
-
MCT:November 29, 2006Blahhh the american reissue is disgusting. The original japanese version deserves 4 stars. But this americanised version could only squeeze half. The ORIGINAL contained anti-nuclear themes which are removed in this movie. The character of raymond burr is seamlessly woven into the movie, NOT . The voice over ruins the movie and the dubbing is painful to witness. Several shots are repeated throughout the movie. Basically the U.S have butchered a classic. Where may i ask is the japanese classic to rate ?
My Friends Said...
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Recent Reviews
Register or sign-in to see your friends' reviews !
Comments
This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" !
