movie

1954 · Japan

Godzilla

Tonight at a glance

Runtime: 96 min
Age rating: NR
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
Frights: Strong

Why tonight?

Under two hours — there is still an evening on the other side of it.
It goes hard on frights — not a wind-down.
Reviewed better than most films in the catalogue.

The story

Japan is thrown into a panic after several ships are sunk near Odo Island. An expedition to the island led by Dr. Kyohei Yamane soon discover something far more devastating than imagined in the form of a 50 meter tall monster whom the natives call Gojira. Now the monster begins a rampage that threatens to destroy not only Japan, but the rest of the world as well.

ship
island
japan
atomic bomb
shipwreck
giant monster
nuclear radiation
tokyo
japan
dinosaur
black and white

The look

A few frames, chosen rather than collected.

The bill

Fuyuki Murakami — Professor Tanabe
Sachio Sakai — Hagiwara
Toranosuke Ogawa — President of Southern Seas Salvage
Ren Yamamoto — Masaji Yamada
Hiroshi Hayashi — Chairman of Diet Committee
Seijirô Onda — Parliamentarian Oyama
Takeo Oikawa — Chief of Emergency Headquarters
Keiji Sakakida — Mayor Inada
Toyoaki Suzuki — Shinkichi Yamada
Kokuten Kōdō — Elder of Odo Island
Kin Sugai — Mrs. Ozawa

Directed: Ishirō Honda
Written: Eiji Tsuburaya, Takeo Murata, Ishirō Honda, Tomoyuki Tanaka

Production

Rating: 7.6 / 10 · 1,122 ratings
Studio: TOHO, Toho Laboratory

The Collection

The complete story, in order.

1954 · You’re here
Godzilla
Where it starts.
Godzilla vs. Hedorah
1971
Godzilla vs. Gigan
1972
Godzilla vs. Megalon
1973
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
1974
Terror of Mechagodzilla
1975

If this stayed with you

Then these are the nearest things Cue holds — chosen for what they share with it, not for what happens to be popular.