#35: Godzilla (1954)

The OG Big G, plus bonus review of Shin Godzilla (2016) and I suppose notes on Godzilla (2014)

There is a stark difference in how American filmmakers see Godzilla and how Japanese filmmakers saw it.

As opposed to our "Ooh, big lizard, make it stomp and atomic breath." love, it's seen as more of a metaphor for nuclear holocaust in its country of origin.

Americans complained that it took too long to see the titular titan in the 2014 remake, and those people would not enjoy any of the Japanese Godzilla movies, as it is far more about suspense and taking emergency action than theatrics.

Even though the 2014 remake try to bring it back to its roots, it's still mired in more of a 'Giant sleeping mega goliath' instead of  it's original metaphor...but that also had to tie in with Warner Brothers' / Legendary Monsterverse.

You can't have King Kong fight a metaphor in 2020! Can you?

"Godzilla was baptized in the fire of the H-Bomb and survived. Who could kill it now?"

Even in this story, Godzilla is treated as a myth in the midst of nuclear testing, and is treated as a scientific anomaly (Which, makes sense), and doesn't have people crying in the streets immediately.

It's a very "Oh. This is getting worse. And worse." slow kind of creep.

You get caught up in worrying about the people instead of watching the spectacle, because Godzilla is just a large puppet with clever angles to look bigger and more threatening than it is. Until it gets to Tokyo.

Then it's actually alarming and you can feel the pressure. But the real pressure and tension is from the human relationships - there is a moral war about Godzilla - kill it, or or just stop it.

Bonus Shin Godzilla thoughts;

I saw it last year and most of my viewpoints are the same. It was very talkative and about hashing out plans to do in case of a nuclear and or giant lizard attack instead of marveling in the destruction of a giant lizard. Besides being in color and taking place in the present day, it's not much different than the 1954 version, including having a group of young professionals with different ideas on how to handle Godzilla.