GODZILLA Gojira
1954, Criterion, $39.95, 96m 29s, BR By Nathaniel Thompson
The most famous Japanese monster of them all began with a literal bang in 1954, as an ex- plosive blast at sea takes out a fishing boat and signals the ar- rival of Gojira, soon to be known around the world as Godzilla. Though his subsequent cin- ematic outings found the giant radioactive lizard gaining much more screen time and some- times becoming a good guy, this original film from director Ishirô Honda is deadly serious and, in the best 1950s tradition, keeps its creature hidden from sight for a large percentage of the running time.
The actual plot isn’t too far from other atomic age terrors of the era (particularly the same year’s THEM!), but here the Japa- nese setting creates an entirely different atmosphere among people still traumatized from the cataclysmic nuclear horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With giant footprints abounding among the smashed villages and terrified villagers, the government and scientists must turn to an- other weapon of vast destruction courtesy of Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), whose Oxygen Destroyer might be the only thing powerful enough to eradicate a menace capable of withstanding tank blasts and normal bombs. As most know by now, the Americanized version of this
film (GODZILLA! KING OF THE MONSTERS, 80m 53s) was a skillful but very different inter- pretation of the film, integrat- ing Raymond Burr as reporter Steve Martin interacting with the Japanese actors whose roles and importance were changed by the new structure. The streamlined film became an in- stant hit, with Toho Studios’ subsequent Godzilla films reaching international shores still dubbed but closer to their original form.
English-speaking fans eager to see the legendary original version of Gojira had to resort to drastic means during the VHS and early DVD eras, seek- ing out underground subtitled copies or sitting through Japa- nese-only releases. However, Janus Films released the origi- nal version to select repertory theaters in the late 1990s (though their announced laser- disc never saw the light of day), followed by a larger reissue in 2004 under the Rialto Pictures banner.
The film’s importance as the
Godzilla on a rampage in Ishiro Honda’s seminal kaiju eiga, GODZILLA.
first major kaijû eiga (“monster movie”) kept demand high until both the UK and America got DVD releases of the Japanese version with English subtitles in 2006, first from the BFI and then from Classic Media (who added the American cut as a bonus). The latter company also issued a very problematic Blu-ray re- lease, littered with extensive dam- age, inconsistent compression and an underwhelming interlaced transfer. However, the Classic Media version does contain some extras available nowhere else: an audio commentary for the Japa- nese cut with writers Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski, a commen- tary for the American version with Terry Morse, Jr. (whose father di- rected the Burr scenes) and two respectful featurettes, “Godzilla:
Story Development” and “Making of the Godzilla Suit.”
After years of thwarted at- tempts, Criterion finally got its own crack at the film in 2011 with their Blu-ray and DVD re- leases (the latter priced at $29.95), with the former easily marking the most impressive version to date and actually looking more sharp and impres- sive than most reissue prints. Some of the more persistent scuffs are still present, but it’s a vastly superior piece of work than what we’ve had before. Close-ups and shots in broad sunlight are especially im- proved, finally having a sense of depth and intensity absent many times before. The English subtitles appear to be the same updated translation used for the Rialto reissue and, once again, the American cut (80m 53s, sporting its original Transworld logo) is included, also in a bet- ter HD transfer that shows off more noticeably the quality gap between film stocks used for the Japanese and English scenes. David Kalat, the Dr. Mabuse expert and All Day Entertainment founder, carries over some of his expertise from his recently-re- vised book A CRITICAL HISTORY AND FILMOGRAPHY OF TOHO’S GODZILLA SERIES for an audio commentary about the historical and cultural influences on the film, the conditions at Toho at the time and, of course, lots of trivia about the famous lizard costume and the limited but oddly unsettling special effects. On the video side, actors Akira Takarada and Haruo Nakajima (the man inside the suit, and easily the most enter- taining participant on the entire disc) appear in new HD inter- views, followed by special ef- fects technicians Yoshio Irie and Eizo Kaimai (who get a substan- tial half-hour allotment here that
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