Gojira (Godzilla) Release date(s) November 3, 1954 Running time 95 minutes Distributed by Toho Directed by Ishirō Honda Produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Screenplay by Ishirō Honda Takeo Murata Story by Shigeru Kayama Starring Akira Takarada Momoko Kōchi Akihiko Hirata Takashi Shimura 1954 Japanese science fiction kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. In 1956, a heavily edited version was released in the U.S. as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The original Japanese-language version is now available in the United States and Britain under the title Gojira. It was the first of many kaiju films released in Japan, many of which also feature Godzilla. The film revolves around the title character, a prehistoric creature mutated by nuclear radiation, as he ravages Japan, bringing back the horrors of nuclear war to a country that experienced it at first hand. If any single movie typifies 50s sci-fi, it would be Godzilla. Unfortunately, many of the later variations and copies were of such low quality that it sullies the original. For most people, Godzilla is synonymous with a cheesy rubber-suit monster stomping on model cities. This is unfortunate. Gojira has a dark and sober quality that the copies never matched. The original, Gojira in Japan, was inspired by the American films, King Kong and Beast from 20,000 fathoms the year before, but went much further. Gojira was not simply a monster-in-the-city flick. It was a product of troubled times with some serious messages. Gojira is all about the fear of mass destruction. Gojira isn't the movie Americans first saw Godzilla. The American release came in 1956, but it was not simply a dubbed version. New footage was included starring Raymond Burr. Much of the original footage is still there, but edited and shuffled somewhat. The heavy anti-A-bomb tone was edited out. The result was adequate, but weaker. The original Gojira is a much more powerful movie. When a Japanese fishing boat is attacked by a flash of light near Odo Island, two rescue boats are sent, but they are destroyed, with only a few surviving. On Odo Island, a village elder blames their poor fishing on a sea-god known as "Gojira" and recalls that in earlier times native girls were sacrificed to appease the giant sea monster. Word gets out and a helicopter arrives on the island with curious, but skeptical, reporters. Frightened natives perform a nighttime ceremony to keep the monster away. However, that night, while the natives sleep, a storm arrives and something else comes with it, bringing death and destruction. The next day, witnesses arrive in Tokyo. Archeologist Kyohei Yamane suggests that investigators be sent to the island. On arrival, Yamane finds giant radioactive footprints, and a trilobite. When an alarm sounds, the villagers arm themselves with sticks and run to the hills, only to be confronted by Gojira, who is revealed to be an enormous reptilian creature. After a quick skirmish, the villagers run for safety and Gojira heads to the ocean. Dr. Yamane returns to Tokyo to present his findings and concludes that Gojira was created by a nuclear explosion. Some want to conceal that fact, fearing international repercussions. Others say the truth must be revealed. They prevail and Gojira's origins are announced to the public. Ships are sent with depth charges to kill the monster. When they fail, Gojira appears again, causing nationwide panic. Officials appeal to Dr. Yamane for some way to kill the monster, but Yamane wants him kept alive and studied. Meanwhile, Emiko, Yamane's daughter, decides to break off her arranged engagement to Yamane's colleague, Daisuke Serizawa, because of her love for Hideto Ogata, a salvage ship captain. Before she can do that, Serizawa tells her about his invention, the Oxygen Destroyer, which can kill all life in the sea. He gives a small demonstration, using a fish tank in the lab. She is sworn to secrecy and never gets a chance to break off the engagement. That night Gojira climbs from Tokyo Bay and attacks the city. Though the attack is over quickly, there is much death and destruction. The next morning, the army constructs a line of 40-meter electrical towers along the coast of Tokyo that will send 50,000 volts of electricity through Gojira, should he appear again. Civilians are evacuated from the city and put into bomb shelters. As night falls, Gojira does indeed attack again. He easily breaks through the electric fence, melting the wires with his atomic breath. A bombardment of shells from the army tanks has no effect. Gojira continues his rampage until much of the city is destroyed and thousands of civilians are dead or wounded. Gojira descends unscathed into Tokyo Bay, despite a squadron of fighter jets' last-ditch attack. The next morning finds Tokyo in ruins. Hospitals overflow with victims, including some with radiation poisoning. Emiko witnesses the devastation and tells Ogata about Serizawa's secret Oxygen Destroyer. She hopes together they can persuade Serizawa to use it to stop Gojira. When Serizawa refuses, Ogata and Serizawa fight and Ogata receives a minor head wound. As Emiko treats Ogata's wound, Serizawa apologizes, but he refuses to use the weapon on Gojira, citing the public bedlam his weapon could cause. Then a newscast shows the devastation Gojira has caused. Choirs of children are shown singing a hymn. Moved, Serizawa decides he will use the weapon only one time and then its secret must be destroyed for the good of humanity. He then burns all his papers and research. Emiko breaks down and cries when she sees this, as she understands that Serizawa is sacrificing his life's work to stop Gojira. A navy ship takes Ogata and Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. They don diving gear and descend into the water, where they find Gojira at rest. Ogata returns to the surface as Serizawa activates the device. Serizawa watches as Gojira dies then cuts his own oxygen cord, sacrificing himself so his knowledge of the device cannot be used to harm mankind. A dying Gojira surfaces, lets out a final roar, and sinks to the bottom, disintegrating until he is nothing but bones. Although the monster is gone, those aboard ship are still grim. They don't know if the death of Gojira is the end or the beginning of an apocalyptic era. Gojira's death has come at a terrible price and Dr. Yamane believes that if mankind continues to develop weapons of mass destruction, Gojira may return.