just received my DVD of the original Gojira (1954) - don't ask me anything

[BigMcLargehuge]

:)

[Guava Jelly]

1. I just bought that also

I havent watched it yet

[ronnykmarshall]

2. Oh no! There goes Tokyo!

[Aristus]

3. Okay. I won't ask if it is better without Raymond Burr.

B-)

[sakabatou]

4. It's much, MUCH better w/o Raymond Burr.

[ronnykmarshall]

5. Is it dubbed or w/ sub-titles?

[BigMcLargehuge]

6. subbed

[ronnykmarshall]

7. I want to get that.

Where did you order it from?

[BigMcLargehuge]

8. amazon

[BigMcLargehuge]

9. short review...

While I will always list "Godzilla: King of the Monsters (G:KOTM)" as my favorite film of all time, the original Gojira is very, very good. While darker in tone the original is no less accessible than the Americanized version. The structure of the film is different in its original form. It does not use the flashback type framing device employed in G:KOTM, rather we begin with the sinking of several freighters in the Sea of Japan. The film follows a linear progression from Odo Island (where a rescue boat was bringing three survivors) back to Tokyo. The film gives much more screen time to Dr. Yamane than G:KOTM, however, the central character in the film is his daughter Emiko. The love triangle in G: KOTM is significantly fleshed out in Gojira, including a change in occupations for Emiko's true love, Ogata. Rather than him being a "Naval Officer" he is an employee of the shipping company that first encounters Gojira. Dr. Serizawa and Ogata and Emiko are childhood friends. And while she is betrothed to Serizawa, she loves Ogata. That is all intact in G: KOTM. What isn't there though are the motivations of Dr. Serizawa to keep the Oxygen Destroyer a secret. There are other motivations too, the Japanese government doesn't want to release any information about Godzilla for fear of making trouble between them and the USA, as Gojira is a byproduct of US H-bomb testing.

Anyway...

As the film climaxes and Godzilla makes his second, deeper, foray into Tokyo, Gojira really lingers on the unstoppable nature of the monster much more so than G: KOTM. It appears that something akin to 9 minutes of the "wade through the city" was cut for G: KOTM. The destruction of Tokyo is complete, alluding to the US Firebombing of the capital during WW2.

Very very good film, much darker in tone than the film we've know for five decades. Yet, my love for the Raymond Burr character, and the G: KOTM storytelling style, has in no way diminished from watching Gojira.

Any fan of the genre should own this, but never forget that without the success of G: KOTM outside Japan the chances of seeing Gojira were virtually nill.