GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956)

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (1956)

Tagline: Terror and horror to astound mankind!

(Sci-Fi, Action, Oh, No, There Goes Tokyo) [PG]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a PG if came out today. In 1956 it would have been just a G, because kids were just made out of bricks back then. 

You see we don't know what it is we're dealing with. At 3:30 this morning a ship from Tokyo was literally wiped from the surface of the ocean in a matter of seconds.

In this one, reporter Steve Martin who seems to be super popular in Japan is investigating a bunch of unexplained damage off the coast. Local natives blame the incidents on a nuclear beast named Godzilla. It doesn’t take long before “Godzilla” is terrorizing Tokyo while scientists and the military try to stop him. Can Dr. Serizawa be convinced to use a weapon called the “The Oxygen Destroyer” that could destroy all life against the fury of an atomic nightmare from the Jurassic period?

First off, I have nothing against the Japanese. In fact, I love their creativity and inventiveness. Having said that, I prefer when I can, to avoid reading subtitles, so this review is based on the American version of the film. That means Raymond Burr shows up as Steve Martin in every other scene in this movie. Burr does a great job regarding what he was asked to do with this film and his dialog is pretty damn haunting. 

If you are just not familiar with the “King Of The Monsters”, Godzilla is a giant dinosaur-like creature that breaths radioactive fire and he just decimates everything he runs across in this movie. This might be the first or second-largest amount of destruction from one monster we see in the entire catalog of Kaiju movies. TOHO also doesn’t skimp on showing us Godzilla once he gets on screen. It does take a while for him to show up, but once he does, it’s freakin on. 

The pacing in this movie, the script, and the overall sense of dread are pretty outstanding especially given that TOHO went way out of its way to tone down Godzilla making him a bit of a hero in later films. Godzilla is basically a hero in the “Monsterverse” as well. Another thing this movie really has going for it is the iconic score. This score is so epic they continue to use a version of it to this day.

Aside from Raymond Burr who was famous for being “Perry Mason”, we also have a lot of James Hong who is best known for BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA dubbing his voice for several of the Japanese actors. It’s almost impossible to go wrong with James Hong is involved. Mikel Conrad is also in this movie but is uncredited. He plays George and was famous for his role in THE FLYING SAUCER. 

I own a copy of this movie on VHS but need to get that updated because my VHS player is older and is mainly just good at eating tapes now. This movie is still celebrated as one of the best or the best Godzilla film ever made. No matter what version you are watching, you are in for a great film that still stands as the corner piece of the film franchise with the “most movies made” in cinematic history. Contrary to popular belief the original version of Godzilla is not loaded with anti-American sentiment, instead, it’s a commentary on the dangers and devastation of the H-bomb. 

Overall I have to give this thing a 7 out of 7. It’s extremely difficult to really find anything wrong with it unless you just don’t like kaiju movies.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF TOHO COMPANY AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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