Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Horribly Butchered Film, December 10, 2004
The original version of this film, entitled "Gojiro," was a huge hit in Japan, and was even nominated for their Best Film award. However, American distributors apparently thought that it would not play well in the U.S. So they sheared about 20 minutes from the original and added new scenes featuring Raymond Burr, fresh from the success of "Rear Window."
Burr plays Steve Martin, an American reporter visiting Japan. When Burr arrives in Tokyo, he receives news that a giant monster named Godzilla has attacked a ship and is wreaking havoc. His friend, Dr. Kyohei Yamane, is one of the preeminent scientists trying to solve the mystery of Godzilla, giving Burr a front seat view to the proceedings.
Unfortunately, the new scenes with Burr are not well-integrated, with many scenes featuring Burr standing with a few Asian extras. In addition, by deleting scenes, the action becomes rather incomprehensible, and the Japanese stars are reduced to minor characters. In particular, an important love triangle featuring Dr. Yamane's daughter, Emiko, is completely stripped of context. All the tension is drained from this version as the audience doesn't connect with the Japanese stars. Although the original version is now available, this one is what you're likely to catch on TV. A real abomination.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scary and Insightful Monster Movie, November 20, 2004
This review is mainly concerned with the original, Japanese version of Gojira (not dubbed). I find that inserting Raymond Burr's character and removing some of the original to do so takes a great deal away from this movie and what it represents.
Godzilla rises from his long sleep due to the effects of the hydrogen bomb. With each attack, the creature becomes more bold until Tokyo suffers a devasting attack, and only a miracle can save the country from another tragic visit by this risen giant.
The love affair plays a secondary but important part in the film. Emiko has been promised in marriage to a brilliant young scientist but has fallen in love with another man. It is the old world traditions clashing with modernity. Her father is a paleontologist who is probably the only person sharing empathy with Godzilla, feeling that destroying the beast will be depriving science of its one and only chance to study a creature from the prehistoric past.
What is often overlooked (and not really stressed in the American version) is the terrible dilemma the young scientist faces when he is begged to use his oxygen destroyer weapon against Godzilla. Only the viewing of the destruction and sadness make him realize there is only one course to take. I feel he is the most crucial and yet saddest character in the entire movie. He actually loses on a number of counts--his life's work (he destroys his formula so it could never fall into the wrong hands), his fiancee has decided to wed another, and in true samurai-like tradition, ends his life nobly. The scene of Godzilla's painful death at the same moment that this brave but troubled researcher ends his own is poignant in the extreme.
This film is not just about humans against an ancient monster awakened from the past. It is about the universal emotions of love, dedication and the dangers to which science can lead us. It is also about sacrifice and triumph over impossible odds.
It is important to remember that the original movie was produced not that many years after the devastation wrought on Japan by the atomic bombs. It does not take much of the imagination to see the same destroyed cities, dying and injured people and the heartache produced by an attack, whether monster or man-made, on such a massive scale. The burning buildings, high levels of radioactivity, the melting metal all conjure up the effects of the atomic bomb, and in many ways this movie is an illustration of what Japan experienced, as well as providing a cathartic effect to a nation that suffered perhaps the greatest horror of this century.
The underlying message here is that, like the oxygen destroyer, atomic weapons are the most destructive device ever invented by man. This movie, besides being a very scary monster film (it gave me nightmares when I was a little girl) is an anti-nuclear weapon vehicle which gets its message across through the characters of a enormous beast, a scientist faced with a moral decision, and a people bent on surviving. Godzilla is more then a movie; it is a social statement against any weapon that has the power to alter our world, and the people in it, forever.
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the old gentleman who was encased within the Godzilla costume. A very short man playing a huge monster (he was about 5 feet tall), he was nevertheless delighted and surprised that his portrayal of the beast has continued to draw audiences even after all these years. It was an honor to meet him.
My advice is the best way to see this movie is in the original, uncut Japanese version without dubbing. I am not a big fan of dubbing anyway, and feel that since people know the story and what is being said, the language barrier disappears and the emotional impact of the film is felt on a much higher scale.
To me, this is one of the best movies produced and has stood the passing of time. It holds many lessons for those who are open to the warnings and human tragedies, both physical and emotional, that we are forced to face in a world that has advanced to the point of self-annihilation.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good monster film, but NOT the Japanese Original, February 9, 2004
It's bizarre and frustrating that, considering DVD technology, no one has released a disc of the ORIGINAL un-cut Japanese movie "Godzilla" with subtitles. The film on this DVD is "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!", an American re-edit of the original film with insert footage of Raymond Burr to "Americanize" the Japanese footage. This edited and re-shot version is the only way the film can currently be seen in the U.S., and it's high time for the original to finally make it stateside.That being said, the Americanized "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" is pretty good for what it is. The original film isn't ruined, but it is a lesser experience. It's worth a three-star rating at least, but the uncut Japanese version is a five-star classic and it's unfortunate that most Americans haven't had a chance to experience it. For non-Godzilla fans, a bit of explanation of exactly what is on this disc is necessary. "Godzilla" (the Japanese title is actually "Gojira," a fanciful combination of the words for "gorilla" and "whale") was released in 1954 and was a huge hit in its home country. It was a frightening vision of radioactive horror returning to mainland Japan, and director Ishiro Honda poured his heart and soul into the terror and sorrow of the story. The original film is devastating in its impact, and Eiji Tsubaraya's effects are startling in their intensity: shots of Godzilla's immense shadow lumbering over a Tokyo in flames, helpless victims cowering in the destruction, are images that cannot be erased from memory, and the pounding, threatening score only heightens the sense of doom. A group of American businessmen picked up the film to distribute to U.S. audiences in 1956, who at the time were lining up to see "big bug" and monster flicks like "Them" and "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" (which actually inspired the original "Godzilla" in the first place). The distributors recognized a potential hit, but knew there would be no money in it if it were released in subtitled form: they wanted to get the matinee and drive-in teen crowd. So they re-edited the film, removing around 30% of the Japanese footage and replacing it with footage of Raymond Burr (who, no kidding, shot all his scenes in a single twenty-four hour period), who plays a reporter named Steve Martin (no snickering, please) who is in Tokyo during Godzilla's rampage. Other footage was juggled around and rearranged, and some of the context and story were altered, much of which dampened Godzilla's radioactive nature. The new footage is actually quite clever, and fits in well with the Japanese footage. Using extras shot from the back actually allows Raymond Burr to "interact" with the film's stars in a few scenes. Burr gives a serious performance that is respectful to the original film. Because a guide translates much of the dialogue for Raymond Burr, many scenes are able to stay in Japanese (this means less dubbing, good news for everybody, since the dubbed scenes are horribly synced.) The American producers obviously were trying to manufacture the best film they could, and I think they succeeded. But, no doubt, it is an inferior "3-star" version of the movie. Godzilla himself is still there in all his terror and majesty, and the central Tokyo rampage remains a stunning piece of work. Banish thoughts of "heroic" Godzilla; this is the embodiment of radioactive horror and man's own destructive impulse. But the story surrounding Godzilla, about tragic scientist Dr. Serizawa and elder scientist Dr. Yamane, and the love triangle between the three young leads, is severely weakened. Serizawa's story no longer packs the punch that is required for the real human element of the story to work. Scenes of Japanese citizenry reacting to what amounts to a second atomic bombing of their country have also been cut out. The Americanized version is a darn good monster flick, but not much more. (And, sadly, the quality of the print on this DVD isn't the best.) So understand what you are getting on this disc: a pretty good Americanized version of the film, but not the Japanese masterpiece that needs to get its own special edition DVD one of these days.
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