ゴジラ

Godzilla

Stats & Staff
Release: December 15th, 1984
Produced by: Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by: Shuichi Nagahara, Ryuzo Nakanishi, Akira Murao, & Tomoyuki Tanaka
Directed by: Koji Hashimoto & Teruyoshi Nakano
Composed by: Reijiro Koroku
Runtime: 103 minutes

Appearances
Monsters: Godzilla (3rd Generation), Shockirus
Mecha: Super X, High Power Laser Beam Car (N1-00 Unit 1 & 2), Russian Nuclear Attack Satellite

Story
Synopsis: Three months after an eruption on Daikoku Island, the Yahata Maru sails past the area and encounters an enormous monster, and are attacked by its giant bloodsucking parasites. Based on the sole survivor's report, the monster is in fact Godzilla. While the government initially creates a media blackout to avoid a panic, they're forced to walk it back when a Soviet nuclear sub is sunken, which sonar imaging confirms is the result of Godzilla, in order to avoid an all out nuclear war between the US and USSR. Both parties, however, send ambassadors to Japan to request the use of nuclear weapons should Godzilla return to Japan. While this is shut down, Godzilla's appearance in Tokyo Bay prevents stopping the Soviet nuclear attack satellite from firing at Tokyo. Godzilla battles the new super weapon Super X, which at first is successful after using cadmium missiles, but when a US missile intercepts the Soviet missile over the atmosphere of Tokyo, the resulting atmospheric phenomenon revives Godzilla, who totally destroys the Super X. He is instead dealt with by manipulating his magnetoception to lead him into an induced eruption of Mt. Mihara.

Theme: The majority of Godzilla movies are Cold War movies, but this, specifically, is THE Cold War Godzilla movie, specifically the "Cold War II" era of revived tensions during the 80's. Although the film itself doesn't reflect too heavily on any real events and is mostly just a sci-fi film, the situation regarding nuclear weapons as its handled in the film is anything but escapism. This film is notable for being the first instance exploring Godzilla's biology, in particular his metabolism based on radioactivity, and his nature as a dinosaur. While as far as I know there's no hard evidence for non-avian dinosaurs possessing magnetoception - in fact I don't even think non-migratory birds have it - the exploration of Godzilla as a dinosaur by comparing him to birds is a reflection of the zeitgeist at the time, when the cladistic revolution and dinosaur renaissance were beginning to reach the consciousness of the general public.

English Versions
Godzilla 1985 (August 23rd, 1985): Heavily re-edited Americanization of the film, featuring new footage of American actors. Just as the original film is presented as a sequel to the first Godzilla film, so too is the Americanization treated as the direct sequel to the Americanization of the first one. It features Raymond Burr reprising his role as Steve Martin, although addressed only as "Mr. Martin" due to the rising career of the comedian of the same name at the time. This goes so far as to state that the first appearance of Godzilla was in 1956, the time of the release of the original film, which wasn't ever actually established in Godzilla, King of the Monsters. And while in the original film the circumstances of Godzilla's return are left completely ambiguous, this one uses the language of film to indicate it is indeed the exact same individual from the first film, with Martin stating that "30 years ago, they never found any corpse." Of course, we know that's because the Oxygen Destroyer evaporated the skeleton too, but art speaks louder than 30 year old attempts at continuity. The most egregious change in the film is the outright insulting change in the portrayal of Colonel Kashirin as someone who gives his life to prevent the use of nuclear weapons, to a full on villain who intentionally fires it. This was apparently a "joke" on the part of the produceer, but it sure as hell isn't very funny, unless you accept the fact that the attitude of the Americans at the time is the punchline. There is also an inordinate amount of gratuitous product placement for Dr. Pepper, which actually is funny, but only because it's so, as the kids say, "cringe."

The Return of Godzilla (July 13th, 1998): Uncut international export dub by Axis International in Hong Kong, made presumably sometime in 1985, but unseen by English speaking audiences until the UK PAL VHS tape release in 1998.