This is the English version of the original Godzilla movie that came out in 1954. The
story remains relatively the same except that American actor Raymond Burr was
inserted into the story as a reporter in order to bridge the gap between
American and Japanese audiences. The director, Ishiro Honda, saw the movie The
Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, and noticing the appeal of the movie decided to make
his own dinosaur movie. The original Godzilla movie is a lot darker than later
entries in the franchise. Godzilla is awoken by the nuclear bomb testing in the
sea of Japan. In the first couple of scenes it harkens back to a very tragic
event that occurred in March of 1954, The Lucky Dragon incident. The crew of
the Lucky Dragon was caught in a nuclear weapon test. The crew all died of
radiation poisoning and a whole shipment off fish had to be discarded.
And of course this was not Japan’s first encounter with
nuclear/atom bombs. Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand as a testament to the effects
of these bombs. Hondo took his experience with these weapons of mass
destruction and inserted it into his scifi film, making it far more darker than
some of the American outings. And that is what makes this movie powerful. For
Americans, the effects of these bombs are mainly academic or something that
happens to someone else. Honda lived it.
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