MY REVIEW OF 'GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS'!!
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GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS!(1956)
(Directed by Ishiro Honda and Terry Morse)
Plot: An American reporter reports about a giant monster terrorizing Japan.
Review:
If you haven't already, I strongly recommend you check out my review of "Gojira" before reading this. Basically, "Gojira" had spliced in footage of Raymond Burr and became "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", which is how most people know the movie. The result was that Godzilla would become an icon, spawning countless sequels, rip-offs, an American remake as well as two cartoons(one based on the remake). It should also be noted that I considered this to be near perfect upon initial viewings. Then I saw the original, Japanese cut and thought it to be superior. My opinion of this one didn't go down until I just watched it again. Still, that's not to say it doesn't work in its own way. To make this easier on myself, I'll occasionally do some splicing of my own, inserting bits of my previous review and putting them in italics(not on imdb.com though), so you know what's new and what's not.
I have been a huge fan of Godzilla ever since I was a young sprite. However, the first film in the series never did it for me as a child. I preferred the 'good guy' Godzilla, and I didn't like black and white. The biggest reason is that I was a kid, and "Gojira"(as well as the Americanized counterpart) isn't a kids movie. It's a very bleak, dark, depressing that is a post-war apocalyptic film that focuses on the death and destruction that Godzilla causes.
I love Ishiro Honda when he is on. Sure, he can throw us a *beep* movie like "Godzillas Revenge"(Note: This review was written before I re-watched that film), that completely relies on stock footage. He can also throw us some cheesy movies such as "Rodan", which I also hated. Yet he is generally a solid director, and this is easily his most powerful film. It is very atmospheric, and quite frightening. You see everyone's fear, and you feel for them. The scenes with Godzilla are quite suffocating, but my favorite aspect of the film is the emotional turmoil. My favorite scene in that movie is the sequence on the TV with the schoolgirls singing. The hospital bits shown in that are heartbreaking and the nods to the atomic bomb make you really for bad for the characters. This movie also implies the deaths of children, making it very ballsy. The atomic bomb took no prisoners, nor does Godzilla. I also loved the big scenes of the city on fire. It's a very arresting film, definitely Honda's best work.
Unfortunately, Honda's vision is slightly tampered by Morse's tampering. To be fair, Morse isn't really at fault. His scenes are competently directed, and the editing made me believe as a kid that Raymond Burr was always part of the movie. However, now it's quite obvious that Burr was never here. There are too many scenes that have him talking to doubles of the original cast(you see them from behind so you can't tell it's a different actor, or so is its purpose). Also, he seems to have way too much prestige for a reporter, because he sure has access to just about everything that you'd think the Government wouldn't want reporters to snoop around in. To make scenes even more awkward, the dubbing is horrible. For some reason I never noticed until now, but the characters aren't always dubbed. Sometimes their original voices will say the characters names, or even say a sentence or two in Japanese, but when the dubbing comes, they sound completely different. Now, in almost every dubbing, the voices sound different from the original actors. But here, their original audio is mixed in with the new dub, making it more obvious. Example, Serizawa says in his real voice, "Emiko-san", and his voice is quiet and soft. Then he says something like "You must keep this a secret" in his dubbed voice, which is more firm, loud, and almost unintentionally funny.
Another strange aspect is how much action is cut out. There is still a lot of action, but plenty of the carnage is missing. Perhaps the much darker tone presented in the original wouldn't have worked as well with American audiences. This is also represented in the ending of the movie. The original had a mostly downer ending. Here, nothing is really different other than the dialogue, turning it into a more bittersweet ending. Despite the fact I don't appreciate these changes, I will say that the reporter narration actually does work here. It gives the film almost a documentary feel, which compliments things nicely. There were a few slight improvements. The movie starts off showing the ruins of Tokyo and then has a flashback to what leads up to its destruction. Finally, inserting Raymond Burr's character in that attack adds to the intensity. In the original, none of the main characters are directly in peril so it was nice to add some new tension in there.
I also thought the characterization was quite good. I found myself feeling for the trio of characters, as their normal lives are sort of in turmoil at this point. I found myself especially caring for the good Doctor Serizawa and his problem. I feel I need to add to the Serizawa character. I think he's one of the most tragic characters to ever grace a film, especially in the Godzilla canon. His turmoil is that he must decide whether to use the Oxygen Destroyer, a potential weapon of mass destruction, against Godzilla or just continue to watch as Godzilla destroys everything. Strangely, while this is likely unintentional, it almost appears as if Ishiro Honda is sympathizing with the plight of President Truman when deciding if he was use the Atomic Bomb. Another sad aspect of Serizawa is that his fiancé, Emiko, is actually in love with another man(Ogata). Despite her attempts to tell him, she never does. I was under the impression that Serizawa knew all along. Still, the fact Emiko ultimately betrays his trust in her by revealing his secret must have crushed him. If you've seen the movie, you know that all is for not. More Godzilla's come, and the Oxygen Destroyer returns as a monster in itself in "Godzilla Vs. Destroyer". So I really felt for the guy.
What about Godzilla/Gojira himself? Well, this is kind of the movies downside. The full body shots of Godzilla are great, and because the picture is so dark, its hard to tell it's a dude in a suit. The close-ups are a bit silly though. Considering the time, I would say the effects are well done. However, the design on the island(when you first see Godzilla) felt a bit off and inconsistent. It didn't really look like Godzilla. The roar is frightening and the radiation breath is clever. Overall, it is a well done design. Oh yeah, what about the classic score? It's classic, of course! It definitely has helped made Godzilla an iconic character, ranging from adventurous to frightening.
Raymond Burr(Steve Martin) is credible considering he didn't have much to work with. To me, he has become somewhat of an icon himself. He also appeared in "Godzilla 1985", which was originally "The Return of Godzilla", even worse spliced in scenes. As for the rest, keep in mind the dubbing is so bad it often hurt the actors. Momoko Kochi(Emiko) wasn't that great in the original and the dubbing makes her look even worse. Akira Takarada(Ogata) bored me in this version. Akihiko Hirata(Doctor Serizawa) still rocks, even with the bad dubbing. Takashi Shimura(Professor Yamane) also is good enough to beat the bad dubbing.
"Godzilla, King of the Monsters" is arguably the most important Kaiju flick ever made. In many ways, I'd say it's even more important than the original cut. The original cut is superior, but this is the movie that people tend to remember. Sure, we become more aware of the miniature sets and plot holes in this version, and the dubbing is awful, but it still is quite effective. Nowhere near as effective as "Gojira", but effective all the same.
Violence: It's mostly suggestive, but still fairly disturbing.
Nudity: None.
Overall: I'd recommend "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" for the sake of its cultural significance and for people who are fans of the series. Of course, if you're a fan of the series, you probably have seen this. But I'd also recommend you watch "Gojira" first, because that's Ishiro Honda's true masterpiece.
3/4 Stars
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