The Evolution of GOJIRA

Tonight's marathon is about the evolution of the iconic Japanese monster called Godzilla. This marathon is not designed to have him fight various other monsters but to show him at his most iconic state as he evolves from the shores of Japan into the shores of America in locations such as New York and San Francisco. The American versions might not have been as powerful as the original Japanese classic because Americans didn't create the monster out of blind fear that they'll be annihilated like the Japanese did after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, the American versions that came in 1998 and 2014 weren't terrible but simply didn't live up to the level of terror that plagued cinemas in 1954. The key to making a great Godzilla movie is to latch onto societies ultimate fear of history repeating itself. In the case of the Japanese it's experiencing another Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and for Americans it's experiencing another September 11th. Tonight's marathon taps into those fears with the following selections.




              Godzilla: King Of The Monsters 1954, Godzilla 1998, and Godzilla 2014

 

 It might not have been the marathon everyone was expecting and many would've chose to have Godzilla fight off other monsters of foes, but this one was never designed to have him fight Mothra or King Kong. It was mean't to represent the landmark times where he appeared both on Japanese and American shores. These were times where people got the most excited to see him and would wait in long lines to get a glimpse of the half hero and half villain. When it became appropriate, we feared him but when something else came that was more powerful than Godzilla, we rooted for him cause he was the last hope for civilization. The beginning of Godzilla's legacy began in 1954 where he first appeared within the shores of Tokyo after American nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of Godzilla, an unstoppable and powerful dragon that destroys everything he comes across. It's up to an American scientist who teams up with the Japanese to put a stop to the powerful creature. After he leaves a path of destruction along the shores of Tokyo, he makes his way to New York in the critically panned yet misunderstood 1998 blockbuster from the makers of Independence Day. This is America's first introduction to the legendary monster and ultimately was the first major disappointment for many fans on the American front. While not a terrible movie in any sense and often a fun and entertaining lizard movie, the name Godzilla in it's title turned off many fans of the Japanese version. The problem that lies with the Roland Emmerich film is that Godzilla in this film does a lot of destruction but simply is never frightening. He doesn't terrorize or destroy buildings like the 1954 monster did. He's more of a monster that's nesting within the streets of New York but never terrorizes or frightens anyone. The film was a huge disappointment because it doesn't capture the essence of the character but is an entertaining film in it's own right. It wasn't until 2014, 16 years after the last attempt to modernize Godzilla for American audiences that Hollywood decided to try again with the legend. Did they succeed this time? Yes and no. This time Godzilla terrorizes the city of San Francisco while battling two other monsters who have the power to wipe out our existence due to humanities scientific arrogance. This is probably the closest that America is going to get to having a Godzilla film that stands tall and proud against the 1954 Japanese classic. Unlike the 1990's where America's only fear was Monica Lewinsky, this movie comes after the impact of 9/11 on American society. It makes it more believable that something like this can happen on our shores and recapture the horror of that day. The filmmakers tapped into that fear but underestimated the patience of American audiences by putting Godzilla in the film for only 11 minutes, and sacrificing it's most bankable star Bryan Cranston within the first 15 minutes total. Still the film pulled in 200 million domestically and helped speed up the production to Pacific Rim 2 whereas Godzilla 1998 only made 136 million domestically. Note to the filmmakers of the sequel, put Godzilla in the movie more.

So what do all three of these films ultimately say about mankind and the monster it helped create? It says that we should be careful about being ignorant towards powers that we can't control such as Nuclear warfare and if were not careful, we can create something that's unstoppable and lead to our own destruction.